By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. StevenB[Edit][Delete]: Where's The Library In This Partnership, ACRLog [Edit][Delete] November 16, 2006
Leaving aside for the moment the narrow point of view in this article, highlighted in the headline, the gist is that Blackboard has struck a deal with Google to support Google Scholar, along with some other tools, into its software. Google had better be careful that Blackboard does not declare that it has invented and patented the search engine. The author expresses his concern: "Google Scholar will further marginalize the library's e-content. It also potentially puts students in a position to pay for full-text access to resources their library may already provide." Of course. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Grace Rubenstein and Amy Standen[Edit][Delete]: Free Radicals, Glef [Edit][Delete]GLEF [Edit][Delete] November 16, 2006
Nice - but badly titled - account of some of the (as this article says) "so-called free, or democratic, schools, which eschew most conventions of traditional education in favor of a much more radical program." We could probably do without the attitude in this article, which seems intent on marginalizing the alternative schools, including Montessori schools. Still, don't expect change to come from anything like traditional schools. As the article says, "If reform is to come, he believes, the staging ground is in home schooling and in the independent study schools many school districts offer." The free schools offer a supportive environment, but home schooling might not (how much home schooling is motivated by a desire to indoctrinate the child?). More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Barclay Barrios[Edit][Delete]: Call for Submissions: Blogging Textbook, Kairosnews [Edit][Delete]KairosNews [Edit][Delete] November 16, 2006
Is a blogging textbook a good idea? I'm not sure - I still don't see why people aren't happy to have blogs tell the story of blogging. But at any rate, this is a call for submissions for "an edited collection of pedagogical materials on blogging to be published by Allyn&Bacon/Longman (ABL) in 2007 and to be distributed for *free* to interested instructors." I would hardly call this "unprecedented" (last year's Coming of Age is a clear precedent). More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Harold Jarche[Edit][Delete]: e-Learning Project Management Book, [Edit][Delete] November 16, 2006
Harold Jarche reports, "This 192 page PDF from CeLEA covers dozens of case studies on e-learning management (focus = A-DDI-E). Almost all of the cases are academic situations, using the online course model, so this book would be best suited for those developing e-learning in higher education." Hpw much time am I going to spend with this one. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Nancy White[Edit][Delete]: Backchannel Resources, Full Circle Online Interaction Blog [Edit][Delete] November 16, 2006
Nancy White links to a list of resources offered by Howard Rheingold on backchannel resources - that is, resources that help participants in seminars and lectures communicate with each other during the event. She also points to the other use of the term 'backchannel', "private messages that are part of the communication fabric of groups/networks/community and not always captured or visible for the full group." Quite right. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Associated Press[Edit][Delete]: Bill Gates Says U.S. Education System Needs Work, Cnn [Edit][Delete]CNN [Edit][Delete] November 16, 2006
In a related story, educators say Microsoft needs work. The company "needs higher standards, clear accountability, flexible personnel practices and innovation." They stressed accountability. "Real accountability means more than having goals; it also means having clear consequences for not meeting the goals," including penalties for things like bugs, security flaws, and operating systems that reboot themselves without permission. Yeah - one wonders just what sort of expertise Bill Gates is bringing to the education sector. More...