February 20, 2012
The OA Interviews: Michael Eisen, co-founder of the Public Library of Science
Richard Poynder,
Poynder, February 20, 2012.
Lengthy, detailed, filled with links and riviting - this article interviewing Michael Eisen, co-founder of the Public Library of Science.
And here is a bit with which I am in total agreement: "the time has come for the research community to abandon pre-publication peer review in favour of something more like the 'endorsement' model pioneered by ArXiv. Essentially, he explained, this would mean, 'replacing the ‘filter first, then publish’ by ‘publish first, then filter’. The entire web works that way, and the exceptionalism of scientific publishing is no longer plausible, in my view.' Were the research community to take this step, he added, it could hope to save 'in the order of $3 billion a year'."
[Link] [Comment][Tags: Books, Research, Public Library of Science]
Ten Thoughts on Photo Prompts
John T. Spencer,
Education Rethink, February 20, 2012.
Nice set of photo prompts that can be used to support learning. John T. Spencer writes, " I've been updating them and adding them to a new Photo Prompts Tumblr. I readily admit that the idea of turning it into a Tumblr is based upon the brilliant writing prompts on the Writing Prompts Tumblr. " This blog post sjhows us ten of the photo prompts, each one accompanied by a reflection about photo prompts. "Photo prompts allow for a bridge between the concrete and the abstract... The most successful prompts are thought-provoking in both the visual and the questioning."
Doing Science Differently
Stephanie Northen,
E&T Education, February 20, 2012.
The graphic design of this PDF-based article makes it hard to read, but it is well worth the effort as it describes the sort of education I think computers really make possible - real-world education, doing things real practitioners (in this case, biologists) do, even running into the same sort of problems (equipment doesn't work, data is collected badly). "By using simple and cheap devices – many of which they already have – pupils can do real science, answer real questions and think like real scientists. What a contrast to the artificial and sometimes contrived tasks that are only possible with pencil and-paper." Via Technology Enhanced Learning.
Toronto & Western Break Ranks to Sign Access Copyright Deal
Unattributed,
CAUT Bulletin, February 19, 2012.
I would love to have been a fly on the wall listening to exactly what was said, and who said it, as the University of Toronto and Waterloo decided to buckle under pressure and sign the Access Copyright deal. "These two universities threw in the towel prematurely on the copyright battle," said Turk. "We call on other post-secondary institutions not to follow their example of capitulating to Access Copyright. It’s time to stand up for the right to fair and reasonable access to copyrighted works for educational purposes." See also CAUT's backgrounder on the Access Copyright disagreement. Via @courosa
In Singapore schools, a tech-enabled program for self-directed learning
Pek Chew Lian,
springwise.com, February 18, 2012.
The lead paragraph says it all: "Trail Shuttle is a Singapore-based effort from gaming company Rockmoon — in collaboration with a local Ministry of Education program called FutureSchools@Singapore — that uses technology to let students direct their own learning programs." Slowly, gradually, we will begin to see a proliferation of self-directed learning (supplemented, yes, by tutorial support, but on an as needed basis, not as the default model).
Welcome to the Silicon Cesspool
Dan Lyons,
RealDan, February 17, 2012.
Sorry about the causal swearing in this item - I don't know what it is about Silicon Valley and Tech journalists, it's some sort of in-your-face nastiness that is frankly off-putting. But if you can get past that, the content of this piece is well worth reading, describing as it does the rather close relationship between some online tech journals and the companies that sponsor them (and the hedge funds they create, and the companies they sponsor). No doubt education has its own version of this.
Pinwheel! In Private Beta
Caterina Fake,
Caterina.net, February 17, 2012.
Caterina Fake - one of the people who founded Flickr - is launching an interesting new venture called Pinwheel. "On Pinwheel you can find and leave notes all around the world. The notes can be public or private, shared with an individual, a group or everyone. They can be organized into sets... And in the future, you will get notifications on your phone from who and what you choose." Maybe I'll like this; I don't know. I can think of all sorts of game-type uses. Anyhow, I've signed up for the beta, when means I'll get to look when it opens.
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