OLDaily

Terry Anderson[Edit][Delete]: Teaching a Distance education course using educational social software, Virtual Canuck [Edit][Delete] January 3, 2006

[link: 1 Hits] Inspired by Ulises Mejias, Terry Anderson has posted an account of how he conducted his online course last fall. "The focus of the course is the construction of four 'learning portals', by small teams of learners" and it uses Elluminate, Furl, Moodle and ELGG. I have participated in Anderson's online courses as a guest and enjoyed it; in the past I have linked to the portals produced by the students, but unfrotunately this year's is behind a login wall. [Tags: Online Learning, Traditional and Online Courses, Portals] [Comment] [Edit] [Delete] [Spam]

Toby Ward[Edit][Delete]: Top 5 New Year wishes of an Intranet Consultant, Intranet Blog [Edit][Delete] January 3, 2006

[link: Hits] This bit of well-grounded commentary reflecting today's reality includes the following observation: "A corporation is not a democracy. Corporations, including not-for-profit corporations and government agencies and ministries, are run from the top down... all corporations are run from the top." This, of course, is exactly the problem - but who is going to put the bell on that cat? [Tags: ] [Comment] [Edit] [Delete] [Spam]

Graham Attwell[Edit][Delete]: Commodification and the Shaping of E-learning, Wales Wide Web [Edit][Delete] January 3, 2006

[link: 2 Hits] According to the author, "three dominant policy discourses in education have shaped the development and implementation of e-learning: commodification, privatization and a restricted discourse of lifelong learning," for example, "Even the development of individual learning portfolios has been inhibited by the desire to control and commodify learning. Rather than learners being encouraged to develop an account of all their learning experiences, many systems constrain the recording and reflection on learning to the learning outcomes prescribed by the curriculum." [Tags: E-Portfolios, Online Learning, Experience] [Comment] [Edit] [Delete] [Spam]

Will Richardson[Edit][Delete]: Tech Tools For Learning, Teaching With Technology [Edit][Delete] January 3, 2006

[link: 1 Hits] Not a lot that's new here, but a good overview of some different tools with applications in the classroom along with (the bet part of the article) numerous resources based on each. "Covered in brief are Weblogs, wikis, Podcasts, RSS, Webcams, and streaming video." PDF. [Tags: Web Logs] [Comment] [Edit] [Delete] [Spam]

Leigh Blackall[Edit][Delete]: Digital Literacy: How it Affects Teaching Practices and Networked Learning Futures, International Journal of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning [Edit][Delete]International Journal of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning [Edit][Delete] January 3, 2006

[link: Hits] How does the changing nature of digital literacy impact teaching practices? According to the author, "flexibility and sustainability can be achieved through community wide participation in ongoing action research, enhanced by the educational organisation's support for a wider range of software and hardware - afforded by free and open source software, and through encouragement to engage with open and internationally networked communications." More from the December issue of the International Journal of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning. [Tags: Online Learning, Research, Networks, Open Source] [Comment] [Edit] [Delete] [Spam]

Eric Trembley[Edit][Delete]: Effective e-Learning Presentation: NewsU, e-Learning Acupuncture [Edit][Delete] January 3, 2006

[link: Hits] Eric Trembley wrote in to have his blog, e-Learning Acupuncture, added to the Edu_RSS list and as I was reviewing the content I ran across this nifty little bit from November, a description and link to a Flash presentation plugging News U, an online school for journalists. It was short, punchy, and engaging (though my mind did wander a bit halfway through the five minutes - it was, after all, a Flash presentation). But I think it achieved its desired effect, and it was good enough to keep me watching through to the end. [Tags: Online Learning, Web Logs, Schools] [Comment] [Edit] [Delete] [Spam]

Mark J. Drozdowski[Edit][Delete]: Why I Write, Chronicle of Higher Education [Edit][Delete] January 3, 2006

[link: 1 Hits] This resonates: "In addition to articles for The Chronicle, I write essays, reviews, and features for several other publications. I do it because I have to. Don't laugh. Many writers will tell you they write because they have to. I think everyone, deep down, craves some form of creative expression. Painters paint. Landscapers landscape. Writers write. We all need to yawp... Call it ego, call it sharing knowledge and insights, or simply call it doing something for a side income, crass as that may sound. For writers, there's no greater satisfaction than seeing your words in print. Seeing your name alongside them is equally orgiastic. I suppose that's why I've never hidden under the cloak of anonymity in these columns, even though my honesty has gotten me in hot water a few times. Airing your institution's dirty laundry, I've learned, isn't always a good way to illustrate a point. I've also learned that people have differing definitions of dirty." [Tags: ] [Comment] [Edit] [Delete] [Spam]