Gestion de l'information avec XML
Course on XML, written completely in XHTML and rendered using XSLT. Lots of good content with built-in quizzes (also in XHTML). In French. More...

Enterprise Blogging
Good overview of the potential uses for blogs ina commercial enterprise, including inbformation sources, employee communication, and corporate intelligence. More...

Microsoft to Launch RSS Aggregator
Short item saying that Microsoft is adding an RSS aggregator to My MSN. Confirmation here. I dusted off the old My MSN account (which still works) and took a good look around, but saw no sign of it. More...

Moodling Around in Anger - Some Initial Reflections
There has been a lot of talk about Moodle, the open source learning management. But what is it like for an institution that has typically used WebCT or Blackboard to start using it? This article looks at a real-life case - a use 'in anger', if you will. More...

Blink and The Wisdom of Crowds
Today's newsletter is more of a test of the newly reinstalled system, so I'll keep it short and send just this item, a discussion between Malcolm Gladwell, the author of The Tipping Point and Blink!, and James Surowiecki, author of The Wisdom of Crowds. The format is interesting - a back-and-forth exchange over the course of a week (this week, in fact; the final installment is tomorrow). More...

ED Outlines New Tech Priorities
The U.S. Department of Education has released its latest National Education Technology Plan (NETP). The report makes seven recommendations:
- Strengthen ed-tech leadership at the state and local levels
- Consider innovative budgeting
- Improve teacher training
- Support eLearning and virtual schooling initiatives
- Encourage broadband access
- Move toward digital content; and
- Integrate data systems. More...

Embodied Interaction and Seduction
This is a bit disjointed - you'll probably want to read the short Guardian article first, then this extended version, both of which describe the use of the camera (or eye toy) to create 'embodied interaction' in games. Then return to the main item, which reports on the use of such devices in game-based learning by boys and girls. More...

eLearning in 2000 and 2004: Two Different Pictures
According to the authors, "eLearning (in Europe) has almost completely disappeared from top-level policy speeches, both as a term suspected of having lost its impact, and - more seriously- as a significant component of educational policy." This comes four years after the onset of a significant e-learning initiative in Europe. More...

University Decentralization Debate to be Watched Closely
This is one of those things that's the thin edge of the wedge, a development that should be, as the headline suggests, watched closely. In general, I favour decentralization and institutional autonomy. But I have also commented that the university system is headed toward a funding crisis. More...

Slope One Predictors for Online Rating-Based Collaborative Filtering
As the title suggests, this paper describes an algorithm for rating-based collaborative filtering. This system calculates what readers like separately from what readers dislike. More...