Stephen's Web

OLDaily

by Stephen Downes
March 18, 2008

On Home Schooling
People did not agree with my comments on home schooling (click on the link to see their comments). In this video, I respond with my grounds for objecting to home schooling and describing what an appropriate alternative, community schooling, would look like. Stephen Downes, Half an Hour March 18, 2008 [Link] [Tags: Schools, Online Learning, Video] [Comment]

Re: Options and Opportunities
I want to draw attention to this response to my Threshold, Options and Opportunities. The writer points to "several logistical issues regarding e learning that many people fail to consider." I don't think that I have omitted these issues - but that said, they certainly fell outside the scope of the article and an enumeration of them is useful. It's also worth nothing in passing that you can subscribe to the RSS Feed for comments posted in the discussion section of my website. Very often, the points raised by the commentators reflect much more insight and reasoning than my original post. The discussion is moderated (with a ruthless hand) so the feed is (mostly) clean. Bon, Stephen's Web March 18, 2008 [Link] [Tags: Online Learning, RSS] [Comment]

43 Knowledge Management Definitions - and Counting...
I have to say I thought this was pretty funny. And, truth be told, I'm more sympathetic to this point of view: "I would like to challenge the concept of needing to define something. I find definitions to be extremely limiting. They become permanent representations of the thing being defined and leave no room for interpretation, adaptation, or evolution over time." Ray Sims, Sims Learning Connections March 18, 2008 [Link] [Tags: none] [Comment]

Networks Versus Groups in Higher Education
Terry Anderson posts "a rather long and scholarly type post arguing for the use of Networks in addition to groups commonly employed in formal campus and distance education." Terry Anderson, Virtual Canuck March 18, 2008 [Link] [Tags: Online Learning] [Comment]

In Support Of Al And The miniLegends
The remainder of the blog comments on the closure of Al Upton's Minilegends weblog. Graham Wegner cites Diane McCordell's observation that "the classroom is the logical place for students to receive safety instruction and participate in guided practice." Darren Kuropatwa posts a telling video. Kerry Johnson notes, "doing a blanket ban on images of children on the internet would only make sense if one also banned the use of images and names of kids in newspapers, television and other communications outlets." Graham Attwell asks, "How have we got to the absurd situation that Bebo, Facebook and the burgeoning Disney sites are seen as OK for kids, whilst a well thought through educational project is closed down?" And Vicki A. Davis recites the students' views on the closure, including this: "When I found out that our blogs were closing down, I felt confused, sad and angry. I felt really sad because I felt that all Al had taught us had gone to waste. We had a vote on a name for our new forum. The new name for our forum is Article 13. It means Rights for the Child." Graham Wegner, Teaching Generation Z March 18, 2008 [Link] [Tags: Web Logs] [Comment]

Desire2Learn CEO Makes Case Against Blackboard Patent, Court Ruling
Another in the round of interviews given by esire2Learn CEO John Baker in the wake of the Blackboard patent court case. This one's quite long, with a lot of detail. "For me it was fairly frustrating because we tending to be focusing on the words that were within the patent," says Baker. "And Blackboard fought against us by using words that weren't in the patent and weren't in the claim construction. They were almost creating smoke and mirrors around the actual, real heart of the matter. David Nagel, Campus Technology March 18, 2008 [Link] [Tags: Desire2Learn, Patents, Copyrights, Blackboard Inc., Patents] [Comment]

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