Living Democratically in the Learning Environment
I have long maintained that freedom is about more than just rights, and that democracy is about more than just elections. If you cannot live freely, for whatever reason, then you are not free, no matter what the constitution may say. More...

Liability and Federated Identity: Much Ado About Nothing?
This is arcane and mysterious business, but so it the stuff behind automated tellers, and look at what an impact they've had. And it's pretty much the same issue: "I guarantee you this is Sally; if I'm wrong, I pay you." Why is this important? Well, federated learning object repository networks are emerging, and guarantees of identity are needed to keep the system secure. More...

CoP Theory Overview
Via Column Two, here is a link to a visual representation of the concept of communities of practice. Interesting, though I don't think I would have gone with an oak tree as a metaphor. More...

I Saw God and I Killed It
To do the impossible. This is the objective a group of almost 200 gameplayers on Everquest set themselves a week ago, and they succeeded. But the lesson is deeper: the first time they tried, Sony (which runs Everquest) changed the rules of the game. More...

'Dodgy-dossier Syndrome' Rife in the Workplace
I'm of two minds when it comes to citing sources. On the one hand, I think it's often useless - I once saw an academic paper provide a reference for the observation that the internet is growing. And it's often overdone, more akin to name-dropping than serious discourse. On the other hand, as this article emphasizes, it's important to track sources for important information or examples, so that otjer people can judge the original for themselves and avoid what in this article is 'dodgy research'. More...