By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Ideas to Shake Up Publishing
University publishers look at the challenges of publishing online - but they cannot get past the idea that they have to sell books, nor can they look beyond the infrastructure they have developed. "'You have to develop systems for publishing electronically, the kinds of standards you are going to put materials into, you need document designs, you have to have access control systems to let people in [to search and read], and you have to have authoring tools that tag the stuff in certain ways so they can talk to each other,' she said. So each chapter of a book might need a summary, subject tags and so forth - all in ways that are accepted as an industry standard." Who says? Why didn't the authors of the Ithaka study look at the Gutenberg Project? All you need to publish a book online is a plain-text ASCII file. Everything else is upselling. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Online Public Consultation On the OECD Ministerial Meeting On the Future of the Internet Economy
According to the email I received, the last time this thing was held it "set out domestic priorities in this area and has guided such policies over the last ten years" (so much for the idea that these policies are set democratically). Anyhow, there's a new one coming up and this time they are asking for input through an online consultation process. I had a quick look at the questionnaire - the questions are open-ended, which means a proper response will take time. Will it be read and respected? Who knows? Money and power tend to have their way with such processes - but if the process is kept open and accountable, then we can at least see these mechanisms at work, and respond appropriately. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Having, Being and Higher Education
The authors argue, "British higher education is being transformed by marketisation that has accompanied its expansion.... learners and the institutions they attend look only to satisfy a consumer culture." Hard to argue when you read stuff like this: "In September 2007 a full colour booklet is sent to all staff... 'Higher Education is changing - and so must we'. It goes on to warn that 'Competition is increasing'; 'students are becoming more demanding'; and that: 'we need to communicate in a consistent and engaging way'. It presents a new corporate logo, positioning statement and institutional 'core values'." More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. eGenerations and the Rest
I've been sent numerous things to look at and beta test recently. eGenerations is one, though I'm not impressed that the URL sent me to seniorsgrandcentral.com. Another is PabBee, video instant messaging - Sanskrit, anyone? Friction TV, meanwhile, is a place where people can upload video debates - or at least, their side of a video debate. Also, Yippykya "is a new social networking website where its members (YIPPYs) can feature their talents and turn their hobbies into careers." Um, YIPPYS? Oh, and let's not forget Pownce, which is doing the personal invitation thing (I have 6 invites remaining). I also got an invitation to a WetPaint community, but by the time I got to it, the community was gone (sorry Tim). And I should mention Ron Passfield's Squidoo page on learning resources. I also got a press release from WeAreTeachers, "a new online teaching, learning and business network that will forever change the profession and business of teaching." Mm hm. Also, Zoho wrote again to let me know of the Creator 2.0 release. This is a company that should be watched closely. Another email came in from Chuala, which is "fostering collaboration between language learners and groups trying to preserve languages." I've advised them in the past. MyTVPal sent me a media information package. Graham Attwell wrote to me about the JISC Emerge community on ELGG, which looks worthwhile (no RSS though). More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Revisiting the Potential of Free Content
The author argues that "releasing OERs under a licence restricting commercial use of the content creates unnecessary restrictions and should be avoided wherever possible." It seems to me that there is a real push to allow commercial exploitation of freely produced learning resources - since the only people who are inconvenienced by this are corporations, should we wonder where this argument is coming from? The corporations are using their considerable lobbying power to make their case directly to the foundations and the funding agencies, including the Commonwealth of Learning. It's like they can't understand the concept of free educational resources - that is to say, available at no charge. The point of open educational resources isn't to create wealth for some publishing company. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Wagering In Second Life: New Policy
Well, there goes the Second Life economy. Linden Labs has just banned gambling and wagering in the online virtual world. This puts an end to the casinos users found scattered throughout the game. While addressing one issue, though, the move raises another issue - governance. Because the policy change simply came down from above, just like that - no vote, no nothing. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. ccLearn
Creative Commons has created 'CC Learn' and staffed it with Board members (all Americans, of course), including Wikipedia's Jimmy Wales. I am supportive of open educational resources, as most people know, and I am supportive of Creative Commons - but I am apprehensive about this new organization, which has been formed without any (apparent) consultation or process. Long-time readers will recall some of Creative Commons's previous forays into education, including the proposal for special 'education' licenses. This to me looks more like the commercial publishers trying to redefine 'free' in such a way as to allow them to take free resources and sell them commercially. That's usually what language like this means: "Worse, much of the OER currently being created is incompatible - legally, technically, and socially - with other OER". More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. 9 Ways to Build Your Own Social Network
The idea of a 'white lable' social network service is that you use them to create your own social networks - the brand of the service fades into the background and it is your name and network that sees the light of day. That's the theory, though in practice it turns out to be hard to get these services to put their own name into the background - a Ning social network always looks like a Ning social network. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Approaches That Work: How Authentic Learning Is Transforming Higher Education
Most of this article is devoted to case studies of the 'authentic' activity types listed in the table at the top. "Authentic learning aligns well with the needs of today's participatory learners. The challenge is to channel their online and collaborative abilities and interests into academic pursuits, helping them develop the higher-order thinking skills they may not acquire on their own." I am less convinced of this need than the author, as is reflected in my thoughts on groups and group work. It is certainly not clear to me that working in groups is either necessary or sufficient to the development of higher-order thinking skills. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Hundred-Dollar Laptop Is Revolutionary, Amazing
It makes you wonder why they ever thought they needed to strike a deal with Intel, doesn't it. "Put simply, the XO is one of the most revolutionary computer systems that I've seen in some time. The entire time I was looking at the XO, I was thinking, 'Why can't my new expensive laptop do this?' The technologies that the OLPC Foundation's XO are introducing could go a long way towards changing the face of future systems, especially in the area of power consumption". More...