Stephen's Web

OLDaily

by Stephen Downes
September 12, 2008

Google Adsense Nonsense
I agree with Vicki Davis - Google is mismanaging its AdSense program. "Seems that 'seat of the pants' causes Google Adsense to think I'm needing some sort of medicinal improvement to my husbands and my love life! (It scans keywords in your email to determine what ads you want to see.)" I have written previously about how Google Mail is taking over my identity; I've tried to find a way of disentangling myself from it, but there doesn't seem to be a way. Vicki A. Davis, Cool Cat Teacher Blog, September 12, 2008 [Link] [Tags: Google] [Comment]

Facebook Unveils New Look with a New Approach
There has been a lot of discussion about the new look at facebook. Although for most people it's a simple switch, for some users - such as myself - who are subject to more advertising, the switch makes the site much more ad-heavy (I'm not sure why some people get ads and others don't, but believe me, I'm in their ad group, even though I use Firefox with ad-block). Facebook runs the risk of emulating MySpace. Michael Liedtke, Yahoo News, September 12, 2008 [Link] [Tags: Books, Marketing] [Comment]

CCK08 Weekly Chat
George Siemens and I wrapped up the first week of our Connectivism course with this audio chat. Kudos to Dave Cormier for expertly leading us throught he issues of the day. It's also available on UStream. Stephen Downes, Dave Cormier and George Siemens, , September 12, 2008 [Link] [Tags: Chatrooms, Connectivism, Audio] [Comment]

Broader
Tom Hoffman interjects a lot of sense into the election debate happening south of the border here, including this: "Here's something I've realized I haven't mentioned here. I've been through the whole 'fire the poor performing teachers' thing.... The whole staff of the school I helped re-design had to re-apply for their jobs. Here's the thing: it helps, but it doesn't help that much. It is not the decisive point. My experience says it is not enough and the research says it is not enough, it is too narrow. Tom Hoffman, Tuttle SVC, September 12, 2008 [Link] [Tags: Schools, Online Learning, Experience, Research] [Comment]

The Price of an 8 Pack of Learning Theory Lectures? Nothing! Just a Lot of Bonk!
Very nice. Curt Bonk shares eight of his lectures, as WMV videos. Topics range from "Introduction to Theories of Learning and Instruction" to "Constructivism, Social Constructivism, Learner-Centered Instruction, and PBL." Curtis J. Bonk, TravelinEdMan, September 12, 2008 [Link] [Tags: Video] [Comment]

MUPPLE - Mashup Personal Learning Environments
Aha! Something new from Scott Wilson. "This is all possible at least partly through the efforts of W3C in coming up with a common Widget specification, but also through many modern platforms such as Elgg, Wordpress and Moodle having a "Widget" concept in their plugin architecture that makes embedding of other bits of web far easier." Shouldn't be hard (see picture) to put a Mookie in there? Scott Wilson, Scott's Workblog, September 12, 2008 [Link] [Tags: Personal Learning Environment] [Comment]

Concordia Blocking Access to Facebook
One wonders why Concordia is really blocking access to Facebook. Because it's stated reason - "concerns that the continuing reliability of the Concordia network could be compromised because of spam, viruses and leaks of confidential information related to Facebook use" - sounds patently hollow. Michael geist, Weblog, September 12, 2008 [Link] [Tags: Patents, Books, Networks, Spam, Copyrights, Patents] [Comment]

This newsletter is sent only at the request of subscribers. If you would like to unsubscribe, Click here.

Know a friend who might enjoy this newsletter? Feel free to forward OLDaily to your colleagues. If you received this issue from a friend and would like a free subscription of your own, you can join our mailing list. Click here to subscribe.