Elgg.net

I ran across an interesting site: elgg.net. It bills itself as an "online social network for those interested in education, learning technology and new approaches to teaching and learning". Looks like it could be an interesting site - I've added it to my list of RSS feeds.

Geocaching

One of my hobbies that I have done for a while is geocaching. I mentioned this to some friends the other day, and I was surprised they had never heard of it, so I figured it was a subject worth a post.

Geocaching is basically a high-tech treasure hunt. People all over the world are hiding small waterproof containers and then posting the GPS coordinates on web sites like geocaching.com. You can go to the site, enter your zip code, and get a list of hidden caches near you. You will be amazed how many there are (right now there are 6,540 within a 50 mile radius of my house). Using a GPS receiver (can be purchased for about a 100 bucks) you can follow the coordinates and hunt for the hidden treasure. Most caches contain a log book to sign, and many have little trinkets that you can take - as long as you put something of yours in to replace it.

It was started in May 2000 by Dave Ulmer in Oregon and has spread rapidly - there are currently over 317,000 caches around the world. One of the things I like about it is that it helps me find interesting places that I probably would never have seen. Most caches are placed in a site that has some kind of intrinsic value. It might be a beautiful view, or a hidden stream, or historical interest, but there is usually something worthwhile about the location other than the hidden cache. It's a great combination of mystery, exercise and geekiness.

A lot more information can be found (as always) on the Wikipedia page.

Blackboard Patent

Blackboard was recently awarded a patent covering Learning Management Systems (LMS) and has launched their first lawsuit against Desire2Learn - one of their only existing commercial competitors (since they purchased WebCT last year - their only significant competitor).

I'm no patent lawyer, but this whole thing smells really bad to me. There is a big difference between a copyright which protects your intellectual property (the expression of an idea) and a patent - which can protect the idea itself. The academic community should be very concerned about this action which is obviously intended to stifle competition and will (in my opinion) ultimately stifle innovation.

I have been a Blackboard administrator since 1999. I first saw Blackboard at CAUSE98 in Seattle when they were one of the small startup companies with a very small booth in the back. Overall I have been pleased with their product - I think it does the job well and despite a few bumps along the way I have been satisfied with the service we have received from them. However I have not seen anything groundbreaking or innovative that warrants a patent that would prohibit others from using the same idea. Did they invent a discussion board? Or delivering files through the web? Or online tests?

It's a good product, and virtually everyone I have dealt with at Blackboard has been great, but I think they have made a big mistake with this action. The higher education community is not a typical business market and will not react the same. This looks like a decision made by a lawyer, not a technologist or academic. There was already a movement away from commercial LMS toward open source (Moodle and Sakai) and I think this is just going to accelerate that process.

The academic blogosphere is pretty active about this, and I haven't seen anything positive about it. You can see the latest here. The president of Educause sent out a letter yesterday on this topic - you can read it here.

Dropping Knowledge

I ran across an interesting site today called DroppingKnowledge.com. They are collecting questions from people all over the world and they are going to present the top 100 questions to a group of 112 people sitting around the world's largest table in Berlin on September 9th. I have a couple of reactions to this idea.:

1) The first is what an amazing tool the Internet is for such a project. Imagine attempting a feat like this just a short while ago before the Internet became ubiquitous. Now we can have people all over the world submit questions, edit them, vote on them and begin a global conversation that could become the genesis for a new age of cross cultural cooperation. This humble little effort just might usher in a new era of peaceful co-existence.

2) My second thought is what a total crock this whole thing is. Maybe I'm a bit cynical (you wouldn't be the first person to accuse me of it), but this looks to me like the world's largest committee. Ever been on a committee? Ever see anything worthwhile come out of a committee? I also can't help wonder about the political agenda of the organizers when I see that Cindy Sheehan is a participant. Is she really one of the 112 world's greatest thinkers, or does she represent a political philosophy that they want publicized? Hey - I'm just asking questions!

The group seems very heavily weighted toward writers, poets and artists. I have nothing against those vocations, but wouldn't it have made more sense to get people together who have actually solved problems instead of just asked the questions? I suspect this group would find any corporate executive suspect, but somebody who has actually met a payroll might have some insights into solving poverty. Of course, someone in that line of work might not be able to get the day off to sit around a big table solving the world's problems with DJ Spooky.

Here are a few of my favorite questions posed on the site so far (and no, I'm not making these up - typos were left intact):

• Do fish feel thirst?
• Why the Human Being is so stupid?
• What is the significance of pareidolia?
• Will managers with MBA's suck the soul out of business and society to the point where there is a revolt by worker and consumer?
• why?
• How long will the hype around this service last after the meeting has passed?
• why is it so hard and complicated to mentally handle a broken-up relationship?
• Who cares for growing and CONNECTING the tools and methods of collective intelligence and wisdom into a people-powered ecosystem of solutions, complex enough to match the complexity of our world problematique? (This is NOT a rhetorical question.)
• If trees spoke, would they tell us another history?
• Might the Q/A or Problem/Solution process divert us from seeking unifying synergy within our vast diversity of cognitive/affective competencies? Might we interact as if we have no adequate expertize, but have the potential to gain what we need?
• Do I have to patent myself or my dna genes, that noone takes my dna and clones me?
• how does sewage affect algae growth?

Well I'll overlook the insult of not being asked to sit at the table (the invitation is probably in the mail), but I will contribute my questions:

• Why does one sock always disappear in the laundry? Where are they?
• Why is "pair of pants" plural, but "bra" is singular?
• Why is there air?
• If a mute swears, does his mother wash his hands with soap?
• What's another word for synonym?
• If a man speaks in the forest and there is no woman to hear him, is he still wrong?
• What should you do when you see an endangered animal that is eating an endangered plant?

OK, OK, I didn't make all of them up. I found them on the Internet (most were attributed to George Carlin), but I still want to know the answers!