Dynamic Appearance Model: Analysis and Alternatives
This paper addresses a problem plaguing SCORM, the integration of content from multiple sources. The first part of the paper is a review, discussing content integration and styling. More...

ISSN Canada
Well. Prompted by some nice comments on my discussion board, I decided to take another crack at obtaining an ISSN for OLDaily. I received the following response: "Thank you for your application. At the moment, we are no longer assigning ISSN to weblogs, but the situation is under review. The question of whether weblogs will be able to be assigned ISSN is under discussion in the international ISSN Network. The question hinges on the scope of the ISSN but also on the very real consideration of the limited staff resources of ISSN centres worldwide." Now it is worth noting that I did not self-identify as a weblog: I declared OLDaily to be an online periodical. More...

Enterprise IA Roadmap
While not a complete picture, this diagram (available via link as a PDF from this page) is nonetheless a useful guide to undersatanding the dimensions of enterprise information architecture. Where the author uses the term 'klog' you can replace it with the original term 'weblog' or 'blog'. More...

Teacher Money May Run Private Schools
I'm just killing myself over this one. Is it capitalism run amuck? Or is it socialism run amuck? Either way - let's hear it for the teachers, who are responding to the privatization of their workplaces by buying the workplaces! Oh sure, I can hear the critics chiming in from all sides - but if the teachers own the schools, they are probably in a better position than ever to protect their own jobs and at the same time advance the principles of education and learning they have worked for so many years trying to promote. More...

Home Is No Place For School
Brief statement of some of the major objections to home schooling. The major points: first, many parents are not qualified to teach, especially when students reach higher grade levels. And second, students that study at home miss out on the non-academic values of schools, such as socialization and citizenship. More...

Open Source Helps Education Effort in Third World
"It's about money, at the end of the day, because we're in Africa," says one service provider, and that about sums it up. When developing nations look at the cost of open source software - nothing - and the ongoing costs created by proprietary software, there is really no choice. More...

Developing Competency-Driven Learning Content
The key to linking training to competencies is to know which competencies to train in. This article recommends a method using performance maps ("a one-page summary graphic drawing a line of sight from company goals to individual performance"). More...

Making a Video Screen Out of Thin Air
Another item from the 'cool technology' department: digital screens composed of nothing but air. More...

What's a Good Learning Culture
Musings from George Siemens about the best way to approach a learning system. He begins not with university or institutional priorites, but with the question, how do people learn. More...

Microsoft Sets Up $250M Fund for Schools
There is no doubt that $250 million to support education world-wide is an exceptionally generous gesture, one which I welcome. Like many critics, however, I am sceptical of Microsoft's claim that the funding is only to "help students around the world attain 'e-literacy.'" And, of course, the program, which offers significant discounts on Microsoft software, is being pilloried by open source advocates. More...