By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Brent Muirhead[Edit][Delete]: Creating Concept Maps: Integrating Constructivism Principles into Online Classes, International Journal of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning [Edit][Delete]International Journal of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning [Edit][Delete] January 24, 2006

Am I a morally good person? It's a question I often ask myself - not because I habitually commit evil acts, but because morality is something I still don't fully understand, which in turn leads me to wonder whether what I say and do is morally right. Uncertainty is the constant companion of reflection, I guess. My moral dilemmas won't be solved by the discussion in this paper, but the framework offered by Brent Muirhead - an examination of good character - serves as a nice example for the constructivist use of concept maps in a class. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Larry Sanger[Edit][Delete]: Toward a New Expert Internet: An Open Letter to the Academic Community Online, Digital Universe [Edit][Delete] January 24, 2006

Tomorrow I am off to Saint John all day to talk about learning networks, so the newsletter will be a bit late. Today I lead off with an item from Larry Sanger, who is trying to start an expert-written online encyclopedia. In his new blog, Digital Universe, he writes, "My claim is that experts could be mobilized online in the way that ordinary netizens have been mobilized by Wikipedia, to work on content projects far larger and more important than an encyclopedia--and that this suggestion has revolutionary potential. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Dan McCrea[Edit][Delete]: Ajax Office Review, Innerphaze [Edit][Delete] January 23, 2006

I have mentioned Writely in this space in the past - it is a web-based word processor you write in using your browser. This article offers a very good overview of seven similar services, including gOffice and ThinkFree. I can only surmise that the number of these services will increase, as it is not rocket science to create one. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Various authors[Edit][Delete]: Curverider, January 23, 2006

[link: Hits] Curverider launches today. "Curverider offers commercial support for the Elgg open source community enabling platform" and was founded by the developers of Elgg. Harold Jarche comments, "For the end-user, this business model is a dream. You can get the developers to support you, but if your needs change or you want to work with someone else you are free to leave with your source code. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. WCSDTechie[Edit][Delete]: Related Sites and Info for Stephen Downes Session, Techie Ramble [Edit][Delete] January 23, 2006

[link: Hits] If you're still working through my 10 hours of podcast from Edson, you may want to refer to this page, written by one of the attendees, collecting the links mentioned in our discussion. Here is where some attendees posted the address to their brand-new blogs. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Akira Namatame[Edit][Delete]: Collective Intelligence and Evolution, ERCIM News [Edit][Delete] January 23, 2006

[link: Hits] We need to distinguish between 'selfish' behaviour and 'autonomous' behaviour. It is not obvious (and probably false) that self-directed behaviour will be (strictly) self-interested behaviour. Why would ants teach other ants, otherwise? How would self-sacrifice ever have emerged as a moral good? So this article, I would argue, is fundamentally misguided, and that the effort to "investigate the loss of collective welfare due to selfish and uncoordinated behavior" is something different than described here. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Collaborative Online Development of Modular Intelligent Agents, ERCIM News [Edit][Delete] January 23, 2006

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Heather J. Ruskin and Ray Walshe[Edit][Delete]: Emergent Computing, ERCIM News [Edit][Delete] January 23, 2006

[link: Hits] As the editors summarize in this introduction to this special issue of ERCIM News, emergent computing is "highly complex processes arising from the cooperation of many simple processes, ie high-level behaviour resulting from low- level interaction of simpler building blocks." If you are wondering about the sort of theoretical background I am thinking of when I am thinking of learning networks, this is it (won't fit on the two page project approval template, though). More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Mudasiru Olalere Yusuf[Edit][Delete]: Problems and Prospects of Problems and Prospects of Open and Distance Education in Nigeria, Turkish Online Journal of Distance Education [Edit][Delete] January 23, 2006

[link: 1 Hits] Frank look at the implementation of open and distance learning in Nigeria and the problems faced by the service. Most of the problems are what would be expected - poor electricity service, postal service and telecommunications. Also facing Nigerians are inconsistencies in implementation and an inadequate ICT infrastructure. The author correctly argues for the need for stakeholder involvement and of finding ways to communicate with students in order to offer support. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Brian Thill[Edit][Delete]: An Idea Too Dangerous to Ignore, Inside Higher Ed [Edit][Delete] January 23, 2006

I would like to invite the same organization to put up $100 to each of my readers who spots and sends in some instance of bias or political affiliation on this site. And to my readers, I pledge to offer a steady supply, to keep you all in cash. Or we could all recognize that having a point of view or perspective is fundamental to the very idea of being an academic, that such points of view are sometimes, and necessarily, out of the mainstream, and that the very principle of freedom of expression rails against the idea of punishing people - whatever their positions - for their political views. More...