By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Tablet PC Articles Available
I have always thought well of tablet computers, even though they've been overshadowed recently by things like Facebook, Second Life, and the iPhone. I still think they have a good future, and so I welcome this issue of the IEEE Computer magazine (this link, available only for a short time, is circulating inside Microsoft and HP, natch - if you don't get to it before they shut off the taps, send me an email). More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. The Chronicle Spots the Dark Side of Second Life Usage
Bryan Alexander picks up on some more 'fear and trembling' coverage from the Chronicle, this time describing Second Life. "You see someone really playing out the self that they want to explore," she says. "It's not always who they want to be. Sometimes they can be exploring a dark side of themselves." Meanwhile, I've been following the discussion on the Second Life for Educators mailing list on a longer - and very negative - report by Michael J. Bugega in the Chronicle's hidden pages on Second Life. Chris Collins writes, "I'd characterize it as a scare article, and not very well informed." Raven Phoenix writes, " The short bit I was able to read is definitely geared to scare readers about Second Life. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Everybody Does It
OK, I never cheated in school. Not out of any great virtue - mostly, I didn't need to, and when I would have needed it, I didn't get along well enough with my classmates to share answers. But also - it just wasn't done. I mean by that, not that nobody ever did it, but that it would be the sort of thing you hide. Dishonesty was something to be ashamed of. Today, people look at their heroes, their leaders, their models - and they see nothing but cheating. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. How to Write Consistently Boring Academic Technology Articles
Glenda Morgan links to a Kaj Sand-Jensen (which is published in a most user-hostile manner on a site called Scribd) that describes how to write boring academic papers. I also like the list she adds describing boring academic technology papers. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. How Open-Source Is Sakai?
Jim Groom looks at Sakai and finds it impenetrable. "A host of research universities threw millions of dollars at an idea of an open source application, but they did it in a traditional academic way which put the idea and the perceived needs before the actual community and real needs." In fairness, the Sakai people are aware of the usability issues (they've seen it mentioned before). More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Bringing Honest Exchange Into Kids' Lives
As part of her ongoing dialog with Diane Ravitch, Deborah Meier "That's what we need now in the USA: a task force to study how democracy can be learned." I don't think you learn democracy by being told about democratic principles. I think you learn only by practicing democracy. When I was in high school I studied public speaking, took part in debating and model parliament, participated in model conferences with other schools, the works. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Higher Ed'S Conflict of Interest Problem
This story focuses on the student loan scandal that has caught a number of universities in its grip, but looks more broadly at the way corporate providers seek to influence academic purchasers for a larger share of student dollars. This obviously has an impact in the field of educational technology. For example: "The American Council on Education's corporate alliance program offers members of the president's circle the chance to meet with college presidents, among other benefits, for a contribution of at least $200,000, and provides other benefits at lesser donation levels. The several dozen corporate partners of Educause, the higher education technology association, pay anywhere from $20,000 to more than $100,000 over the course of a year for a series of benefits that include the opportunity to make presentations to the association's members at the group's annual meeting." Where do open source and open content rate in this network? They don't. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Creating and Connecting
I'd be more inclined to believe this study if it wasn't supported by Microsoft and Verizon, but it's worth a mention. Basically, according to the study, there has been an explosion of growth in creative activities by students in online social networks. Even so, most social networks remain banned by schools, although most allow some school-sanctioned web activities. That said, the dangers actually posed by social networking are a small fraction of what we see depicted in the media - for example, "only .08% of all students say they've actually met someone in person from an online encounter without their parents' permission." That said, argue the authors, students should learn about online safety. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Working Behind the Great Firewall of China
I remember as a kid seeing pictures of the city of the future, and they always looked like this. But this isn't science fiction - it's Shanghai, today. Joi Ito photo. A number of the K12 Education crowd from the U.S. are having a Schools 2.0 conference in Shanghai. Wesley Fryer writes about using a service called Proxify to get around restrictions imposed by the Chinese government. Will Richardson links to another Sci-Fi photo. On a related note, I have recently discovered that OLDaily is blocked in China, even the Chinese version (thank you again to the generous translators). Just coincidence, I'm sure. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. If This Is Your First PLE
Good advice for people just trying to get a handle on what we're all talking about when we talk about PLEs and mash-ups and all that. Essentially, what Tom Haskins describes is a process where you more clearly define what you're interested in, use that definition to find related sources on the web, and then progressively interact with those sources. More...