One very interesting new character (to me at least) on the participatory web scene is Clay Shirky. You may recognize the book title – Here comes everybody. It is one of those books on my desk.
I happen to come across this video. The key question is whether people will be willing to “produce and share” when given the opportunity. How will we allocate the “cognitive surplus” we presently have? Put another way (in the video) will any time presently devoted to watching Desperate Housewives be devoted to Web 2.0 sharing opportunities. Shirky seems to think the answer is “Yes”.
CreativeSpace is an interesting new tool for conducting image searches. The tool relies on Google image search capabilities and can be set to “safe search” which may be a useful option for educators. The revenue model appears to rely on ads.
My screen capture reflects the results from a search attempting to locate images from a local state park. I hoped to see some of my images (no luck).
This from the Washington Post – an article about teachers and the things they post to their Facebook pages. Another version of the “do you know your boss might look” theme. Obviously, the answer is “I didn’t think of that?” What, you didn’t think your students or the parents of your students might check to see if you have a Facebook account? While you were sleeping, this technology thing has caught on and you aren’t the only one who knows how to use it.
I know that some folks assume they can do and say what they want outside of school (at least learn how to limit access), but according to sources cited in the article:
Teachers caught with inappropriate Web sites could get a suspension for a first-time offense, said Michael Simpson, assistant general counsel for the National Education Association, a teachers union with more than 3 million members. If they can prove that no one at school complained about the page, then they might prevail in a personnel dispute “because there would be no evidence of any real or potential harm to the students or school,” he said.
If teachers claim free speech protection under the First Amendment, Simpson said, the U.S. Supreme Court recently ruled that governments can fire employees if their speech harmed the workplace’s mission and function.
The weekend was scheduled to involve a nice trip to Minneapolis to see our kids and granddaughters. Things do not always work out as planned. We had intended to make this trip two weeks ago, but did not leave town because of a late season blizzard. This time we made it out of town and were caught in another blizzard. Now, North Dakota / Minnesota is the region of the country that is prone to winter storms, but we are now in the last week of April.
Anyway, we were lucky to make into a town – Fergus Falls – and find a hotel. Might have spent the night in the ditch or at a Salvation Army shelter. The total snowfall was 18 inches.
The interstate was closed until late this afternoon and the trucks were lined up trying to get going again. The view from the overpass revealed the problem.
We have spent a little time driving around Fergus Falls for something to do. Check out this greenhouse “closed for the day” in the Kmart parking log.
I tend not to provide very much profile information when I enroll for web 2.0 services. I admit to being a male, but that is about it. I seldom reveal my age.
My world has just expanded. I have just discovered the world of older bloggers and sites devoted to their interests. I encountered a a request to complete an elderblogger survey on a site entitled “Time goes by: What it’s really like to get old.” It was kind of like learning I now qualify for less expensive coffee at Hardees.
No, I did not fill out the survey. Us old folks are cranky.
BTW – no disrespect intended by this post. I do care about health care. I also think your blog role as a whole offers much more creative titles than are contained on the ed type blogs list I mostly follow. If I cannot look forwarded to getting smarter, maybe at least I will become more creative.
I read something about a suit brought by publishers against Georgia State a few days ago and did not think much more about it (NY Times). Then Carvin offered a blog post on the same topic.
It seems Georgia State has been providing students digital reproductions of content from several publishers without authorization.
My first reaction was that the institution purposefully intended to push the “fair use” issue. Then, I wondered if GSU was behind and had different resources than I am used to at my institution. Most of the journals here whether on the shelf or not are available full-text and online. If off-campus (the system must track the IP address of the request), you have to enter a valid university ID for access.
I think I finally figured out what this is about. It is not about journal articles, but book chapters. Libraries can generate pdfs from books, but have to request and typically pay for clearance in the same way they had to pay for clearance in the old days of hard-copy course packs.
Perhaps publishers will negotiate a different price for digital rights for books just like they do for journals. I would think the authentication system would offer similar protection.
There must be some middle ground here. Instructors and institutions cannot seriously think the library should be able to purchase one copy of a book and make it available to all students via pdfs.
According to the NY Times:
R. Bruce Rich, a partner in the law firm of Weil, Gotshal & Manges, which is representing the plaintiffs, said that in spite of repeated attempts to work with Georgia State, “they indicated that they had no interest in having a discussion.”
Mr. Rich said that in a letter his firm received last summer, Georgia State officials “indicated their view that all of their practices are covered under the fair use doctrine.”
GSU “officials” – ask the librarians, they know better. Would a librarian make multiple copies of a chapter, keep them behind the counter, and hand them out when students wanted one? The may even have a stamp that they print a message on a single copy to indicate the understanding under which that copy was made.
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