Article

I have been participating in an online forum called the "Learning 2.0 Summit," a discussion that is (ironically) invisible to the wider web. Participants include people like Jay Cross, Robin Good, Mark Oehlert, Howard Rheinhgold, George Siemens, and a couple dozen more. This article collects some of my posts to date in that discussion.[Tags: ] [Comment]

OLDaily

Tom Hoffman[Edit][Delete]: Wireless Networking in the Developing World: a Practical Guide, ESchool News [Edit][Delete] January 27, 2006

[link: Hits] It's hard to imagine more important or practical knowledge for people trying to foster e-learning around the world than this. Tom Hoffman comments, "What's beautiful about this book is how well its authors understand the full range of skills and knowledge that a motivated team sitting in a village somewhere in the developing world needs to pull off a job like this." [Tags: Push versus Pull, Books and eBooks, Online Learning] [Comment] [Edit] [Delete] [Spam]

Ulises Ali Mejias[Edit][Delete]: Is Morality an Emergent Behavior?, Ideant [Edit][Delete] January 27, 2006

[link: Hits] I didn't mean for this week's newsletters to have morality as a theme, but a post today from Ulises points back to this link, making it three days in a row for me to touch on the topic. Perhaps that's just as well. In this item, he advances the proposition that morality is not based on reason (in fact, reason actually impedes it), but rather, "morality is actually an emergent behavior - in other words, a behavior exhibited by organisms acting according to very simple rules requiring little reasoning." If this is the case (and I believe something like it is) then it would seem to me that we sense, rather than infer, the morality (or immorality) of our actions. This sense, in my mind, is not the "moral reciprocity" that Ulises describes, not exactly, at least. It is more a sense of balance, of harmony, of being at peace with the world. [Tags: Newsletters] [Comment] [Edit] [Delete] [Spam]

Various authors[Edit][Delete]: Guides to Metadata, CETIS [Edit][Delete]Cetis [Edit][Delete] January 27, 2006

[link: 1 Hits] If you find yourself mystified by the offhand references in this newsletter to metadata, LOM, Dublin Core, and other specifications, then this CETIS list of guides to metadata is a good place to get started. It begins with some links on metadata in general (what is metadata? why is it used?) and proceeds through some of the major types. [Tags: Newsletters, Metadata] [Comment] [Edit] [Delete] [Spam]

Unknown[Edit][Delete]: Disney Launches Online Theme Park, Stuff [Edit][Delete] January 27, 2006

[link: Hits] I have long warned about what e-learning would look like when Disney got into the picture. That day has come. "Walt Disney has launched an online subscription service aimed at preschool children, completing its plan for what a Disney executive called 'an online theme park'. The advertising-free [except for the ubiquitous branding - SD], Playhouse Disney Preschool Time Online costs $US49.95 a year and is the most learning-oriented of Disney's internet subscription services for kids..." Here's the link to it. I tried it out on my desktop - a Linux system running Firefox 1.5 with all the plugins - and it punted me, saying it does not support Mac OS X. [Tags: Online Learning, Brands and Branding, Schools, Marketing, Subscription Services, Children and Child Learning, Ubiquitous Internet] [Comment] [Edit] [Delete] [Spam]

Unknown[Edit][Delete]: How Do Developers Use HTML?, Google [Edit][Delete] January 27, 2006

[link: 6 Hits] Absolutely fascinating analysis of how HTML markup us used by developers, based on a Google study of roughly a billion web pages. Authors of metadata standards should look at these results (though they certainly should have observed these trends long before now, and yet, for some reason, don't take them into account). Perhaps the most telling - and characteristic - remark in the Google study comes in the discussion of the use of the body element: "One conclusion one can draw from the spread of attributes used on the body element is that authors don't care about what the specifications say. Of these top twenty attributes, nine are completely invalid, and five have been deprecated for nearly eight years, half the lifetime of the Web so far." Now we have to ask, when people don't care what the HTML standard says, why would they care what your standard says? A note on the graphics: the document uses SVG, which is in many cases not supported; they recommend using Firefox 1.5 if you want to see the images - of course, I am using Firefox 1.5 (on Linux) but the images are still blank. How hard would it have been to use the gif format instead? [Tags: Google, Metadata] [Comment] [Edit] [Delete] [Spam]

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.

