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OLDaily

by Stephen Downes
December 24, 2007

What the Heck Is a PLE and Why Would I Want One?
Presentation (slides and audio running about 10 minutes) by Alan J. Cann from the University of Leicester. Good overview of the concept. What I like is the contrast between the VLE and the PLE with an emphasis on the idea that the former is 'control' learning while the latter is 'free' learning. Via OUseful Info. Alan J. Cann, University of Leicester December 24, 2007 [Link] [Tags: Audio] [Comment]

Big Day for Fair Copyright
As Michael Geist observes, "the Canadian Library Association, the Canadian Music Creators Coalition, and CIPPIC all lent their voice to the call for fair copyright." Good. Every voice is needed. There's also a link to front page coverage of the issue in the Globe and Mail Saturday. Michael Geist, Weblog December 24, 2007 [Link] [Tags: Canada, Copyrights, Patents] [Comment]

An Explanation of the Citizendium License
I actually ran a word count to verify that Larry Sanger spent 22,000 words (it's actually more like 22,300) explaining why Citizendium adopted the CC-By-SA license (instead of, say, the non-commercial CC-By-NC-SA license). I can summarize the argument in a dozen words: so much of Citizendium comes from Wikipedia, it's much easier to use the license Wikipedia is now using. Of some interest is the section discussing the arguments in favour of a non-commercial license with an interesting bit on how the non-commercial license can be 'less free' than CC-By-SA and yet still 'free'. There is no indication that Sanger has seen my own argument, which is essentially (in this context) the assertion that CC-By-NC-SA is more free because it means access to the content is never blocked. Not that it would matter; in the end, the Wikipedia decision trumps all. Via Peter Suber. Larry Sanger, Citizendium December 24, 2007 [Link] [Tags: Wikipedia] [Comment]

Corporate eLearning's Dirty Little Secret - We Don't Use eLearning! At Least Not Very Much
The other half of the headline is that what people do use is informal learning and per-to-peer support. Of course, to me, those are e-learning, as they are increasingly electronically mediated. Brent Schlenker, Corporate eLearning Strategies and Development December 24, 2007 [Link] [Tags: Online Learning] [Comment]

20 Trends Defining Virtual Worlds in 2007
Good summary discussing trends in the world of virtual worlds. Biggest take-home: "Us geeks talk about Second Life like it's the be-all and end-all of virtuality, but the kiddyworlds have way more active users. More importantly, a whole generation of children are growing up with the sense that virtual worlds are just a part of their lives - they don't even refer to them as virtual worlds." Via Technology, Education and the Future. Related: Second Life appears top have reached capacity, as these outrage statistics from the latter half of 2007 indicate. Stuart Dredge, Tech Digest December 24, 2007 [Link] [Tags: Second Life] [Comment]

Weave: Integrating Online Services with Firefox
This is a good idea, long overdue. "For now, Weave lets you synchronize your bookmarks and your history, but the service should be extended to other kinds of data: passwords, cookies, settings, sessions, extensions."More from Mashable. Ionut Alex Chitu, Google Operating System December 24, 2007 [Link] [Tags: none] [Comment]

The 15 Biggest Tech Disappointments of 2007
PC World has run a number of year-end lists. Most of them haven't been worth reading, but this list was exactly right, capturing the many disappointments internet service providers and software companies have dished up this year. The biggest disappointment? Aw, that would be telling... Dan Tynan, PC World December 24, 2007 [Link] [Tags: none] [Comment]

Blogs Celebrate 10th Anniversary
Fun listen from NPR skipping through a history of blogging. I liked the effect of using echo text to indicate hyperlinks and sped-up audio to indicate scrolling. Accompanied with an essay by Any Carvin offering an Americanized (Pew study) look at blogger demographics. Via Vicki davis, who appears briefly on the audio. Various Authors, NPR December 24, 2007 [Link] [Tags: United States, Audio, Web Logs] [Comment]

A Differently Moral-Ed Generation
Doug Johnson cites Ian Jukes who copies a New York Times article by David Pogue suggesting that kids today are 'diferently moral'. In my response I suggests that it is the nature of 'morality' - or, at least, what some publishers would like us to believe is morality - that is changing. Doug Johnson, Blue Skunk Blog December 24, 2007 [Link] [Tags: Books] [Comment]

 

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