By Stephen Downes
August 21, 2003
Public Policy, Research and Online
Learning
Ubiquity has published my article about
the evaluation of online learning outcomes. In a nutshell,
my argument is that e-learning is more than a new way of
doing the old thing and its outcomes can't be measured by
the traditional process. By Stephen Downes, Ubiquity,
August 19, 2003
[Refer][Research][Reflect]
'McEducation' an Inevitable Outcome of Air
Travel, Internet
Could you survive - that is,
not die of malnutrition - on a diet consisting of food
served by McDonalds? I'll leave you to answer that
question. Let me pose another: what would be the reaction
were McDonalds the only source of nutrition in the
developing world? People are pondering seriously these
sorts of questions when it comes to global education. As
one commentator observes, "The trend towards McEducation,
through franchising or establishment of off-campus sites,
is a natural outcome of the use of English as the medium of
instruction. Every computer in the world runs on codes
written in English, even if the user interface is in
another script or language." That may be, but it seems to
me critical that we ensure that we ensure that people not
die of cognitive malnutrition. Yes, something is better
than nothing. But as a world, we must ensure that all
people get enough - and it is far from clear that
McEducation will provide that. By Jay B. Hilotin, Gulf
News, August 21, 2003
[Refer][Research][Reflect]
Blackboard to Launch Learning Content
Management and e-Portfolio System for Academic
Market
Blackboard will be launching a set of
content management applications later this fall, according
to a press release. You have to read several paragraphs of
absolute fluff (are people paid to write these press
releases?) to get to it, but the core of the announcement
is this: "four key areas: Learning Content Management –
share and reuse individual content assets across courses,
organizations and institutions... e-Portfolio Management –
assemble, present and share information within online
portfolios for student and/or faculty to use... Virtual
Hard Drive Management – virtual storage needs... Library
Digital Asset Management – create an interactive
environment for faculty to search, access and incorporate
digital library resources." Of course the cynics out there
(including me) will say that this amounts to no more than
giving Blackboard LCMS functionality. Where is the network
capability? Where is the RSS. Ah, yes... different business
model (that would be the one with low const content
and simple management). By Press Release,
Blackboard, August 20, 2003
[Refer][Research][Reflect]
The Quiet War Over Open-Source
In
a quiet behind-the-scenes battle, U.S. government officials
- prodded by Microsoft - squelched a proposed World
Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) meeting on open
source. There is already a wide perception that these
international bodies respond like puppies to the corporate
sector, and WIPO's acquiescence on this issue doesn't
improve that image. WIPO should reconsider: the issues
surrounding open source are central to any discussion of
copyright, and center around the right of individuals to
determine the fate of their own creations. If some people -
such as myself - wish the right to not subject their
work to the crassness of the commercial market, doesn't the
principle of copyright say that such wishes should prevail?
If some consumer prefers to obtain works from this domain
of royalty-free creations, should they not have the
opportunity? If not, then the entire concept of copyright
is a sham, and should be exposed as such. But if my rights
as a producer of (what I would like to be) open and
royalty-free content are to be protected, them WIPO must
consider the question of open source. By Jonathan Krim,
Washington Post, August 21, 2003
[Refer][Research][Reflect]
ACE outcomes
The gist of this
report is to encourage and suggest methods for the
measurement of outcomes of ACE (Advanced and Continuing
Education) in Australia. Based on interviews with 40 ACE
providers, the report "provides a description of the full
range of adult and community education (ACE) services and
clients; an analysis of ACE outcomes and contributions to
lifelong learning for its range of clients; and a
discussion of issues that might be considered." I like the
forward-looking view of ACE adopted by the authors: ACE has
the potential to be "pegged back to encompass individual
outcomes alone; or stretched to encompass individual,
community and economic outcomes; or stretched in a
different direction to focus on, or incorporate, education
outcomes (such as
Delor’s four pillars or Bradshaw’s six elements)." By Allie
Clemans, Robyn Hartley and Helen Macrae, NVCER, August,
2003
[Refer][Research][Reflect]
Special Coverage: Information Society &
WSIS
The Digital Opportunity Channel has
launched a page to cover the World Summit on the
Information Society (WSIS) to be held in Geneva this
December. By Various Authors, Digital Opportunity Channel,
August, 2003
[Refer][Research][Reflect]
A Subset of Tools for
Collaboration
This short page contains a number
(thirteen, to be precise) of tips for librarians on how to
use the web to address specific educational needs. Each tip
is linked to an example giving readers a model to work
from. The tips are good, too. Examples include sharing
technology expertise peer-to-peer database,
developing ideas quickly or providing current information
with blogs, and creating a critical thinking structure. By
Debbie Abilock, Noodle Tools, August 22, 2000
[Refer][Research][Reflect]
IDEAS
From the website: "IDEAS
provides Wisconsin educators access to high-quality, highly
usable, teacher-reviewed web-based resources for curricula,
content, lesson plans, professional development and other
selected resources. These resources help Wisconsin
educators use technology to meet the Wisconsin Model
Academic Standards and create the foundation for a
statewide knowledge management system." This is the sort of
site that is becoming increasingly popular and which would
benefit immensely from the use of RSS support. By Various
Authors, August, 2003
[Refer][Research][Reflect]
Real Time, Real Young, Real
Smart
Nice article describing the use of
NetMeeting to provide 'direct instruction' (the methodology
is described) to a group of distance education students
aged 5 to 8 years who were unable to attend regular schools
for various reasons. The methodology involves a
tightly-controlled interactive session between the teacher
and student using NetMeeting, and the author reports
success. At the end of the article, take note of the
'Requirements for a Successful Netmeeting' section. As
bandwidth increases, I think one-on-one videoconferences
will increase in number, so this article is useful for
teachers thinking about how to use the technology. By Megan
Hastie, Australian Flexible Learning Community, August 19,
2003
[Refer][Research][Reflect]
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