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by Stephen Downes
November 9, 2009

Ed-Tech Vendors: The Unintentional Enemy Outside?
The session title was outrageous to bring Christian Long back from his hiatus - a conference seminar by Chris Ridgway, Sophos, titled The Enemy Within: Stop Students from Bypassing Your Web Filters. It sparked a wave of reaction, including a two-part post (part one, part two) from Sylvia Martinez asserting bluntly that studetns are not the enemy. And as Bud Hunt wrote to Ridgway, "I find this session title and the frame that you're using to sell your services to be offensive and beyond the pale. Our students are not our enemies and their behaviors are not rooted in violence." And Long concludes, "At worst, your language strips the very industry you are paid to serve of its mission and heart, not to mention the fairly painful irony that it attacks the very group that schools exist to advocate for...and to empower..." Christian Long, Think:Lab, November 9, 2009 [Link] [Tags: Schools, Twitter] [Comment]

Impact Factors Adjusted for Reality
I agree with the sentiment but I dislike the working. Discussing a widening of the metrics defining impact factors, the author writes, "The authors describe the way Oregon State University has adopted Boyer's definition of scholarship – which embraces not just discovery of new knowledge, but application, teaching, and integration." Fine, but innovations in "application, teaching, and integration are "new knowledge". Barbara Fister, ACRLog, November 9, 2009 [Link] [Tags: none] [Comment]

Learnover 2010

I've always liked UQAM, because UQAM has students who do things like this. From Sliced Bread, who writes, "Learnover 2010 promises to be my type of professional learning. Active student voice, open, global, tech requirements even I could muster from home and learner centred." Mr. S., Sliced Bread, November 9, 2009 [Link] [Tags: none] [Comment]

Thoughts on JISCPress
More on WriteToReply, which I mentioned here last week (it turns out that Eduserv will be covering hosting costs for the project). Tony Hirst describes in some detail how it works and what it is supposed to do in the context of the (wider? renamed?) JISCPress. Tony Hirst, OUseful Info, November 9, 2009 [Link] [Tags: Project Based Learning, Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC)] [Comment]

IMS Learning Information Services: The State of the Union
The IMS Learning Information Systems (LIS) specification (see here, here, and here) is intended to link learning information (as found in learning management systems) with student information services (as found in the Registrar's office). It facilitates things like access to online courses upon registration, or easier recording of grades from LMS records. This post outlines the 'state of play' of IMS-LIS, listing those "shipping code" (PeopleSoft, Sakai, Moodle, Schools on Facebook), "committed to adoption" and "thinking about it". Michael Feldstein, e-Literate, November 9, 2009 [Link] [Tags: Assessment, Schools, Traditional and Online Courses, Information, Student Record Systems, IMS Project] [Comment]

How do you systematically design learning experiences that effectively engage the learner?
Interesting parallel between education and engagement. Interesting because, while you can't do education without engagement, the list of items under 'engagement' are very different than those under 'education'. But you know (he says as an aside) I become less and less certain that you want to "design learning experiences" - it's one thing to design useful resources, and that's OK, but really I think that people ought to be designing their own learning experiences. How else will they be able to find learning in the more general run of experiences in life? Clark Quinn, Learnlets, November 9, 2009 [Link] [Tags: Experience] [Comment]

How To Set Up ‘Alerts' To Monitor Conversations!
If you're wondering how I keep up on things (without following anyone on Twitter) then you'll want to have a look at this item. In addition to email and my RSS feeds, I have a number of alerts set up that generate RSS feeds I can follow in my feed reader. Sue Waters, The Edublogger, November 9, 2009 [Link] [Tags: Twitter, RSS] [Comment]

Wikiquote:Votes for deletion/Canadian proverbs
So I was just browsing around the other day and came across pages and pages of proverbs on Wikiquote. I noticed they were sorted by nationality, but was surprised to find there was no page of Canadian proverbs. So I added one. with a few of my favorites, like "Never eat yellow snow" and "Keep your stick on the ice." Imagine my surprise to find the page marked for deletion. Some people didn't like the proverbs, others said they weren't sourced. Well - look at any of the other proverb pages and you'll find they aren't sourced either. But now there's a battle to determine whether Canada should have any proverbs at all. This is ridiculous. I honestly think that the (anonymous) editors and the moderators are wrecking Wikipedia and related sites. I'll tell you, I certainly won't go to the effort to create some content again to know that some jerk in a pinny can come along and delete it permanently because he doesn't think there are Canadian proverbs, or some other such silliness. The way Wikipedia (and the rest) worked is that you contributed by adding content, not by running around from entry to entry adding 'edit this' notices. If you didn't like it, you fixed it, you didn't just (lazily) flag it. Anyhow - you can defend Canada's right to have proverbs by going here and voting against deletion. Ole.Holm, WikiQuotes, November 9, 2009 [Link] [Tags: Canada, Wikipedia] [Comment]

Learning Object Metadata is... (dead?); Long live Learning Object Metadata!
Is Learning Object Metadata (LOM) experiencing a rebirth? It was, as this item notes, recently reaffirmed as an IEEE standard (mostly, I would say, for lack of a viable alternative). But there's also a spike in searches for it, according to Google, perhaps in relation to a corresponding increase in searches for open educational resources (OERs). Norm Friesen, Weblog, November 9, 2009 [Link] [Tags: Open Educational Resources, Google] [Comment]

Sharism: A Mind Revolution
"The key motivator of Social Media and the core spirit of Web 2.0 is a mind switch called Sharism," writes Isaac Mao. "Sharism suggests a re-orientation of personal values. We see it in User Generated Content. It is the pledge of Creative Commons." I might word things differently here and there, and my emphasis my vary in places, but Isaac Mao's sharism has a lot in common with my own views. I like the way he stresses that while sharism embodies the values of communism and socialism, "Under Sharism, you can keep ownership, if you want. But I like to share. And this is how I choose to spread ideas, and prosperity. Sharism is totally based on your own consensus." Isaac Mao, Joi Ito, November 9, 2009 [Link] [Tags: Web 2.0] [Comment]

Fans and Fears of 'Lecture Capture'
Lecture capture has attracted a lot of attention recently, but the tenor of this article is that while it can be done very cheaply, expensive systems are required because too many professors will not go to the effort - not even if that effort is to press a single button once upon entering the classroom. Makes you wonder. Steve Kolowich, Inside Higher Ed, November 9, 2009 [Link] [Tags: none] [Comment]

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