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OLDaily

by Stephen Downes
March 31, 2009

A Conversation on Learning
Informal conversation covering the range of learning 2.0 Presentation by Stephen Downes, , ,

Rainbow Lorikeet

Another photo from Sydney. Stephen Downes, Flickr, March 31, 2009 [Link] [Tags: Flickr, Australia] [Comment]

Pupils to Study Twitter and Blogs in Primary Shake-Up
A few people have mentioned this Guardian article and it was mentioned in our conversation yesterday. The gist is that "Children will no longer have to study the Victorians or the second world war... the draft plans will require children to master Twitter and Wikipedia and give teachers far more freedom to decide what youngsters should be concentrating on in classes." The negative reaction is not surprising (though misguided); Brian Kelly takes a stand for the positive side. Brian Kelly, UK Web Focus, March 31, 2009 [Link] [Tags: Schools, Twitter, Wikipedia] [Comment]

Response to the Desire2Learn Million$Mission for Education has Been Tremendous!
From Desire2Learn: "The Desire2Learn Million$Mission for Education, proposed on March 26, 2009, has been a big hit with educators around the world. We are thrilled with the response that has been received from the education community. People have been twittering about the initiative and have established the Facebook group Fans of D2L Million $ Mission for Education. Thank you for your tremendous support! Day 6: No response has yet been received from Michael Chasen or Blackboard." Press Release, Desire2Learn, March 31, 2009 [Link] [Tags: Desire2Learn, Twitter, Online Learning, Books, Blackboard Inc.] [Comment]

European Newspapers Find Creative Ways to Thrive in the Internet Age
The internet doesn't necessarily mean death to newspapers publishers, though it seems clear from the European response that they will have to depend on more than subscriptions and advertising. This accords with Marc Canter's breakdown of future internet revenue streams. And I think his estimates of 20 percent for each of advertising and on-demand content are high. Eric Pfanner, New York Times, March 31, 2009 [Link] [Tags: Subscription Services, Books, Marketing, European Union] [Comment]

Why This Doesn't Work- Bloom's and Technology Pyramid

An interesting image, seen here, but I am inclined to agree with Tom Woodward's criticism, "In this image the application is static and is represented on only one level. This reinforces the idea that the Blooms level is inherent in the technology rather than a result of its application." Tom Woodward, Bionic Teaching, March 31, 2009 [Link] [Tags: none] [Comment]

LMS Architecture Proposal

Christopher Phillips sends along this link to an interesting series of posts on an open LMS architecture. "The architecture is based on four key components: IT Core, LMS, Presentation, and the Open Adapter Framework." Michael Farmer, Meanwhile, back at the farm…, March 31, 2009 [Link] [Tags: none] [Comment]

Revolt Against Outsourced Courses
Another instance of the trend toward the separation of teaching and assessment, as colleges are awarding credit for outsourced courses. Not surprisingly, there are people questioning whether a college should be giving credit for a course it does not supervise. But "Colleges routinely award credit for Advanced Placement courses, for dual enrollment courses with high schools and for credit awarded by other colleges, institutions that may or may not share educational philosophies. Awarding credit for work done elsewhere is in fact common and accepted, Smith said." Scott Jaschik, Inside Higher Ed, March 31, 2009 [Link] [Tags: Assessment, Schools, Online Learning] [Comment]

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