Ubiquity

Ubiquity for Firefox from Aza Raskin on Vimeo.

Really wanting to like this simple idea... still v.early days (it's in Alpha right now), but integrating something so simple into your web browser to bring together services you use all the time... well... that's right up my street! Yet another reason why Firefox is rocking... and IE is lagging.

So... if you want it... get it from Mozilla Labs.

IE gets makeover - but still not lighting my fire!

BBC NEWS | Technology | Internet Explorer gets makeover: "IE8 offers a few surprises compared to the initial beta version released in March.

New features will include improved privacy and search functions, and ways to keep track of portions of web pages.

The release debuts two functions that were not available in the March release. However, many in the blogosphere have noted that several of the improvements in IE8 have been available on other browsers for some time."

So... in other words... "blah, blah, blah, IE8, blah, blah, old hat, blah, blah, nothing anyone else hasn't already been doing, blah, blah, get Firefox 3, blah, blah".

This, courtesy of 'Sarah's condensed reviewing service'. :o)

Man's 'pants' password is changed

BBC NEWS | England | Shropshire | Man's 'pants' password is changed: "A man who chose 'Lloyds is pants' as his telephone banking password said he found it had been changed by a member of staff to 'no it's not'"

Fnar!!!! Never attempt to subvert the system. *They* will get you!!

:o)

PS Yes, I know there are a whole load of issues connected with privacy, security and the expressive rights of the individual etc... but... I'll think about them when I've stopped laughing. :o))

My del.icio.us...

Links for 2008-08-25 [del.icio.us] Posted: 26 Aug 2008 12:00 AM CDT Undergraduate experience of blended e-learning The undergraduate experience of blended e-learning: a review of UK literature and practice Student Expectations of ICT Key findings from online research and discussion evenings held in June 2007 for the Joint Information Systems Committee The Myth about Online Course Development (EDUCAUSE Review) | EDUCAUSE CONNECT The Myth about Online Course Development "A Faculty Member Can Individually Develop and Deliver an Effective Online Course." The Psychology of Learning Environments (EDUCAUSE Review) | EDUCAUSE CONNECT Wikis and Podcasts and Blogs! Oh, My! What Is a Faculty Member Supposed to Do? (EDUCAUSE Review) | EDUCAUSE CONNECT

The Rapture of Apture?

Bloggers – Apture.com: "Bloggers: Add multimedia to your website, with one click

Apture is a new platform that let's you embed rich multimedia into your website with just one line of code."

Forgot to say, I added 'Apture' to my blog the other day... and... it rocks!! What a simple idea. Create a blog posting... post it... and you get a whole load of options to add other media to whatever it is you've written. Want to add video? Links to Wikipedia? Images? Documents? All can be done through a simple click and select menu. Once you've create an Apture account (for free) and added a single bit of HTML to your blog's template, you're away. I'm still in 'can't quite believe this could've been that easy' and am trying to only use it for sensible stuff rather than graffiti-ing my own blog with additional multimedia. But... oooooooh!!! How cool to be able to create content in such a simple, rich way. Head now buzzing with ideas for embedding stuff like this...

Apture. Currently on my 'like it a lot' pile of web 2.0 loveliness!

The Online world and the Offliners

BBC NEWS | Business | Two-thirds of UK homes now online: "The ONS data suggested that more than two-thirds of adults go online every day or almost every day, with men more regular users than women.

In the 35% of households with no access, there was an increase in the proportion that said they did not want the internet at home, from 3% in 2006 to 24% in 2008.

The survey also found that the better educated were more likely to be online.

The ONS said that 93% of adults aged under 70 who had a university degree or equivalent qualification had internet access.

This compared with just 56% of those with no formal qualifications being online."

Some interesting figures in this report - especially the 93% figure... not least since it applies to such a large age range. Questions in my head - if those with a lower level of educational achievement are excluded / excluding themselves from the connected world, how can those working in e-Learning reach them? How do you open the door for someone who can't even see there's a door open for them? I wonder too whether the fear factor prevents people from making that step into an online world? Fear of the unknown, maybe? Or is that too simplistic? Is it cost? Is it indifference? Active dislike? Either way, one third of people not being online in the UK and 44% of those with no formal qualifications are significant societal groups.

