December 1, 2006
OLDaily
[link: 1 Hits] I'm not in love the way Alan is, but I am also using Google Reader - have been for a month or two now, switched just in time to avoid Bloglines's meltdown - and I have been mostly happy. What it doesn't have that I miss is a nice way to share my subscription list, which changes often. I can export my OPML file (
which is here) but this isn't a nice web page you can easily browse. Also, Google Reader is a little
too Ajax - I kee forgetting that the back button doesn't work and I keep closing the window by accident. [Tags:
Bloglines,
Google,
Subscription Services,
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[link: 7 Hits] I won't endorse every suggestion in this list - I have my doubts about Ginkgo biloba, for example - but I use the majority of them myself. A fun read, and there will certainly be stuff in the links that's new to you (I had a lot of fun with
Spreeder, the speed reading program. [Tags: ] [
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[link: 2 Hits] I have already run into issues with Internet Explorer 7 (its security settings effectively disabled an online business transaction form - of course the form didn't work at all in Firefox). Anyhow, this is a good checklist for designers and developers to review to prepare for IE7 visitors using your site. Thanks to gary for the link. [Tags:
Microsoft,
Security Issues] [
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[link: Hits]
Ecto is a social networking site with an educational focus. Developed as .asp which means some of the responses are slow (try searching for groups with an empty search field, for example). The idea is that you can create content (and course pages, with gradable components) 'free form'. Incoming RSS feeds added just a couple of days ago. The site is free. Related:
Scone. See also,
Click-a-teacher. Don Caldwell writes, "The idea was to allow teachers and tutors around the world (especially in developing countries) to create lessons about anything whatsoever, and offer it to students on an international scale. They could either offer it for free or charge for it." [Tags:
Networks] [
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[link: 1 Hits] This article captures the difference between discussion lists and blogs. "Computer conferencing emerged in an era that predates the Web, thus the tendency is for use that is separated from Internet resources and focuses on discussion of readings, or activities that take place off-line or behind passwords... The current generation of blogging tools were not designed for closed class courses and thus the component of teaching presence referenced as facilitating discourse is in some ways more challenging in a blog environment." Right. It's the capacity to shape the discussion ('facilitating discourse') that is much more difficult in a blog environment. This may explain the appeal of blogs to students - but it may also explain the rancor (that for example I have recently seen on a closed Australian discussion list) demonstrated by those that oppose them.
More articles from the current ITDL are now available. [Tags:
Web Logs,
Discussion Lists,
Conferencing] [
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[link: Hits] elearningeuropa, the European Commissions lifelong learning portal, has launched a new publication called eLearning Papers. "We intend to reinforce the visibility of the articles and, through a more rigorous editorial process, provide readers with more structured and quality texts." The first issue is
now available online. First thing they should do I would say, is to ditch the two column format, which is miserable to read online. [Tags:
Online Learning,
European Union,
Portals,
Quality] [
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[link: 1 Hits] According to the authors, "in the context of online communities, user-generated content has an important part to play in defining new pedagogical approaches to learning." Short (3 page) PDF. [Tags:
Online Learning Communities] [
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[link: Hits] An American businessman is mounting a $2 million campaign to convince legislators to spend money on education instead of on nuclear weapons. "The weapons we have now are 150,000 times more powerful than what we dropped on Hiroshima," he says. "With $10 billion a year you could rebuild every school in the country that needs fixing over the next 12 years." Given the need by business for a well-educated workforce, it is no surprise that hundreds of business executives have signed on. [Tags:
United States,
Schools] [
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[link: 1 Hits] More coverage of the action by open source LMS organizations to challenge the Blackboard patent at the the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office after attempts to negotiate with the company failed. "Fontana said that it thus became clear that Blackboard couldn't be relied on to respect the open source movement. 'They made it pretty clear that they wanted to hold on to the option of suing open source providers,' he said." Also, from
vnunet Yahoo UK and Ireland, "Despite repeated assurances that it won't target the open source projects, Blackboard is now wrongly portrayed as an enemy of open source, [Blackboard counsel Matthew] Small complained... 'This is more of an emotional and religious issue for some people than that it is really a practical concern.'" More coverage:
Press Release from the Software Freedom Law Center.
Press Release from the Sakai Foundation.
My article in Innovate (registration required, sorry) on the Blackboard patent. Articles from
Information Week,
TechDirt,
Personal Computer World,
TechWeb,
vnunet. [Tags:
Online Learning,
Information,
Blackboard,
Copyright and Patent Issues,
Project Based Learning,
Open Source,
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[link: Hits] Document repository for ISO's JTC1 information technology standards workgroup. The contents aren't especially illuminating and there's no RSS, but you can at least see something here. What I don't see, though, is the 'cease and desist' letter ISO is now working under because of IP restrictions. "All work within ISO/IEC JTC1 SC36 making use of IMS specifications and standards, including the IMS accessibility specifications and the IMS content packaging and simple sequencing specifications (the latter two are part of SCORM), must cease until such time as there is an agreed upon Intellectual Property rights agreement between ISO and IMS." The letter was sent to JC36 members from David Hyde, Eur Ing, DIC, Secretariat of ISO/IEC JTC1 SC36.
[Tags:
Accessibility,
Learning Object Repositories,
IMS Project,
SCORM] [
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I want and visualize and aspire toward a system of society and learning where each person is able to rise to his or her fullest potential without social or financial encumberance, where they may express themselves fully and without reservation through art, writing, athletics, invention, or even through their avocations or lifestyle.
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