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by Stephen Downes
May 13, 2009

Downes and Wiley: Continuing the Conversation
I have scheduled an all-day session with David Wiley for August 11 in Vancouver where we will take the time needed to thoroughly air and discuss our differing views on the subject of open educational resources (OERs). Though the event, held the day before the Open Education conference, will be open to the public, our intent is not to put on a show but to engage in a serious and extended discussion. As David says, "don't come looking for pot-shots and cheap one-liners." We will transcribe and publish the results of the conversation. David Wiley, iterating toward openness, May 13, 2009 [Link] [Tags: Books, Open Educational Resources] [Comment]

The Story of Stuff
This is a fabulous video that provides an overview of our consumption-driven wasteful economy and describes it (accurately) as a system in crisis. As the NY Times says, "it has been embraced by teachers eager to supplement textbooks that lag behind scientific findings on climate change and pollution."

Of course, the coverage is keen to represent the other side of the story. "A school board in Missoula County, Mont., decided that screening the video treaded on academic freedom after a parent complained that its message was anticapitalist." This is a fascinating ruling, given that it is not likely that a capitalist message anywhere has been judged to tread on academic freedom on grounds that it ignores anticapitalism.

From my perspective, this video, though simplistic (as is necessary when describing a global system in 20 minutes) is essential viewing. It is an essentially accurate representation of the problem we face as a global society. And it represents one of the key ways in which technology in the classroom can have a beneficial and sustaining effect on society as a whole. I've posted a summary of the video on my Half an Hour blog. Annie Leonard, Website, May 13, 2009 [Link] [Tags: Schools, Video, Academia, Web Logs] [Comment]

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