OLDaily

Unattributed[Edit][Delete]: Maine Extends Laptop Program with Apple, ESchool News [Edit][Delete] July 7, 2006

[link: 13 Hits] In what is probably the most telling endorsement of all, the State of Maine has signed a $40 million deal to extend its laptop program. Now where was that scepticism again? [Tags: Apple, Portable Computers] [Comment] [Edit] [Delete] [Spam]

Wesley Fryer[Edit][Delete]: MySpace Tricks and Info, Moving at the Speed of Creativity [Edit][Delete] July 7, 2006

[link: 7 Hits] Almost everyone will find at least one new tip or trick here. And if not, then try the Blog tips and tricks listed by Miguel Guhlin. I've been testing the Gabbly chat interface on another site - it seems to work pretty well! [Tags: MySpace, Chat and Chat Rooms] [Comment] [Edit] [Delete] [Spam]

Various authors[Edit][Delete]: Web 2.0 Slides, July 7, 2006

[link: 9 Hits] Funny. "Web2.0Slides is a self-running slide show of over 1,400 of the best Web2.0 sites. It's categorized by tags and sorted alphabetically. What's cool about it? You can click on any site in the left-hand column to pause the slide show and surf around. When you're done, simply click PLAY, and it will begin right where you left off." Nifty way to show links - I looked for a way to do a TagSlide demo for OLDaily. I signed on with my new OpenID address. But there's no way to add new links. Still, pretty nifty. Via Emma Duke-Williams. And while we're on the topic, why not listen to the Web 2.0 in education podcast from NECC 06. [Tags: Cool, Ontologies, Web 2.0, Podcasting] [Comment] [Edit] [Delete] [Spam]

Robert Sylwester[Edit][Delete]: Connecting Brain Processes to School Policies and Practices, BrainConnection [Edit][Delete] July 7, 2006

[link: 1 Hits] The concept of 'brain-based teaching', strictly speaking, doesn't make sense, argues this column. "We educators tended to blindly follow the instructional advice of those who seemed to understand brain processes. We were thus vulnerable to bogus claims that brain research had validated this or that curricular program or instructional strategy." I believe that what I have to say about learning is supported by brain research - but I would be very hesitant to say that it is brain-based, because knowledge about learning involves more than just the neural processes in a brain, and is validated differently than in the biological sciences. [Tags: Research] [Comment] [Edit] [Delete] [Spam]

Nick Timiraos[Edit][Delete]: Free, Legal and Ignored, Wall Street Journal [Edit][Delete] July 7, 2006

[link: Hits] Even the Wall Street Journal is recognizing the futility of the business models being proposed my online misic services. "College students don't turn down much that's free. But when it comes to online music, even free hasn't been enough to persuade many students to use such digital download services as Napster, Rhapsody, Ruckus and Cdigix." As it turns out, reports the article, people prefer to have music collections that they own, rather than to merely rent. Also, the mishmash of proprietary systems raises the problem of compatibility. But that now leaves universities in a bind, as they were put under considerable pressure to offer the services in the first place. "The RIAA's push to buy into these services strikes me as protection money. Buy in and we'll protect you from our lawsuits," says Kenneth C. Green, the Campus Computing Project's director. Via University Business. [Tags: ] [Comment] [Edit] [Delete] [Spam]

Jennifer McLean[Edit][Delete]: Forgotten Faculty: Stress and Job Satisfaction Among Distance Educators, Online Journal of Distance Learning Administration [Edit][Delete] July 7, 2006

[link: 1 Hits] Useful study which conforms generally to my own experience. The author writes, "it is important to recognize that distance educators view themselves as dedicated almost exclusively to instruction. The traditional triad of higher educators sharing their time between teaching, service and scholarship is not perceived as applicable." Moreover, "the strong independence shown by this panel makes conformity to institutional regulations less likely among distance educators." You mean I was not supposed to partition the institution server and set up my own private multi-user environment? Heh. See more papers from the current Online Journal of Distance Learning Administration. [Tags: Experience] [Comment] [Edit] [Delete] [Spam]

Chris Barlas[Edit][Delete]: Digital Rights Expression Languages (DRELs), Jisc [Edit][Delete]JISC [Edit][Delete] July 7, 2006

[link: Hits] Very good article written for JISC on digital rights expression languages (DRELs), a set of languages aptly described as ways of codifying "instructions for digital rights management systems". People familiar with DRELs may want to skip directly to part 9, which describes the author's projections on the role of DRELs in the future, though the paper is sufficiently up to date readers may find it useful to look at things like the description of DReaM-MMI, which was only made public in March of this year. I like the distinction between enforcement and trust systems, but I think the article cedes too much to the DMCA-style regulations allowing distributors to supersede fair use provisions. It is not mentioned, for example, that only 59 nations have signed the WIPO provisions in this regard, so it is hardly a 'world standard', as implied in the text. Still, this is a very minor quibble with what is on the whole an authoritative and comprehensive look at the field, and even people new to DRELs will find it accessible. Thanks to Tony Hirst for the link. See also the JISC reports page. [Tags: Accessibility, Copyright and Patent Issues, Project Based Learning, Digital Rights Management (DRM), Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC)] [Comment] [Edit] [Delete] [Spam]

Ganesan Shankaranarayanan and Adir Even[Edit][Delete]: The Metadata Enigma, Communications of the ACM [Edit][Delete] July 7, 2006

[link: Hits] Good paper making the point that there are numerous types of metadata, including what the author calls 'process metada' and 'quality metadata'. I am in agreement with the general point but less happy with his characterization of six types of metadata. On my other blog I provide a short summary of the article. [Tags: Web Logs, Metadata, Quality] [Comment] [Edit] [Delete] [Spam]