May 26, 2011
How Our School Adopted Social Media, One Small Step at a Time
Eric Sheninger,
Huffington Post, May 26, 2011.
This link to the archive of the event will take you to an Adobe Connect recording (with great sound; quelle surprise!) of this free online session on the use of social media in schools. Interesting sponsorship model. The event is a N.J. School Boards Association (NJSBA) live event called Learn@Lunch, and the speaker is Eric Sheninger, principal at New Milford High School. Sheninger writes, "small changes, combined with many others, are beginning to have a huge impact on the teaching, learning, and community culture of my school. Even though I have highlighted examples specific to technology, there have also been changes focused on curriculum and programming. Politicians and self-proclaimed reformers routinely throw around the word change and think that a one-size-fits-all approach is what's needed to increase student achievement and innovation. Each school is an autonomous body with distinct dynamics that make it unique. It's the small changes over time that will eventually leave a lasting impact."
From the CogDogLab: Pechaflickr
Alan Levine,
CogDogBlog, May 26, 2011.
Today's fiun and games comes courtesy Alan Levine, who has taken the concept of Pecha Kucha, combined it with Flickr randomness, and created an exercise in improvisation. Can you think on your feet and create a coherent narrative in front of a group of people (as they tweet about your talk behind your back)? If you dare, pecha flickr will through 20 random slides at you for 20 seconds each. I'll give it a live try tomorrow.
Wait. What? I can buy an LMS with a credit card?
Janet Clarey,
Bersin and Associates, May 26, 2011.
What's interesting about this item is not the fact that you can buy an LMS for less than the price of a car, but that you can look at it online, buy it online, and get it up and running basically without salespeople or technical support. Janet Clarey writes, "Intellum will accommodate any organization's years-long sales cycle. Yes, Intellum can crank out an RFP response if that's what you require (and you'll find a wealth of info in that link). But you can also just test drive Rollbook, buy it online (they have an install option), and be up and running without even talking to a sales rep. I once bought a minivan on my lunch break. Now I can buy an LMS that way."
Casting an Open Net: a Leading Edge Approach to Canada's Digital Future
Various Authors,
OpenMedia.ca, May 26, 2011.
Extensive and well-researched report available as web pages or a 144-page PDF on digital pricing and distribution policy in Canada. The report, supported by OpenMedia.ca, argues against bandwidth caps, usage-based billing and service throttling. It shows that prices are higher, and services lower, in Canada than elsewhere in the OECD (the opposite of where we were a decade ago) and shows Canadians are in favour of an open and neutral net policy in Canada.
How Should UK Universities Respond to EU Cookie Legislation?
Brian Kelly,
UK Web Focus, May 26, 2011.
The EU's Privacy and Communications Directive comes into force today with one of the major directives concerning cookies. As Brian Kelly notes, "This requires user's consent before using cookies – the text files which are used for various purposes including storing browsing information." Many sites - and pretty much every institutional site - uses cookies routinely. This leads to a problem implementing the law: "One problem sites are wrestling with if the ICO insists on enforcement is a catch-22 where if people choose not to accept cookies, then sites will have to keep asking them if they want to accept cookies – because they will not be able to set a cookie indicating their preference."
On this website I face no such contradiction. The software assumes that each visitor is an anonymous entity - Anymouse - and unless directed otherwise loads the personal profile for that entity. No cookie required. Cookies will be set only if a person registers, and are reset only if they log in again. The registration page links to a privacy page that outlines, among other things, our use of cookies. I think the presumption of anonymity is important and have always supported the right to post anonymous comments on this website. So I'm pretty sure I comply with the EU regulations, but if I don't, I'm sure the EU will take the time to tell me.
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