Category — General

Assessment of 5 leading open source CMS from Commonwealth of Learning.

Not sure how this one got past me, must have been the summer doldrums, but back in June this report commissioned by the Commonwealth of Learning evaluating the field of current open source course management systems was released. It provides a fairly extensive analysis of the 5 shortlisted products (Moodle, LON-CAPA, ILIAS, dotLRN and ATutor) and ends up recommending ATutor for adoption with ILIAS coming in second.

It's an interesting recommendation. One could contrast it with the recent piece from Rob Reynolds at xplana that looked at some of the same products, but with a very different evaluation framework. It's also a bit unfortunate that it wasn't able to assess Stanford's Coursework, which was only then being released. I guess the other small fault I would find with it is that it takes a naive view of product selection based on feature assessment, as it simply provides a total of the various assessments, thus considering all features as being of equal weight, though it does separate out systemic issues from functional features. And if I was the Moodle guy, I think I might cry foul over a few of their 'subjective assessments.' Still, a very worthwhile resource and reference. – SWL

[EdTechPost]

COL always does interesting and useful studies like this. I like moodle and claroline best, because i've installed and played with them. Subjectively, then they should be ranked higher.

Linux and Microsoft in Brazil.

WSJ writes that “President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva is finalizing a policy recommending that federal ministries, agencies and state enterprises install open-source software, such as Linux, instead of proprietary software, such as Microsoft's Windows, in new computer equipment. Sergio Amadeu, Mr. da Silva's information-technology adviser, says the goal is for at least 80% of government computers bought next year to feature open-source software, though the guidelines aren't binding.” This could tilt the scales against Microsoft.

Ninad Mehta summarises the challenges Microsoft faces in the emerging markets nicely: “(1) Protecting against software piracy and (2) Preserving Microsoft's market share against Linux.”

[E M E R G I C . o r g]

is there a new first/second/third world in computing like there was in socioeconomic systems? I think so. your first world is the multinational corporations paying huge money for proprietary software, your second world is your growing install base of open source/free software, and your third world is the have nots.

It's the (Military Industrial Complex's) Economy, Stupid. The nervous nellies in Congress just don't get it. As soon as they see the price tag they start whining… [Fanatical Apathy]

oil, oil, oil, oil, …. oil, oil, oil, oil, ….

you get the picture, spend a little now, control iraqi reserves leverage that to break the opec cartel on oil and voila, you make tons of money, well Big Oil makes tons of money.

A Mac-Style Spercomputer: “Virginia Tech is tying 1,100 G5s together to achieve top-dollar performance for a relative bargain, a ringing endorsement for Apple's latest machine.” (BusinessWeek via MyAppleMenu) [MyAppleMenu] [Universal Rule]

just goes to show you that people all around the world are noticing this move….

Symposium Gender & ICT: Strategies of Inclusion

Research on the inter-relations between Gender and Information &
Communication Technologies is dynamic, multidisciplinary, engaging and
creative.
In January 2003 the symposium 'Gender and ICT: Where are we at' was held in
Amsterdam, the Netherlands. We aim to pursue the discussions begun there
and therefore we are pleased to announce the symposium entitled:
Gender & ICT: Strategies of Inclusion

This symposium aims to be a meeting point for researchers from different
disciplines and research schools that are familiar with ICT and gender
studies, women's studies or feminist studies.
The symposium will be held in Brussels on 20 January 2004.

We invite abstracts on the following themes :
- Women, Work and Computerization
- Gendered Relations towards ICT in Daily Life
- Gender issues in ICT at School and Informatics Education
- Gendering Technology: Structure and Design

Examples of possible paper sections in the different themes:

Women, Work and Computerization
Job profiles and the influence of ICT, the impact of ICT skills in the job
function classifications, influence of ICT on work organisation,
computerization of work and surveillance, portrayal of ICT (functions), etc.

Gendered Relations towards ICT in Daily Life
Possession and use of ICT, domestication, ICT-literacy, user and skill
divide, consequences of use of ICT in the organisation of daily work and
private life, ICT and family life, privacy and ethics, wearables and
biometrics, on-line activities, interaction, Participation and democracy, etc.

Gender issues in ICT at School and Informatics Education
Gender differences in ICT-use in school contexts
Computer attitudes, learning styles, informatics curriculum, e-learning,
feminist pedagogies, ICT and lifelong learning, etc.

Gendering Technology: Structure and Design
Women designing and shaping contents and systems of the new technologies,
social shaping of technology, production of ICT, feminist critiques of
computing, gender scripts of technology, participatory design,
user-friendlessness, adaptivity, etc.

The deadline for abstracts (max. 500 words) is November 15.
The final programme will be available by December 15.
The working language of the symposium will be English.

it is worth it, i picked it up on my way home tonight. it rocks in the way good things tend to rock, lovely. may his dreams and wishes be fulfilled.

so you don't know how to use chisenbop, or even know what it is, well go to the curious math site to find out that and other semi-entertaining things with simple math.

Computers & Writing 2004: Now taking submissions. Computers & Writing 2004 in Hawai'i, “Writing in Globalization: Currents, Waves, Tides” is now taking submissions.

On a side note, I just downloaded Mozilla and am loving it! [Kairosnews - A Weblog for Discussing Rhetoric, Technology and Pedagogy]

this looks like a cool conference

Opus to return.

Opus to return as the Washington Post will announce a new Berke Breathed cartoon this Sunday.

[vanderwal.net Off the Top]

this is the best news in quite a while. support your local cartoonist, or at least your favorite ones!

Academic Hiring: An Ethical Dilemma. Joseph Duemer posts about an ethical dilemma in hiring: Your division hasn't hired a tenure-track line for four years & those hires were to replace someone who resigned & someone who was denied tenure; you have been making up the… [Invisible Adjunct]

to me it seems that you have one choice, to do a national search and to do it right, because if you don't, you will likely be held liable at some point in time.