Well, after a hiatus it feels odd to come back with a story like this, but the headline caught my eye this morning: Russia accused of unleashing cyberwar to disable Estonia. The story itself reads like a science fiction short. As someone who’s recently been through the cybernightmare of straightening out fraudulent charges to our debit card, I reel at the implications of an attack on an entire government, its banks, and all its major institutions.
I’m not sure there’s an implication here for e-learning in particular, but it definitely begs the larger question (that continues to go begging and begging and begging) of how society, ethics, law, and culture are able to keep up with rapid technological change. The question just never goes away, and while we all know it’s there, we rarely seem to spend our resources on directly addressing it. I like to think that in my own (very) small way, I take up for the thoughtful use of new technologies. At least, I try.
I’m going to be out of the country for the next two weeks, so there’ll be a lull here. It’s graduation day here, and the campus is rampant with mortarboards. Congratulations, guys! Go forth, and don’t be evil!
Karen Munro, Learning Librarian 