Stephen's Web

OLDaily

by Stephen Downes
November 25, 2009

New Tools for Personal Learning
In this presentation I describe how new technologies are being designed in order to adapt to a rapidly changing and complex world. In this picture, learning is not a matter of knowledge acquisition and memorization, but rather, personal development in such a way that we become able to navigate and work with this knowledge and content in the same manner, with the same capacities, as the expert. This is a type of learning that is based on the creation of tools that support a mesh network; this network, in turn, supports the conversation and interactions that foster the development of an expert character. Presentation by Stephen Downes, MEFANET 2009 Conference, Brno, Czech Republic, via MVU Videoconference, [Link]

Online Course Portal Launches at xcourse.co.uk
A new online course portal has launched in the U.K. (these are becoming very commonplace - the next step is accrediting learning from them, isn't it?): "Xcourse aims to make online learning as simple as booking a restaurant or ordering a pizza online. Visit xcourse.co.uk to browse courses you can complete online from the comfort of your own home." Helge Scherlund, eLearning News Blog, November 25, 2009 [Link] [Tags: Traditional and Online Courses, Portals, Online Learning] [Comment]

Alternatives to Second Life (continued, again)
More alternatives to Second Life, a continuation of a list started in 2008. Interestingly, one is from Nortel, "an enterprise ready, network secured virtual world platform designed to solve business problems of working together over distances in real time and the costs associated with travel and training on complex equipment or in hazardous areas." (I still can't believe Canada is losing Nortel; this is comparable in effect to Canada as Detroit's losing the auto industry in the 1930s would have been to the U.S. It should be a huge story here, but oddly, it's not.) Karl Kapp, Kapp Notes, November 25, 2009 [Link] [Tags: Second Life, Networks, Canada] [Comment]

Open Educational Resources: The implications for educational development (SEDA)
Dave Cormier questions some underlying presumptions of resource repositories in this examination of opene ducational resources (OERs). "There is a presumption in traditional learning design that a given trainer is somehow going to be able to divine the needs of a given group of learners before a course is started. Alongside this belief is the idea that there is some kind of 'best practice' or 'one way' of doing things that can be created, sliced up and dropped into place alongside others just like it and these will serve as the core of what will be needed for learning." Dave Cormier, Dave's Educational Blog, November 25, 2009 [Link] [Tags: Open Educational Resources, Learning Object Repositories] [Comment]

New Teen-Produced Reality Series Shows How Teens Use Digital Media to Shape Their Lives
Cool: this post announces "the launch of StudentSpeak, a new teen-produced reality series on how teens use digital media in their day-to-day lives. Every other week, students will take viewers inside their world, and show how technology is transforming how they think, learn and socialize. Watch the sneak preview produced by Ben Wolff. Sarah Jackson, Spotlight on Digital Media and Learning, November 25, 2009 [Link] [Tags: none] [Comment]

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