Evaluation of Web-based Flexible Learning
There's a lot going on in this interesting and informative study looking at the evaluation of online course materials from the standpoint of the interactions between teachers and students. Some surprises - when the sum of possible interactions is considered, videoconferencing is ranked quite low. More...

Copyleft vs. Copyright: A Marxist Critique
Marxism may not be popular in, well, anywhere, but this essay raises some useful points of discussion in the current debates on copyright. One of the major contributions is the explicit linking of the copyright debate with the commodification of information. More...

A Mythic Perspective of Commodification on the World Wide Web
This article proposes that the increasing commodification of the web is reflected in the change of the foundational mythology of the web as described by Wired in three articles between 1994 and 2000. I cannot believe that the author overlooks my own essay, The Rise and Fall of Wired, in this discussion which is, to my knowledge, the most detailed analysis of Wired's shifting orientation in the first six years of its existence. More...

Research Group to Release Technical Standards for Its Free Course-Management Software
You can almost feel the online learning community leaning forward in its collective chair, waiting to hear from the the Open Knowledge Initiative as the organization prepares to release a set of common services specifications, standards that will be required for interoperativity between their open source learning management system and third part applications and content. More...

McGraw-Hill, NYTimes Team on Digital Content
There's not too much too this item just yet, but the gist is that the New York Times and McGraw-Hill are offering a co-branded service aimed at college and university students using McGraw-Hill's Higher Education Online Learning Centers. More...

E-Publisher Wins Round in Court

A small publisher wins another round in its bid to publish online versions of books the print rights for which are owned by major publishers. Random House sued RosettaBoks about a year ago. More...

The Relevance of Video Games and Gaming Consoles to the Higher and Further Education Learning Experience
Though this should be viewed as a preliminary study only, this useful article observes the rise of computer gaming as a cultural phenomenon and speculated, based on what limited research is available, on the use of gaming systems for educational purposes. More...

Ontario College of Teachers Public Register
Hughes writes in, "I just wanted to let you know that the Ontario College of Teachers also has a public register of its members available online where parents or potential employers can view a teacher's professional information like: status, status history, name history, qualifications, letter of approvals, academic history and employment history. More...

A Proposed Set of Principles to Guide Investments of Funds, Time, and Energy in Technology in Learning

Developed by Contact North for Ontario schools, colleges and universities, this set of ten principles is a useful checklist to guide technology purchases for learning. More...

Brain Power: New High-tech Networks are Helping Make Canada a 21st Century Force in Advanced Research
What is important and useful about this article is that it goes beyond a description of Canada's CA*Net4, a high speed backbone network linking universities across the country. The article is chock full of descriptions of the way the network is helping with Canadian research from genetic sequencing to nanotechnology to investment analysis. More...