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It will take an hour of your time, but this conversation between George Siemens and Jay Cross, along with the hosts of Ed Tech Talk, is well work your while as the guests chat about "connectivism, informal learning, objectivity vs. subjectivity, corporate and higher education, and lots more." [Tags:
Connectivism,
Chat and Chat Rooms] [
Comment]
There is something just deliciously self-referential in the publication of this book - from 1807 - on Google Print. And as you have a look at it, have a thought about what the sudden opening of millenia of scholarship does for our capacity to know - and to learn - around the world. And how petty the interests of the copyright hoarders seem in comparison. [Tags:
Books and eBooks,
Copyright and Patent Issues,
Google] [
Comment]
Article describing the deployment of Sakai, an open source learning management system, in the South African educational system. "The Sakai Project has attracted the attention of the University of South Africa (UNISA), the University of Cape Town (UCT), the University of the North West (NWU) and the University of the Free State (UOVS)." [Tags:
Online Learning,
Open Source] [
Comment]
Useful diagram and some discussion of social networking and related concepts. [Tags:
Networks] [
Comment]
Reacting to yesterday's discussion, Harold Jarche draws out "three conflicting premises [of western education] which compete for dominance," specifically "education as socialization, education as a quest for truth (Plato) and education as the realization of individual potential (Rousseau)." Ideally, of course, all three could be equally and consistently realized - but one wonders whether it would take a
Hegelian dystopia in order to achieve this. [Tags: None] [
Comment]
The
November issue of IRRODL is now available online. I highlight two papers, beginning with this look at the incluence of teachers in the directions taken by students in online discussion forums. I am most interested in the direction the paper takes at its conclusion: "The main ethical question, in both off- and online learning, is who does the drawing out [of purpose and value in learning]? Is it an external agent (a teacher)? Is it an internal agent (e.g., student’s own motivation or desire)? Or is it a disembodied agent – the invisible hand, for instance, that shaped the Website?" Readers of this website will note that I have consistently argued that it should be the student's own motivation and desire (in other words, autonomous decision-making) and have warned about the subtle and not so subtle manipulations of this by external agencies. [Tags:
Online Learning,
Discussion Lists] [
Comment]
This is a very good paper that should be read especially by those of us working toward learning networks and related approaches to education. The author offers a good background of systems theory as it relates to education, highlighting with numerous telling points how failures to recognize systems in learning result in error. For example, "In an educational context, feedback delay could manifest itself in wide swings in policy; for example, administration might fund a DE program, then cut funding too soon after launch, only later to re-fund the program and try again." The author offers a model of the socio-economic environment of distance education (the diagram is too small, though; a link to an enlarged version should be provided). Two major matters spring to my mind in review of this paper: first, the question of whether autonomous decision-making (a la The Wisdom of Crowds) is consistent with this model; and second, the question of systems semantics (how meaning circulates and develops in a system (or network)) is completely untouched. [Tags:
Online Learning,
Networks,
Semantics] [
Comment]
Summary of discussions surrounding the increasingly difficult funding issues faced by American universities, this set amid declining performance levels. This prompts some to tout private education service and others to point to the increasing disparity in society. As budgets continue to shrink - a trend accelerated by the observation that universities are increasingly serving only the wealthy - the crisis will worsen. Related: this article (via
University Business) in the
Times Argus: "It is not a question of 'if,' but rather 'when,' the middle class will be priced out of access to higher education. The trends are clear: current costs are staggering, causing families and students to take on debt that will burden their financial decisions for years to come. If tuition costs continue to increase at its current pace, the middle class will be shut out of college within a generation. Access to higher education will then revert to pre-World War II status: an institution exclusively for the wealthy." [Tags:
Online Learning,
Tuition and Student Fees,
United States,
Private Schools] [
Comment]
Projects & Collaborations
Browse through the thousands of links in my knowledge base
sorted according to topic category, author and
publication.
Research
Browse through the thousands of links in my knowledge base
sorted according to topic category, author and
publication.
About Me
Bio, photos, and assorted odds and ends.
Publications
You know, the ones that appear in refereed journals of Outstanding Rank.
Presentations
Lectures, seminars, and keynotes in a wide variety of
formats - everything from streaming video to rough notes.
Articles
All my articles, somewhere around 400 items dating from 1995.
Audio
Audio recordings of my talks recorded in MP3 format. A podcast feed is also available.
Calendar
What I'm doing, where I'm doing it, and when.
Photos
A collection of my photographs. Suitable
for downloading as desktop wallpaper.
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About the Author
Stephen Downes
Copyright © 2004 Stephen Downes
National Research Council Canada
Contact: stephen@downes.ca
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I want and visualize and aspire toward a system of society and learning where each person is able to rise to his or her fullest potential without social or financial encumberance, where they may express themselves fully and without reservation through art, writing, athletics, invention, or even through their avocations or lifestyle.
Where they are able to form networks of meaningful and rewarding relationships with their peers,
with people who share the same interests or hobbies, the same political or religious affiliations - or different
interests or affiliations, as the case may be.
This to me is a society where knowledge and learning are public goods, freely created and shared,
not hoarded or withheld in order to extract wealth or influence.
This is what I aspire toward, this is what I work toward. - Stephen Downes