Tuesday, August 29, 2006

More about the Web2.0 showcase

South Australian educators have an opportunity to participate in a free Web2.0 showcase - All you wanted to know but were too afraid to ask! on September 21st at Technology School of the Future in Adelaide. Graham Wegner has already provided some advance publicity on his blog, 'Teaching Generation Z' and I'm looking forward to co-presenting with Graham, Al Upton, Mike Seyfang and Deanne Bullen.
The showcase promises to provide "an introduction to some of the collaborative Web2.0 resources that are quick, easy ... collaborative, connected and empowering for kids and teachers" and capitalises on the interest generated by numerous presentations and workshops on this theme at the recent CEGSA Conference.
Judy O'Connell on heyjude has also been ‘showcasing’ Web 2.0 ‘All Your Own Work’ in a Web 2.0 World' at a seminar in NSW.
Judy's "aim was to encourage teachers and teacher-librarians to re-examine what it means to create a community of enquiry for themselves and for their students…by participating in new forms of information organization and sharing…..like social bookmarking, wiki, and blogs."
Congratulations to Judy who has just celebrated her "quarter of a year blogging" milestone and become a favourite with many edubloggers.

Wednesday, August 16, 2006

DRM, copyright minefield in the Digital Age

A White Paper, just published by William W. Fisher & William McGeveran, provides a comprehensive 117 page report on the increasingly complex issues around DRM and copyright for educators in the Digital Era.
"The Digital Learning Challenge: Obstacles to Educational Uses of Copyrighted Material in the Digital Age" The paper is part of the The Berkman Center for Internet & Society Research Publication Series and has a Creative Commons License.

"Digital technology makes informative content easier to find, to access, to manipulate and remix, and to disseminate." The ability to share and connect beyond the classroom enriches learning experiences but opens up a minefield as illustrated by a large range of examples and case studies in this report.

The authors suggest that "copyright law and related structures impede the full promise of digital technology for education where instead they should be enabling creative uses of content."

All is not gloom and doom however, as the report concludes with a discussion on recent trends in attempting to overcome the obstacles and possible paths to reform.