By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. WigiWigi
Bill Brandon summarizes: "WigiWigi is the first public release of a video over IP application that is built on a completely new and unique protocol. Unlike other desktop videoconferencing applications, WigiWigi one does not require any specific DLLs, drivers, codecs, DirectX or dedicated third-party libraries. It doesn't even require an installation". More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Princeton to Launch DRM'd Textbook Program
A bit of a tempest has been launched with an announcement that Princeton University will now be selling DRM-enabled textbooks. "So let’s see — your laptop gets fried? Gotta buy a new book. Going home for break and the book is on your dormroom desktop machine? Tough luck — no printing, neither, y’hear? No returns or buybacks, either. Wow, what a deal!" Here is more coverage. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Manifesto for a Free Curriculum
More commentary on the free curriculum idea. James Farmer weighs in: "in 95% of cases curriculum is artificial, unhelpful and obstructive. Learning has in many contexts become what it is not about, content." A K M Adam offers the suggestion that organizations "such as the AMA, the ABA, AARP, ACLU" should spend their money creating learning content rather than expensive television ads. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. University of Phoenix Becomes Ecumenical, Spurns Non-Christian Faculty
Well the other shoe has dropped in the University of Phoenix's excursion into faith-based education. As Dave Taylor reports, in order to qualify for a teaching position in this new in itiative, you must agree to a statement of faith (and get a letter from your Pastor attesting this). As Taylor writes, "when a non-denominational institution like the University of Phoenix starts sending this out as a screening tool for teachers interested in an authorized University opportunity, alarm bells start ringing in my head". More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Podcast Theory Gap
Interesting reflections on how students actually use podcasts, and what educators should do when their use is different from the intended use. Best line in the paper: "Fight audio with audio: Podcasts and Audio as a Way to Combat Intrusive Thoughts." This is the norm for me. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Collaboration Tools: What's Out There
Blog coverage (and some notes by Alan Levine) and MP3 audio from our collaboration tools session at the Seminars on Academic Computing conference here in Snowmass, Colorado. The audio quality is, um, variable. The discussion focussed mostly on wikis and tagging tools, but we digressed a lot. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Colorado Rocky Mountain High

By Stephen Downes, August 10, 2005 [Refer][Research][Reflect]. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Storm Clouds Gather Over Podcasting
A Seattle public radio station, KEXP, wanted to produce a podcast, which it knew it would be a popular service. The record companies, however, were not willing to provide podcast licenses for the music, arguing fears of piracy. So the station invited 14 unsigned or small-label bands from the Seattle area to contribute songs, signing a simple podcast license with them. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. I Believe the Curriculum Will Be Free, But...
Rob Reynolds offers a detailed response to my comments from yesterday: "Downes said that my original argument 'is a bit like being skeptical about Wikipedia because Britannica has hired all the encyclopedia authors,' but that was not my meaning at all. I am not skeptical about the possibility of a free curriculum because all the authors already work for publishers, but rather because I know how hard it is to foster widespread, voluntary collaboration on projects among faculty and administrators". More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Session 3 – Secure Identity Management
Craig Blaha appears to be covering a conference, though I can't determine which conference. Anyhow, this item caught my eye, as being representative of exactly the wrong way to approach online identity management. More...