By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. AutoLink Again
Google's new Toolbar has the capacity to insert links into web pages. The links point to things like maps from Google's map service and definitions from answer.com. Some in the blogosphere have not reacted well to this development, Dave Winer for example launching a barrage of criticism. There is no question in my mind that Google ought to be allowed to do this - we work under the assumption that Google will allow me to do the same to its pages, and that Toorbar advertisers will allow me to use and repurpose their content. Rip, Mix, Feed. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Duke Evaluates iPod Experiment
It's still a couple of weeks before we see the results of Duke's iPod experiment, but I think one thing will be clear: in order to obtain a benefit from the technology, you have to use it. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Building Online Communities Beyond Dating
Addressing the online dating community, Michael Jones observes that social networks are increasingly taking on a matchmaking function and suggests that, in order to compete, dating services need to incorporate blogs and social networking tools. This item comes up in the course of a discussion about the introduction in Friendster of Typepad blogs. Here's an example. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. UKeU: The Final Curtain?
Seb Schmoller sent me this link to the Third Report of the Education and Skills Committee in Great Britain, a fascinating and often scathing discussion of UKeU. "UKeU did not have anyone with e-learning expertise in a senior management position." Recipe for failure. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Educating the Net Generation
I read the EDUCAUSE online book, "Educating the Net Generation" through the course of the week. I had highlighted one paper, the final piece in the book, by Chris Dede, giving it a lukewarm review. My feelings about the work as a whole are similar. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Connectivism
George Siemens launches a companion wiki for his article, Connectivism Still a bit empty, but a good starting point. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Living in a Distributed World
The MP3 of my online talk, Living in a Distributed World is now available. In this talk I contrast centralized and distributed approaches to learning technology and outline the distributed approach. The PowerPoint slides are also available, or if you wish, you can view the session directly on Elluminate. By Stephen Downes, Stephen's Web, February 25, 2005 [Refer][Research][Reflect]. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Video of Teacher's Outburst is on Web
This case is a pretty dramatic illustration of the impact of technology in the classroom: a teacher's apparently inappropriate behaviour finds itself posted as a video on several websites. I don't think banning phones in the classroom is the correct response. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Government Plans to Abolish BBC Governors
The BBC appears to be headed for significant changes as a Green Paper recommends changes to its governance structure and to its decades-old mandate to "educate, inform and entertain". More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. NYPL Digital Gallery
Launched today, this service from the New York Public Library puts online more than 250,000 historical images, all of which are available for free to view, download and print (but not public comercially). No doubt the server is being overwhelmed; it was frequently unavailable during the day today. Opening day jitters. More...