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OLDaily

by Stephen Downes
March 20, 2007

Brandon Hall Researchers Blogging - Implications?
Tony Karrer picks up on four newish blogs from Brandon Hall researchers. Does this mean a migration from the Brandon Hall network, he asks. Can paid researchers be bloggers? "Is this going to only be teaser content?" Will they be "full participants" in the edu-blogging world? I think the Brandon Hall bloggers will just... blog. Commercial research reports are very different from blog posts, even if the information is ultimately the same. Anyhow, welcome to Tom Werner, Tim Sosbe, Janet Clarey and Gary Woodill. Tony Karrer, eLearning Technology March 20, 2007 [Link] [Comment]

Education'S Hidden Messages
Good statement of the "hidden messages" parents and students are learning from the education system. "They are leaning that discovering and creating knowledge is beyond the ability of students and is really none of their business." Scott McLeod, in a comment, notes, "Sociologist Phillip Jackson coined the phrase the hidden curriculum to describe the socialization process of schooling." I would argue that these messages are reinforced by other forms of media, and that it is in the interests of certain sectors of society (to the expense of everyone else) to promulgate these messages. Via Doug Johnson. Peter Reilly, Ed Tech Journeys March 20, 2007 [Link] [Comment]

Informal Knowledge Transfer
Good account of the spread of informal learning in the corporate environment, with an emphasis on communities of practice. "To effectively leverage workplace trends, a new breed of technology is evolving from the principles of collective intelligence, which emerges from the collaboration and competition of many individuals. Time and time again, it has been proven that a large group of peers is more adept at solving complex problems than a small group of experts." Eric Sauve, Learning Circuits March 20, 2007 [Link] [Comment]

Impact of ICTs On Open and Distance Learning in a Developing Country Setting: The Philippine Experience
According to this article describing the use of ICTs to support e-learning in the Philippines, "it is not wise to use technology simply for technology sake, it must be 'relevant.' 'Relevance' in this case has two dimensions: the first is process and the second is substance." Cost (ie., access) and culture: it's the same thing in pretty much every article in the current IRRODL, in articles describing e-learning in Nepal and Bhutan, China, Cambodia, even Korea. At least the article on Quality Assurance in Indonesia breaks the pattern, though the Quality movement doesn't really appeal to me. Melinda dela Pena-Bandalaria, IRRODL March 20, 2007 [Link] [Comment]

Predators and Cyberbullies: Reality Check
A sentence about halfway through says it all for me: "Compare the figure of 100 adult-to-minor predation cases in 2005 to 6.9 million "cases" of teen-to-teen cyberbullying." One wonders why the media is so interested in overemphasizing the former and almost completely ignoring the latter. Via Nancy Willard. Unattributed, NetFamilyNews March 20, 2007 [Link] [Comment]

Category:Student-Generated Content
Links to a half dozen or so studies of practices at universities using student generated content. "The purpose of this collection is to showcase specific examples of how student-generated content can be used effectively in online education. In particular, this collection has focused on examples of student-generated content which represent a significant shift from students as content consumers to students as content producers." Wiki-based, so if you have your own example, you can add to the collection. Various Authors, Sloan-C March 20, 2007 [Link] [Comment]

 

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