An Introduction to the Search/Retrieve URL Service (SRU)
Nice article, with code samples in Perl (though it relies on a module called SWISH), explaining Representational State Transfer (REST) and Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP), two major implementations of web services. More...

Protecting Ourselves to Death: Canada, Copyright, and the Internet
"Ironically," wrotes the author, "while professing fear for their cultural sovereignty, and following the paths of their own internal political, bureaucratic, and rhetorical culture, Canadians appear to be constructing a copyright policy in complete harmony with the needs of American and international capital." What follows is a long analysis of copyright law in Canada with particular reference to the impending retification of the WIPO proposals. More...

Sydney...
Photos from Sydney have been posted in my Australia04 image area, including this one. I am leaving Sydney in a few hours - I know a lot of people wanted a chance to talk, and I'm sorry my time here was so short that it simply became impossible. Next time. By Stephen Downes, Stephen's Web, October 7, 2004 [Refer][Research][Reflect]. More...

Nose-steered Mouse Could Save Aching Arms
I saw the prototypes at the National Research Council offices in Ottawa a couple of years ago, but this invention by NRC staff is finally getting some public play. More...

Amateur Revolution
What's interesting is not the fact that this is the case - though it is of course startling to find that "committed, networked amateurs working to professional standards (called) Pro-Am workers, their networks and movements, will help reshape society in the next two decades." No, the really interesting question is why this is the case. How can the amateurs outdo the professionals? "Some professionals will find that unsettling; they will seek to defend their monopolies. More...

Next Big Thing: The Web as Your Servant
I was interviewed on Hobart radio yesterday and one thing we talked about was the idea of students being tied to desks and computrs by online learning. This item gets at my response to that, the idea that the current situation is temporary, that very shortly now (if not already) the internet will become much more mobile, allowing us to free students from the classroom. More...

Don't Be Afraid to Drop the SOAP
Are web services the future? Maybe, but this author isn't convinced. "Unfortunately the results haven't lived up to my hopes. The end result is fragile and a real resource hog." Writing in Perl.com for a technical audience, the author lists problems with SOAP and outlines an alternative approach used in his software product, Bricolage. More...

Road Map for Educational Multimedia Design: A Content Developer’s Approach
The readers of ITForum are looking at their next paper for disussion, a fascinating look at the principles of interpretation as applied to online learning. Interpretation, you may recall, is what happens when you go to parks or museum exhibits - its the set of little nuggets of information that accomompanies your cultural or natural experience. More...

Re-usable Learning Content Objects or Re-usable Learning Experience Objects?
Where else would someone glibly cite Chomsky's Syntactic Structures except in our field? Glib or not, it is not surprising to see Chomsky used as the base of a response, because much of what I write is in direct response to Chomsky and his ilk (Zenon Pylyshyn, Jerry Fodor, etc). Feldstein is responding to my question, "where was it written that language must be composed of building blocks strung together?" He finds the source for this question in my paper Design Standards and Re-usability (though I must say Learning Objects in a Wider Context frames the idea more effectively). More...

Driving Higher Ed Institutions to an Enterprise Approach
The message in a nutshell: "Adopting an enterprise approach to e-learning results in systems and processes that are powerful, reliable, and, most of all, flexible enough to support all stakeholders and provide benefits across the institution." The author outlines signs that your institution is ready to move to an enterprise system, describes the major changes such a move entails, and offers practical steps toward moving in that direction. More...