By Stephen Downes
September 18, 2003
School Children's Moose Lesson Has Tearful
Ending
Not online learning, but this item is so
sad I just have to pass it along. The lesson is this: if a
moose wanders into your schoolyard, and if you take
advantage of this to teach children all about moose habits,
then they will not be distracted when, at the end of it
all, you shoot the moose. Or maybe this: I do not
want to live in a world where moose are declared
'public dangers' and shot. I just don't. By Deb Holland,
Rapid City Journal, September 18, 2003
[Refer][Research][Reflect]
Social Networking for Social
Networking
You know what? Maybe the best thing
that could happen to social networking would be for it to
turn out that there is no business model, and therefore for
the development of software and systems to be left to the
open source community. By Stewart Butterfield, Corante,
September 17, 2003
[Refer][Research][Reflect]
Thirty-two Trends Affecting Distance
Education: An Informed Foundation for Strategic
Planning
The title of this piece is interesting
- I think I'll start plugging my own work in the titles ("a
amart review of learning", "a wise critique of
metadata..."). I also consider the methodology odd,
consisting as it does of (mostly) citations in offline
sources. That said, the paper otherwise delivers what it
promises: thirty-two trends (current as of about two years
ago). Many of the trends persist: student demographics, for
example, suggesting an older, more diverse, and more
selective population. Others, less so: with blogs, online
communities and more, instructors are not isolated as they
once were. Some trends have reversed: while staff training
continues to be a need, it is not so clear that this need
is still growing. And the 'merger' or public and private
institutions documented by the authors appears to have come
to a complete halt with the failure of several high profile
initiatives. The advent of blogs, self-publishing,
institutional archives, learning communities and many other
current trends do not find mention at all. By Scott l>
Howell, Peter B. Williams and Nathan K. Lindsay, Online
Journal of Distance Learning Administration, September,
2003
[Refer][Research][Reflect]
We Media: How Audiences Are Shaping the
Future of News And Information
Newspapers have
been struggling under a web onslaught in recent years as
readers have taken the business of reporting the news - and
just about everything else - into their own hands. They are
beginning to adapt to their new role, and this major
(almost book length) report is evidence of that. What has
emerged is an explcit recognition that readers will now
play a major role in the shaping and delivery of the news.
Overall, it's an excellent analysis, and while there may be
some differences in the finer points, many of the same
models and conclusions may be applied to the learning
sector as well. By Shane Bowman and Chris Willis, NDN,
September, 2003
[Refer][Research][Reflect]
Word
Pirates
Friday is international Talk
Like a Pirate Day and a couple of journalists have
gotten into the spirit by starting this site, dedicated to
listing the words that have been hijacked by communications
industry. Interesting interview with the authors. Arrr, matey!
By Dan Gillmor and David Weinberger, September, 2003
[Refer][Research][Reflect]
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