Embedding a Google Document
Doug Peterson, Doug - Off the Record, May 10, 2011.

Yesterday, writes Doug Peterson, "WordPress.com announced that they've added the ability to embed a Google Document into a blog posting." And to make the point he has a nice demonstration. But it got me to thinking - was there ever a time I could not embed a Google Document into OLDaily (ie., in gRSShopper)? And I'm thinking, probably not.

I've always supported full HTML (though it doesn't always show up in email readers, since they filter things like iframe tags) and hence have always supported Google Documents. Just, um, saying. And, not like it isn't cool or anything.

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The Slow-Motion Mobile Campus
Josh Keller, Chronicle of Higher Education, May 10, 2011.

It's always frustrating to read the Chronicle of Higher Education when it covers technology because so often it just doesn't get the program. Calling DStanmford students "tech-savvy" because they sleep with their iPhones should in no way entail they would embrace the partially-functional and non-utilitarian iPads in a classroom setting. This is especially the case if the wireless doesn't work. To cite student reticence to depend on a devioce that isn't ready for prime time, on a network still struggling with down time, does not in any way show that the concept is ill-conceived. And there are zingers throughout the article, somehow linking the iPad to digital ID and attendance tracking.

And this: "For an anatomy course, instructional-technology officials built a three-dimensional, interactive map of the brain for the iPad. But a professor who had supported its use happened to stop teaching the course, and his replacements didn't want to use the iPad. The map hasn't been used since." For goodness sake, why didn't it occur to the reporter to ask the Stanford PR people why they hadn't released the map as an open educational resource where it would be widely used by students worldwide? Like I said, they're just not with the program...

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Open Educational Resources (OER): Switching the focus from production to re-use?
Sir John Daniel, Commonwealth of Learning, May 10, 2011.

Having just 'discovered' Stian Håklev, a writer who should be familiar to OLDaily readers, and on learning how "out of step" he is, Sir John Daniel may want to consider subscribing to this newsletter (or at least picking up the OPML feed for his news reader, if he uses one). He is just now considering switching the focus from production of OERs to re-use, which the rest of the community is considering switching the focus from reuse to community production (or the 'prosumer' model of sustainability). He recogbnizes that "allied to the current producer focus is a prevalent attitude that can charitably be called noblesse oblige or less charitably, neo-colonialism," but not, I fear, that focus on consumption perpetuates the same attitude. I continue to have mixed feelings about Daniel's role in open learning; his support for open learning and open educational resources is to be lauded, but I fear he looks only to cabinet ministers and directors for innovation, when it is really happening on the ground at the hands of people he can only by happenstance 'discover'.

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Student Banned from Commencement Because of Facebook Post
Mike Petroff, .eduGuru, May 10, 2011.

Honestly, I don't think this sort of action has anything to do with content being posted on Facebook, and instead has everything to do with a student expressing his opinion and his school not liking it and reacting in heavy-handed fashion. After all, this sort of thing would happen to me when I was in school (yeah, I've always been outspoken) and that was long before Facebook. And it's funny to think that after however many years of education at Saint Augustine's College, the main lesson Roman Caple takes away from his graduation is that he does not live in a democracy. Here's Caple in this video:

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Facebook To Developers: It's Time We Had The OAuth, HTTPS Talk
Darnell Clayton, The Blog Herald, May 10, 2011.

Facebook to app developers: "Today, we are announcing an update to our Developer Roadmap that outlines a plan requiring all sites and apps to migrate to OAuth 2.0, process the signed_request parameter, and obtain an SSL certificate by October 1. (Facebook Developers Blog)." I guess I'd better get reading and slinging code around secure internet identification protocols, because they appear to be coming on like a Freightbook train.

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Microsoft to Buy Skype for $8.5 Billion
Adam C. Engst, TidBits, May 10, 2011.

Microsoft is (*yawn*) buying Skype for $8.5 Billion. "The acquisition makes sense from many perspectives, since Skype had never figured out a sustainable business model, and Skype's primary asset - its best-of-class technology for voice and video calls - fits well into the technology portfolio of a large company that can utilize it in numerous products and services." More from Skype Blog.

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The Story So Far: What We Know About the Business of Digital Journalism
Bill Grueskin, Ava Seave and Lucas Graves, Columbia Journalism Review, May 10, 2011.

Randy Cassingham writes, by email, "Columbia Journalism School has released a 129-page report on "The Story So Far: What We Know About the Business of Digital Journalism", which is free to download." Though focused mostly on American newspapers, this report is smart, thorough, and exhaustively researched. And it's interesting to me, because many of the newspapers it talks about - like the Newport News, from Rhode Island, for example - have smaller circulations than OLDaily. If you don't have time for the full report, jump to the chapter-by-chapter executive summary on page 133 (which I found after reading 132 pages - 132 very worthwhile pages). The authors conclude, "Many sites are filled with 'shovelware'-content that amounts to little more than electronic editions of words and pictures from traditional platforms. But, as we have seen, publishers can build economic success by creating high-value, less-commoditized content designed for digital media."

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