This is a great tool for web designers (thanks Dan). For those of you continue to check out the compliance of your designed websites across multiple browsers, and possibly across platforms, be sure to check out ieCapture.
http://www.danvine.com/iecapture/
Here, you are able to see screenshots of how your pages will look across several browsers (ie 4-6. Firefox, Opera). Really neat.

And if you want to see how your pages will look on Apple’s Safari Browser, check out iCapture.
http://www.danvine.com/icapture/

Dan Schellenberg has developed a very useful resource for the development and sharing of webquests and related resources. Dan has created a set of templates using valid XHTML and CSS, and has developed a WebQuest forum for sharing ideas and resources. Dan gives a better description of this process and the resource at his blog

You can check out this new webquest resource at the following URL:
http://www.educationaltechnology.ca/webquest

I’ve recently discovered BugMeNot.com (thank Dan). The website assists users to bypass compulsory the web registrations found on various sites over the web (e.g., nytimes.com, washingtonpost.com).The trick? Well, the website keeps a database of user-submitted id’s and passwords, so BugMeNot lists this information for your use. You can also use the BugMeNot bookmarklet so that you can get the relevant information whenever you come to a site requesting the compulsory registration process. Is there an ethical issue here? Well, I can’t answer that, but you can check out a good discussion regarding the website here.

I’ve been thinking about this idea for a couple of years now … but it was Rick Schwier’s Keynote that rekindled some of these ideas, and again, realize how important they can be.

(Note: I use the term ‘community’ a bit loosely in some instances throughout the following passages)

Rick mentioned the idea of the “Family Plot” … that often, the rich communities that are developed through online courses often end unceremoniously. WebCT connections (for instance), are simply archived away with little thought of extending the potential of what was created.
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Dan Schellenberg has recently initiated his blog using the WordPress system … a really neat “personal publishing platform with a focus on aesthetics, web standards, and usability”. I like the look, and Dan tells me it’s incredibly easy to install and set up.

As one of his first posts, Dan, an avid Mac user, has created a list of essential utilities for Mac OS X. The best part … all of the utilities are free, and many are open source. Check out the list here.

Be sure to check out Dan’s blog … I am sure there is much more fine content to come. You can find it at:
http://educationaltechnology.ca/dan/

The final keynote session of the RTCOC conference was delivered by Rick Schwier of the University of Saskatchewan. The presentation was titled, Brass Tacks for Online Learning – Observations from the Trenches.

I was looking forward to this presentation since I noticed that Rick was the keynote. I was lucky enough to have had taken EDCMM 802 from Rick about 3 or 4 years ago, and it was a terrific experience. Rick was excellent, and has been a source of knowledge and great friend ever since.
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Being wireless while attending the RTCOC conference today was, for lack of better words, super-cool. As presenters referenced resources, I was already at the sites. In another window, I was blogging away as to keep a semi-permanent record of some key points. It was truly multi-tasking at its best.
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This panel discussion at RTCOC raised some interesting questions regarding the place of technology in the academic peer review and promotion process.

Although, much has been written on this topic, such as
Bolger & Sprow (2003), there are always issues pertinent to the specific context.
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I just read a post from Rick Schwier regarding the Saskatchewan Learning Exchange presentation at the Riding the Crest of Change (RTCOC) conference in Regina. I attended the session as well, and I think that the group is going great work on visioning a learning object repository for the province. However, my mind still sees problems with the practicality of a single object repository, and standardized methods for adding to the repository. These thoughts are of course nothing new.
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