Stephen's Web

OLDaily

by Stephen Downes
March 13, 2008

Personal Learning
Audio and slides (I have video but the nearly two hour show will take some time to get out of the camera and uploaded to Google Video) of a presentation and discussion I had in Alec Couros's online class based in Saskatchewan. The slides are a rerun - sorry - but the audio is completely new and includes my first public presentation of my website software - the same software that is now only days from being posted on SourceForge. There should be an Elluminate and UStream recordings as well - I'll pass those on from Alex when I get links. Presentation by Stephen Downes, Class, Saskatchewan, via Elluminate, [Link]

Personal Learning
Audio and slides (I have video but the nearly two hour show will take some time to get out of the camera and uploaded to Google Video) of a presentation and discussion I had in Alec Couros's online class based in Saskatchewan. The slides are a rerun - sory - but the audio is completely new and includes my first public presentation of my website software - the same sortware that is now only days from being posted on SourceForge. There should be an Elluminate and UStream recordings as well - I'll pass those on from Alex when I get links. Presentation by Stephen Downes, Class, Saskatchewan, via Elluminate, [Link]

The Cute Cat Theory Talk at ETech
Good paper that explains in one breath what web 2.0 is supposed to do and at the same time why blocking it will fail. "Web 1.0 was invented to allow physicists to share research papers. Web 2.0 was created to allow people to share pictures of cute cats. ...Every time you force a government to block a web 2.0 site - cutting off people's access to cute cats - you spend political capital." Via Tom Hoffman. Ethan Zuckerman, My Heart's In Accra March 13, 2008 [Link] [Tags: Web 2.0, Research] [Comment]

Clickpass
Ah, now that's the way OpenID is supposed to work. No typing, once you've created your Clickpass ID. Just click and join websites with your OpenID. Beautiful. I joined Disqus - something I would never have bothered doing - with two clicks. Via Simon Willison. Peter Nixey, Website March 13, 2008 [Link] [Tags: none] [Comment]

Current Reality and Future Vision: Open Virtual Worlds
White Paper from Sun on Virtual Worlds that basically gets it right. "Today's virtual worlds represent the first phase of 3D Web. Dedicated servers running their own virtual worlds are to 3D Web what MySpace is to today's Web. In the future, 3D Web will be a network of virtual worlds that are owned by various entities. The success of virtual worlds will depend on factors such as openness, enterprise-strength platforms, vibrant communities, and a portfolio of services." Via Pacific Rim Exchange. White Paper, Sun Microsystems March 13, 2008 [Link] [Tags: Networks] [Comment]

This Is The End My Friend: Negroponte Says XP On XO in 60 Days
Vota cites an article from Laptop Mag stating, "Negroponte says that a Windows operating system is in the process of being fine-tuned on the XO as we speak. "Microsoft and OLPC are in discussion on how to release it, as well as how to announce," he said. Negroponte added that the Windows operating system should be available on the XO in less than 60 days." Says Vota, "for me XP on the XO is the end of OLPC, no matter who is the CEO." Wayan Vota, One Laptop Per Child News March 13, 2008 [Link] [Tags: Operating Systems, Portable Computers, Microsoft] [Comment]

Drop.Io: File Sharing With RSS = Endless Possibilities
This is one of those links I post here for my own future reference. The idea of this site is that you create a 'drop' then upload, phone in, mail or even fax documents to it. The goodness comes because of the RSS feed the site creates out of the drops. Darren Draper, Drape's Takes March 13, 2008 [Link] [Tags: RSS] [Comment]

EDUCAUSE Now - Show #1 - Premiere Episode
As the headline suggests, this is the first episode of what promises to be an ongoing show. So far so good - the opening show includes George Siemens and Michael Wesch - though I wish the audio wouldn't start automatically on the web page. The show has its own podcast feed as well. The first episode is 20 minutes long, nice clean audio, and sounds a bit like CBC. Gerry Bayne, EDUCAUSE Connect March 13, 2008 [Link] [Tags: Connectivism, Audio, Podcasting, EDUCAUSE] [Comment]

Lessons Learned From Two More Ustream.Tv Remote Webcasts
Very nice work with UStream to create a live webcast from the Smithsonian. I appreciate not only the sample webcast but also the long list of 'lessons learned' below. One lesson I've learned is that it's really important to use a digital video camera (that you can plug into your computer with FireWire) - I've tried using a Pinnacle device to capture from an analog video, but that has been a failure thus far (if anybody knows how to make Pinnacle work with a videocamera on a MacBook, let me know). I also applaud Fryer's determination, as this successful webcast follows one partial victory and one utter failure. Wesley Fryer, Moving at the Speed of Creativity March 13, 2008 [Link] [Tags: Video] [Comment]

Coaching Critical Thinking to Think Creatively!
I very much enjoyed this article, a longish description of how the author (Zaid Alsagoff) revamped a critical thinking course. It wasn't so much the content of the article (though as someone who has taught critical thinking dozens of times I had an inherent interest). Rather, what interested me was the storytelling, the way the author let me into his thinking process. This isn't the sort of article that requires you to agree or disagree with it; we are clearly and entertainingly being told what was done, and why. Would he do it differently next time? Still, we can compare the thinking with our own, compare the process with our own - and that's exactly what I did, and why I enjoyed it. Be sure to click on the slide shows in Slideshare, such as this one. Zaid Alsagoff, ZaidLearn March 13, 2008 [Link] [Tags: none] [Comment]

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