By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. National Web Library Do-able, Affordable, Visionary
Michael Geist sent me a note today to let me know that his columns in the Toronto Star - sadly sitting behind a registration barrier - are also available without registration on his website. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. How do we Learn the Things we Value Most?
I too have been reading some of Dave Pollard's recent work with interest (and it's long overdue for acompilation post) and I find myself not only nodding in agreement with Brian Alger's assessment but also wanting to say that this is the motivation that informs my own approach and style: "these models, ways of thinking, methods and processes are so completely devoid of any reference to authentic living that we delude ourselves in an ever increasing spiral of abstraction... we forget to talk about ourselves... where are the lives of real people in all of this intellectual scaffolding we hold on to?" The presumption always seems to be, if we somehow create a system, it will all be better. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Transparency and Education
So I'm in Vancouver after having spent a day flying across the country. I've been coding, taking photos, and generally thinking about power, community and progress. Maybe people will see this year as the beginning of a new (and smarter) approach to learning, the recognition that learning cannot be programmed for a group of individuals as though they were machines. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. COL Learning Object Repository
Paul West advises that the Commonwealth of Learning's Learning Object Repository has opened, and writes, "It's based on a combination of 'eRIB' and 'pakXchange', which gives it a strong database with security. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. University of Phoenix puts Technology at Learning’s Forefront
Survey coverage of the University of Phoenix's operations in Spokane, Washington, with an emphasis on the use of simulations. I note this because it marks the clear incursion into another state. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. OASIS Patent Policy Sparks Boycott
This was pretty inevitable. "A who's who of the open-source and free-software movements on Tuesday took aim at a leading Web services standards group, escalating pressure for mandatory royalty-free licensing policies with calls for a boycott of its specifications." OASIS does not require that submission be patent-free, which means that companies that use OASIS specifications could at any time be hit with a lawsuit over a previously undisclosed patent. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. The Right Horse and Harness to Pull the Carriage
In my mind, the requirement of a PhD Dissertation is essentially a requirement of a demonstrated committment to orthodoxy. Yes, a harness. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. New Teacher and Student Roles in the Technology-Supported, Language Classroom
The February issue of the International Journal of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning is out. I cite three articles, beginning with this. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Google Toolbar, Desktop Search, and API Topics
A new feature in the Google Toolbar, one which inserts links to useful resources into web pages - whether the webpage author wants them there or not - is drawing the ifre of webpage designers. More...