Why Work
I think this is a good question: "In order for capitalism to succeed, everyone had to believe that earning more money, even if he had no particular need for it, was a good thing. But why would anyone believe that?" The search for the answer to this question occupied the bulk of sociologist Max Weber's career. More...
E-Learning in the Middle East - A Fast Growing Market
This brief item points to a trend observed here - the growing e-learning market in the Middle East. It would have been nice had the article noted some key trends, such as the move of companies like Microsoft to entrench themselves in the region. But this teaser article contents itself with pointing to the high spending and the market penetration of companies like WebCT. More...
Google Puts New Slant on Scholarship
More coverage of scholar.google.com, this time from the Guardian. After a brief introduction and some observations on the debate about open access to scholarship, the author then tests the service with five vague topics. Of course, looking for 'the Battle of Hastings' or 'Life on Mars' isn't a typical use of an academic citation index, and so it's no surprise to see the results returned as general as the query. More...
Entering the Mainstream: The Quality and Extent of Online Education in the United States, 2003 and 2004
From the report: more than 1.9 million students were studying online in the fall of 2003. Schools expect the number of online students to grow to more than 2.6 million by the fall of 2004. "Schools that offer online courses believe that their online students are at least as satisfied as those taking their face-to-face offerings." Detailed report, numerous statistics. More...
50 District Schools Will get a High-tech Leap into the Future
This is one of those stories where you really wish the commercial press would tell the whole story - or at least link to things. On the surface, it's a good news story: the Philadelphia school board plans to invest some $75 million in new technology in 50 of its 275 schools, with plans to support all of them at a cost of $1.5 million per school (you will only be able to click to this item once - it's one of those fake links that makes you register if you ever go back). More...
Google Scholar vs. Real Scholarship
The funny thing about this article is that an almost identical spate of articles appeared after the launch of Google news. Google news vs. real journalism. But like the critics of online journalism, the author seems more intent that students read books in person than any real failing of Google. His main criticism - that not all articles are available - is hardly Google's fault; the search engine is hardly able to break the hold of subscription based publication services by itself. More...
E-Learning Adventures Beyond the LMS
I soimetimes feel pretty lonely in my criticism of the LMS approach to education, but my observation is that there is a groundswell of opinion looking for something more. Opinion such as is expressed in this article. More...
Sun Plans Patent Protection for Open-Source Solaris
When I gave a talk about open source in Moncton last week, I was asked about the legal risks of open source. After all, Linux doesn't come with any protection against patent lawsuits. I mumbled something about assuming your own risk. But on reflection, it seems to me that what this represents is not an issue but a business opportunity - providing legal shelter for large corporations wanting - but afraid to - use open source. It's an advantage that was not lost on Sun. The company recently announced that it would make its Solaris operating system - a flavour of Unix, very similar to Linux - available for free. More...
Online Lecture: Rip, Mix, Burn, Sue: Technology, Politics, and the Fight to Control Digital Media
Unmediated summarizes: "The video of my Princeton President's Lecture, "Rip, Mix, Burn, Sue: Technology, Politics, and the Fight to Control Digital Media" is now online. More...
Google Scholar
I could cover just this item today, and it would still be a full newsletter. Google scholar searches the databases of acadmeic publications and returns listings of published papers. One neat new feature: for any paper, it also shows the cites. More...
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