Stephen's Web

OLDaily

by Stephen Downes
June 1, 2007

Things You Really Need to Learn
I am still in Holland - I thought I would be going to Heerlen today but thanks to a gap in my reservation I remain in Den Bosch. I travel to Heerlen Sunday and speak Monday. Meanwhile, this is the Slideshare version of my presentation given here. It is an adaptation of my paper of the same name, integrating the 'things you really need to learn' with applications of new technology. I'll post a proper presentation page when I can export my audio from my iRiver. Stephen Downes, Slideshare June 1, 2007 [Link] [Tags: Audio] [Comment]

How to Prevent Another Leonardo Da Vinci
Ah I like this. Listing through the seven ideas featured in the book "How to Think Like Leonardo da Vinci", Kris ("Coffee-addicted, wanderlust-afflicted, existential teen writer/debater seeks an intellectual escape and the complete works of Voltaire. Static characters and stilted dialogue need not apply. Ratpack fan a plus.") demonstrates how to kill each one of them in contenporary classrooms, thus ensuring we never suffer through such insufferable genius again. Via David Truss. Kris, Wandering Ink. June 1, 2007 [Link] [Tags: Web Logs, Books, Patents] [Comment]

Cool New Technology
Janet Clarey highlights a nifty new invention - a mouse you wear as a ring - and immediately finds the downside: "No more eating Cheetos while I work : ( " Janet Clarey, Weblog June 1, 2007 [Link] [Tags: none] [Comment]

Authors at Google: Cory Doctorow
Cory Doctorow talks about copyright to Google. Worth a view. Google, meanwhile, is launching Gears, an open source version of its productivity applications you can run on your own computer, without being online. Take that Microsoft! Doctorow writes, "I talked about how US trade policy had driven the US to abandon the tech sector and all the enterprises it supports in favor of a doomed plan to replace American industry with Police Academy sequels and Happy Meal toys." Via lucychii. Cory Doctorow, YouTube June 1, 2007 [Link] [Tags: Patents, Copyrights, Microsoft, Open Source, Google, United States] [Comment]

Once Formal Schooling Ends, Learning Rates Drop, Report Finds
Harold Jarche reports on this Globe and Mail article covering the Canadian Council on Learning report just released. Paul Capon, meanwhile, the President and CEO of CCL, responds to my criticisms of the report. Jill Mahoney, Globe and Mail June 1, 2007 [Link] [Tags: Canada, Schools] [Comment]

The Ignorance of Crowds
Well I'm not sure I agree with this but it's a message that I think will resonate with many readers. In a nutshell, the argument is that while open source programming methodology works well with small, predefined tasks (such as bug-checking) it is not as appropriate for innovative projects - which generally develop from the mind of a 'lone wizard' - or for major development work - which generally requires coordination, teams and hierarchies. Open source projects themselves recognize this, argues the author, from Linux - which is top-down from Linus Torvalds - to Wikipedia - which is slowly building a contact management hierarchy. Nicholas G. Carr, strategy+business June 1, 2007 [Link] [Tags: Project Based Learning, Open Source, Wikipedia] [Comment]

 

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