Histoire

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Where Have You Gone, Stanley Fish?
Stanley Fish retires and thus concludes his run of columns for the Chronicle of Higher Education. I spent the morning reading a series of remarkable items (a column like this is, after all, the way people used to blog). Among the highlights (in no particular order): The case for academic autonomy, Clueless in academe, Promises, promises, One university under God, and Minimalism. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. We Can Help Bridge the Digital Divide
I agree with the Friends of Development coalition that "that global intellectual property rules must do a better job of meeting the interests of both the developed and developing world." My position is informed by the recognition, as Michael Geist summarizes in this column, that "Canada’s own intellectual property position is closer to the developing world that most might think." It's not simply that we are net importers of intellectual property. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Corporate University Exchange
The Corporate University Exchange (CUX) got a nice email from me Friday after sending notice that it has reversed its long-standing policy of requiring user registrations and is now making content freely available on the web. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Web Site That Went Too Far
As we move into an era in which increasing numbers of public services are being handed over to the private sector, it is important to note that our rights and freedoms associated with those services are not being transferred with them. Thus we see this case of a university professor being fired for a website mildly critical of a college administration. Or this story of professors fighting a gag order barring board members from talking to students or faculty. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Freire, the Matrix, and Scalability
Paulo Freire, as the biographies note, wove education theory and social theory into a form of liberation pedagogy based on "the idea of building a 'pedagogy of the oppressed' or a 'pedagogy of hope' and how this may be carried forward." A session on Freire at a recent conference in Montreal moved David Wiley to pen this article. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. When iPod Goes Collegiate
Overview of Duke's experiment with iPods (the university gave one to every student last year) with some frank admissions that they weren't well used combined with some interesting observations on their use. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. The Early History of Nupedia and Wikipedia
With more than a million entries and able to compose credible and authoritative articles years before its more traditional competition, Wikipedia has emerged as a force in online publishing. But how did it start? In this two part essay (Part One, Part Two) one of the people who worked on the project in its early days, Larry Sanger, offers a retrospective. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Capella Education Company
Capella University, which " provides online accredited undergraduate and graduate degree programs to working adults and employers," has filed for its initial public offering (IPO). It intends to raise up to $86 million. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Hubble Public Talks
I can't think of a better use of an hour or so (and this includes class time) than to spend it watching Frank Summers display his incredible pictures from the Hubble Space Telescope. More...