October 13, 2010
Feature Article
Open Education and Market Forces
Stephen Downes, October 13, 2010.
Harvested from Half an Hour
web 3.0/xWeb
George Siemens,
elearnspace, October 13, 2010.
In the PLENKosphere recently we've been talking about the concept of the extended web (or xWeb) and of course xLearning. The idea of xWeb/xLearning is that it is a web (or learning) that extends beyond thew browsers, beyond the computer, beyond the web, even, in a variety of interesting and important ways. We're still waiting for Tim O'Reilly to trademark the term; meanwhile we've been fleshing it out. George Siemens provides a useful contribution that that effort with this article, in which he describes the role of linked data in xWeb. "Unlike the semantic web, which most people will benefit from but will never see or directly interact with, the xWeb has a direct impact on users. Essentially, the xWeb is a blurring web, reducing distinctions between physical/digital worlds through mobiles, location-based services, augmented reality, internet of things, and digital graffiti."
Connectivism & Constructivism: PLENK 2010
George Siemens,
elearnspace, October 13, 2010.
George Siemens extracts an audio recording of he and I talking about the distinction between connectivism and constructivism (let's see if the new enclosure feature in the Newsletter is working...). Image via ZaidLearn.
Enclosure: files/audio/excerpt-george-stephen.mp3
Size: 7428137 bytes, type: audio/mpeg
Connectivism & Constructivism: PLENK 2010
George Siemens,
elearnspace, October 13, 2010.
George Siemens extracts an audio recording of he and I talking about the distinction between connectivism and constructivism (let's see if the new enclosure feature in the Newsletter is working...)
Using Twitter to Transform the Classroom!
Zaid Ali Alsagoff,
ZaidLearn, October 13, 2010.
It's a bit intro, but if you need a fun article to introduce your colleagues to Twitter, this is a good one. The context is a blog book tour (it's like a book tour, I guess, but visiting blogs instead of bookstores) supporting Jane Bozarth's book Social Media for Trainers. Crediting Patricia Donaghy for reintroducing him to Twitter, Zaid links to some articles and resources, then looks at how Twitter can help with learning, with specific instructions on how to use Twitter alongside an online (or offline) class.
Shareski on Sharing - Exploring the Share-iness Factor
Miguel Guhlin,
Around the Corner, October 13, 2010.
The K12 Online Conference has started for another year, this year beginning with an online keynote by Dean Shareski. Miguel Guhlin comments, citing Mark Pesce, "Sharing is the threat. Not just a threat. It is the whole of the thing. A photo taken on a mobile now becomes instantaneously and pervasively visible on Flickr or other sharing websites. This act of sharing voids "any pretensions to control, or limitation, or the exercise of power". I wish people could see how these little actions change things. Sharing defeats power. Which undermines the whole idea of a revolution being about "seizing power." Who wants power? Who needs power? Give me a website and a Creative Commons license and I will change the world.
The Org Chart is NOT The Org
Aaron Silvers,
Weblog, October 13, 2010.
This item got me thinking about organizations and how they are organized. The basic premise of the article is that the organization chart misrepresent s how an organization is really structured, but that it would be difficult to create the actual graph, especially given that this structure may be dynamic. "If you replaced the org chart (a static assumption of what the org should be) with a network analysis chart, you'd have a living, dynamic graph of what your org is, and you can evaluate, with different tools that look for different attributes." But even better, you can start messing around with it. For example, you could start by implementing cycles that ensure that management roles rotate (reminds me a bit of faculty councils). How would your managers behave toward you if they knew that before long, in another context, you would be managing them? Ah, sweet justice.
More Lawsuits in the Mobile Business
Randy Krum,
Cool Infographics, October 13, 2010.
It tells you something about the state of play when the lawsuits being flung back and forth between mobile platform vendors can be represented as a reasonably complex small worlds network. I'm not sure exactly what it says (nothing good, probably) but it certainly says something. The diagram is a redesign of the Lawsuits in the Mobile Business, which in turn improved on diagrams in The Guardian and the NYTimes (more here).
Growing Success: Assessment, Evaluation and Reporting in Ontario Schools
Unattributed,
Ontario Ministry of Education, October 13, 2010.
This reference was cited in the PLENK2010 Week 5 Discussion by Ken Anderson . The 168 page PDF defines seven fundamental principles stating that assessments...
• are fair, transparent, and equitable;
• support all students;
• relate to the curriculum, interests, learning styles and preferences;
• are communicated clearly;
• are ongoing and varied in nature;
• provide ongoing descriptive feedback;
• develop students' self-assessment skills.
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