Stephen's Web

OLDaily

by Stephen Downes
June 30, 2009

Hawaii

This is my last night in Hawaii - I have a long flight home tomorrow, and I'll be getting caught up later in the week.
Stephen Downes, Flickr, June 30, 2009 [Link] [Tags: Flickr] [Comment]

Desire2Learn UNconference 2009
I'm not sure an unconference works at an LMS vendor conference, but it's worth a try, I guess. Various Authors, Desire2Learn, June 30, 2009 [Link] [Tags: Desire2Learn] [Comment]

Evaluation of Evidence-Based Practices in Online Learning
As summarized by Academic Impressions: "Online learning has definite advantages over face-to-face instruction when it comes to teaching and learning, according to a new meta-analysis released by the US Department of Education." From the report: "the number of K-12 public school students enrolling in a technology-based distance education course grew by 65 percent in the two years from 2002-03 to 2004-05... more than a million K-12 students took online courses in school year 2007-08." Finally: "Despite what appears to be strong support for online learning applications, the studies in this meta-analysis do not demonstrate that online learning is superior as a medium, In many of the studies showing an advantage for online learning, the online and classroom conditions differed in terms of time spent, curriculum and pedagogy." PDF.
Barbara Means, et.al., U.S. Department of Education, June 30, 2009 [Link] [Tags: Schools, Traditional and Online Courses, Online Learning] [Comment]

Weave Update for Firefox Syncs Your Web Identity

More post-Web 2.0 magic. "If you're a Firefox user, you now have the ability to synchronize not only your bookmarks, browsing history and user preferences across multiple PCs - you can also sync your identity." More on the new version of Firefox. Scott Gilbertson, Webmonkey, June 29, 2009 [Link] [Tags: Web 2.0] [Comment]

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