OLDaily

Brian Benzinger[Edit][Delete]: Back to School With the Class of Web 2.0, Solution Watch [Edit][Delete] October 30, 2006

[link: Hits] I'm in a cybercafe in Toronto on my way home from Spain, as the Toronto Airport wireless is once again not functioning. I'm already jet-lagged, and I'm not even home yet. Anyhow, a quick Monday edition, and I'll slow down for a more comprehensive issue tomorrow.

Three part series covering Web 2.0 tools for education. Via Alec Couros. Comprehensive, and there's a lot of links and comments to follow too. And this website looks like a good find as well. [Tags: Wireless, Schools, Web 2.0] [Comment] [Edit] [Delete] [Spam]

Marc Meola[Edit][Delete]: Wikipedia And Academia, ACRLog [Edit][Delete] October 30, 2006

[link: Hits] So I guess there was a discussion about Wikipedia at the Chronicle, captured in this comment. Marc Meola responds, For the folks who say all sources have errors, that's true but it's impractical to ask people to be critical of and to fact check everything." It's this sort of thinking that leads people to trust "authoritative sources" and to then be led down the garden path. It may be inconvenient, but there is no alternative to fact-checking -- hasn't Iraq at least taught us that? Well, that plus "never get involved in a land war in Asia." [Tags: Wikipedia] [Comment] [Edit] [Delete] [Spam]

Brian Lamb[Edit][Delete]: Make as Big a Mess of My Second Life, Abject learning [Edit][Delete]Abject Learning [Edit][Delete] October 30, 2006

[link: 5 Hits] I have been a bit sceptical of Second Life, and for similar sorts of reasons: "For one, my bent toward 'fast, cheap, and out of control' technologies has left me underwhelmed by top-heavy immersive 3-D environments." Then there's this, reported by Brin Lamb: "Four of the Lower Mainland's major post-secondary educational institutions will simultaneously open a virtual campus in the online cyberworld Second Life and a new real-world $40-million digital media school on Great Northern Way." Sounds great, but: "Tuition for this program is going to cost twenty grand per year." And I've heard this before: "Having students create their own learning environment 'is the future of educational research.'" So... [Tags: Schools, Research] [Comment] [Edit] [Delete] [Spam]

Lucy Gray[Edit][Delete]: Google Co-op - Custom Search Engine, October 30, 2006

[link: 2 Hits] Trust Google to create a plethora of small interesting little services - like this Google Co-op custom search: "We're going to test it today as we prepare for the Google Educators Global Warming Speak Out Project." So cool. [Tags: Google, Cool] [Comment] [Edit] [Delete] [Spam]

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Browse through the thousands of links in my knowledge base sorted according to topic category, author and publication.

Stephen Downes

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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