Stephen's Web

OLDaily

by Stephen Downes
April 8, 2010

Announcing a Breeze Session with Stephen Downes...Thursday April 8, 2010
In just a couple hours, I will be a guest in Curt Bonk's online course. I'll be discussing "Open Educational Resources (OER), OER models, Edupunks, DIYU (Do It Yourself Universities), and perhaps educational blogging and Personalized Learning Environments (PLEs), among other things." It's open to all, but if you miss it I'll post audio and (maybe) slides tomorrow. Curt Bonk, TravelinEdMan, April 8, 2010 [Link] [Tags: Traditional and Online Courses, Audio, Open Educational Resources, Web Logs] [Comment] [Tweet]

The Great Brain Race
Interview with the author of the forthcoming The Great Brain Race: How Global Universities Are Reshaping the World , who is now doing the magazine circuit. "What's happening is that a number of different factors have come together to create a truly global academic marketplace on a scale that's never been seen before," he argues. "As travel and communication gets even easier and cheaper, one could imagine wholesale mergers to create global institutions – the university equivalent of multinational corporations." A sobering thought. Scott Jaschik, Inside Higher Ed, April 8, 2010 [Link] [Tags: Academia] [Comment] [Tweet]

Hot for Teachers w/ Megan Fox and Brian Austin Green
We can talk theory all we want in here, but it's war out there.

Various Authors, Funny or Die, April 8, 2010 [Link] [Tags: Networks, Video] [Comment] [Tweet]

Presentation: Twitter is Dead (really?)
A clever take-off on the recent VLE-is-dead theme: Twitter is dead. David Hopkins summarizes and discusses a presentation by Tony McNeill at the Plymouth e-Learning Conference. "Tony uses the tag line of ‘Reflections on student resistance to microblogging' for the presentation, and that is what it is, reflection. It doesn't constitute ‘research' but it wouldn't be too far to stretch the imagination that a full research paper on this would come up with very similar results... Obviously, Twitter is not dead (yet) but to make sure this doesn't happen is partly our responsibility; to ensure it is used appropriately with our students, and not just for the sake of integrating a fashionable technology." David Hopkins, Elearning Blog Dont Waste Your Time, April 8, 2010 [Link] [Tags: Twitter, Research] [Comment] [Tweet]

Higher education…higher than what?
Talk of 'unbundling education' is surfacing again. "David Shoemaker, eCornell, highlights a higher ed blog post about the imminent unbundling of courses from curriculum both from colleges offering degrees and entities that do not offer degrees. Unbundling meaning: '...the notion that students could cobble together a curriculum that includes courses designed and delivered by a variety of different institutions." I've never really seen widespread support for unbundling, but I predicted it way back in future because, eventually, education consumers (for lack of a better word) will acquire enough choice. But unbundling, of course, means a lot of things - not just separating courses from programs, but labs from lectures, grading from graduation. Unbundling means an end to the monopoly - which is why there hasn't been a lot of support for it, and why it will eventually die (or the monopoly will be given to publishers, whatever comes first). Janet Clarey, Spinning the Social Web, April 8, 2010 [Link] [Tags: Books, Academia, Web Logs] [Comment] [Tweet]

Rationalizing Academic Blogging
What is the role of academic blogging. This post postulates two major rationalizations:
- Blogging is a new form of non-amateur journalism.
- Blogs can provide the narrative knowledge that connects research to practice.
There are elements of both of these, of course. But I would add a third:
- Blogging provides a narrative whereby experts document practice for the benefit of learners. Mark Guzdial, Computing Education Blog, April 8, 2010 [Link] [Tags: Research, Academia, Web Logs] [Comment] [Tweet]

Rationalizing Academic Blogging
What is the role of academic blogging. This post postulates two major rationalizations:
- Blogging is a new form of non-amateur journalism.
- Blogs can provide the narrative knowledge that connects research to practice.
There are elements of both of these, of course. But I would add a third:
- Blogging provides a narrative whereby experts document practice for the benefit of learners. Mark Guzdial, Computing Education Blog, April 8, 2010 [Link] [Tags: Research, Academia, Web Logs] [Comment] [Tweet]

CO to State Facebook Users: "Shut. Down. EVERYTHING."
Another FUD-bomb has been thrown into the web 2.0 mix, this time based on indemnity. According to this report, the state of Colorado is recommending all agencies, including Higher Ed, cease their use of Facebook immediately. The reason is an indemnity clause in Facebook's terms of service. Specifically, it says that if someone sues Facebook as a result of your actions, you will compensate Facebook for any loss. But, according to the article, the Colorado state constitution prohibits any such clause, because only the state controller can approve any 'contract'. Well. At first this sounds reasonable. But if you apply the logic more broadly it means that state agencies would have to cease using pretty much every piece of software, hardware, appliances and utensils until the state had negotiated their indemnity clause with them. From where I sit, you can't interpret terms of service as contracts (oh yes, I know you would like to, but you can't). Because you can't simply waive by fiat any liability or responsibility. Terms of Service can at best be an opening position in a court action. But they don't overrule common law, statute, rights and state constitutions. Michael Fienen, .eduGuru, April 8, 2010 [Link] [Tags: Books] [Comment] [Tweet]

Personal info is embedded in non-DRM tracks from Apple, others
Just when we though online music sales were in the clear, along come "dirty MP3 files." The idea is that some vendors, who know your personal information as a result of payment data, insert a purchaser record into the MP3. This information is intended to be used in an as yet unannounced future digital trights management (DRM) system. So the "DRM-free" MP3s you bought from iTubes or WalMart you thought would always work on your iPod may, at some time in the future, suddenly stop working. Here's a chart indicating which retailers are selling dirty data. Via Miguel Guhlin. Andre "DVDBack23" Yoskowitz , AfterDawn, April 8, 2010 [Link] [Tags: Digital Rights Management (DRM), Apple Inc., Privacy Issues, Podcasting] [Comment] [Tweet]

State of Learning in Canada: A Year in Review
Another overview report from the Canadian Council on Learning, mostly a summation of trends. Data is typically from third party sources, such as OECD's PISA testing, or Statistics Canada. The picture painted is not surprising or even overly discouraging - though people in poverty still struggle, and half of all university students graduate in debt, participation rates and completion rates overall are good, and Canadian students are among the top achieving students in the world. However, the report states, "Lack of progress in lifelong learning threatens to undermine the development of our greatest asset–the potential of our people... lack of progress in learning at every stage of life could soon translate into increased pressures on many sectors of Canada's economy including social assistance programs, the health care system and the criminal justice system." As I've said before, if you want lifelong learning, you have to bring learning into life. Night classes and training sessions aren't going to cut it. Various Authors, Canadian Council on Learning, April 8, 2010 [Link] [Tags: Tests and Testing, Canada] [Comment] [Tweet]

The Chronic
Another parody of the Chronicle of Higher Education, no so slick but definitely a scream. I like the pointed humour (reminds me of Rick Mercer), for example, this story about txting abbreviations: "I shudder to think what the greatest generation, those brave souls who served in WWII, would think of all this mindless abbreviation. I can't imagine the horror that would have stricken them amidst their celebration on VE Day or VJ Day had they known what would come." Various Authors, Website, April 8, 2010 [Link] [Tags: none] [Comment] [Tweet]

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