Open Source Clickers?

Some good comments about clickers and educational feedback. It is not clear just what the person looking for the OS clicker is really looking for here.

Slashdot | Building an Open Source “Clicker”?
The problem is this: a clicker system requires…clickers. What I need are remote controls that have a minimum of 6 buttons (for users to select options with). The sticking point comes when a button is pressed — the remote must send the option choice, as well as a unique ID specific to the remote, so the clicker software can distinguish between different students.

Clients pressure bar to innovate

Great article with good links to articles about tech innovation, or the lack thereof, in legal practice. I think the implications for legal education are worth noting. As clients expect more use of technology in practice, firms will pressure law schools for more tech savvy graduates. And the 100+ year old style of teaching law in America ain’t going to cut it.

excited utterances
The message is clear. Innovate or die.

So where does innovation in legal education come from? Well, all modesty aside, CALI is probably one of the best sources for innovation in legal education in America. Over the past 12 months we have released quite a few products and services to our members that, if applied, have the capacity to significantly alter the way legal education works. Adoption has been slow at best, but we keep pushing. I think that eventually pressure from students and employers will force law schools to get more involved in using technology in education and exposing students to more of the technology they will see in practice.

eBay Buys Skype 4 2 Much Money

When I heard these rumors last week I assumed that it was just somebody’s idea of a bad joke. What does eBay get for its money? A non-standard geek infested VOIP phone system? Why? I getthat eBay could build all sorts of nifty VOIP apps to helps its business, but come on $2.6 billion? Just download Asterisk and go to town. I hope thgere is more to this story.

Slashdot | eBay To Buy Skype For $2.6 Billion
It’s not a rumour anymore. BBC News online reports that eBay will pay ‘half the amount in cash and the other half in stocks to create an unparalleled e-commerce and communications engine’.” The $2.6 billion purchase would give eBay access to the VoIP market, of which Skype claims it has 2 million users online at any given time. BBC speculates that eBay will use Skype to allow sellers and bidders to communicate via voice; I have also heard that live auctions a la Sothebys might also be a possibility. Also reported at Wall Street Journal (registration), New York Times.

Classcaster Launched

Well, I got this out the door today. We went from concept to product in right around 6 months. I suppose I should say I not we since I did the actual development myself.
In a nutshell, Classcaster is a turn-key blogging, podcasting, audio-blogging, telephony solution aimed at education (that is CALI’s mission after all). Yep, on this one system you get a blog, podcast ready, the capalbilty to call in posts, RSS2 feeds with enclosures, an embedded Flash player, automatic generation of posts once a call is complete. Pretty cool. Next is an ISO version so you play along at home:)

www.cali.org – CALI Spotlight
CALI is excited to announce the immeadiate availability of Classcaster. Classcaster is a course blogging and podcasting system that provides faculty, librarians, and staff of CALI member schools with a new way to interact with students and communities. A Classcaster blog provides authors with tools for posting not only traditional blog articles but also tools for podcasting and sharing any documents and/or files with students and communities. Members of the CALI community interested in using Classcaster should first visit the Classcaster FAQ for instructions on using the system.

Temporary Official Tulane Law Website | Teknoids

Temporary Official Tulane Law Website | Teknoids
n response to the emergency situation created by hurricane Katrina, Tulane Law School has created a temporary official website at Emory Law School. This temporary site will serve as Tulane Law School’s official website for communicating with their community and the larger law school community. Members of the Tulane community are encouraged to visit the site to get the latest information on the situation.

Direct Link: Temporary Official Tulane Law Website

The Technology Source Archives Return

This is an interesting archive. Too bad that publication of new stuff has ceased.

The Technology Source Archives
Published from 1997 to 2003, The Technology Source (ISSN 1532-0030) was a peer-reviewed bimonthly periodical whose purpose was to provide thoughtful, illuminating articles that would assist educators as they face the challenge of integrating information technology tools into teaching and into managing educational organizations.

‘Eyes on the Prize’ May Finally Clear Rights

If you really want to talk about what is messed up with copyright in this country, here’s a prime example. This award winning documentary about the US civil rights movement has been unviewable in the United States for years because the original rights for various media used in the series had expired and the film maker lacked the funds to clear the rights anew. Now I know that the holders of copyright are entitled to full enjoyment of their rights, but there needs to be some provision in the law for use such as this. Think about, how could the rights holders be economically harmed if soembody just released ‘Eyes’ on DVD without clearing rights?

Wired News: Cash Rescues Eyes on the Prize
When filmmaker Henry Hampton first created the series, the owners of still photos, video footage and music granted permission to use the material for various lengths of time. Many of those rights have since expired, and it is more costly now to re-clear them.

The task of reacquiring those rights has fallen on Forman and a team of film industry veterans who worked on the Eyes series. They have a formidable job ahead: Blackside used video footage from 82 archives, and approximately 275 still photographs from about 93 archives, according to Forman. About 120 song titles were used as well.