OLDaily

By Stephen Downes
June 3, 2005

E-Learning 2.0
Slides from my online presentation today for the Canadian Institute for Distance Education Research (CIDER). I argue that e-learning is evolving into a distributed and learner centered mode. You'll notice that they look a lot like the last three sections from the presentation I gave a couple of days ago (except these have been optimised for easy download). The recording from the session, which was held using Elluminate, should be available on the CIDER website soon. By Stephen Downes, Stephen's Web, June 3, 2005 [Refer][Research][Reflect]

North Bay
Photos from North Bay, taken from the wilderness north and west of the city. The river pictured is Duchesnay Creek and thge lake is, of course, Lake Nipissing. By Stephen Downes, Stephen's Web, June 3, 2005 [Refer][Research][Reflect]

2 Steves And a Blog
Two well-known and recognized Steves - Gilbert and Ehrmann - have teamed up to offer this new blog. There's some pretty good content here, including yesterday's post on the relation between virtual learning and alumni donations. Write to them and urge them to post more frequently; this sort of contribution is invaluable. By Steve Gilbert and Steve Ehrmann, June, 2005 [Refer][Research][Reflect]

Online Forum on Intellectual Property in the Information Society
In preparation for the upcoming World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) conference, the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) is hosting discussions during the first half of June intended to inform its submission. The discussions are primed with ten themes addressing aspects of intellectual property and social development, and while the authors have tried to be fair in their treatment of the issue (scrupulously fair, and they should be commended) I nonetheless chafe at the assumptions underlying much of the debate: that IP laws are necessary for creativity, that IP fosters economic development. Even if these are true, they are not exclusively true. Moreover, the discussion takes the approach of how social development can be accomplished within a framework of IP protection, without seriously raising (in my mind) the role IP has and continues to play in retarding social development. By Various Authors, World Intellectual Property Organization, June 1, 2005 [Refer][Research][Reflect]

The Living Arts
Brad Carson has very kindly sent along a 1 megabyte version of this PowerPoint presentation - the talk I gave in Guelph - to replace the 7 megabyte version I posted last week. He also tells me how I could have done it in a few seconds myself: "1. Double-click an image in the presentation; 2. Click the 'Compress' button; 3. Select 'All Pictures in document' and 'Web/Screen resolution'; 4. Click OK; 5. Save (with a different filename if you want to be safe), compare and marvel." By Stephen Downes, Stephen's Web, June 3, 2005 [Refer][Research][Reflect]

LAMS and Moodle Integration
Big news here as the creators of LAMS and Moodle - both open source e-learning applications - announce plans for integration. The New Zealand Ministry of Education is sponsoring the integration. "The Moodle/LAMS integration will achieve 'Single-Sign-On' between the systems, meaning only one name and password is needed for each user across the two systems. Teachers will also benefit from easy ways to add LAMS activity sequences to Moodle course pages. In addition, a new “course format” will be developed for Moodle centred on LAMS activities." By Press Release, LAMS, May 31, 2005 [Refer][Research][Reflect]

Re: Why Did e-Learning Go Bust in the USA?
A spirited debate has eruped following the publication of Thwarted Innovation: What Happened to e-Learning and Why by Robert Zemsky and William F. Massy. Probably the best response comes from Carol A. Twigg and is reporduced here in this DEOS post from Catherine Chambers. Twigg writes (accurately), "Most of the 'study' is based on their views of what 'happened to e-learning' rather than on their research." Al Powell offers another nice commentary, arguing that "Maybe the dot-commers in E-learning have decided that it's a bust, but public institutions haven't." And Kevin Lydon asks, "Why does e-learning have to replace traditional education before it is considered a positive innovation?" By Catherine Chambers, DEOS-L, June 1, 2005 [Refer][Research][Reflect]

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