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by Stephen Downes
January 2, 2009

Great Way to Start the New Year: Set Up a Personal Board of Directors
An intriguing idea: "Do you have a personal board of directors? I don't mean a traditional corporate board, nor do I mean an informal board of business advisors. I mean a personal board of directors composed of seven people you deeply respect and would not want to let down. A group like a set of tribal elders that you turn to for guidance at times of ethical dilemma, life transitions, and difficult choices, people who embody the core values and standards you aspire to live up to." Pamela Slim, Escape From Cubicle Nation, January 2, 2009 [Link] [Tags: none] [Comment]

Year of the Cloud
George Siemens puts his stake into the prognostication arena with this post on 'the year of the cloud' - cloud computing, to be precise. He decides to embrace the cloud to answer some questions: "How will my communication and information processing habits change when I don't need to confine myself to a particular computer? What types of software do I need when I don't want to be tied to a particular laptop?" The Edge, meanwhile, asks, "What will change everything?" You mean global warming and economic collapse aren't enough? And Jim McGee looks at simple competence as a theme for 2009. And Tony Hirst looks at internet appliances. George Siemens, learnspace, January 2, 2009 [Link] [Tags: Connectivism, Portable Computers] [Comment]

The U.S. Air Force: Moving Full Scale Into Social Media
This post is worth visiting for the blog posting flow chart (see here for the big version). Mark Oehlert, e-Clippings, January 2, 2009 [Link] [Tags: Web Logs] [Comment]

10+ Web Tools To Save Your Butt In School
Some useful resources here - one site features printable notepaper, another site creates your bibliography for you, another is a to-do list, yet another is a flashcard sharing site. Joanne Jacobs, of course, sees nothing but the negative, focusing on a plagiarism detector and a fake document generator. Ken Burkes, makeuseof.com, January 2, 2009 [Link] [Tags: Schools, Cheating] [Comment]

Adams 50 Skips Grades, Lets Kids Be Pacesetters
Now you can level-up at school as a school district in Colorado does away with grades and semesters. "In a standards-based system, time becomes the variable and learning is the constant," Selleck said. "When a kid can demonstrate proficiency of a standard, they move on. There is nothing magical about a quarter, semester or the end of school. That becomes blurred. Learning becomes much more 24-7." Jeremy P. Meyer, Denver Post, January 2, 2009 [Link] [Tags: Assessment, Schools] [Comment]

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