There will be only one orchestra left on earth, giving nightly worldwide concerts; when all universities will be combined into one super-institution, conducting courses by radio for students in Zanzibar, Kamchatka and Oskaloose; when, instead of newspapers, trained orators will dictate the news of the world day and night, and the bedtime story will be told every evening from Paris to the sleepy children of a weary world; when every person will be instantly accessible day or night to all the bores he knows, and will know them all: when the last vestiges of privacy, solitude and contemplation wi...

This article from the New York Times discusses the persistence of video rental stores in the face of new competition from online alternatives. What is interesting for us is the way in which old habits and forms hang on amidst the growth of new alternatives. As we think about the transition to a newly configured education sector, we should anticipate that current forms will persist.

This article from the New York Times discusses the decline in sales of educational software. The change has been dramatic, and there seem to be multiple explanations. One particularly interesting aspect noted in the article is the interest in including feedback mechanisms in new educational software to allow parents and students to assess their own skill levels. In some cases the feedback mechanism triggers a repeat of material when mastery has not been accomplished. This could be an example of what we have been discuss...

In view of our earlier (and perhaps current) interest in automated tools to assist teachers, take a look at edLab blogSAGrader, a tool to assist with the grading of essay papers and essay exam questions.

This article from the Boston Globe features Geoff Freeman. Geoff was the lead partner from Shepley Bulfinch on our library renovation.

This article from CNET news discusses the future of college libraries. In addition to discussion of MIT's DSPACE, the piece notes Stanford's Lockss software as well as High Wire Press's TopicMap graphical viewer. These all seem worth some attention as we consider the archiving and publishing design event coming at the end of this month.

The National Governors Association website has posted both a video file and an audio file featuring Tom Friedman's presentation on his new book The World is Flat. This seems like an edLab must read or at least must listen.

This interesting commentary forwarded by Professor Cherow-O'Leary highlights the attachment that many have for the physical library.

This article from the BBC discusses a student design project for a cardboard university room desk and chair system that doubles as storage system. If one of our goals is to create new educational opportunities by lowering the cost of education, we need the equivalent of this for entire schools and systems.