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OLDaily

by Stephen Downes
October 30, 2008

EDUCAUSE Openness Constituent Group
There's a bunch of stuff from EDUCAUSE, which I'll catch up on tomorrow. For today, this on openness: "A central pillar of the academic community is its commitment to the free flow of information and ideas. This commitment to sharing is essential to scholarly discovery and innovation. It is also central to helping learners engage, absorb, and apply knowledge in order to advance personally and academically." I also got an email from the Open Courseware Consortium a few weeks ago also pledging more openness. Good signs. Are we maybe turning a corner? IMS? Michael Feldstein, e-Literate, October 30, 2008 [Link] [Tags: Academia, EDUCAUSE] [Comment]

The Rise of Generation We

Alec Couros writes, "If the reality of the new generation emerges into something this ideal, I for one welcome our young millennial overlords." Alec Couros, Open Thinking & Digital Pedagogy, October 30, 2008 [Link] [Tags: none] [Comment]

Rigor Redefined
I'm not sure I would adopt this as a list of the things students should learn (as opposed to my own list) but I certainly get the contrast with what students are actually taught. I'm also not sure the title should use the word 'rigor', because that's not what this article is about. 'Rigor' isn't about subject selection, it's about the degree of depth and completeness. Via Vicky Davis (in my thoughts). Tony Wagner, ASCD, October 30, 2008 [Link] [Tags: none] [Comment]

Aiming at the Wrong Target
"Of all the bad concepts imposed on American education by No Child Left Behind," writes, Tim Stahmer, "the worst is the idea that testing equals learning." And the worst is not yet over. "Now we have a group who wants a test to assess students' technology literacy." Tim Stahmer, Assorted Stuff, October 30, 2008 [Link] [Tags: United States, Tests and Testing, No Child Left Behind] [Comment]

The Single Sign-On War Will Ruin OpenID
What is it about large corporations that. if given the option, they will invariably choose the more harmful of the options. Here we have the same sort of thing with OpenID - Google and Yahhoo and the rest are willing to issue OpenIDs, but they are not willing to accept them from other sites. And so they wreck the system. "While I'm sympathetic to [the] argument that more OPs is frankly better for the web, I'm not convinced that a Visa card is all that useful if none of the major department stores will accept it." Josh Catone, SitePoint, October 30, 2008 [Link] [Tags: Google, OpenID] [Comment]

Canadian Universities Online Fair
Interesting to see how the players are changing in our field. Jennifer Hills, from Environics, writes me: "Earlier in October we had informed you of the launch of www.globecampus.ca, a revamped, high-utility education site, offering one-stop shopping for high school students who are planning to pursue a post-secondary education. This is a personal invitation for to check out the upcoming Canadian Universities Online Fair on November 6, hosted by GlobeCampus.ca. Students will be able to browse Canada's top universities and colleges and meet with representatives from institutions to learn about their undergraduate programs, download information, view videos and connect with their peers to compare notes." Various Authors, Globe and Mail, October 30, 2008 [Link] [Tags: Schools, Video, Canada] [Comment]

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