Stephen's Web

OLDaily

by Stephen Downes
June 18, 2007

Taipei

My photo set from Taipei is available on Flickr. The best way to view them is to click on the slide show link. Stephen Downes, Flickr June 18, 2007 [Link] [Tags: Flickr] [Comment]

Web 2.0 and Your Own Learning and Development
Today's newsletter is a bit late because - once again - a video project ran away with my time. This time, it was the content for a talk I'm giving to the British Council tomorrow. The audience will see the video in the morning, and then chat with me by Skype in the afternoon. I had really wanted the video to be more - I made it using Camtasia (my first with that software) and I wanted to add screencasts showing the Web 2.0 tools being used. But the audio track was attached to the PIP, which meant I couldn't cut from the webcam video to the screencam without losing my soundtrack - sure, it could be fixed, but not in the time I had. But I'll get better at this. I am also scheduled to appear at an event in Second Life tomorrow - here is the SLURL (SLURL stands for Second Life URL). Stephen Downes, Google Video June 18, 2007 [Link] [Tags: Web 2.0, Video, Audio, Great Britain, Project Based Learning, Google, Newsletters, Chatrooms, Audio Chat and Conferencing] [Comment]

Elearning Jobs in Moncton
This is really local news, but from my perspective it's significant news, as I've played a part in it. Desire2Learn, an LMS company based in Waterloo, Ontario, is setting up a branch office here in Moncton. In the building where I work, in fact. And they're hiring. This is partially (maybe mostly) the result of a project we at NRC are working on with them. On the NRC side, the real credit for getting this project pulled together and funded belongs to Rod Savoie. The University fo Moncton is also a partner in the project. Anyhow, D2L is having a big launch and Technology and Career Exhibition on the 28th here at the Scientific Park. For myself I will say that while I have focused on the e-learning technology and theory (which I think played a role in the project) I congratulate Rod for following through on the promise offered by NRC when it started here five years ago, to expand and entrench the e-learning industry here in Moncton. Harold Jarche, Weblog June 18, 2007 [Link] [Tags: Desire2Learn, Online Learning, Project Based Learning, Push versus Pull] [Comment]

Flickr/Yahoo: How Many Feet to Shoot Left?
More sadness emanating from the Yahoo takeover of Flickr. "Flickr, in short, is flushing their brand down the drain. Or rather Yahoo is, as Flickr staff seem to feel predominantly sorry for themselves at this point." Ton Zijlstra, Interdependent Thoughts June 18, 2007 [Link] [Tags: Branding, Yahoo!, Mergers and Takeovers, Flickr] [Comment]

Communities: Dancing with Fire?
Martin Dugage asks, "Why is it that the strongest advocates of a networked economy fail to see the importance of communities, which they wrongly equate to social networks?" And Nancy White responds, "Perhaps our resistance or worries about community may come from the fact that communities are like dancing with fire." With the right practice, she says, they are great - but otherwise, there is the risk of getting burned. She sketches some of the elements of this practice - but I still think that groups depend on sameness, which means the members must already be relevantly the same (something, I suspect, that characterizes the Portugal group) or willing to assume sameness. Nancy White, Full Circle Online Interaction Blog June 18, 2007 [Link] [Tags: Networks] [Comment]

Britannica Blog: Web 2.0 Forum
Nothing like a little deliberately seeded contrarians to drive up the hit counter to what would otherwise be an unremarkable site. Britannica has Andrew Keen and Michael Gorman telling us how stupid Wenb 2.0 is, and Clay Shirky offering the reply, with some others playing supporting roles. The whole point of the exercise, of course, is to reinforce the role of the authority through these high-profile postings. Yawn. We've seen it before. Good discussion on this from Dave Snowdon, Will Richardson, John Connell, Wendy Wickham, George Siemens, Tony Karrer, Bill Brantley. Various Authors, Britannica June 18, 2007 [Link] [Tags: Web Logs, Web 2.0, Online Learning, Patents, Connectivism] [Comment]

Richard Van Eck Presentation On Digital Game-Based Learning
From the summary: this podcast "discusses the theory behind the effectiveness of games in teaching and learning; what the past can teach us about if, how, and when to implement digital game-based learning; and what this will mean for colleges and universities." Gerry Bayne, EDUCAUSE Connect June 18, 2007 [Link] [Tags: Podcasting] [Comment]

Better Conferences - Response Needed
Tony Karrer is looking to build a better conference. Perhaps he missed my post on how I would organize a conference. No matter. If you have suggestions, send them along to him. Maybe we can collectively reinvent this tired art form. Tony Karrer, eLearning Technology June 18, 2007 [Link] [Tags: none] [Comment]

The Cancer of DRM Infects iTunes PLUS
Mike Seyfang asks what he did wrong. The answer, of course, was to use iTunes plus. I may really like my MacBook, and really like my iPod (even though it died when I dropped in on the plane from Japan). But I will never use iTunes, not u8ntil I can download some five cent MP3s from it. Mike Seyfang, Learning with the Fang June 18, 2007 [Link] [Tags: Digital Rights Management (DRM), Apple Inc.] [Comment]

Nature Precedings
Nice to see - the journal Nature is posting preprints online. "Nature Precedings is a place for researchers to share documents, including presentations, posters, white papers, technical papers, supplementary findings, and manuscripts. It provides a rapid way to disseminate emerging results and new theories, solicit opinions, and record the provenance of ideas. It also makes such material easy to archive, share and cite. The whole service is free of charge." You know, I think this is a really big win here. Clarence Fisher, Remote Access June 18, 2007 [Link] [Tags: Research] [Comment]

Mom, Dad....Meet Wii
I've been seeing more and more posts like this - I'm enthusiastic about the Wii, and I don't even have my own yet! "I really see an application for that motion control," writes Wendy Wickham, "especially for things like physical therapy and such. And I think Nintendo is on the right track." Wendy Wickham, In the Middle of the Curve June 18, 2007 [Link] [Tags: none] [Comment]

 

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