Stephen's Web

OLDaily

by Stephen Downes
May 11, 2007

Wiki-Based Text for COMP 1010
Well I have a few minutes here in Toronto so I can send off a shortish newsletter. Next week's newsletters will come from the CADE-AMTEC conference in Winnipeg. Speaking of Winnipeg, this is pretty neat - third-year students are using a wiki to write a text for first-year students. Various Authors, University of Winnipeg May 11, 2007 [Link] [Tags: Newsletters] [Comment]

Sun Microsystems Announces OpenID Program
Sun Microsystems has become the latest corporation to start using OpenID, providing identities for its 34,000 employees. Their OpenID software is written, of course, in Java. Via Simon Willison. Press Release, Linux Magazine May 11, 2007 [Link] [Tags: none] [Comment]

YackCasting: Yet Another Use for YackPack
In summary, "Free, multi-person, live conversations recorded for sharing with no software required! YackPack rocks!" Kim Cofino, always learning May 11, 2007 [Link] [Tags: none] [Comment]

Eduserv Symposium - Virtual Worlds, Real Learning?
Good summary of the proceedings from yesterday's Eduserv conference on Second Life. My only quibble is that the advice, "Second Life is here, now - use it," does not recognize the existence of various alternatives, a number of which were mentioned by several panelists. See also this summary by Shirley Williams. And Kathryn Greenhill offers a really nice detailed summary.

Jo Kay stayed up 'til one a.m. to watch my talk and then was disappointed, not because she disagreed with me, but because the wanted to see more emphasis on the projects and the potential. Fine - and that's what the other five speakers provided. And if I hadn't raised the issues (which are genuine) nobody would have. Is that a fair waiy to treat people who are trying to learn about the technology?

Angela Thomas, meanwhile, posted a summary of the sessions as seen through Second Life. John Kirriemuir posted a number of screen shots in his summary. And see Andrew Stewart's longish commentary, to which I've added a comment clarifying part of my argument. Barbara Dieu also commented, saying that my criticisms should not prevent people from experimenting with Second Life. I don't think I ever said that - but I would certainly recommend caution before making a large financial investment.
Link] [Tags: Project Based Learning] [Comment]

 

This newsletter is sent only at the request of subscribers. If you would like to unsubscribe, Click here.

Know a friend who might enjoy this newsletter? Feel free to forward OLDaily to your colleagues. If you received this issue from a friend and would like a free subscription of your own, you can join our mailing list. Click here to subscribe.