Stephen's Web

OLDaily

by Stephen Downes
June 2, 2010

How This Course Works
This is probably the clearest statement I've written about how a connectivist course works. It's funny how time and circumstance produce such results - it was written from my hotel room in Toronto while I was supposed to be preparing a talk. Stephen Downes, Critical Literacies, June 2, 2010 [Link] [Tags: none] [Comment] [Tweet]

Corporate Learning at eLearning Africa
More coverage from e-Learning Africa, this time focusing on the talks. There are also slides from Karyn Romeis's talk, "Putting the learner in the driver's seat." She remarks, "One young man informed us in our corporate learning session that we must walk before we can run. I was disappointed. I had hoped that my anecdotes of TV and passenger flights had demonstrated that this was not a requirement." Karyn Romeis, Corporate Learning at eLearning Africa, June 2, 2010 [Link] [Tags: Online Learning, Video, Africa] [Comment] [Tweet]

OMG! DIY U Means EM Do RTW!!!
The Chronicle reviews DIY-U -- you know this is not going to turn out well. Marc Bousquet writes, "Kamenetz turns out to be an adherent of the most shopworn education fantasy in history: education without educators! Like untold generations of blatherers before her, she opines that information technology will deliver education without an education workforce-therefore saving untold bazillions of dollars that would otherwise go to faculty salary. These savings will inevitably result in a 'free or marginal-cost' education! At least for savvy 'edu-punks' and 'edu-preneurs.' Right you are, Anya, and monkeys are flying through the webbing of my chair seat as we speak." Oh Chronicle - nobody does righteous indignation like you! Marc Bousquet, Chronicle of Higher Education, June 2, 2010 [Link] [Tags: none] [Comment] [Tweet]

Why write when content is free?
I heard in Toronto that Malcomn Gkladwell gets $100,000 per appearance. I don't know how much he gets paid for writing books, but he could be giving the stuff away and still doing all right. That's why you write - well, one reason - when content is free. Scott Adams writes, "I predict that the profession known as "author" will be retired to history in my lifetime, like blacksmith and cowboy. In the future, everyone will be a writer, and some will be better and more prolific than others. But no one will pay to read what anyone else creates." Doug Johnson, The Blue Skunk Blog, June 2, 2010 [Link] [Tags: none] [Comment] [Tweet]

More Devices, More Platforms, More... DRM
Wait a second - did we ask for more DRM? Thought not. So why is Microsoft delivering yet another DRM scheme? Right - because we aren;t the customers. We may purchase the hardware, the readers, the players, the computers, but the customers are the advertisers and vendors who want to use these devices to sell us stuff. And they want DRM. And there won't be any way around this unless we can open up the hardware somehow. Bill Rosenblatt, Copyright and Technology, June 2, 2010 [Link] [Tags: Digital Rights Management (DRM), Marketing, Microsoft] [Comment] [Tweet]

Will SIM cards replace Eduroam, Shibboleth, etc - another reason for a 5G R&E networks
Instead of Shibbolith or OpenID, SIM cards to manage all internet login functions? What could possibly go wrong? Oh yeah - the fact that they're controlled by the "network operators" - aka the phone company and the cable company. What a disaster that would be. Not that I'm predicting it won't happen - if there's a way to make money out of it (oh, and there is,. there is) I'm sure they're interested. Bill St. Arnaud, Weblog, June 2, 2010 [Link] [Tags: Networks, OpenID, Shibboleth] [Comment] [Tweet]

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