Stephen Downes

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
Newly updated! A collection of my photographs. Suitable for downloading as desktop wallpaper.

Stephen's Web
Since 1995

About this Site
Why this site exists, what it does, and how it works.

OLDaily
Edu_RSS
FOAF
Podcast Link
OLDaily Audio
OPML

About the Author

Stephen Downes

Contact: stephen@downes.ca

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License

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

Feeds

[0xDECAFBAD]
[2 Cents Worth]
[42/1]
[A Difference]
[A List Apart]
[A poke with a sharp stick]
[Abel Newsletter]
[Abject Learning]
[Academic Commons -]
[ACRLog]
[ADLNet.org Event RSS Feed]
[ADLNet.org General News RSS Feed]
[adult and community e-learning: uk [ace:uk]]
[adult literacy meets technology (AL-T)]
[Alan November Weblog]
[alt tags]
[Andy Carvin's Waste of Bandwidth: The DDN Edition]
[Archer central]
[AssortedStuff]
[Auricle]
[Australian Flexible Learning Framework Case Studies]
[Australian Flexible Learning Framework News Headlines]
[b.cognosco]
[B.Mann Consulting - Technology Consulting in Vancouver]
[blog of proximal development]
[Blogarithms]
[BoardBuzz: NSBA's Daily Weblog]
[Brad Jensen's Posts]
[Bud the Teacher]
[BuzzMachine]
[Canadian Journalist]
[Central Ranges LLEN News]
[CETIS: Standards in Education Technology]
[Chris Correa]
[Christopher D. Sessums : Weblog]
[Chronicle.com - Today's News]
[CIDER]
[Civilities - media structures research]
[Clay Shirky's Essays]
[CNN.com - Education]
[CogDogBlog]
[cogdogblog]
[Cognitive Daily]
[Cognitive Dissonance]
[Column Two]
[Connect Learning, with David Warlick]
[connect.educause.edu - Technology In Academia -- Connect @ EDUCAUSE]
[Connectedness]
[Connectivism Blog]
[considering education]
[considering education]
[Copyfight]
[Couros Blog]
[Creative Commons Blog]
[CU-Online]
[Curb Cut Design]
[D'Arcy Norman Dot Net]
[Dan Atkins on CLEAR]
[Dan Gillmor's blog]
[Daring Fireball]
[Dave Tosh : Weblog]
[Dave's Educational Blog]
[David Davies' Weblog]
[DEOS-L]
[Distance-Educator.com's Daily News]
[DJ Alchemi]
[e-Clippings (a division of blogoehlert)]
[e-Learning Acupuncture]
[E-Learning Queen]
[e-Literate]
[E-Portfolios for Learning]
[Eamonn's Home]
[eContent]
[Ed-Tech Insider]
[EdBlogger Praxis]
[Edge Perspectives with John Hagel]
[editThisPage News]
[EdNA Home Page Headlines]
[EdTechPost]
[EdTechTalk.com - Educational technology that talks -]
[EdTechUK]
[EduBlog Insights]
[edublogs]
[Education/Technology]
[Education/Technology - Tim Lauer]
[Educational Technology]
[Educational Weblogs]
[EDUCAUSE RSS | Recent Recent Library Submissions Listings]
[EduResources Weblog--Higher Education Resources Online]
[eGram@sd40.bc.ca]
[eLearn]
[elearning-reviews.org: new reviews]
[elearningpost]
[eLearnopedia]
[elearnspace]
[eSchool News Top Stories BETA]
[everyhuman]
[Ferl Newsfeed]
[FLOSSE Posse]
[Fortnightly Mailing]
[Forum on Information Technology and Research Universities]
[foss4us blogs]
[Full Circle Online Interaction Blog]
[Golden Swamp]
[Graham Glass, etc.]
[Gurteen Knowledge-Log]
[hackdiary]
[Half an Hour]
[Harold Jarche - ... at the intersection of learning, work & technology]
[HeadspaceJ: Instructional Design and Technology Blog]
[Here at WCER]
