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OLDaily

OLDaily is currently being produced by Barry Dahl (BD), Harold Jarche (HJ), and Gary Woodill (GW).

by Stephen Downes
July 9, 2008

The Future of Online Learning - Ten Years On
I am reworking my paper 'The Future of Online Learning' and this presentation convers thoughts from the first couple of sections of that. It was conducted via Skype (XWindows failed yet again) from an internet access point in a (noisy) hotel in the Canary Islands (which had been as silent as a tomb every day prior to this). Presentation by Stephen Downes, Academic Fest, Online, from Canary Islands to Madison, Wisconsin, [Link]

A Robot That Learns to Use Tools
A robot developed at the University of Massachusetts Amherst reminds me of myself at 7 years old. Whenever I received a new toy, I would tear it apart to see how it worked. The UMass Mobile Manipulator, or UMan, "pushes objects around on a table to see how they move. Once it identifies an object's moving parts, it begins to experiment with it, manipulating it to perform tasks." Intelligent robots have been developing slowly, and are able to learn basic tasks. Japan is the leading country in this field - one professor has designed a robot in his own image, and by wearing motion sensors, can deliver lectures at the university through the robot, even though he is miles away. "The robot is a spitting image of the professor, and it even has a bit of stage presence: It can accurately mimic Mr. Ishiguro's posture, lip movements, and vocal tics." I'm not sure this is really progress... -GW Kristina Grifantini, Technology Review, July 9, 2008 [Link] [Tags: none] [Comment]

Nanotechnology
Bio-technology and nanotechnology are two "sleeper" technologies within the education and training field. We are still digesting the impact of computers and other "intelligent" devices/programs on the practices of teaching and learning, while developments in these other two fields and their implications largely get unnoticed. George Siemens, always on the leading edge, brings the two together with pointers to an article in a recent British Medical Association journal on two kinds of brain alteration, and to a video on how nanotechnology will be able to "repair and upgrade our bodies" in a few years. -GW George Siemens, elearnspace, July 9, 2008 [Link] [Tags: Great Britain, Connectivism, Online Learning, Video] [Comment]

SCORM2.0 - Speak Now or Forever Hold...
Brent Schlenker gets the word out that the SCORM (shareable content object reference model) is being updated. "Time is running out. So if you want to get your ideas heard about what SCORM 2.0 should look like, then you need to submit them before the deadline [15 Aug 2008]. Since SCORM influences everyone from LMS vendors to content developers, it's a good idea to get involved or at least stay current with what's happening. -HJ Brent Schlenker, Corporate eLearning Strategies and Development, July 9, 2008 [Link] [Tags: SCORM, Metadata] [Comment]

Can You Tell the Truth About Being Self Interested?
Charles Green talks about the benefits of long-term thinking in sales relationships, but I believe that these can apply in school as well. "In other words, the desire for immediate gratification is often the enemy of longer-term happiness. Sad but true. In one study ..., five year-olds were analyzed according to their ability to defer gratification ("one cookie now, or two in an hour"). Their subsequent lives were then traced over decades. Those kids who chose more later were notably happier, more successful, more stable later in life." Don't our schools focus on immediate test scores and making the grade this year, as opposed to helping students develop skills and knowledge over the long term and beyond school? -HJ Charles Green, Trust Matters, July 9, 2008 [Link] [Tags: Schools] [Comment]

Today's Duluth News Tribune Devotes Full Page to Capitol V. Thomas, Terms Judge Davis Decision "Admirable" and "Extraordinary"
Actually not today, but on Sunday, July 6. Since I work in Duluth I feel that it is my duty to make sure that everyone knows that the injustice served here to Jammie Thomas might not be final just yet. The judge may have erred and it's clear that neither side did their homework regarding the Atlantic V. Howell case that was vacated 5 days before the Thomas trial. Obviously the RIAA is fighting this re-trial because they can't possibly be expected to prove that file sharing actually happened, because gee whiz, that would be so hard to do. This short article contains a link to a PDF of the complete coverage at the Duluth News-Tribune. -BD Ray Beckerman, Recording Industry vs. The People, July 9, 2008 [Link] [Tags: File Sharing] [Comment]

70 Signs of Intelligent Life at YouTube
"Smart video collections keep appearing on YouTube. But rather antithetical to the ethos of its parent company (Google), YouTube unfortunately makes these collections difficult to find." This list contains many of the usual suspects such as PBS and NOVA, but also includes Big Think, FORA.tv and The Research Channel. There are 5 spotlighted collections from universities (calling UC-Berkeley the "most substantive"), plus links to 20 more universities. -BD Dan Colman, OpenCuilture, July 9, 2008 [Link] [Tags: Video, Google, YouTube] [Comment]

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