By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Deconstructed Distributed Conversations
Another entry in the ongoing conversation about using blogs in con versations, as Will Richardson recaps. It seems to me that there's a real skill in writing such recaps, and that if you want to learn about a topic in a hurry, following and summarizing such conversations (whatever the topic) is a good way to go. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Open Source Software and Schools: New Opportunities and Directions
Great summary of an article from the Canadian Journal of Learning and Technology (which really needs RSS feeds). After recounting the problems faced by schools using commercial IT, the benefits of open source in the same environment are outlined. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Software Patents Don't Compute
Could you patent a pri nciple of mathematics - 2+2=4, say? No, it wouldn't make sense. Then what to make of this argument, which says, in a sentence, "No clear boundary between math and software exists". More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. RSS Magic
The blog conversation on the use of blogs as conversation continues (you almost think they're doing this deliberately to make a point). Will Richardson makes an important point: "Without a fundamental understanding of RSS glue, distributed conversations are fundamentally illogical. How can we call Alan and David's separate posts on this topic a conversation?" But the results generated by RSS readers are not yet sufficiently robust to make this connection clear; we need RSS Referencing to do that. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. The Portal is the Platform, Part III
Michael Feldstein's observations on learning management software has become a three part series (Part One, Part Two, Part Three). I am not sure I would use the word 'portal' as freely as he does - to me, the word 'portal' connotes a centralized structure and directory-based access to resources. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Computing Means Connecting
Dave Tosh fills in the vision a little bit more, beginning with the premise that 'computing means connecting' and then articulating that vision via persuasive definition of e-portfolios. Crucil to the concept, he argues, is not merely that they are personal, but also, but that they are personally owned. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Papers of WWW2005 Workshop on the Weblogging Ecosystem
Via Mathemagenic, the papers from this World Wide Web con ference on blogging are available. Personally I think that when a bunch of researchers release their papers about the web in PDF (especially two-column PDF) they demonstrate that they are profoundly not getting it. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Learning Technology
This special issue of Learning Technology, focusing on immersive learning, is well worth the read. Though most of the examples relate to engineering and robotic technology, the general approach is one that could be emulated in other disciplines. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Croquet
Tom Abeles sent me this week last week or so and I didn't have a chance to follow it up until today (sorry Tom). And I might add, to follow it up in detail would require much more than a week. Open Croquet is a multi-user software environment that allows users to rewrite the environment while working in the environment. It is similar in this way to a MOO gone mad. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. ARG vs Wikipedia vs Blogosphere
Bryan Alexander offers a good analysis of the Jamie Kane controversity, an incident in which the BBC, in the course of staging a distributed alternate-reality game (ARG), appeared to use Wikipedia to promote its product, creating controversy and accusations all round. Alexander correctly identifies this as a Web 2.0 controversity, and while noting that the criticisms raised questions of trust and reliability, points to how quickly the user-authored media quickly self-corrected. More...