[Higher Education Insight]
[How to Save the World]
[ICT in Education]
[Ideas and thoughts from an EdTech]
[IDxchange]
[IEEE Learning Technology Standards Committee]
[incorporated subversion]
[incsub - social software and open source for online education]
[Infocult: Information, Culture, Policy, Education]
[Innovate]
[Inside Higher Ed]
[International Education Webzine]
[Internet Time Blog]
[Ipseity]
[IT Forum]
[iterating toward openness]
[iterating toward openness]
[J-blawg]
[Jeffrey Zeldman Presents: The Daily Report]
[jg's ramblings]
[JISC e-Learning Focus]
[Joho the Blog]
[Joi Ito's Web]
[Jon's Radio]
[Kairosnews - A Weblog for Discussing Rhetoric, Technology and Pedagogy]
[Keith's weblog]
[kottke.org]
[kuro5hin.org]
[Lanny on Learning Technology]
[Latest Issue of SourceOECD Education & Skills]
[Lawrence Lessig]
[learndogpup]
[Learning - Educational Technologies :: Robin Good's Latest News]
[Learning in Hand]
[Lessig Blog]
[Lifehacker]
[little train]
[Lost Remote]
[Many-to-Many]
[Marc's Voice]
[Mark Berthelemy's Connections]
[markhemphill.com]
[Mathemagenic]
[McGee's Musings]
[McToonish]
[Meir Navon's Blog]
[Michael Geist Law RSS Feed]
[Michelle's Online Learning Freakout Party Zone]
[MicroContent Musings (RSS 2.0)]
[Mike Klonsky's Small Talk]
[Mousing Around - MGuhlin.net]
[Multiple Intelligences]
[Musings]
[National Coalition for Electronic Portfolio Research blogs]
[News Forum]
[NEXTTEXT - ]
[Nouvelles de la Télé-université]
[ongoing]
[Online Journalism Review]
[Online Learning Update]
[Online Rights Canada]
[Open Mind]
[Open Social Forum]
[OSS Watch Announcements]
[OSS Watch News Summary]
[OSS Watch Reports]
[OUseful Info]
[Portals and KM]
[Powered by Mambo 4.5.2]
[Practical Theory]
[PressThink]
[Random Walk in E-Learning]
[randomselections]
[Reflective Ramblings About Teaching and Learning and Other Inconsequential things]
[Release1.0 - The Conversation Starts Here]
[Relevancy]
[Remote Access]
[Rick's Café Canadien]
[Rik Abel]
[Robert Paterson's Weblog]
[Ross Mayfield's Weblog]
[Ruminate]
[Sakai Project News]
[Scott Sorley's Education Technology Guidebook]
[Scott Wilson's Workblog]
[Seb's Open Research]
[SEGA Tech]
[Simon Willison's Weblog]
[Slashdot]
[Smelly Knowledge]
[Socrates Technological University]
[spokenwordmatters News]
[Stephen's Web ~ by Stephen Downes ~ OLDaily RSS 2.0]
[Stievie's adventures in e-Learning]
[StigmergicWeb]
[Student Self Directed Learning]
[Teach and Learn Online]
[Teach42 - Education and Technology, by Steve Dembo]
[Teachable Moment]
[Teaching and Developing Online.]
[Teaching Generation Z]
[Technologic]
[The Business of Emotions]
[The Chronicle: Wired Campus Blog]
[The Community Engine Blog]
[The Educational Mac]
[The Google Weblog]
[The Intuitive Life Business Blog]
[The Learned Man!]
[The Learning Circuits Blog]
[The PLE Blog]
[The Shifted Librarian]
[The Wales-Wide Web]
[think:lab]
[Thot]
[timbl's blog]
[TLN Teacher Voices]
[Trends in the Living Networks]
[Tuttle SVC]
[U.S. Department of Education]
[Virtual Canuck]
[Weblogg-ed News: The Read/Write Web in the Classroom]
[WeblogsInEducation News]
[What is the (Next) Message?]
[wiley.ed.usu.edu - thinking]
[Will at Work Learning]
[WiseWordPress]
[Write Technology]
[XplanaZine]
[XplanaZine]