TALON Learning Object System
I got this item in my email. From the email: "A set of learning objects has been created that are designed for some of the important styles of learning and teaching. They include; visual learning, writing skills, critical thinking, time-revealed scenarios, case studies and empirical observation. More...

At Blackboard's Request, Judge Prevents Students From Discussing Security of Debit-Card System
The Chronicle covers the recent court action by Blackboard to block a student presentation exposing security holes in the LMS's payment system. Not a lot that's new here, except for an interview with a generally unresponsive (by court order) Billy Hoffman and a Blackboard representative who, not being restrained by court order, felt free to blather on about how bad the students have been. More...

Taxonomy Browser Online
This is pretty neat. The author has created a system that reads taxonomies or ontologies expressed in RDF format and represents them graphically. More...

Super-DMCA Fears Suppress Security Research
A PhD student in Michigan has moved his website and research to Holland after revisions to that state's copyright law prompted fears that his work may now be illegal. More...

Don't Bloggerize eLearning
In his newsletter last week, George Siemens called for simplicity in e-learning standards. This item responds to that plea, arguing that "Dumbing down the standard won't make a difference, except to potentially rob the teaching and learning community of potential functionality." The argument is based on the idea that people do not choose to adopt standards, they choose to adopt software, and the software they will choose will be easier to use if it employs appropriate standards. More...

An Ideal Courseware/Content Management Model
With widespread dissatisfaction in tbe traditional learning management system (LMS) beginning to surface, writers are beginning to scout around for something better. This model, which proposes one alternative, isn't it. More...

The Empowered Classroom.... And a Blueprint for the Second Superpower
John Hibbs drafts a reply to James Moore's The Second Superpower Raises Its Beautiful Head, adding the role of education to the mix. As Hibbs notes, "Dr. Moore talks a lot about technology. More...

Will Patents Pillage Open Source?
After SCO launched a lawsuit against IBM, alleging that the corporation had infringed on its patents via its contributions to the open source community, the fear has been raised that patent legislation could undermine, and ultimately ruin, the open source movement. More...

Draft Declaration of Principles
The World Summit of the Information Society (WSIS), which met last month in Geneva, has release a Draft Statement of Principles defining the structure and the hopes for the coming information age. More...