By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Tina Besley: Foucault, Truth Telling and Technologies of the Self in Schools, Journal of Educational Enquiry November 24, 2005

Discussion of Foucault in education can be a lot of fun, and this excursion through the concept of self and truth-telling in schools is no exception. There is a sense in which telling the truth can be a denial of self, as in the case of a confession, and yet with a cultivation of self the telling of truth can be a manifestation or extension of self. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Various authors: O3: The Open Source Enterprise Data Networking Magazine November 24, 2005

Thanks to Bill McIver for this link announcing the launch of this new open source magazine. The PDF downloads are a pain, but I guess they wouldn't be able to distribute the full page glossy advertisements otherwise. The content, however, makes up for the format, for example, the article An Introduction to Linux and Open Source for Business. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Ann Hulbert: The Prodigy Puzzle, New York Times November 24, 2005

This is an interesting article, but I'm not sure quite what to make of it. Given that we can identify child geniuses (and it's not clear than we can), what then? Do we nurture and foster them? A look at actual geniuses shows that many have had to overcome barriers. Do we normalize their achievement so they feel less like outcasts? Again, it seems that geniuses have a high tolerance for solitary (and even anti-social?) environments. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Leigh Blackall: Die LMS die! You too PLE!, Teach and Learn Online November 24, 2005

Some interesting reaction to the advocacy of the Personal Learning Environment (PLE) that has been floating around recently. "The VLE, LMS and PLE are the same. A suggestion that the Internet, and informal networked learning are not enough"s. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Peter Schilling: Technology as Epistemology, Academic Commons November 24, 2005

Good article challenging traditional conceptions (in a way I support) of truth and knowledge. "Not only do our students posses skills and experiences that previous generations do not, but the very neurological structures and pathways they have developed as part of their learning are based on the technologies they use to create, store, and disseminate information. Importantly, these pathways and the categories, taxonomies, and other tools they use for thinking are different than those used by their teachers. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Gerry White: Learning Environment Design for Learners and Teachers, Education.au November 23, 2005

This working paper argues that while a learning management system is suitable for distance learning, the wider scope of e-learning requires not just an LMS but a set of tgools, characterized in seven layers or types of service. Good discussion, moving in the same general direction as other commentators cited here. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Ilana Snyder: Pattern Recognition: A Critical Reading of the e-Learning Research, Education.au November 23, 2005

There's a lot to disagree with in this paper (for example, the selection of literature to be studied in order to find patterns, assertions about the impact of rural digital access) but I am more interested in the positive thesis: "Our challenge is to find ways to use what new media have to offer in productive ways but, at the same time, to become, together with our students, critical and capable users: to engage in pattern recognition." Pattern perception is basic to cognition (and more), and I've been thinking about that recently: how would we alter the cognitive landscape of children if we taught them at an early age how their brain works, not only in the sense of teaching them how to recognize patterns, but also in the sense that the brain naturally completes partial patterns based on pre-existing 'templates' in the brain - to teach them, in other words, how prior conceptions inform current perceptions. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Rachel Hardy, Charles Oppenheim, Tim Brody and Steve Hitchcock: Open Access Citation Information, University of Southampton November 23, 2005

Very useful paper for those with an interest in metadata and indexing. The first third of the paper discusses open access publishing; good stuff, a nice review, but not really new. The second third is a useful discussion of indexing services and techniques currently extant, drawing from both commercial and non-commercial services. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Unattributed: Observatory on Rights Management for e-Learning in Europe, ORMEE - Observatory on Rights Management for e-Learning in Europe November 23, 2005

Good overview of approaches to digital rights management (DRM) in education, with a focus on Europe. The first half of the paper describes approaches to DRM in general, though with an emphasis on traditional textbooks and like content, and with an emphasis on the sale of learning content (open access is not mentioned). More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Riina Vuorikari: No e-Learning Patents! No Software Patents!, FLOSSE Posse November 23, 2005

A big issue at the Open Source in Education conference I attended in Heerlen last week was the ongoing dispute about software patents in Europe - the legislation that will not go away, no matter how many times it is defeated, it seems. An outcome of the conference was an initiative struck from the perspective of e-learning to work against this legislation. More...