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Today I finalized the last things that needed to be done on Spindeln (the Spider) v 1.5. Spindeln is a Swedish broker for digital learning resources. Hence, Spindeln can be used to search for digital learning resources in several different (Swedish) archives. This is done using two approaches: through harvest of metadata (i.e. the metadata is harvested from the different archives and copied into Spindeln’s SCAM-based archive), and through federation (i.e. the search queries sent to Spindeln are forwarded to the archives in the federation and the answers are then compiled and forwarded back to the user).

One of the most interesting features of Spindeln is the ability to syndicate the search forms (and results) to any webpage. This means that Spindeln can be integrated to a school’s web or intranet or whatever. To put it differently, Spindeln can be used as a component in mashups.

Spindeln 1.5 introduces a number of enhances to the underlying system providing the Spindeln service, but the most visual enhancements have been made to the syndication scripts. We got rid of the iFrame dependance and have added some nice Ajax features that improves the responsiveness and the look and feel.

The new version will soon be available via the MSU Spindeln portal, but it is already possible to try out the new enhanced scripts. Instructions can be found here for english , and here for swedish.

Spindeln is financed by MSU, and is developed as a part of IMLs research program on learning infrastructure.

I and my collegue, Peter Vinnervik , are at the kick-off meting for the iCoper project in Wien. The project spans 30 month and has the potential of becoming one of the most interesting EU-projects that I have participated in. This is in the abstract for the project:

Higher education institutions and continuing education centers face a growing number of challenges in delivering competency-driven educational content with their learning services. The current lack of widely accepted standards and their adoption hinders the effective implementation of learning technologies.

Driven by a consortium of key players in the European arena iCOPER will access to a critical mass of more than 15,000 hours of integrated educational content. Based on this beneficial infrastructure the project will systematically analyze the implementation of existing specifications such as IMS RCDEO, IMS LD, SQI, and QTI. iCOPER’s underlying pedagogical framework will guide a consensus building approach to developing Best Practices, addressing issues such as (1) exchange of competency models in a cross-cultural educational context, (2) collaboration around learning designs, (3) integration of content via federated search and harvesting, (4) reuse of instructional models and content in learning deliver environments, (5) interoperability of item banks for assessment and evaluation.

iCOPER will provide mechanisms to ensure European-wide user involvement, cooperation, and adoption of standards within a large community to support all phases of standardization. Liaison management will condense findings into an iCOPER Reference Model which will be fed back to standards bodies and disseminated via the iCOPER Institute for Training, Consulting & Piloting.

The thing that makes iCoper interesting is that it deals with the big picture, which is something that is usually missing when working with technology standards and the pedagogical perspective. By that, iCoper fits the profile and research at IML very well.

Peter Becker gör en intressant (och egentligen självklar) koppling mellan FRA-lagen och digital kompetens som nyckelkompetens - och därmed högprioriterat för skolan. Bristen på digital kompetens (hos politiker i detta fallet) är sannolikt den viktigaste enskilda faktor som gör en sådan absurditet som FRA-lagen möjlig att genomdriva.

Sommarens heta fråga - omFRAs avlyssningsverksamhet illustrerar hur den digitala tekniken gör sig påmind - och användandet av denna. Inte minst dagens inlägg i DN (3/9) visar hur digital kompetens krävs av dagens medborgare - och politiker - för att kunna förstå och värdera förslag. Det är helt enkelt dagens skriv- och läsfärdighet vi talar om.

Detta tillsammans med ett systematiskt vilseledande och undanhållande av viktig information – någonting som den gode Micke Nilsson m.fl. framhåller idag på DN-debatt.

Kontentan av denna soppa är att digital kompetens, och därmed skolans (och inte minst lärarutbildningens) ansvar, är en oerhört viktig demokratifråga!

I have just registered a Twitter account, but I have not really figured it out yet. My main reason is to help Tore figure out if micro blogging can be a useful tool (or at least a fun feature) for the iCoper project - which will be kicking off later this week. More to come about that. In the mean time you can follow the iCoper micro blog at Twitter:)

It is a hard task to choose the right blogging system. Smashing Magazine has made it a little bit easier by reviewing 10 different systems. The review is not done from an educational point of view, but is nevertheless very useful if you know roughly what characteristics you need from your blog system.

10 Weblog Engines Reviewed

Choosing blogging software can be a scary process, especially if you are new to blogging. There are many different types of engines and content management systems (CMS) that could be used. Picking the software that you’ll need is not an easy task, given the wide variety and types on the Web today.