Stephen's Web

OLDaily

by Stephen Downes
December 31, 2008

Happy New Year

With a bunch of other people I have been taking a photo a day for the last year. Now the set is complete - though I recommend you watch the slide show (with titles and captions turned on). Stephen Downes, Flickr, December 31, 2008 [Link] [Tags: Flickr] [Comment]

Your Immediate, Unlimited Supply of Blog Post Ideas
Blogs in most areas go through two stages. In the first stage, they focus on the technology and the mechanics. The "geekery." But eventually this gets repetitive and boring. "This," writes Chris Garret, "is where many people give up." But there is a much more interesting layer under the mechanics of any discipline: the ideas and thoughts underlying those mechanics. "The answer is to find people who are interested in the same subject and have conversations with them! Twitter, forums, chat, real life, Skype, and so on." My problem with OLDaily has always been self-imposed limitations on the format - keep the number of posts per day down, keep the length of individual posts reasonable. Finding something to write about has never been a problem - because there is a wealth of conversation out there. Chris Garrett, The Blog Herald, December 31, 2008 [Link] [Tags: Audio Chat and Conferencing, Twitter, Chatrooms] [Comment]

Rethinking Learning Styles
This is an interesting take on the question of learning styles: "if, instead of fixed characteristics, we think of a suite of malleable learning competencies as a way in which our learners can differ, we gain two things. First, we find ways we can support learners who have weaknesses in particular learning competencies (dealing with visual data representations, for example), and second, we can develop them in those competencies as well (which goes hand in hand with Michelle Martin & Tony Karrer's Work Literacy)." Clark Quinn, Learnlets, December 31, 2008 [Link] [Tags: Online Learning, Learning Styles] [Comment]

Access: The New Imperialism?
Lynn Zimmerman writes "you can send all the computers to Africa you want, but if there are no electricity and no phone lines to connect to, they become expensive paper weights" and asks "why are outsiders making these types of decisions anyway? Would it not be better to find out what the people really want and need, rather than telling them what they want and need?" My response is that, while my experience with less industrialized worlds is limited, from what I have seen people there seize upon and use new technologies at every opportunity. Lynn Zimmerman, Innovate Blog, December 31, 2008 [Link] [Tags: Experience, Africa, Flickr] [Comment]

Giving Up On Work E-Mail - Status Report On Week 46
"What's even better, and here is where the milestone kicks in, all of those 3 e-mails I have received was actually Christmas eCards!!! Which means, that last week, for the first time EVER!, I have managed to not receive ANY work related e-mails!!!" I'm sort of tempted to ask everyone to send Luis Suarez an email of congratulation. Heh. Luis Suarez, ELSUA ~ A KM Blog, December 31, 2008 [Link] [Tags: none] [Comment]

The Big Question: What Did You Learn About Learning in 2008?
More year-end stuff. In this post, Clive Shepherd goes on a month by month rampage. Christy Tucker also answers the big question. So do another 20 people or so. Jane Hart adds part two of her 2008 review and hits the mark with some spot-on prediction of new tools for 2009 (it has been a very good year for her). Alexander Russo picks winners and losers of 2008.BBC News picks some top technology trends for 2009. E-School News offers its own (pretty lame) list of top ed tech stories for 2008. Tom Kuhlmann offers his top stories from the year. Clive Shepherd, Clive on Learning, December 31, 2008 [Link] [Tags: none] [Comment]

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