> We may be seeing some slightly different Turoff scenario, in which research
> institutions withdraw from the larger community of scholars, barricading
> themselves behind the firewalls of Internet 2,
Yes here I share your opinion. Although I do not know Internet2 deeply, but its
first goal (and there are several other organizations similar type all over the
world) seems to be to protect its creators and members, rather then develop
something.
> while teaching institutions
> open themselves and their faculty to the broader dynamic of popular
> education, and slide into close collaboration with K-12 and corporate
> education and training entities. What would such a scenario imply about the
> structure of WOEA??
Netscape is going portal, Microsof is going portal, Yahoo is already.So what are
online learners waiting for... its time to go posrtal too. And facilitating this
is what WAOE can do.
Do not know which will be WAOE main task. Which service will dominate in the
future. And this is also the most important. It is not reasonable to limit WAOE
Learning Environment users ideas and imagination by very strict limits (e.g.
what sort of online learning it offers etc. ). Just create a space which accepts
general requirements to education and educational world and let it grow.
Main thing is to create some kind of an environment, where people like Joe and
Toby can come together, share ideas, make online courses and... THE MAIN THING..
do what they consider important and useful for them. And other members can do
the same thing, but in different way.
And the main thing is to keep WAOE small enough and flexible enough (as an
organization), which can react effectively to the changing needs.
Is this doable in the frames of WAOE....
Think that yes....
We have now some big advantages, we are namely small and started from very
ground, started from members interest, but by some big companies or governemt
grant program... And actually, if we all participate in this then th erunning
costs of this kind of initiative i snot at all very high.
NOTE: Above said is just the reason why I am involved into WAOE. There may be
members we think different. And if they think different.. there is quit a lot of
space to combine our interest.
Thanks for your time and sunshine,
Mihkel
P.S. If you have time to read some additional ideas about Internet2 at
http://horizon.unc.edu/TS/commentary
--
Mihkel Pilv
MIKSIKE
Veski 1-2, EE2400, Tartu, Eesti
Tel: 372 7/ 422 550
Fax: 372 7/ 421 841
Email: info@miksike.ee
WWW: http://www.miksike.ee (Eesti)
http://www.miksike.com (English)