By Stephen Downes
April 14, 2004
The Nature of Meaning in The Age of
Google
Interesting link sent to me by the
author, Terrence A. Brooks, describing some of the tricks
and tactics used to register content in the Google search
service. The author employs the term 'lay indexing' to
describe the 'plebiscites' used to organize and rank pages
by link freuqency and page rank. The end of the article
looks into the question of the 'meaning' missed by Google,
both because there are areas of the deep web it still does
not harvest, and because the semantics of language do not
translate into a purely text-based search. Interesting. More papers are available from the April
edition of Information Research, which came online today.
By Terrence A. Brooks, Information Research, April 13, 2004
[Refer][Research][Reflect]
Analysis of Responses to Consultation
Document
Via Seb Schmoller, this is an analysis
of the 430 responses the British Department for Education
and Skills (DfES) received to last July's consultation
document, Towards a Unified e-Learning Strategy. According
to the summary, the most common concern express was
regarding the digital divide. But overall respondants
"wholeheartedly" supported the vision for e-learning
expressed in the document and the strategy put forward,
though there was disagreement as to the range of
partnerships that should be undertaken and calls for the
strategy to look beyond the education sector and into
e-learning in the workplace. On the same page is a set of
PowerPoint slides for Diana Laurillard's presentation for
BETT 2004, Realising the Vision for e-Learning containing a
lengthy discussion of the idea that "public services need
an adaptive model 'flexible enough to personalise
everything they offer, and responsive to the public they
serve'" By DfES Consultation Unit, Runcorn, Department for
Education and Skills, April, 2004
[Refer][Research][Reflect]
Geometry Step by Step from the Land of the
Incas
What I really like about the internet is
the connection you can make with cultures around the world.
And this culture reveals itself in the most unexpected ways
- geometry, Peruvian style, for example. The author, a
geometry and computer teacher in Lima, Peru, writes in his
email, "Geometry Step by Step from the Land of the Incas
provides an eclectic mix of sound, science, and Incan
history intended to interest students in Euclidean
geometry. Recent additions include Clifford's Circle Chain
Theorems. Simson Line (proof of Simson line) [and] The Raft
of the Medusa (problem solving with fractals and
animation)." By Antonio Gutierrez, April, 2004
[Refer][Research][Reflect]
Of Poems, The Changing Role of a Teacher, and
Children's Books...
Description of a teacher's
magazine, Teacher Plus, published in the south Indian city
of Hyderabad. Also, in the latter part of the article, the
article includes coverage of the associated World Education
Fellowship conference, an international body that believes
the primary purpose of education today is to "help us
become sensitive, competent and responsible individuals in
society and in the world community". If you like Fred's
reporting from India, I have two more of his article on my
site, here and here, with more (I hope) to come. By
Frederick Noronha, Stephen's Web, April 13, 2004
[Refer][Research][Reflect]
The Motivational Effect of ICT on
Pupils
This study was completed in December and
circulated via Sparticus today. In essence, this review of
17 school case studies suggests that the use of information
and communication technologies (ICT) has a positive
motivational impact on students, though this impact varies
with use. The strongest areas of improvement were in the
areas of engagement, reading and writing, research and
presentation, while the most useful technologies were the
internet, interactive whiteboards, writing and publishing
software and presentation software. By Don Passey, Colin
Rogers, Joan Machell, Gilly McHugh and Dave Allaway,
Department for Education and Skills, December, 2003
[Refer][Research][Reflect]
Vocabulary of E-commerce
This
French-English e-commerce glossary (or dictionary) has
moved since the last time I mentioned it in these pages;
this is its new location. Also on the subject of
translations is this Information Management Glossary by the
Treasury Board Secretariat, which includes sections on
intellectual property, metadata and information management.
Many more glossaries are available here. By Various Authors, Public Works
and Government Services Canada, January 21, 2004
[Refer][Research][Reflect]
User Group Meeting Summary and
Outcomes
This outcome from a recent DSpace users
meeting is familiar to everyone working on eduSource:
"Institutional Repositories are a high-value, long-term
vision, but are still very much works in progress." This
article summarizes the recent DSpace meeting, the presentations from which were just posted
online. By MacKenzie Smith, DSpace Federation, March 19,
2004
[Refer][Research][Reflect]
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