Enterprise Social Learning Needs Porous Walls
Sumeet Moghe, Free as in Freedom, November 9, 2010.

One of the biggest stumbling blocks in getting enterprises - or any learning organization - to adopt social learning is the fact that social learning requires an open network. Enterprises aren't quite ready for that yet. But that's where you need to look for learning. "The few times that people look inside their organisation for learning, is when the knowledge is specific and proprietary to the firm. Given that most firms are not the only ones that operate in their space, these instances are far and few in between. This explains the low uptake of enterprise intranets."

[Link] [Comment] [Tweet]

Interview with Martin Dougiamas
Michael feldstein, e-literate, November 9, 2010.

Michael Feldstein interviews Moodle founder Martin Dougiamas and writes, "It's interesting to compare Moodle's trajectory with Sakai's. On the one hand, there's evidence that the Moodle and Sakai communities are moving toward each other in terms of vision. The design principles that Martin describes as having guided Moodle development from the beginning are similar in approach and overlapping in content with the "lenses" that the Sakai community is adopting to guide Sakai 3 design."

[Link] [Comment] [Tweet]

Let's play OER Roulette!
Martin Weller, The Ed Techie, November 9, 2010.

This is fun. Martin Weller argues in this presentation at Open Ed in Barcelona that the disputes about Open Educational Resources can be resolved into disputes about granularity. There's 'big OER', which tends to be formal and formally distributed, and 'little OER', which tends to be informal and easily distributed. The presentation itself was presented in random order, with Weller's daughter having audience members select cards to simulate the spinning of a roulette wheel. Can't beat that image of his daughter taking her place in the presentation (above).

[Link] [Comment] [Tweet]

Towards a Framework for Visual Literacy Learning
David Jakes, The Strength of Weak Ties, November 8, 2010.

David Jakes presents the visual literacy framework that, he says, he developed. But it's basically the same framework described, and properly referenced, by Susan E. Metros in EDUCAUSE a few years ago, here. And if you want a real visual literacy metric, with rubrics, see her 2008 paper here. For more on visual literacy, see this well-researched overview by Peter Felten.

More? Read Part 2 of this document to find the five ACRL standards (ARCL: Association of College and Research Libraries) for visual literacy:
- determine extent of information needed
- access needed information efficiently and effectively
- evaluate and incorporate information and its sources
- use visual information to achieve a purpose
- understand the legal and social issues

[Link] [Comment] [Tweet]

Camera Shirt Turns You Into the Spy You Were Meant to Be
Unattributed, Gearlog, November 7, 2010.

Museums and galleries won't let me take photos? This is 2010 - I can wear my camera and nobody knows. "The shirt is capable of capturing 150 photos at 640 x 480 resolution. The pocket remote works off of three AAA batteries, and offers vibration feedback so you know when you've taken a shot. The electronics in the shirt remove for washing. You'll get better results in the daytime."

[Link] [Comment] [Tweet]

The Anatomy Of An Infographic: 5 Steps To Create A Powerful Visual
Sneh Roy, Spyrestudios, November 7, 2010.

Infographics are becoming widely popular ways of explaining or presenting complex information. Instead of forcing people to wade through ten or fifteen paragraphs, they present the information in a single view. This post details the five essential steps involved in creating an infographic:
1. Skeleton & Flowcharts - visualizing the flow of information
2. A Color Scheme -to convey a wide array of messages
3. Theme graphics and reference graphics
4. Research And Data - backed up by established facts
5. Knowledge - highlighting important content to easily provoke deductions

[Link] [Comment] [Tweet]

Defined or Denied? 21st Century Students in Today's Classrooms
Lee Kolbert, Mrs. Kolbert's Class Blog, November 7, 2010.

Interesting look at replacements to Bloom's taxonomy and 21st century learning. "Although it pains us (teachers) to reduce children to a grade or score, it's currently how our system functions and there are many ways to deemphasize grades and focus on the whole child."

[Link] [Comment] [Tweet]