By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Alfred Essa[Edit][Delete]: The Patent Crisis Widens with New Attacks, The NOSE [Edit][Delete] August 21, 2006
As usual, you can obtain a full background on the Blackboard patent issue here.
And the issue, argues Alfred Essa, has widened into a full-blown crisis. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Ian Delaney[Edit][Delete]: 10 Definitions of Web 2.0 and Their Shortcomings, twopointouch [Edit][Delete] August 21, 2006
The correct answer is, of course, that Web 2.0 is a little of all of those definitions (as one commenter offers, the idea of trying for a definition at all may be misplaced, a la Wittgenstein). My own definition, if it could be called that, identifies the salient features of a network (like this) found in the new internet technologies and offers four standards of good practice: openness, diversity, autonomy, and connectivity. Of course, these are rough approximations too. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Christopher D. Sessums[Edit][Delete]: Stop Making Sense: Paradox as a Teaching Tool, Christopher D. Sessums : Weblog [Edit][Delete] August 21, 2006
Should I feel pleased to have solved a koan, or disappointed? Christopher D. Sessums observes, "Paradox provides an opportunity to explore the unconscious assumptions associated with much of reality. They allow us to play with notions of sense/nonsense, misconceptions, disequilibration, and other cognitive conflicts. This is where is where real learning, real action, begins". More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Alan Levine[Edit][Delete]: We Can All Be Radio Stations, Cogdogblog [Edit][Delete]CogDogBlog [Edit][Delete] August 21, 2006
Another item on the theme of content consumers becoming content producers, this short item outlines the process with a useful and intuitive Gliffy diagram and, of course, links. "Limelight provides us a username, password, and server to send our audio streams to. We get a cryptic looking URL we can use to plug into iTunes to listen to a live stream, or attach in Second Life as an MP3 stream URL. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Jay Cross[Edit][Delete]: MANAGEsmarter, Internet Time [Edit][Delete] August 21, 2006
Jay Cross introduces us to MANAGEsmarter and to their new blog, Training Day. The whole thing seems, well, so angry to me. Maybe it's the headline on the Training Magazine Cross has pictured on this post: Don't worry, be angry, which explains "why smiley sheets stink." Or the headline in MANAGEsmarter: Seven Steps to a Successful Murder Board. Even an article like Rebooting Hewlett-Packard sounds kind of nasty in this context. And it seems to me that if your training, as either trainer or trainee, makes you angry, then something has gone off the rails. Because training should be fun. Business should be fun. We are learning, growing, developing. These are good things, happy things. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Michael Feldstein[Edit][Delete]: Eben Moglen Weighs in on Blackboard, E-Literate [Edit][Delete] August 18, 2006
The Sakai Foundation has retained has retained the Software Freedom Law Center to evaluate the recent Blackboard patent. The SFLC, an organization directed by Eben Moglen, provides advice and legal services in support of free and open source software. Michael Feldstein remarks, "Eben Moglen is a pretty big deal. In addition to chairing the Software Freedom Law Center, he has affiliations with the Free Software Foundation and the Electronic Frontier Foundation."
Feldstein also notes that eCollege has panted the gradebook, though it hasn't sued anyone yet. Which is good. But, he argues, "the best solution would be for Blackboard, eCollege, and other firms that may be holding relevant patents to all offer royalty-free licenses, guaranteeing that the patents will only be used defensively." I think an even better solution would be to donate the patents to an open source project, thus ensuring that the technologies remain accessible to everyone.
The Motley Fool looks at Blackboard and discusses the patent case (no idea how long this link will stay active). The Fool likes companies like Blackboard, but isn't thrilled about the lawsuit. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. William H. Rice IV[Edit][Delete]: Moodle E-Learning Course Development (Book), SchoolForge [Edit][Delete] August 18, 2006
The book Moodle E-Learning Course Development, by William H. Rice IV, has been posted as a PDF link to Schoolforge. The 73 page book is a free download. David M. Bucknell writes, "I think schoolforge.net and others of you might want to consider putting the e-book on your sites for download. Personally, I see a downside to moodle for primary/elementary schoolers (mainly that it's too complicated visually vs. say, Manhattan, which hasn't taken off the same way), but I can't nay-say what Steve points out about the positive force the software has been for getting people interested in OSS. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Various authors[Edit][Delete]: In The Online Realm, It's Good to Share, News.Com [Edit][Delete] August 18, 2006
I have been saying this for years, and people have responded by saying that I'm just an idealist. Quite a surprise, then, for them to discover that it's a good business model. Anyhow, if you're still not sure, have a look at this series of articles from News.com. For example, VideoJug: "The site, which launched in beta version a few days ago, aims to be the ultimate source of video instruction on just about anything imaginable, from identifying cancer to cooking pasta. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Unattributed[Edit][Delete]: Webcasts a Boon to School Sports, ESchool News [Edit][Delete] August 18, 2006
This article looks at "the little Ivy League" sports team, but from my perspective, where webcasting will be just huge is in the broadcasting and recording of high school and minor league sports. Oh sure, the production values (especially at first) will be awful, but as students develop expertise at a younger and younger age, the broadcasts will become more slick and more popular - at least, with their friends and family. Oh, and the television networks discussed in this article? Who needs them? Forget the Ivy league. Forget ESPN. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Project Open Source | Open Access writes, "BlackBoard's American patent is curious in that it purports to patent any kind of course-based multi-user system, particularly common features such as assigning roles and permissions to provide users with various levels of access". More...