By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Anticipating Autopoiesis: Personal Construct Psychology and Self-Organizing Systems
Seb Fiedler hits on a nice article that draws out some implications of the psychological theory of constructivism, a theory which holds, essentially, that our understanding of the world is a creative act. "There is no event which could be called 'stark reality' because there is no event which we cannot reconstrue alternately." What's important is how we undertake this process (c.f. my remarks on similarity, below). More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Marquette Joins BSA's DefineTheLine.com Initiative
Critical look at Marquette University's decision to join the Business Software Alliance program Define the Line. The program, which adovates against students sharing commercial software, was launched last October and now has one participant - Marquette. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Why DRM Sucks (Redux)
I had a similar experience of my own on a similar airplane, except with an actual DVD of Gangs of New York. Legally purchased movie won't play because of DRM failure. So I'm sympathetic. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Exploring Single Sign-on
This item lists several other single sign-on initiatives, such as A-Select, Lasso and CAS. All three require some sort of 'identity service provider' (as Lasso calls it). It also mentions my own mIDm proposal in passing, which does not require a third party. Scott Wilson, meanwhile, has created a Zope version of mIDm. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. SkillSoft Releases Dialogue Virtual Classroom
Skillsoft has released a live online classroom environment called Dialogue. Though it is intended for use with an LMS, it can also be used as a stand-alone application. Depending on pricing and functionality (they should really provide a demo on the website) it could offer competition to products like Symposium and Elluminate. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. The New Gatekeepers, Part 5: The Problem of Crowds
Part Five of the New Gatekeepers series I mentioned last week or so. Not the final installment - there will be a part six. According to the author, "because of the nature of information cascades, we find ourselves trusting people and stories simply because other people appear to trust them at all. There are enough independent thinkers out there to offer a useful amount of doubt. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Learning Molecules Model
How do you communicate the concept of learning objects to subject matter experts (SMEs) who may be new to the field? The use of metaphors is recommended, argue the authors. And to this end, eCornell developed a model it calls Learning Molecules. This article describes the learning molecules model: "At the nucleus of the molecule is a Scenario (S)—the contextualizing problem or case study that is the lynchpin of eCornell’s application". More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Give Your DVD Player the Finger
Let's just say that there is no way I would submit to a fingerprint exam merely to watch a DVD. That said, I have to wonder about the direction of invention being based on the needs of the vendor, rather than the consumer. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. The Beeb Shall Inherit the Earth
Article describing the war the BBC has embraced user generated content, and in so doing, has made itself an internet pioneer. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. A Lot to Chew On ....
Good post summarizing a presentation by Alan November (he has a blog, but it is infrequently updated - it doesn't even contain his own presentation). Part of what November says makes sense. "Kids have to learn how to think globally, to manage massive amounts of information and they have to be self-directed in their learning." But in places its a narrow view. More...