May 15, 2006
OLDaily
[link: 5 Hits]
Photos from my bicycle trip to Hillsborough. What do you think - should I use Flickr, like I do here, or use my own photo gallery, to present photos? [Tags: Flickr] [Comment] [Edit] [Delete] [Spam]
Photos from my bicycle trip to Hillsborough. What do you think - should I use Flickr, like I do here, or use my own photo gallery, to present photos? [Tags: Flickr] [Comment] [Edit] [Delete] [Spam]
[link: 5 Hits] I had the pleasure of meeting Susan E. Metros in Tennessee (see my pictures from Murfreesboro and Nashville), where she presented much the same material summarized in her EDUCAUSE article on visual literacy. To me, the idea that there is a visual design vocabulary suggests that we have non-symbolic ways of knowing, something that resonates with my thoughts about a new literacy. In this item, Joan Vinall-Cox observes, "After all, reading is a visual act, tied to visual perception. We judge a piece of writing initially, before we decode even one word, by what it looks like." Right - which is why this newsletter contains short, pithy items rather than big blocks of text. [Tags: Newsletters, Visualization, EDUCAUSE, Flickr] [Comment] [Edit] [Delete] [Spam]
Kim Weatherall[Edit][Delete]:
Australia to Introduce Sweeping Copyright Exceptions,
LawFont [Edit][Delete]
May 15, 2006
[link: 5 Hits] Some good news from Australia, where the government appears to have determined that draconian copyright restrictions are perhaps not in the country's best interests after all. In summary, the AG has announced:
- use exceptions - time-shifting and format-shifting;
- exceptions for schools, universities, libraries, and other cultural institutions - exceptions for people with disabilities;
- exceptions to allow parody or satire;
"If the changes go as far as the press release indicates, the government will have dealt with some long-standing issues in Copyright law." Via Michael Geist. [Tags: Copyright and Patent Issues, Schools] [Comment] [Edit] [Delete] [Spam]
- use exceptions - time-shifting and format-shifting;
- exceptions for schools, universities, libraries, and other cultural institutions - exceptions for people with disabilities;
- exceptions to allow parody or satire;
"If the changes go as far as the press release indicates, the government will have dealt with some long-standing issues in Copyright law." Via Michael Geist. [Tags: Copyright and Patent Issues, Schools] [Comment] [Edit] [Delete] [Spam]
[link: 8 Hits] A couple items from Tom Hoffman on the U.S. legislation, called DOPA, to restrict access to social networking sites. In the first item, Hoffman (correctly) identifies it as "fear mongering" and agrees that it probably won't go very far. Still, he also says he has "always been surprised that people felt that having students use Blogger or Flickr would really be viable on a large scale" because "These concerns about privacy, stalking, etc. have been around as long as the web has been in schools." Yes, there are concerns, but are they based in anything like reality? In the other item he says, and I agree, that "when it comes to dubious web filtering laws like DOPA, I think you should start with 'there is no evidence that this is a problem beyond a few anecdotal reports.' Show me some real statistical evidence that students are being harmed in significant numbers because of strangers contacting them through the web while in school." [Tags: Online Learning, Schools, Privacy Issues, Networks] [Comment] [Edit] [Delete] [Spam]
Nancy White[Edit][Delete]:
It is KEWL and KINKY: Collaboration Software,
Full Circle Online Interaction Blog [Edit][Delete]
May 15, 2006
[link: 4 Hits] Well this headline will set off the email filters. That's why you should whitelist domains you know are safe. Anyhow, this item describes a new software release from the African Virtual Open Initiative and Resources project (AVOIR), "a sophisticated group-based collaboration system, supporting an unlimited number of groups... where you have complete control over what functionality is installed, as well as what functionality is available on a per group basis. You can use kGroups to replace wikis, blogs, content management, mailing lists, document management, instant messaging, discussion forums, and dozens of other applications." Based on PHP (version 4.x but not 5) and the Pear framework. Good stuff. [Tags: Course Modules, Web Logs, Discussion Lists, Project Based Learning, Instant Messaging, Mailing Lists, Content Management] [Comment] [Edit] [Delete] [Spam]
Various authors[Edit][Delete]:
Learning Innovation for the Adapted Lisbon Agenda,
The European OLD Liaison Community [Edit][Delete]
May 15, 2006
[link: 4 Hits] I guess this is pretty much a trend worldwide: "...it is necessary to devote higher attention to this field [educational research] in terms of policy attention, implementation effectiveness and resources. This should be done at complementary levels, by improving coordination, evaluation and utilization.... the need for research leaders to be accountable to society on how and where they direct research resources when a compelling need to produce an impact exists in education and training systems, and in society at large." In other words, there will be an increased coordination of research efforts from, if you will, the top down. And it seems there are good reasons for this - to counter the 'not invented here' syndrome, to overcome the limitations of small and unknown projects, to counter duplication of efforts, and to have research actually meet important social objectives. It's hard to argue with those needs. But I don't think 'managed' research is the way to respond to them. Instead, I would seek to foster an open and collaborative research community. [Tags: Project Based Learning, Research] [Comment] [Edit] [Delete] [Spam]
Catherine Howell[Edit][Delete]:
Facebook.edu Is Not The Answer,
EDUCAUSE Blogs [Edit][Delete]
May 15, 2006
[link: 6 Hits] Let's capture the really important point first: we should not create 'educational versions' of students' favorite applications. Not simply because, as Catherine Howell suggests, they will not challenge students. But also because, as Cole comments, students wouldn't use them (at least, not in the same way). Because "they said things the U runs feel 'controlled.'" There is, as Ulises Mejias suggests, a connection between the software we choose and the social structures we set up. That's why I suggest we should be looking for specific properties in the software we select. What does this mean for educational software then? That we should not be trying to build separate systems, but rather, we should be building object and content types that integrate to, and become a part of, their already existing environments today and into the future. [Tags: Web Logs] [Comment] [Edit] [Delete] [Spam]
