The Virtual Laboratory Project: DesignDrug@Home
Peer-to-peer grids enable application and resource sharing over networks of computers. The Virtual Laboratory project at Monash University is an example of such a grid. It provides tools for researchers to selectively extract resources from the Protein Data Bank (PDB) for screening or other work. More...

More than Bit Players: How Information Technology Will Change the Ways Nonprofits and Foundations Work and Thrive in the Information Age
This report focuses on non-profits and foundations, but educational institutions are so similar I think that some lessons can be drawn from this research report. Such as: information technology will do for philanthopy what WalMart did for retail. More...

Do Charter Schools Pass The Test?
Now that charter schools have been around for a few years, it is time to ask whether they met their promise (or the direst fears of critics). The results? Mixed: some seem to be all right, while others quite bad. More...

The Spirit of Invention: Edging Our Way to 21st Century Teaching
This article lists four 'edge happenings,' that is, developments on the edge of the field that will have a ripple effect throughout. The first two - laptops and ubiquitous computing, and wireless and mobile computing and Networking - aren't very new and aren't very controversial; they will wash over education very shortly. More...

IMS Establishes European Foundation
Not sure what to make of this one. Just a few months ago, IMS was building partnerships in Europe. Now, it is expanding into Europe with the establishment of a European Foundation. More...

Content Management: Desktop Interface Superior to Web Browser
This article raises an issue I've been struggling with for some time now: is it better to use a browser for online learning, or is it better to use a specialized desktop application. As the article suggests, many of the old arguments in favour of using browsers - cross platform compatibility, for example - no longer apply. More...

eLearning Forum Update: Peer-to-Peer
Pretty good summary of a discussion of peer-to-peer (P2P) networking and its potential impact on online learning. The idea behind peep-to-peer networking is that computers share resources directly with each other, without the need for a central server. Certainly, peer-to-peer will have to develop before it is used in online learning: there is no administration model, there is no content model, and there is no revenue model. More...

Thomson, Harcourt Divestments Required by U.S. DOJ for Assets Acquisition
This U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) ruling requires Thomson to divest itself of some textbook and computer-based testing assets before it can complete its acquisition of Harcourt. More...

Stanford Poynter Project
Accound of a series of usability tests in which subjects viewing habits - what they read, how they read, where their eyes moved - were tracked. More...

The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation's E-Journal Archiving Program
Here is a good idea with some money behind it: This program works with universities and publishers to fund the permanent archiving of electronic journals. More...