October 17, 2006
OLDaily
[link: Hits]
MP3 Audio and
PowerPoint Slides (the slides form a nice summary of the paper, if you didn't want to read the paper) from my session at the University of Prince Edward Island yesterday (also Skypecast, but notice came out so late I don't think we had any attendees). I thought it was a good session, not because of the quality of my discourse (in fact, there are some pretty awkward moments in there) but because it shows some of the thinks I need to think more deeply about. It was a pretty good back and forth - Dave Cormier kept saying, "This is great audio." Yeah well I guess it's good to see the points where people disagree with my theories and take apart my presentation. And I suppose it's good to post them on my website. [Tags:
Quality] [
Comment] [
Edit] [
Delete] [
Spam]
[link: 1 Hits] Helen Barrett writes, "I took the opportunity to create a new graphic that describes a "mash-up" of different Web 2.0 tools that could be combined together for a powerful ePortfolio system, using a variety of online tools that students might already be using." Now I ask you - isn't this just the 'Future VLE' diagram? [Tags:
Web 2.0] [
Comment] [
Edit] [
Delete] [
Spam]
[link: 1 Hits] Funny (a style note: if I say it's 'funny' it's probably also darkly subversive - then again, I was called a neo-Marxist on ITForum today, which is a mangling either of the definition of of my writings). Oehlert writes of the recently posted anonymous conference review on the Learning Circuits blog, "Shockingly its also one of the most honest reviews I've read... What are the possible downsides? Character assasination? Lies? Hurt feelings? Admittedly all possible. What are the possible upsides? Idiotic sessions disappear from conference schedules never to darken our door again." [Tags:
Web Logs] [
Comment] [
Edit] [
Delete] [
Spam]
[link: Hits] This online conference started yesterday with a pre-recorded keynote by Dave Warlick (to me it's not a keynote unless it's live - but that's just me). It features a number of educational bloggers, mostly (as the title suggests) from the K-12 sector, and mostly from the United States (and not, as one commentator wrote, "top educational bloggers from around the world"). It's kind of like a 'Coming of Age', only presented as a conference. Oh hey wait, it's the
same people! Who are - according to themselves - the leading edubloggers. As one person commented today - a 'co-prosperity sphere'. I prefer the term from Jerry Pournelle: the CoDominium. Anyhow - I aggregate more than 300 edubloggers (and leave out just as many again) and try to represent their contributions as fairly as I can in these pages. And
that is to me the core of edublogging, not self-styled A-listers. But hey - attend the conference, listen to Warlick and Freedman and Fryer and McIntosh and the rest and judge for yourself. What do I know? Via
Computer Science Teacher. [Tags:
Online Learning,
Web Logs,
United States] [
Comment] [
Edit] [
Delete] [
Spam]
[link: Hits] I haven't read it, but the CIDER recommendations are usually pretty good. "This book edited by Beverley Pasian and Gary Woodill, presents authors from both the corporate and educational sectors in eight different countries, to provide a total of 22 case studies of elearning project implementations." [Tags:
Books and eBooks,
Online Learning,
Canada,
Project Based Learning] [
Comment] [
Edit] [
Delete] [
Spam]
[link: Hits] My own explanation of the relation between blogs and learning, but this concept map has the advantage of representing what might be considered a much more mainstream view. "Blogs are a social tool with the potential to create collaborative communities. Readers comment, and thus, build knowledge on the subject. Readers and writers work together to add to knowledge." The main point where we agree, though, is in this: "Blogs allow writers to experience an authentic audience." Via
Bud the Teacher. [Tags:
Web Logs,
Experience,
Visualization] [
Comment] [
Edit] [
Delete] [
Spam]
[link: Hits] Pretty much it: "the trick in all of this 'personalisation' stuff seems to be in figuring out who identifies the needs of the learner." [Tags:
Personalization] [
Comment] [
Edit] [
Delete] [
Spam]
[link: Hits] More on
Object Reuse and Exchange (ORE). This article outlines some of the thinking behind ORE and offers a description of some of the major functions (or elements) of the new initiative. Again , I don't see anything particularly new here, except that is is creeping federation entering the world of OAI. And so I ask (as I did throughout the eduSource project) do we
need a system of learning and research data exchange that is inaccessible to most people? Yes yes, I know, this sort of thing isn't explicit in the proposal. But why the use of OpenURL (which sends a different resource to people depending on the 'context' of the request)? The article says it plainly: "This work reflects growing interest in the notion of repository federation." Do we need some sort of special internet that consists of research libraries only? Mark my words. [Tags:
Accessibility,
Learning Object Repositories,
Project Based Learning,
Research] [
Comment] [
Edit] [
Delete] [
Spam]
[link: Hits] Funny. "Mr. Scarpelli does not have a MySpace page, nor will he ever have a MySpace account." This article looks at the issue of fake teacher MySpace accounts in passing as it looks at the impact of the phenomenon on schools in general. "MySpace registered its 100 millionth user in August." Instead of just ignoring MySpace (or blocking it and pretending it doesn't exist) schools are beginning to address real issues - like spoofing and harassing - through education and, in some few cases, litigation. "The most important goals should be to 'stop the harm, get online material removed and heal the interaction.'" Via ASCD SmartBrief. [Tags:
Schools,
Interaction] [
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.
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
OLDaily Audio
OPML
About the Author
Stephen Downes
Copyright 2006 Stephen Downes
National Research Council Canada
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