Stephen's Web

OLDaily

by Stephen Downes
June 27, 2007

Have You Watched Blogging: In Their Own Words Yet?
Christian Long writes, "Wonderful to hear students and teachers talk candidly about the impact of blogging on their academic lives. Certainly more striking (and relevant) than yet another (me, included) edu-blogger trying to trumpet the message on their virtual own." Christian Long, think:lab June 27, 2007 [Link] [Tags: Academia, Web Logs] [Comment]

Advancing Sustainability of Open Educational Resources
From the InSite conference, as summarized by Alja Sulcic. "This paper discusses the concept of Open Educational Resources (OERs). The discussion then shifts to OER sustainability, a fundamental element essential for the success of OER. Special attention is given to the following as they relate to the OER sustainability: instructional design and presentation; cost of production and maintenance; support; and OER communities of practice as relate to scalability." Alex Koohang and Keith Harman, Report: InSITE Conference 2007 June 27, 2007 [Link] [Tags: Open Educational Resources] [Comment]

Desktop Tower Defense Played 15 Million Times
I kept this link for another project, but figured I might as well pass it along here, because the game is pretty addictive. Direct link to the game. Michael Arrington, TechCrunch June 27, 2007 [Link] [Tags: Project Based Learning, Gaming] [Comment]

Needed Skills for New Media
I guess my main reaction to this list is that it is a set of 2.0 skills described as though they were 1.0 skills. For example: "Play - the capacity to experiment with one's surroundings as a form of problem-solving." Um, no, that might make the business perople happy, but I would say 'play' is 'the capacity to mess around with something just for fun'. Or "Multitasking - the ability to scan one's environment and shift focus as needed to salient details." The 'shift focus' definition is very reassuring to pre-net-gen people who only focus on one thing at a time. I would say 'multitasking' is 'the ability to work on two tasks at the same time'. Or "Networking - the ability to search for, synthesize, and disseminate information." This is a definition for people who don't want the messiness of things like connections or emergent knowledge. You can probably make your traditionalist audience very comfortable with these definitions - but you would be misleading them pretty badly. Tony Karrer, eLearning Technology June 27, 2007 [Link] [Tags: none] [Comment]

Edu2.0
edu2.0 has officially launched - it's a space that allows anyone to take classes or teach classes. There is blog and e-portfolio support, as well as a resource area and communities support. Because it's just starting, the site is prettyy empty. The best part about the site so far is the set of 'how-to' guides created using Demofuse. The site has promise, though I will insert my qualms about site-based services. See also Quentin D'Souza. Graham Glass, Website June 27, 2007 [Link] [Tags: E-Portfolios, Web Logs] [Comment]

iPhone Review Roundup: Pawns Of The Dark Arts Agree, It'S A Winner
Everyone in the world has heard of the iPhone launch. I'm not particularly wowed, except by Apple's marketing and packaging. This article samples some links and then agrees with John Dvorak, who recently wrote an article entitled: Shut Up About the iPhone, Already. Scott Gilbertson, MonkeyBites June 27, 2007 [Link] [Tags: Marketing] [Comment]

Local Search... Patented! Again!
Another case of patenting the obvious. They have to fix this system - meanwhile, though, I was reading in University Business that some universities are opposing patent reforms. Left hand, shoot right foot. Also from TechDirt, see this item on how patents make innovation more difficult and more expensive. Mike Masnick, TechDirt June 27, 2007 [Link] [Tags: Patents, Copyrights, Patents] [Comment]

Free and Open Source Educational Mac Software
This was really useful for me - so thanks Doug. It's a list of many free and open source applications for the Mac, including some of my old favorites like Audacity. Doug Belshaw, EdTechRoundup.com June 27, 2007 [Link] [Tags: Open Source] [Comment]

Podcasting Legal Guide for Canada
If you are podcasting in Canada, this guide from Creative commons helps map the landscape. "More than just an adaptation of the original U.S. Guide, this version required an almost complete rewrite of the copyright sections to describe Canadian law, as well as substantial changes to the discussions of trade-marks and publicity rights." More from Nichael Geist, who writes, "After reading the guide, many podcasters may well conclude that the law is in dire need of reform, as its complexity remains a significant challenge for many future Canadian podcasters." Kathleen Simmons and Andy Kaplan-Myrth, Creative Commons Canada June 27, 2007 [Link] [Tags: Patents, Copyrights, Canada, Podcasting] [Comment]

 

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