via SiT - RSS Workshop

n this workshop you'll learn how to create, validate, syndicate, and view your own RSS news channel. The emphasis will be the practical application of RSS XML/RDF metadata for dynamically publishing:

WeblogsInEducation(at)SchoolBlogs.com : Collaboration - No Strings Attached

"It is amazing how motivating an activity becomes when students realise they are in some way 'collaborating' with others across the globe."

Jon Udell: Transmeta gadgets and paradigm shift gear grinding

"Transmeta threw a great party last night at the Rockefeller Center. Lots of nifty Crusoe-based gadgets were on display, including the OQO Ultra-Personal Computer. It wants to be a universal engine that powers your desktop, detaches and docks into a notebook, or stands alone as a somewhat portly PDA. Everybody wanted one, including me -- and I'm not known for gadget lust..."

I must remember to regularly read Jon's Radio | Collaboration Category from now on. Interesting stuff.

ZDNet |UK| - News - Story - Warchalking: London Wi-Fi guerrillas take tips from hobos

"A new fad in London is taking the Internet community by storm: chalking runes on pavements and walls to indicate the presence of a wireless networking node..."

ZDNet |UK| - Comment - Matt Loney - Story - Who trusts 'trusted computers'?

"Microsoft wants you to trust them to build technology to ensure your privacy - but do you really want them policing copyright laws?

The words 'Microsoft' and 'trust' only really seem to fit together with the help of an 'anti' somewhere in the middle. I find it somewhat odd therefore, to find this particular company proposing the development of a 'trusted computer platform'.

Trusted by whom? Not by me, that's for sure..."

You have to read this article, if only to find out who Matt Loney trusts more than Microsoft ;-)

via Scripting News - SearchDay - Teoma vs. Google, Round Two - 2 April 2002

Teoma's underlying technology is an extension of the HITS algorithm developed by researchers at IBM several years ago. In a nutshell, the search engine goes beyond traditional keyword and text analysis and seeks out "hubs" and "authorities" related to your query terms -- a "social network" of related content that forms a "community" about the topic.

The cool thing about Teoma is that its community-seeking behavior is both query-specific, and happens in real time. "Whenever you type in a query, we're actually looking for the communities after you type the query," said Paul Gardi, Teoma's Vice President of Search. "We're using a method called dynamic rank, because there's a lot of information you can learn about that page by its friends."

The Scotsman - Education - Children will need skills, not knowledge, says professor

Gordon Kirk, a dean at the faculty of education at Edinburgh University, a national centre for teacher training, has outlined the case for scrapping the curriculum and discouraging teachers from focusing on imparting knowledge to children.

...

...children need to concentrate on acquiring skills in communication, thinking, learning, negotiation, risk-taking, first aid, DIY and self defence. They also need to develop self-awareness, people skills and technological knowledge.

Whilst I don't agree that gaining 'knowledge' is as simple as compiling facts, I have some sympathy with the view expressed by Professor Kirk. It's a short article, worth reading. Some of the more memorable parts include:

Douglas Wynn, of Deloitte and Touche management consultancy, who oversaw a review of teacher training for the Executive covering the next three to five years, backed Prof Kirs call for more radical change in the longer term...predicted that education professionals will, in future, be "facilitators" sitting beside pupils as they learn from sophisticated computer programmes (sic). Instead of being filled with knowledge, pupils will learn how to problem solve and look up information as they need it.

but not everbody agrees ;-):

David Eaglesham, the general secretary of the Scottish Secondary Teachers Association..."This is typical of the rambling and incoherent approach we hear from academics. It is unachievable and a distraction from real issues such as workload, discipline and alienation of some pupils from the system."

Seems to me that Eaglesham has his head in the sand. Perhaps his 'real issues' could be tackled, in part, by taking a new approach to teaching.

PS In the same education supplement Hugh Reilly's op-ed today is well worth a read too!

According to Al:

"By following these simple guidelines, you can keep me and mine securely employed."

Sorry Al, no can do! ;-)

Looking forward to seeing the outcome of My Cocoa App (Aaron Swartz: The Weblog) and reading Machine Beauty: Elegance and the Heart of Technology that provided the inspiration.