By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. IBM/Second Life Virtual World Collaboration
Linden Labs has taken what was probably the only path open to it - the development of open standards that will allow for interoperability between 3D virtual worlds. This virtually guarantees a robust open source virtual world server (and corresponding client(s)). The list of technologies that will be developed is impressive: 'universal' avatars, security-rich transactions (for the exchange of assets in and across virtual worlds), platform stability, integration with existing web and business processes, and open standards for interoperability with the current web. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Google: Why Jaiku and Not Twitter?
Google has acquired Jaiku, a microblogging ste remarkably like Twitter (though as one commenter notes, "Twitter seems to essentially be a communication/microblogging tool. Jaiku, on the other hand, seems to deal in what they call presence management i.e. consolidating the multiple activities/identities that one has around the 'net and collecting them all in one place.") What Twitter has, though, is users, which is norally what makes it a good acquisition. But Twitter was co-founded by Evan Williams, the creator of Blogger, which was acquired by Google. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Putting More Social Into Our Social Software
Post outlining the addition of new social software features to Blackboard. Interesting because of the discussion of the terminology. The term 'social software' is apparently new to Blackboard users, but 'resource sharing' is something they can identify with. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. We Can't Teach the New Literacies Soon Enough
We really need to take a different perspective on the typical 'posed on Facebook' story. Let me explain. Suppose I robbed a bank. Then suppose I took pictures and video, and posted them on Facebook. Time passes. Then, one day, I am denied a job because an employer saw my Facebook page. Now, the question. Where did I go wrong? Should I have been advised, "If you rob a bank, don't put it on Facebook?" Of course not. The advice should be, "Don't rob a bank." Well and good. But you may argue, the kids that went out drinking did nothing wrong. Quite so. Then why are they being punished for it? Should we be telling them, "What you did is perfectly legal and appropriate, but you could be fired for it?" What kind of message is that? I think we need to take Facebook out of the equation and to stop recommending Facebook hypocrisy. More...

Simplon.co et Microsoft s’unissent à Compéthance pour proposer une formation dédiée aux personnes avec trouble du spectre autistique sans déficience intellectuelle. Plus...