By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Chris Barlas[Edit][Delete]: Digital Rights Expression Languages (DRELs), Jisc [Edit][Delete]JISC [Edit][Delete] July 7, 2006
Very good article written for JISC on digital rights expression languages (DRELs), a set of languages aptly described as ways of codifying "instructions for digital rights management systems". People familiar with DRELs may want to skip directly to part 9, which describes the author's projections on the role of DRELs in the future, though the paper is sufficiently up to date readers may find it useful to look at things like the description of DReaM-MMI, which was only made public in March of this year. I like the distinction between enforcement and trust systems, but I think the article cedes too much to the DMCA-style regulations allowing distributors to supersede fair use provisions. It is not mentioned, for example, that only 59 nations have signed the WIPO provisions in this regard, so it is hardly a 'world standard', as implied in the text. More...
Digital Rights Expression Languages (DRELs)
Forgotten Faculty: Stress and Job Satisfaction Among Distance Educators
By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Jennifer McLean[Edit][Delete]: Forgotten Faculty: Stress and Job Satisfaction Among Distance Educators, Online Journal of Distance Learning Administration [Edit][Delete] July 7, 2006
Useful study which conforms generally to my own experience. The author writes, "it is important to recognize that distance educators view themselves as dedicated almost exclusively to instruction. The traditional triad of higher educators sharing their time between teaching, service and scholarship is not perceived as applicable." Moreover, "the strong independence shown by this panel makes conformity to institutional regulations less likely among distance educators." You mean I was not supposed to partition the institution server and set up my own private multi-user environment? Heh. More...
Free, Legal and Ignored
By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Nick Timiraos[Edit][Delete]: Free, Legal and Ignored, Wall Street Journal [Edit][Delete] July 7, 2006
Even the Wall Street Journal is recognizing the futility of the business models being proposed my online misic services. "College students don't turn down much that's free. But when it comes to online music, even free hasn't been enough to persuade many students to use such digital download services as Napster, Rhapsody, Ruckus and Cdigix." As it turns out, reports the article, people prefer to have music collections that they own, rather than to merely rent. More...
Connecting Brain Processes to School Policies and Practices
By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Robert Sylwester[Edit][Delete]: Connecting Brain Processes to School Policies and Practices, BrainConnection [Edit][Delete] July 7, 2006
The concept of 'brain-based teaching', strictly speaking, doesn't make sense, argues this column. "We educators tended to blindly follow the instructional advice of those who seemed to understand brain processes. We were thus vulnerable to bogus claims that brain research had validated this or that curricular program or instructional strategy." More...
Web 2.0 Slides
By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Various authors[Edit][Delete]: Web 2.0 Slides, July 7, 2006
Funny. "Web2.0Slides is a self-running slide show of over 1,400 of the best Web2.0 sites. It's categorized by tags and sorted alphabetically. What's cool about it? You can click on any site in the left-hand column to pause the slide show and surf around. When you're done, simply click PLAY, and it will begin right where you left off." Nifty way to show links - I looked for a way to do a TagSlide demo for OLDaily. More...
Evolution professionnelle : des Vidéos du Fongecif sur le CEP et le CPF-PTP
Pour mieux faire connaître le Conseil en Evolution Professionnelle et le CPF Projet de Transition Professionnelle, le Fongecif lance une campagne d’information et de sensibilisation au travers de deux films d’animation. Plus...
University Vows Not to Consider Journal Quality, but Does
By Nick Mayo for Times Higher Education. A signatory to a global pledge not to judge academics on where they publish posts a job ad requiring candidates to have published in a high "impact" journal. More...
Growing Sino-Russian Academic Ties
By Nick Mayo for Times Higher Education. Growing scholarly collaboration between China and Russia could signal a shift in the balance of power in global higher education, according to researchers who suggest that it could have significant implications for academic freedom in the region. More...
Mexico Backs Down on Researcher Travel Rules
By Rachael Pells for Times Higher Education. Mexican scholars have warned of a breakdown of relations with the country’s president after he was forced to backtrack on strict new measures that would have banned all unauthorized foreign travel by researchers. More...
Can ‘Science Diplomacy’ Work?
By David Matthews for Times Higher Education. At a time when diplomatic ties seem to be fraying everywhere -- between China and the U.S., mainland Europe and Britain, North Korea and pretty much everyone -- can academics help patch things up?
This is the question posed by the concept of “science diplomacy,” now often called “knowledge diplomacy” so that the humanities and social sciences are not left out. More...
