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OLDaily

by Stephen Downes
April 4, 2008

How to Create a Great PowerPoint Without Breaking the Law
This is how I started my day - watching a great presentation on how to give a great presentation on TeacherTube video. Oh, and there's some stuff about copyright in there too. Definitely recommended. Presented at the eTech Ohio 2008 conference. Alvin Trusty, TeacherTube, April 4, 2008 [Link] [Tags: Video, Copyrights, Patents] [Comment]

Collaborative Learning - a CET Resource
Good, though now slightly dated (2003), annotated bibliography on collaborative learning. This is definitely a good starting point if you're looking into this area of research. PDF Unattributed, CET, April 4, 2008 [Link] [Tags: Online Learning, Research] [Comment]

Progress in Practice: Exploring the Cooperative and Collaborative Dimensions of Group Learning
You'll want to see the diagram from 1996 depicting cooperation as 'externally structured' and collaboration as 'internally structured' using penny-farthing bicycles. Brian P. Coppola, The Chemical Educator, April 4, 2008 [Link] [Tags: none] [Comment]

Collaboration and Community Constituents
Good paper by Nick Noakes, written in 1999, comparing and contrasting collaboration and cooperation. Some, such as Matthews, et.al. (1998) define the distinction differently than I would. "with cooperative learning being very much teacher-controlled and collaborative learning being learner-controlled." But Noakes, I think, is closer to here: "When cooperating, it is only physical resources (objects, time, money) or intellectual resources (knowledge, expertise) that are shared. Whereas when collaborating, in addition to these shared physical and intellectual resources, are shared goals, responsibilities, values, beliefs and attitudes." Groups collaborate, networks cooperate. There's a lot more here, too - the role of community and the impact of the technology used. Nick Noakes, Technology, Colleges&Community Worldwide Online Conference, April 4, 2008 [Link] [Tags: Patents, Online Learning, Networks] [Comment]

Building Bridges Between Cooperative and Collaborative Learning
This is a pretty good paper from 1998 describing and supporting cooperative learning. The authors use the term 'cooperative' in a stronger sense than I would, emphasizing mutual interdependence "Each student perceives that he or she is linked with others in such a way that the student cannot succeed unless the others do." I do think that there should be an emphasis helping others succeed - this is one of the main points behind my highly connected people article. But I don't think that there should therefore be a structural interdependence. Anyhow, it explains why Noakes (above) would describe cooperative learning differently than I would. PDF. David W. Johnson, Roger T. Johnson and Karl A. Smith, Change, April 4, 2008 [Link] [Tags: Online Learning] [Comment]

Moodle: Using Learning Communities to Create an Open Source Course Management System
There are many lessons to be learned from the development of Moodle, not the least fo which is how the creators used learning communities to help them build a product to support learning communities. They write, "We used the mode of participatory action research, including techniques such as case studies, ethnography, learning environment surveys and design methodologies." Martin Dougiamas and Peter C. Taylor, EDMEDIA 2003, April 4, 2008 [Link] [Tags: Learning Communities, Online Learning Communities, Research] [Comment]

Building Community in an Online Learning Environment: Communication, Cooperation and Collaboration
About half way through this 2001 paper you'll find a useful table contrasting three "levels" of interaction: communication, cooperation and collaboration. I wouldn't define it quite this way; I don't like their definition of cooperation: "A machine metaphor can illustrate cooperation in the classroom: different parts of the machine perform different functions and goals, but work together towards a similar end." Nonetheless, I think the table and the discussion are useful. From the sixth annual instructional technology conference (many more papers there). Melanie Misanchuk and Tiffany Anderson, MTSU 2001 IT Conference, April 4, 2008 [Link] [Tags: Interaction] [Comment]

Key Elements of Building Online Community: Comparing Faculty and Student Perceptions
This paper, published last fall, approaches the subject of learning community from the usual sources, producing a list of features most people will find familiar: shared purpose, boundaries, rules and policies, interaction, and trust. Some of these are elements I would identify (not altogether positively) with groups, which would lead me to wonder whether they are equally valued by community members. This study compares student and instructor valuations of different aspects of community participation. There's a lot of crossover, but it's worth nothing that studetns wanted instructors to model community participation, while instructors thought it was more important to "design and facilitate activities." (p.s. it would be really nice if JOLT had an RSS feed so I could spot these when they come out, not six months later). Pam Vesely, Lisa Bloom and John Sherlock, Journal of Online Learning and Technology, April 4, 2008 [Link] [Tags: Books, Learning Communities, Online Learning Communities, Interaction] [Comment]

New Small Learning Communities: Findings From Recent Literature
This paper from 2001 has achieved some standing in the community as a guide to the development of learning communities in small schools. It's a good discussion of small schools generally, first identifying numerous tpes of small schools and then listing the results of well-run small learning communities (interesting that the list goes well beyond learning): achievement, equity, affiliation or belonging, safety and order, persistence (that is, lower truancy and dropout rates), preparation for later learning, community participation, parent and teacher satisfaction, quality learning and low cost. Arguing that "small is not enough" the authors identify five major characteristics (of the school or community) that should be embodied in order to support learning: self-determination, identity, personalization, support for teaching, and accountability. I'm looking at this article from the perspective of whether it can help define learning communities more generally. Kathleen Cotton, School Improvement Program, April 4, 2008 [Link] [Tags: Schools, Personalization, Online Learning, Learning Communities, Online Learning Communities, Quality] [Comment]

OpenID Status Check: A Guide to Getting and Using Your OpenID
Not really a guide so much as a lost of OpenID providers, some links to how to create your own provider, and a shortish list of sites that accept OpenID. Sarah Perez, ReadWriteWeb, April 4, 2008 [Link] [Tags: none] [Comment]

The Problem Too Big to Be Seen
This article, as much as anything, expresses why it is important to me that we, as a society, promote equity, including an equal opportunity to access a quality and meaningful education. Wick Sloane, Inside Higher Ed, April 4, 2008 [Link] [Tags: Quality] [Comment]

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