Posted 2:02 PM by George Siemens
This has been making the rounds on elearning blogs/listservs: Free Culture. Lawrence Lessig offers makes four critical observations:

• Creativity and innovation always builds on the past.
  
• The past always tries to control the creativity that builds upon it.
  
• Free societies enable the future by limiting this power of the past.
  
• Ours is less and less a free society.
  

Posted 12:03 PM by George Siemens
Internet2: Time to Shed Dot Vertigo
Quote: "The dot-com implosion has left many managers wary of the promised wonders of information technology, but those who ignore the next phase of the Internet—dubbed Internet2—do so at their peril."
Comment: When ever something is declared as "dead" (like the Internet recently), you know it's big and very much alive.

Posted 7:55 AM by George Siemens
Teaching Portfolios in Higher Education
Quote: "As part of the trend towards enhanced accountability, it is now commonplace for institutions of higher education to clearly flag a commitment to teaching quality..."

410 students kicked out for not working
Quote: "Cincinnati's Virtual High School dropped 410 students, more than half its first-year enrollment, because the students did little or no work."
Comment: This article highlights what I think is a serious concern in elearning - the notion that online students do not succeed mainly because they are not self-motivated. I agree that in order succeed online, a student needs greater discipline than in a classroom...but, if elearning doesn't find a way to meet the needs of students who are not over-achieving, mature, and independent (in other words - 5% of society) then the future of the industry is bleak. I think poor instruction and awful design play the greatest role in student drop outs. Quit blaming the students. Design better, teach better...and capture a larger % of the potential elearners.

Posted 7:15 AM by George Siemens
Accountants bridge technology gap...quick read on how many accountants increasing their understanding of technology in order to better do their work. A glimpse of what needs to happen in teaching/training profession?...:)

Flip side: if teachers have to become technologists in order to use elearning...elearning will bomb. This survey The Digital Disconnect: The widening gap between Internet-savvy students and their schools reveals a real problem that will not be resolved through increased teacher training (though that is a big part of the solution!). We need a low entry level into using technology for teaching...so teachers can start quickly and without too many technical skills. After all, word processors became popular only after they became fairly easy to use. Teachers need to be encouraged to use low threshold applications as a starting point. Start small...but begin now!