OLDaily

Stephen Downes[Edit][Delete]: South Africa, Flickr [Edit][Delete] September 22, 2006

[link: 5 Hits] So today wraps up another week on the road, with an abbreviated newsletter this week, due to very poor internet access and to being in six hotels in six days. I am frankly chafing against the restrictions at the moment, as I am shuttled from place to place, with no knowledge of where I am going, no sense of where I have been, hustled about with no time to reflect or read or post, and placed in events where the discussion swirls about on issues and trends alien to my own sense of things. As I said to one person, this conference is on one track, I am on another. More on this later, when I get a few seconds to myself (though you can see the themes permeating my posts).

Anyhow, I have managed to squeeze enough internet access through the last week to upload several sets of photos (nowhere near enough time to title them or write descriptions, though). So here, for you to enjo, photos from: Frankfurt, Bloemfontein, Lesotho and Kruger National Park. [Tags: Newsletters, Flickr] [Comment] [Edit] [Delete] [Spam]

Christopher D. Sessums[Edit][Delete]: Getting IT Right Socially: Reflections from ALT-C 2006, Christopher D. Sessums : Weblog [Edit][Delete] September 22, 2006

[link: 14 Hits] Here it is again. Is it just me? Or is it merely that I am just especially sensitive to it? "Is the locus of control of learning different given ICTs and social software and what should educators do? ... Social software, ICT, the Internet, education... it's all about people. Control should be a matter of choice. After all, isn't that what democracy is all about?" Also: more on Alt-C: Transforming Learning: Evolution or Revolution. It would have been interesting to be there, though I'm glad I wasn't. [Tags: Web Logs] [Comment] [Edit] [Delete] [Spam]

Someone[Edit][Delete]: Conviviality and the FLNW (un) Conference, Artichoke [Edit][Delete] September 22, 2006

[link: 6 Hits] Yes. This is exactly what I am taking away from the New Zealand experience thus far: "What I came to think in the early hours of this morning is that one issue that is central to our imaginings about learning in a networked world, one issue that represents the weight of all that has been, is how we understand freedom. "We are willing enough to praise freedom when she is safely tucked away in the past and cannot be a nuisance. In the present, amidst dangers whose outcome we cannot foresee, we get nervous about her, and admit censorship.'" Hear hear (feeling very unfree at the moment). [Tags: Experience, Networks] [Comment] [Edit] [Delete] [Spam]

Marc Meola[Edit][Delete]: Facebook to Open to All, ACRLog [Edit][Delete] September 22, 2006

[link: 6 Hits] My take: if your behaviour is such that opening it to public access is a source of distress, then you ought probably not to have indulged in that behaviour in the first place. As for a community reserved exclusively for those rich enough to afford university tuition fees - well, you can probably guess my take on that. [Tags: Books and eBooks, Tuition and Student Fees] [Comment] [Edit] [Delete] [Spam]

StevenB[Edit][Delete]: Sudden Thoughts And Second Thoughts, ACRLog [Edit][Delete] September 22, 2006

[link: 2 Hits] Hm. I'm feeling some of this at the moment. "... a lone dissenter is likely to fear voicing his or her opinion because with technology tools backlash can be magnified and distributed far more quickly. So even if there are some flaws in the post - a lone dissenter is unlikely to make that known for fear of instant backlash." I have been thinking today about the distinction between groups and networks. Groups require unity, networks require diversity. Groups require coherence, networks require autonomy. Groups require privacy or segregation, networks require openness. Groups require focus of voice, networks require interaction. The group I am with right now is very intent on being a group. That doesn't interest me. I have no wish to lose my identity and my freedom, my empowerment. Because a group is subject to this very objection - backlash, groupthink, the works. But a network is not. [Tags: Privacy Issues, Networks, Interaction] [Comment] [Edit] [Delete] [Spam]

Joachim Niemeier[Edit][Delete]: Enterprise 2.0, 7 Days and More [Edit][Delete] September 22, 2006

[link: Hits] Ross Mayfield has discovered neural networks, or at least, has discovered the article by By M.R. Rangaswami of the Sand Hill Group, who has discovered neural networks. "The software of Enterprise 2.0 will be flexible, simple and lightweight. It will be created using an infinite combination of the latest - and possibly, some old-fashioned - ingredients." [Tags: Networks] [Comment] [Edit] [Delete] [Spam]

Tim Grant[Edit][Delete]: Rendell Launches Program to Put Laptops in Classrooms, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette [Edit][Delete] September 21, 2006

[link: 2 Hits] The governor of Pennsylvania is announcing "the start of a three-year, $200 million program to furnish high school classrooms with laptop computers and wireless Internet access." This is good, but there's something weird about the idea of "a laptop computer on every desk" - shouldn't laptops be associated with individual students? Computing is personal. Via ASCD SmartBrief. [Tags: Wireless, Schools, Portable Computers] [Comment] [Edit] [Delete] [Spam]

Various authors[Edit][Delete]: Wikipedia:School and University Projects, Wikipedia [Edit][Delete] September 21, 2006

[link: 5 Hits] Useful page on Wikipedia that provides advice, examples and templates to assist in the use of Wikipedia in the classroom. "An advantage of this over regular homework is that the student is dealing with a real world situation, which is not only more educative but also makes it more interesting ("the world gets to see my work"), probably resulting in increased dedication. Besides, it will give the students a chance to collaborate on course notes and papers, and their effort will remain online for reference, instead of being discarded and forgotten as is usual with paper course-work." Via Education-India. [Tags: Wikipedia] [Comment] [Edit] [Delete] [Spam]

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.