Stephen's Web

OLDaily

by Stephen Downes
December 13, 2007

Interoperability for the Discovery, Use, and Re-Use of Units of Scholarly Communication
This is a useful, though quite technical, paper discussing how to reuse common resources - like images and videos - that appear on academic and educational web pages. The core of the proposal is a 'resource map' that basically identifies an HTML page (known as the 'splash page') and the resources (like images, videos, etc.) linked or embedded in that page. These resource maps resemble the tables I would use in Edu_RSS when trying to identify 'conversations' between bloggers (and if I could simply use such a map produced by someone else, it would save me a lot of processing). What is significant is that these resources can be 'graphed' - that is, the links and connections between pages and resources creates an interlinked network of such resources that can be crawled by mechanized aggregators. See also Link] [Tags: Books, Networks] [Comment]

Dokeos
I hadn't seen this before it turned up in an email from Stuart Yeates. Dokeos is an open source learning management system "used in more than 600 companies and public administrations to manage e-learning and blended learning programmes." The application is written in PHP. There is also a Java application that is used to add Flash-based audio and video streaming to the videoconferencing application. It also adds an audio recording feature. This extension depends on OpenLaszlo. (Of course, if I had studied the UNESCO free and open source software portal more closely, I would have seen it.) Various Authors, Website December 13, 2007 [Link] [Tags: Audio Chat and Conferencing, Audio, Online Learning, Conferencing, Video, Blended Learning, Open Source] [Comment]

My OLPC XO Came Today
Doug Johnson has received his OLPC in the mail - he paid $400, of which $200 paid for his machine and $200 went to pay for a machine sent somewhere else in the world. His first post was just a photo, but he then followed up with detailed reviews, first here and then here. Interesting reading. Doug Johnson, Blue Skunk Blog December 13, 2007 [Link] [Tags: none] [Comment]

Vietnam OpenCourseWare
The Vietnamese OpenCourseWare site was launched yesterday, almost at the same time a similar event was happening at Yale. Various Authors, Website December 13, 2007 [Link] [Tags: none] [Comment]

TV Download Battle Finally Begins in Canada
Content - including television and sporting events - is being licensed for sale via iTunes in Canada. I will continue to watch those few shows I want to watch for free, on television. If they take the shows off television, well then I guess I won't know what I'm missing, and won't buy it anyway. More from the Globe and Mail, which looks at the even more ridiculous prospect of selling video iPods in Canada with absolutely nothing available to view on them. Goodness. Google should sell a simple video viewing device and hook it up to the free video on YouTube. That would deflate Apple's business plan in about ten minutes. Unattributed, CBC News December 13, 2007 [Link] [Tags: Video, Canada] [Comment]

Immersive Education: Education Grid
Harvard University recently hosted a event to highlight an initiative developing a "platform that combines interactive 3D graphics, commercial game and simulation technology, virtual reality, voice chat (Voice over IP/VoIP), Web cameras (webcams) and rich digital media with collaborative online course environments and classrooms." There are suggestive diagrams on the site describing a layer of common code that will connect Wonderland, Croquet, Second Life and World of Warcraft. There is already a consortium of institutions that have joined this project. "Media Grid standards, technologies and initiatives (such as Immersive Education) are developed by an international collaboration of universities, colleges, research institutes, consortia and companies." Various Authors, Harvard University December 13, 2007 [Link] [Tags: Traditional and Online Courses, Audio Chat and Conferencing, Chatrooms, Second Life, Research, Gaming, Project Based Learning, Voice Over IP, Simulations] [Comment]

Augmented Evolvement Architecture
Julia Pichler introduces a new blog that will slowly, over the course of weeks and months, reveal a project about storytelling in augmented media. The project started with an introductory post a couple of weeks ago and has progressed through the introduction of Lila in Second Life, an avatar that isn't exactly the persona of her creator. Lila, you'll find, writes in the light text. The project also includes resources such as Ning and Facebook - see the full list in this post. It's complicated, but I really like the creativity, the visual elements (especially the drawings), and the multiple tracks. Julia Pichler, Weblog December 13, 2007 [Link] [Tags: Traditional and Online Courses, Second Life, Books, Project Based Learning, Web Logs] [Comment]

 

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