I try to imagine what life without the internet available at home would be like. Y'know, it's fairly easy to do... but I don't think that my life would be richer for it. It's not that I don't do the other things people without home internet access do. I see friends. I read. I go out. I do any number of things. But... there's an easy route to information, communication, applications and so much more that's available via my broadband connection. Today, I exchanged e-mails with someone I haven't seen in 16 years. I chatted with friends living in different countries. I researched articles from collections in libraries I've never visited. I chatted with colleagues who'd never been in the same room with me. Would I miss it if those opportunities were no longer there? Yes. Would I know what I was missing if I'd never experienced it? Probably not. Life goes on regardless, doesn't it?

The question is perhaps are the 'offliners' (those homes without an internet connection) choosing to stay offline or are they being excluded? Is it really offline vs. online at all? Learning vs. e-Learning. Isn't it just that the world is becoming blended and, just like the television, a piece of technology which was once out of reach for the majority will ultimately become just as everyday for virtually all.

PS I don't have a television. I am a 21st Century anomaly. :o)

My del.icio.us...

Links for 2008-08-24 [del.icio.us] Posted: 25 Aug 2008 12:00 AM CDT Widening Participation and Sustainability of Higher Education emerging_technologies08_chapter1.pdf (application/pdf Object) Emerging Technologies for Learning, BECTA

My del.icio.us...

Grief... I've been adding stuff to Delicious and then some these past few days!

Links for 2008-08-21 [del.icio.us] Posted: 22 Aug 2008 12:00 AM CDT Top 10 Online Note Taking Applications shortText.com - Twitzer Firefox extension Main Articles: 'Wiki or Won't He? A Tale of Public Sector Wikis', Ariadne Issue 49 Wide Open Spaces: Wikis, Ready or Not (EDUCAUSE Review) | EDUCAUSE CONNECT Defining “Creepy Treehouse” | Flexknowlogy ERM0811.pdf (application/pdf Object) The coming functionality mash-up in Personal Learning Environments - Study skills - effective reading Notes on how best to approach skim reading academic articles

delizzy - del.icio.us Bookmarks Search Engine

delizzy - del.icio.us Bookmarks Search Engine: "What is del.izzy?

del.izzy is a free service that lets you search through your del.icio.us bookmarks.

Wait a second, doesn't del.icio.us already let me do that? What's different about del.izzy?

del.icio.us is a great service, but when you search through your bookmarks, you are only searching through tags, titles and descriptions, not the page content.

del.izzy lets you search through all content, including title, description and page content, for all your bookmarks."

Looks like a handy service to me! If your tagging isn't as accurate as it might be given hindsight and changes in approach to using Del.icio.us then this could be a great way of tracking down those 'thought that'd be useful' links you can no longer find.

University standards under threat - maybe?

Geoffrey Alderman: University standards under threat | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk: "But the externals were not further involved. Instead, as a result of the strange remarking exercise, a number of students were moved from a straight fail to a borderline position, permitting them to be deemed to have passed if marks for other subjects were high enough. The net result was that students whom professor Buckland and his co-examiner had failed, and whose failures had been endorsed first by the external examiner and then by the board of examiners, were told that they had passed."

Interesting case which reached an employment tribunal after Professor Buckland resigned in protest at the way this regrading had taken place. One thing I hate is for students I've worked with to fail for reasons which are trivial (submitting work in the wrong format, missing the deadline by minutes etc)... but one thing I really, really hate is to see students pass whose work should not represent the quality of the course teaching were it allowed to pass. Limping students over the line who don't deserve to get over the line does them no favours in the long run and does institutions no favours either. I cringe at instructions in marking guides which say 'mark generously' (which I've come across in the past myself). I understand why it's being said... but I cringe nevertheless at the implication that some how the balance needs to be tipped in the favour of the 'customer' and less in favour of academic credibility...

Can universities really claim to be able to uphold their own standards any more? Tip of the iceberg or mountain out of molehill?

Interesting times ahead...