By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Pupils Get Home Internet Access
We con't know yet how this would roll out exactly, but on first blush it seems like a good idea: "The government wants to ensure pupils have internet access either at home or though after-schools clubs and extended schools." As I have said before, I expect the real advances in e-learning to happen outside institutions and schools. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Mary Meeker[Edit][Delete]: The State of the Internet, Part 3, Web 2.0 Conference [Edit][Delete] November 13, 2006
If there was any doubt that this has been the year of video, this presentation my Morgan-Stanley's Mary Meeker removes any doubt. But as you see by the end of the presentation, it is community, user-generated content (UGC) and personalization that will be key to the future of the web as peer-to-peer video exchanges chew up bandwidth without otherwise generating any revenues. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Agence France-Presse[Edit][Delete]: China Builds an Ultrafast Internet, International Herald Tribune [Edit][Delete] October 9, 2006
This is interesting. "China has built its own version of an ultrafast next-generation Internet network that promises to reduce the country's dependence on foreign companies, the state news media reported Monday. The China Education and Research Network has linked 167 institutes and departments at 25 universities in 20 cities through the Internet Protocol Version 6." Which makes me think: a lot of these studies comparing China with the rest of the world are based on per capita measures. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Jay Cross[Edit][Delete]: One man's Net, Internet Time [Edit][Delete] May 29, 2006

Small world. Jay Cross links to a 2002 essay by Wes Cooper, Information Technology and Internet Culture, which, drawing on Turkle, depicts the internet as an instrument for the creation of identities and of cultures. That's why the first paragraph is particularly appropriate for this paper, describing as it does the many ways of naming God the internet. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Tim Stahmer: Fear and Loathing on the Internet, Assorted Stuff  May 4, 2006

"User-generated content is very difficult to manage and control." This assessment comes in the midst of a user rebellion at YouTube against increased censorship and control. Tim Stahmer argues, "These fears revolve around the uncertainty that arises when high powered communications tools become available to almost anyone. Institutions and companies accustomed to manipulating their audiences are finding that control slipping away." Control of the message appears to be everything, and even benign and well-intentioned criticisms are being stifled. As Wes Fryer observes, "Schools are technocratic, top-down, static institutions which generally do not value change, innovation, or creativity". More...