Home-Based Entrepreneur

Wednesday, May 19, 2004

Practical Interoperability from the Reload folks.

http://www.reload.ac.uk/interop.html

Recognizing that saying one complies with a standard and implementing a system that does so (especially when some of the standards seem to change nightly) are two different things, the good folks at Reload have built this page that reports on various real world users' attempts to import content packages built with Reload into a number of "VLEs" or course management systems, including WebCT and a few of the open source options. One hopes that some of the 'hiccups' described here are simply a sign of the relative immaturity of the systems and standards that will dissipate with time (right?....) - SWL

[EdTechPost]
10:53:33 AM

Why Move from MT to Drupal?.

I just posted the following to drupal.org forums. I've been very happy using Drupal as a blogger and can't imagine using anything else. For instance, I don't know what I'd do without my news aggregator. But I also recognize that MT users who are considering a move to new software are carefully evaluating their choices before making a switch. Perhaps this will help . . .

On May 13, Movable Type announced that with version 3.0 they would be "Getting Their Pricing Right." The new licensing scheme--which only makes MT available for free for 1 author and up to 3 websites--is, as Mark Pilgrim has pointed out, a demonstration that "free enough" does not guarantee any freedoms in the long term. And so many current MT users are now searching for copyleft and/or open source blogging software alternatives.

Anyone following the many trackback links from MT's announcement will notice that WordPress is the most popular GPL'd alternative considered by most MT bloggers. Drupal gets plenty of mention, but often in the context of being described as too difficult to install or a too feature heavy system for basic bloggers. Indeed, for many individual users who keep one blogsite and are happy enough with the features they have now, WP may be the best choice.

But also within those conversation threads across the blogosphere is a common critique: MT's 3.0 release is feature light, with comment spam control being the only new addition. Many MT users had looked forward to increased capabilities in MT 3.0, only to find increased price. Many MT plugin developers now feel that MT development is first about making money and community second.

[cyberdash - cyberteacher cyberculture cyberlearner]
10:52:29 AM

Service connects prospective online faculty with institutions offering online courses. As enrollments in online courses continue to grow, institutions are challenged to identify qualified, experienced online faculty. Persons who desire to teach online are often frustrated with the time consuming process of searching for online teaching p [Online Learning Update]
10:51:32 AM

LORs, DRs, and the Reusable Life of Course Content. This article by Phil Long from the May issue of Syllabus examines the challenge of dealing with the variety and abundance of learning objects within the framework of course management systems. "Learning is loosely guided, as much directed by the learner as it is by the intentions of the teacher. Therein lies the problem. Effective course management systems will need to access multiple repositories (which will likely have different policy frameworks) and determine which repositories are available and for what purposes they can be used. The interactions among library repositories, learning object repositories, and course systems are rife for misunderstandings of language, policy, and purpose."
JH
[EduResources Weblog--Higher Education Resources Online]
10:50:38 AM

A Framework of Guidance for Building Good Digital Collections. I'm passing along this reference that was reported and reviewed in OLDaily (with Stephen's comments about the resource). JH
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About more than just collections, this framework is a very nice document describing principles for collections, objects, metadata and projects. Nothing in here I would disagree with, quite a bit I would enthusiastically support, and dozens of references to frameworks, metadata schemas, and more. If you work with digital repositories or collections, have a look at this one. This document was originally prepared for the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) and released in 2001. This is the 2004 version. By Various Authors, NISO, February 1, 2004 [Refer][Research][Reflect] [OLDaily] [EduResources Weblog--Higher Education Resources Online]
10:49:46 AM

Pilot Study Paper.

The weblog is officially on hiatus now for a bit as I complete my spring semester work, though I will probably make the occasional entry over the summer. The title link to this article takes you to the final paper for the pilot study for the Interactive Simulations Project (MS Word .doc format). I will be picking up this work again during fall semester.

[Holly's Research Journal]
10:48:30 AM

Assessment resource. NEW WHITE PAPER: ASSESSMENTS THROUGH THE LEARNING PROCESS Questionmark has published a new, free white paper entitled `Assessments Through the Learning Process.` This paper covers many aspects of using assessments: How to distinguish between different types and styles of... [John Jennings - Stuff]
10:47:18 AM