By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. A Short Update On Repository Specs
Very useful update of repository specification initiatives. And it looks like all is the same in the world of standards. IMS is working on something in secret. OASIS has a web services approach. The open source OAI is taking something simple and making it complicated. UKOLN has a JISC-funded project to create something from scratch. More...
15 janvier 2020
Web 2.0 Slam - Performing Innovative Practice
By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Web 2.0 Slam - Performing Innovative Practice
There was a fair amount of coverage around the blogosphere of last week-end's Alt-C conference, which was held in Nottingham. In particular, a number of writers commented on the 'Web 2.0 Slam' session, which consisted partially of a description of Web 2.0 technologies and partially of chaos as people developed their own creation. More...
EduRSS Feed List
By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. EduRSS Feed List
I have updated the EduRSS feed list, dropping some weblogs that haven't been updated since the Middle Ages and adding a bunch of new ones. This was motivated by a list published in Edutopia constituting the "cornerstone" of edublogging. As I comment, they may be a cornerstone, but the selection of weblogs - which are all American - represents only a small segment of the wider community. Edutopia editor John Daly suggested that I send in some international contributions. Here's a few hundred. And as Graham Wegner, "Look around at some of the places he suggests and you'll find that some of the issues that US education is exploring as 'things to do' are already 'things being done' in many areas of the globe." It's something that he's written about before. Stephen Downes, Stephen's Web September 11, 2007 [Link] [Tags: United States, Books, RSS, Web Logs]. More...
Schools Alone Cannot Help Poor
By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Schools Alone Cannot Help Poor
Children who are poor need a number of things. They need good nutrition, perhaps more than their parents can afford. They need a stimulating environment, preferably with good internet connectivity. They need support and encouragement, an environment that sets high expectations and recognizes and values when they are met. Out-of-school programs may be key to this. More...
New York Times Enters Distance Learning Market
By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. New York Times Enters Distance Learning Market
The new York Times is partnering with several colleges to provide single-seminar and multiple-session online courses. The cousres - which won't be cheap - will access customized content packages. "These packages will provide access to special packages of content - summaries of articles, interactive maps, video, audio, graphs - on a wide range of topics (the European Union, nanotechnology and so forth)." More...
Use PRISM To Start A Dialogue On Open Access
By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Use PRISM To Start A Dialogue On Open Access
Finally, from ACRLog, signs of 'getting it': "The question for librarians, higher ed administrators and scholars then, is why hasn't open access in physics led to journal cancellations? Do we really want to set up two systems, an open access repository system while maintaining the old system with publisher embargoes so that libraries will have to maintain subscriptions? Do we really want to 'partner' with the kind of companies that have launched such a deceptive and distorted PR campaign? More...
A Short Update On Repository Specs
Setting Up Sunbird
By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Setting Up Sunbird
I'm in this big project with lots of people and meetings and stuff. I absolutely refuse to use Outlook, and anyways, I've usually been able to just remember things. But now I figure I should have something people can consult (including me, as these meetings are flying thick and furious). So I spent the better part of Sunday setting up my calendar applications. Sunbird is the Mozilla calendar application. It is intended to run alongside the Firefox web browser and the Thunderbird email client as your open source alternative to commercial software (and in particular, Outlook Exchange). More...
British Council relaunches int’l student MOOC
By Kerrie Kennedy. The British Council has relaunched a massive open online course this week in a bid to help international students prepare to study at a university in the UK. Nearly 8,000 learners from 174 countries participated in the MOOC’s first run in September 2018. More...
Hofstra University becomes INTO’s 12th US partner
By Kerrie Kennedy. INTO University Partnerships and New York’s Hofstra University have established a new long-term partnership that will help international students to study and succeed at a leading US institution and enable them to reap the career benefits of being in close proximity to NYC. More...
Spanish top of list for Rosetta Stone UK learners
By Kerrie Kennedy. Spanish topped the list of languages that British people were most eager to take on in 2018, according to a report by Rosetta Stone, with over a fifth (23.1%) of its UK learners taking on the language last year. Four other European languages – French, English, Italian and German – rounded off the top five. More...
