buridan's blog

A new cell-phone service that promises to give free answers to virtually any question within minutes has some academics worried that it will be yet another device to help students cheat.

[From ChaCha service raises fears of cheating via cell phone | Philadelphia Inquirer | 09/10/2008]

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I don't make evaluations that would allow students to use this technology, but being aware that it exists could help some instructors avoid it.

You know you’re supposed to be on LinkedIn — at least according to the people who keep emailing you those invites. But what’s the real business value of social networking sites — and what are the downsides? Our feature package answers your questions and gives you everything you need to get started. We also look beyond the standard professional networks to find out how successful business people are using sites like Flickr and Twitter for a surprising variety of business functions:

[From Social Networking for Senior Management | BNET]

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i found this to be somewhat humorous, but others will likely find it a bit droll.

NEW EDUCATORS PILOT PROGRAM

Are you an educator? Join Second Life for free, meet other educators and learn how to use this acclaimed 3D virtual world to teach classes, network, and interact with students in new and unique ways. Click on the "Educator? Get Started" link below to initiate registration and begin your education journey in Second Life.

[From Education Programs | Second Life Grid]

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LL and ISTE have launched a new pilot program for sl.

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edmodo is microblogging for education. it is a good start for teachers and students.

Results of the World's Best Presentation Contest 2008 - SlideShare

Here are the results of the 2008 best slideshare slideshow contest. They provide some excellent examples of making a good internet presentation... Granted, not all of them are as good or as useful as some might want, but nonetheless, I think we can learn from each.

50 virtual worlds is a video for personalizedmedia. It introduces, albeit extremely briefly 50 different virtual worlds and indicates with their introduction some of the possibilities involved in virtual worlds for learning and research.

academia.edu is a new social networking site for academics. It is based out of oxford u and attempts to develop a directory and archival structure of materials. It has an interesting tree-interface. I'm not sure how far it will take off, but i've sent it to a few lists and colleagues in a wide variety of fields have signed up.

Create your own social network, quickly and easily. Elgg allows you to take full advantage of the power of social technology with elegant, flexible solutions for organisations, groups and individuals.[From Elgg.org]

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This is great news. Elgg is what i built learninglibrarians.net out of a few years ago. I used it as a teaching and posting tool, it was excellent. It is now even better.

Since Tuesday I have been in Milwaukee visiting SOIS and CIPR as part of my Information Ethics fellowship. I attended a discussion about a possible future conference on translating intercultural information ethics across the situated understandings that term implies across a plurality of contexts. That seems like a great project, I'm happy to help out there. For the rest of the time, I attended the conference Thinking Critically:Alternative Perspectives and Methods in Information Studies. It was an excellent conference and I met many interesting people in the field of information studies, most of which are leaders in their field or soon to be so. I also attended the 2008 Samore Lecture: "Interpreting the Digital Human," by Professor Rafael Capurro, at the Allis Museum, which provided an excellent end to the conference. I had excellent dinners and conversation with colleagues that I've not seen for some time, and with new friends and colleagues.