Our Space: Being a Responsible Citizen of the Digital World
Howard Gardner, Henry Jenkins, et.al., The GoodPlay Project and Project New Media Literacies, September 26, 2011.

This is "a set of curricular materials designed to encourage high school students to reflect on the ethical dimensions of their participation in new media environments." The content divides into five major subject areas: participation, identity, privacy, credibility, and authorship and ownership. I'm not sure these are the top five things I would list when thinking of ethical dimensions of new media environments. While it's useful that there is a section on flamers, lurkers and mentors I think there should be something about hate, racism and bulling. And while a section on credibility is a good idea, it should be based on the principles of reason and inference, not outrageously bad definitions like this: "Networking—the ability to search for, synthesize, and disseminate information." And this: "Collective intelligence—evidence that participants in knowledge communities pool knowledge and compare notes with others toward a common goal." Wow, those are just wrong. Maybe I need to review this and criticize it more closely.

[Link] [Comment][Tags: Schools, New Media, Mentors and Mentoring, Privacy Issues]

Social Learning is NOT a new training trend
Jane Hart, The C4LPT Blog, September 26, 2011.

Jane Hart writes, "I have tried to show how the fundamental changes in how businesses are operating, require a fundamental change in how the L&D function needs to view workplace learning." She then provides a table summarizing the differences. But following that, she adds "that some are advising (and others are believing) that it is enough for L&D departments to simply add “social” onto their traditional approach to learning," and lists a number of examples. This is a very common trend - people take words and elements from the new theory and simply tack them on to some existing practice. That way, they can be new and innovative, without challenging any existing practice. But as Hart says, "the missing piece is of course a new mindset. Until that is in place, it is just tinkering with the traditional ways of training and L&D, which are simply not 'fit for purpose' in this day and age."

[Link] [Comment][Tags: Online Learning]

Identity and learning
Catherine Lombardozzi, Learning Journal, September 26, 2011.

This is kind of right. "We don’t simply learn how to play, we learn how to be a child. We don’t simply learn math and geography, we learn to be a student. We don’t just learn to process claims or manage people, we learn to be an individual contributor or a leader." But I don't like how this is phrased: "Learning is a process of learning to be." We don't "learn to be a student", we become a student. It's a pretty subtle point. But when the next sentence contains the misplaced phrase "learning knowledge bases and skill sets in order to be effective in the various roles we play..." we can see there is a gulf between the concept of "learning to be a child" and "becoming a child". We have to distinguish between the concept, and the person who instantiates the concept. We shouldn't say "That learning environment is part of what forms their identity as professional practitioners." No. The person is what forms their identity, which is then expressed through these artifacts.

[Link] [Comment][Tags: none]

Sharp practice
Steve Wheeler, Learning with 'e's , September 26, 2011.

Steve Wheeler announces he will no longer publish in closed journals. "If we continue to allow knowledge to be commoditised to such an extent that it is only available to the privileged few who can afford it, we are in effect, perpetuating an unjust society. In the long term, this can only damage the academic community."

[Link] [Comment][Tags: Books, Academia]

Open Education: “The whole model hinges on excellent assessment”
Mark Guzdial, Computing Education Blog, September 26, 2011.

"That’s the real trick," writes Mark Guzdial. "How do you know that the students learned what they were supposed to learn? We know that self-assessment is a bad way of judging that learning. That’s the contribution that I see the Stanford AI class making – doing assessment, at least in the form of quizzes." But as one of the commenters writes, "the huge point about assessment is not mentioned — the article and idea gets bogged down in certification issues. What they need to think really deeply about — and come up with good solutions for — is above threshold feedback to the students in a variety of time scales."

[Link] [Comment][Tags: Assessment]

Paws Up Forvever
Various Authors, Website, September 26, 2011.

Fron the Youtube Video page: "This project is dedicated to Jamey Rodemeyer and the fight to stop bullying/suicide all over the world. 150 monsters all over the world, one message. Make A Law For Jamey." Via coverage on CTV (don't click on the CTV video though, you'll just get an ugly advertisement).

[Link] [Comment][Tags: Project Based Learning, Video, Bullying]