Stephen's Web

OLDaily

by Stephen Downes
September 10, 2008

MOOC and Mookies: The Connectivism & Connective Knowledge Online Course
Description of the software environment used so support our Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) along with an outline of where the students have taken it and of the principles governing the design. Delibered online to eFest (Auckland, New Zealand) from Moncton, Canada Presentation by Stephen Downes, eFest, Auckland, New Zealand by Elluminate, [Link]

Spore: First Impressions
Will Richardson offers his (positive) impressions of playing Spore. "And let me just note the way the game teaches you how to play. At various points, it pauses itself and gives you some coaching. As a paramecium, it's all about eating algae. But now, it's getting a bit more complex. I have all sorts of icons on my screen that I don't have much of a clue about." His is the first review I've read by a person who has actually managed to get past the DRM - there has been a lot of fuss about it - described here, for example, and here, and here. Will Richardson, Weblogg-ed News, September 10, 2008 [Link] [Tags: Digital Rights Management (DRM), RSS, Gaming] [Comment]

Blackboard China Is For Sale – Only 1.51 Million Dollars
Tim Wang reports, "the Chinese online education service provider – Cerbibo, has recently announced to sell 53% of their shares for the total of 10.3 million Yuan, which is only equivalent to 1.51 million US dollars.... Cerbibo is co-founded by Blackboard." Must be something going on behind the scenes. Tim Wang, Tim Wang's eLearning Blog, September 10, 2008 [Link] [Tags: Online Learning, China, Blackboard Inc.] [Comment]

Connectivism and Its Critics: What Connectivism Is Not
This is a post I wrote for the course offering a response to what i think is essentially a circular argument - the objection that connectivism wouldn't work in today's existing institutional environment. Related: another response to a critic. I won't get too involved in responding to critics, though I welcome the opportunity to expand on elements of the theory. Stephen Downes, Connectivism & Connective Knowledge, September 10, 2008 [Link] [Tags: Traditional and Online Courses, Connectivism] [Comment]

CCK08 - Will Connectivism Without Guidance Result in Unuseful Knowledge Mutations?
Summary of George Siemens's presentation, What Is Connectivism. I'll probably run a number of items though the fall from this course - even if I weren't involved in it I would think it's pretty significant wand worth covering here. Related: Siemens provides a chart distinguishing Connectivism from other theories. Inge de Waard, Ignatia Webs, September 10, 2008 [Link] [Tags: Connectivism, Google] [Comment]

First Beam Circles Large Hadron Collider Track
Congratulations to the managers and supporters of the Large Hadron Collider, which shot its first bean of protons today (the fun really begins a bit later, when they collide beams at nearly the speed of light). Pure research like this is so much more fun to read about than the usual excesses we find in the news. Alexis Madrigal, Wired, September 10, 2008 [Link] [Tags: Research] [Comment]

Web 2.0 Is About Giving Up Some Control
The headline says it all. "The managers are not the only clever people in the room anymore. The room is much bigger and it is speckled with cleverness." Via Column Two. Gerry McGovern, Weblog, September 10, 2008 [Link] [Tags: Web 2.0] [Comment]

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