Presentation
The role of open educational resources in personal learning environments
Stephen Downes, April 29, 2011, Center for Distance Education 2011, Saratoga Springs, New York

In this presentation, and in the Informal Discussion which followed, I looked at three major themes: personal learning environments, connectivism and open learning, and argued that each of these three needs the other two.

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Presentation
Informal Conversation
Stephen Downes, April 29, 2011, Center for Distance Education 2011, Saratoga Springs, New York

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Saratoga Springs
Stephen Downes, Flickr, April 29, 2011.

Sorry about the empty newsletter yesterday - that's what happens when you drive to Saratiga Springs and forget about time zones. Today's newsletter is also brief, because I sent most of the day talking (on the bright side, I now have hours of new audio recordings to share

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I Robot
Unattributed, American Public Media, April 29, 2011.

I mentioned this item I listened to on the radio on the drive from Montreal to Saratoga Springs. Basically the audio recording is by a reporter who visits the U.S. First Robotics Competition and interviews a number of the students. The reporter can't get past the idea that the robots are now 'cool', but what impressed me was the level of engagement and learning undertaken by the students, and how (as I commented during my talk) the learning was 'about' robots per se, even though that as the focus. It was a great listen, and I recommend taking the time for it.

I also mentioned J.E. McTaggart's paper, The Unreality of Time. Which is also well worth taking the, um, time to read.

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Insightful Videos Exploring Why the Finnish Education System Rocks!
Zaid Ali Alsagoff, ZaidLearn, April 29, 2011.

I haven't had a chance to view these, but I'm definitely adding them to my list of videos to watch.

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Wikileaks Cables Show Massive U.S. Effort to Establish Canadian DMCA
Michael Geist, , April 29, 2011.

Michael Geist sums up what we kinda knew: "Wikileaks has released dozens of new U.S. cables that demonstrate years of behind the scenes lobbying by U.S. government officials to pressure Canada into implementing a Canadian DMCA. The cables include confirmation that Prime Minister Harper personally promised U.S. President George Bush at the SPP summit in Montebello, Quebec in 2008 that Canada would pass copyright legislation... In fact, cables even reveal Canadian officials encouraging the U.S. to maintain the pressure and disclosing confidential information." To date, the only thing blocking US-style DMCA legislation in Canada is public pressure during an era of minority governments.

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