Stephen's Web

OLDaily

by Stephen Downes
October 30, 2007

99 Mind Mapping Resources, Tools, and Tips (Eric Hebert)
See, here's the thing, though. I don't want 99 mind mapping resources, tools, and tips. I want one. That works. Really well. Zaid Ali Alsagoff, ZaidLearn October 30, 2007 [Link] [Tags: Visualization] [Comment]

Revision of the Classification of Instructional Programs
Just the sort of obscure stuff you'll find only in OLDaily: Statistics Canada maintains a list of classifications of instructional programs, which it uses when providing census results. It is currently revising this list, which will be used in the census of 2011. The existing classification guide is available online, and Statistics Canada is looking for feedback on the new one. Unattributed, Statistics Canada October 30, 2007 [Link] [Tags: Canada] [Comment]

News From the Community
The UNESCO Open Educational Resources (OER) community - which very annoyingly and controllingly shuts down its mailing list when it decides it has heard enough from the rabble - has opened up a wiki that (presumably) will be persistent. "If you have information that you wish to share with the community, then this is the page for you. It could be: an upcoming conference, new publication on Open Educational Resources, news about an OER initiative or capacity development activity." What would be really nice would be an RSS feed or even a mailing list, but that may be a little too grass-roots for UNESCO. Various Authors, UNECSO October 30, 2007 [Link] [Tags: UNESCO, Open Educational Resources, RSS] [Comment]

Digital Natives and Immigrants: A Concept Beyond Its Best Before Date
Reading George Siemens's criticisms of Prensky's concept of the 'digital native', I am reminded of Norm Friesen's criticisms, back before it was popular. Me, I think that the problem was that Prensky didn't evolve - he focused on writing for print media. "I could blog longer essays, but I like to have them published in print [and] goes to an audience, that is, I think, more in need to be influenced than 'the choir' who read blogs in general, and mine in particular," he writes on his blog (which is showing serious lack of attention - don't read the comments). I think the 'choir' is the people who read the print publications. Presnky didn't interact with his readers on the web, and didn't learn from them. Which is why, after, what, ten years, he is still presenting on 'digital natives'. I hope my career progresses in a more diverse fashion. But I also hope that my critics are kinder. George Siemens, Connectivism Blog October 30, 2007 [Link] [Tags: Connectivism, Gaming] [Comment]

New Learning Tool - Interactive Video / Transcript Viewer
This is nice. Though I want to use it to synchronize video with comments, not transcripts. Tim Wang, Tim Wang's eLearning Blog October 30, 2007 [Link] [Tags: Video] [Comment]

Great Conversation: Dave Snowden and Jon Husband
I sometimes buy the paper version of harvard Business Review, though I think it is grossly overpriced. And I might get the current issue, the one with Dave Snowden's article on the cover. In the meantime, I will be satisfied with this interview with Snowden and Jon Husband. Ray Sims summarizes: "KM (knowledge management) got too hung-up on trying to structure what fundamentally can't be structured - note to self: include historical approach to communities of practice here, as well as the even more obvious 'the big library in the sky' approaches with their desire to 'capture or harvest knowledge.' If you are asking "how to create a knowledge sharing culture?," you really don't understand. It is a stupid question. Rather, ask 'what you can do to encourage and facilitate connections?' Leading to... the best role for a KM Director today is to help facilitate connections." Quite right. More here. And Snowden's article is announced on his site here. Ray Sims, Sims Learning Connections October 30, 2007 [Link] [Tags: Knowledge Management] [Comment]

Comments On a Typology of LORs
Scott Wilson comments on Rory McGreal's typology of learning object repositories. "I would have liked some other categories, however: for example, which LORs support RSS feeds for new items (called "Alert" in the IMS Digital Repositories Interoperability reference model, which though not referenced actually describes the other functions used in the paper)" [and] "If "Learning Object" is really taken to mean any digital resource used for learning, then clearly they are wonderfully successful as the whole Internet is stuffed with them. On the other hand, if we take "Learning Object" to mean an IMS-packaged, modular, context-free, LOM-described chunk of learning lego, then the picture is very different." Me, I will continue to call RSS 'RSS' and not 'alert' (though I might countenance a new type of RSS feed (and new symbol)). Scott Wilson, Scott's Workblog October 30, 2007 [Link] [Tags: Ontologies, IMS Project, RSS, Learning Object Repositories, Learning Objects] [Comment]

eLearning07 Conference Centre On Jokaydia!
Starting in a couple of days is the E-Learning 07 conference (check out their use of protopage to provide a genuinely living and interactive conference web page). This link is to an introduction of the Second Life presence for the conference, hosted in jokaydia. Jo Kay, NSW LearnScope Blog and Podcast October 30, 2007 [Link] [Tags: Online Learning, Second Life] [Comment]

Misreading the Numbers
I must say, it is so nice to be able to go from the blog post that identifies an issue to the news report that covers it to the media release that announces it to the actual study itself. It would also be nice to be able to follow the citations, but we're still waiting for the academic press to catch up with the world. The study, by the way, examines the TIMSS and PISA evaluations of student achievement, argues (reasonably) that they have been misinterpreted, and presents alternative explanations for reports of shortages of engineers and scientists. "Purported labor market shortages for scientists and engineers are anecdotal and also not supported by the available evidence." Tim Stahmer, Assorted Stuff October 30, 2007 [Link] [Tags: Academia] [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.