Posted 8:13 PM by George Siemens
2, 4, 6, 8, Let's All Collaborate
Quote: "This made me consider which collaborative digital tools seem to work? What gets people to coordinate, to work together to a common goal? And my answer: dumb simple ones. Email. Instant messaging. Simple bulletin boards like bugzilla. Voice telephone calls. Weblogs. And, when stepping out of the world of business, SMS."
Comment: The key to technology adoption (for the mainstream) is to take technology (as much as possible) out of the process. Make it intuitive...make it simple. Simple social technologies...

Posted 8:00 PM by George Siemens
Tiki via Ed Tech Dev
Quote: "Tiki is a CMS system based on a Wiki, it has all the features a regular Wiki application has and a lot more."
Comment: I'm completely intrigued by the concept of wikis ("A Wiki is a kind of a website, where anyone who is reading the site can also edit it" What is a Wiki). Educationally, this has great potential...since learning often involves building upon and expanding the ideas of others. My next project will be wiki based...if anyone has experience or suggestions, let me know.

Posted 8:37 AM by George Siemens
What is a Controlled Vocabulary
Quote: "Human beings are natural makers of patterns. That is how we understand what our senses are taking in. When people visit your site, they will immediately begin trying to understand what they see. A well-designed and regularly updated controlled vocabulary can help connect the concepts your users have in their heads to the concepts you present on your site. That is when real communication will occur."

Posted 8:29 AM by George Siemens
AOL Quietly Wins IM Patent
Quote: "In the latest example of a potentially market-defining patent being granted without fanfare, AOL Time Warner quietly has become the owner of a patent, granted in September by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, that covers much of the technology behind instant-messaging services."
Comment: Interesting...could have significant implications for instant messaging (which is only recently gaining credibility as an important corporate communication tool - between staff, and between an organization and its customers). I spoke with an instructor recently who felt that instant messaging is one of the most effective (and under-utilized) teaching tools - learners react to it more positively than time-delayed email.

Posted 8:23 AM by George Siemens
Shots fired in copyright cold war
Quote: "ATTEMPTS to block copying of music CDs will spark an arms race between record labels and hackers...Music companies needed to look at alternative ways of distributing music to the masses...But the music companies would be better advised to invest in solving this problem rather than in a fruitless arms race with hackers."
Comment: I fully acknowledge an artists right to be compensated for content creation. However, I just can't see how an industry can succeed with a strategy that involves conflict with your market. Figure out what your market wants...then create a means of giving it to them, while making a profit. That's economics. Currently, corporations are ignoring what consumers want...and are trying to punish them when they (the consumers) don't accept what's being offered. A brief moment of common sense would be nice...

Posted 8:15 AM by George Siemens
Educational Website Awards
Comment: The usual link-rich offering from Webtools...great examples of elearning - must admit I liked the Children's sites...particularly Building Big and Coolmath. Creators of elearning for children know that learning needs to be fun and engaging in order to retain student's interest. Unfortunately, this understanding often does not extend into formal education/training.