Stephen's Web

OLDaily

by Stephen Downes
November 3, 2008

The Tower and the Cloud
Many people are linking to this today. I haven't had the chance to read it but it is worth passing along. "New social computing approaches are inviting people to share in the creation and edification of information on the Internet. Empowerment of the individual -- or consumerization -- is reducing the individual's reliance on traditional brick-and-mortar institutions in favor of new and emerging virtual ones." A book-length publication available as a free PDF download. Richard N. Katz, EDUCAUSE, November 3, 2008 [Link] [Tags: Linking and Deep Linking] [Comment]

BlackBoard Is Such an Open Stud
I'll just quote Jim Groom and let you judge for yourself: "This is classic, and it's so bad it's almost good, which is what scares me about it. But the misinformation campaign being run here about openness is dangerous, and the portrayal of Bb NG as "a hip stud" who gets all the hot girls because he is so Web 2.0 just tells you how much Bb mocks you, abuses you, and insults your intelligence." here's the video. Jim Groom, bavatuesdays, November 3, 2008 [Link] [Tags: Web 2.0, Video, Project Based Learning] [Comment]

Citizen Voices
The Governor-General of Canada (our head of state, the Queen's representative in Canada) has her own blog. Take that, Wired. Here's a recent entry. Via Pete Mackay. Michaelle Jean, Government of Canada, November 3, 2008 [Link] [Tags: Canada, Web Logs] [Comment]

Reasons Researchers Really Rate Repositories
It feels like the word 'rate' is being used in an odd way here? As though it means, 'to use'. Or, 'to rank as good'? No matter: it's an interesting article, no matter how you understand the word 'rate'. "So there we have it. Or them, rather. Reasons researchers really rate repositories: vast visibility, increased impact, worry-reduced workflow." This post was in response to a request from Les Carr for "a collection of success stories - anecdotes of how repositories have been able to improve the lot of researchers - for appealing to institutional repository nay-sayers and open access agnostics." Be sure to send in your stories. Alma Swan, OptimalScholarship, November 3, 2008 [Link] [Tags: Research, Learning Object Repositories] [Comment]

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