Mixing Morals With Education?
The take on this news article is that colleges and universities ought to be teaching students morality, and that institutions are somehow lacking when they say things like, "ollectively we are silent on the issue of morality." Of course there is a big difference - glossed over in the discussion - between teaching students about morality in general and teaching them to adhere to a specific set of morals. More...

I’ll Spend My Time Talking to Whom I Want, Thanks Very Much!
Nice observation here: “For the consumer, the ability to control the timing, method, and manner of a transaction is very attractive – particularly if it saves them time and effort. The attraction for the supplier is that they can off-load all the administrative costs of selling to the consumer and still give a better service.” Or, put another way: stop trying to tell me what amount and kind of interaction is right for me. More...

I Want To Be A Cognitive Ergonomist
Robin Good turns a phrase about as well as anyone, and today's contribution - cognitive ergonomist - is no exception. A short item - but that's about the way it is today, one of the slowest news days of the year. More...

My Theoretical Overview of Instructional Systems
Nifty diagram that "represents an attempt to symbolize my own conception of instructional systems as a field of study and practice," the image followed by a detailed exegesis. More...

Music Downloads: Pirates—or Customers?
Interview with Felix Oberholzer-Gee, who with co-author Koleman Strumpf "floored the disbelieving music industry with their findings that illegal music downloads don’t hurt CD sales." Some good stuff here, but nothing new for people who have already read the report. More...

Q&A with Saul Carliner
I like Carliner's frank assessment of the current state of e-learning and his sober perspective on the predictions made by various e-learning pundits. In particular worth noting are the low scores given to e-learning on student assessments and the lack of knowledge of decision makers in the field. Carliner also expresses caution regarding the roles games, simulations and blogs will play in e-learning. More...

Who Knows?
It's funny, isn't it? When people need to know something, they are more likley to ask someone they know - even though the person may have no expertise - rather than to consult an online database or knowledge repository. More...

Who Needs Multimedia?
Article defending the use of multimedia in e-learning. While I am supportive, I don't think this is well argued. I think that audio, to be effective, does require broadband and does require a player - Java won't do the job. I think that multimedia, even audio, is time-consuming to produce. More...

The Belief That More Education Will Create More Equal Opportunities has Been Proved Wrong
There's a bit of a false dilemma in this article, as the author suggests that the choice facing egalitarians is to accept inequality or prevent well-off parents from "reading to their children." It is by no means that simple, but I have seen numerous studies showing that the best indicator of educational success is social class. More...

Nomic World: By the Players, for the Players
Faculty members around the world know that the purpose of faculty meetings isn't to make decisions but rather you allow administration to say faculty were consulted when the decision is finally made. More...