Frogner Park
Stephen Downes, Flickr, November 17, 2011.

Thursday I spent the afternoon in Frogner Park enjoying the fascinating statuary of Gustaf Vigeland. See Wikipedia - Frogner Park for more. Pictured are Robin (left) and Bulbi (Butterfly). We talked for a while about amateurism, art, and sharing.

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Toward a theory of Disconnectivism
Brian Lamb, Abject, November 17, 2011.

I suppose it had to happen. "Disconnectivism is driven by the delusion that decisions are made on any basis of reality whatsoever. New information is continually being discarded when it conflicts with dominant interests. The inability to draw distinctions between important and unimportant information drives our collective discourse. The inability to recognize when new information alters the landscape defines how power asserts itself." You know, I think he has a point there.

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Tuition-hike battle goes digital: Google tailored; Government accused of rigging searches
Kevin Dougherty, Montreal Gazette, November 17, 2011.

I have to say, nobody wins in a battle like this. "(T)he government gave a $50,000 contract to Groupe Cossette Communication to buy keywords, directing students to the government site. To retaliate, Bureau-Blouin said, students "bought the real name of the government, 'corruption, collusion et endettement.' " Searching those terms, the first hit is the FECQ site, denouncing the hikes." There's something wrong when political organizations influence search results. Not that I should be surprised by it happening. But it's so discouraging.

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C21 Canada: Canadians for 21st Century Learning and Innovation
Unattributed, 21st Century Learning Associates , November 17, 2011.

I left the following comment on this website: 'I'd like to see some indication of the content of these meetings - all we are seeing are photographs of the attendees standing together. What actions are being proposed, what is government being asked to do, what support materials are being distributed? Where are the slide presentations, if any, or the video or audio recordings of the discussions? 21st century organizations do their work in the open; it's time for this group to begin doing the same." An earlier post tells us that companies and organizations represented in Toronto at the founding meeting of C21 Canada included Apple, Cisco, Dell, IBM, Microsoft, Nelson Learning, Pearson Education, Scholastic Canada, Smart Technologies, the Canadian School Board Association, Canadian Education Association, Toronto School Board Association, Education Research Development Incorporated (ERDI), and York University’s Institute for Research on Learning Technologies, 21st Century Learning Associates and MindShare Learning.

[Link] [Comment][Tags: Video, Canada, Audio]