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OLDaily

by Stephen Downes
May 1, 2008

26 Learning Games to Change the World
I think we still need to think about how we introduce games to learning - games with an overt educational mission ('serious games') always seem fake to me. But that said, there is still a wealth of goodness to mine here. JT Cobb, Mission to Learn, May 1, 2008 [Link] [Tags: none] [Comment]

Edublogger Etiquette
Darren Draper has written a series of interesting posts on the topic of 'edublogger etiquette'. Now I don't suppose etiquette for edubloggers is different than for anyone else. The series is still somewhat interesting, though, sprinkled as it is with examples from the edublogosphere. I would add only one cautionary note about any set of statements purported to be about the 'edublogosphere': don't presume that the 'edublogosphere' is the circle of bloggers you know. The edublogosphere is huge, it is multilingual, it is international, it has distinct parts, including corporate, government, K-12 and institutional bloggers, and it consists of much more than just one small circle of people. Darren Draper, Drape's Takes, May 1, 2008 [Link] [Tags: Web Logs] [Comment]

Go Ahead, Drop $400 On the Jesus Phone
So Rogers will bring the iPhone to Canada. Don't expect such a rush here. Indeed, this article clearly lays out the travesty that is wireless access pricing in Canada: "Rogers has a long way to go before it matches the free data providers given to iPhone users in the United States and elsewhere. I don't browse the Internet over the Edge network, not only because it's slow but because, at its current rates, Rogers would charge me $75 simply to load The Globe and Mail's home page. If someone e-mailed me a five-megabyte attachment and I opened it on the Edge network, Rogers would bill me $250 for the privilege." This is why I won't even come close to touching a phone offered by Rogers. And, I will say, the other providers aren't much better. Wireless pricing in Canada is a farce. Peter Scowen, Globe and Mail, May 1, 2008 [Link] [Tags: United States, Wireless, Networks, Canada] [Comment]

Cute Kitten Syndrome: Open Educational Resources
George Siemens raises some worthwhile questions about open educational resources (OERs). He's right, we have discussed the concept over the years. For me, as for him, it is the ethical dimension of 'denying people access to education' that motivates the discussion. Which means, and I agree, "OERs are window dressing if systems and structures of education do not change." Related: Techdirt on government-funded textbooks. George Siemens, Connectivism Blog, May 1, 2008 [Link] [Tags: Connectivism, Open Educational Resources] [Comment]

Architecture Astronauts Take Over
What is Microsoft Mesh? Joel Spolsky tells us, "what is this Windows Live Mesh? It's a way to synchronize files... It's Groove, rewritten from scratch, one more time. Ray Ozzie just can't stop rewriting this damn app, again and again and again, and taking 5-7 years each time." Joel Spolsky, Joel on Software, May 1, 2008 [Link] [Tags: Microsoft] [Comment]

Beginning of the Next Memory S-Curve?
For me the switch from one curve to the next came when I started to use the iPod Nano. I realized that that point that I wouldn't be buying a mobile device with a hard drive ever again. Because Flash is so much more reliable and efficient. And in this post, Scott Wilson talks about developments that will take Flash memory to the next level. "How about an iPod that holds millions of songs. In fact, why not all of them? Want to replace that hard drive with a solid state one with 1000 times the capacity?" Scott Wilson, Scott's Workblog, May 1, 2008 [Link] [Tags: Apple Inc.] [Comment]

What I Want to Talk About
Nothing like a good rant. I like this: "I want to tell them that we have to stop thinking that business has any idea what schools need to be. I want to tell them that our reliance on test scores will kill innovation and creativity. I want to tell them that every time I go to the exhibit floor at a conference and see more tools for monitoring, accountability and security than I see tools for creativity, creation and collaboration, I see us move one more step away from the dream of what I believe our schools can be." Chris Lehmann, Practical Theory, May 1, 2008 [Link] [Tags: Schools, Security Issues] [Comment]

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