http://www.downes.ca/ News and opinions related to online learning and new media. en-us Tue, 9 Feb 2010 15:24:35 -0400 Tue, 9 Feb 2010 15:24:35 -0400 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Edu_RSS stephen@downes.ca stephen@downes.ca http://www.downes.ca/cgi-bin/page.cgi?presentation=239 Slides][Audio] Same slides as a few days ago, but the audio is very different, as this was a formal presentation. As before, I outline the major trends in personal learning that we are seeing in technology today, and I more clearly draw the connections between some of the separate trends - for example, personal creativity, interaction and networking, and simulation and immersion. Audio at http://www.downes.ca/presentation/239 Excellent sound quality. IT Madrid, Online to Madrid, via DimDim (Keynote) February 9, 2010 [Comment] ]]> Tue, 9 Feb 2010 09:53:11 -0400 http://www.downes.ca/cgi-bin/page.cgi?presentation=239 http://www.downes.ca/cgi-bin/page.cgi?post=51642 I see this a lot, from certain quarters, a "failure to distinguish between argumentation and opinion." I have even at times uttered an exasperated "this isn't a question of faith" to a student who felt that it mattered whether or not they 'believed' the assertions I was making, "it's a question of evidence." And with the author, I think reliance on opinion is a poor substitute for good thinking. "Many students, not wanting to stand out, or hurt someone else's feeling, would rather float gently in the open sea of opinions than navigate the perilous waters of rigorous argumentation." Oh, and one more thing - it's not just students. I think that many adults, professionals, and teachers operate of the basis of opinion rather than evidence (it is is from them students are adopting these habits). Laurie Fendrich, Brainstorm, February 9, 2010 [Tags: Adult Learning] [Link] [Comment] ]]> Tue, 9 Feb 2010 15:23:50 -0400 http://www.downes.ca/cgi-bin/page.cgi?post=51642 Adult Learning http://www.downes.ca/cgi-bin/page.cgi?post=51641 Good posts that notes that most institutions are beginning to look at web 2.0 more seriously and will need an implementation strategy. This is an especially difficult transition for institutions, because it means that many centrally managed functions need to be more distributed - people set up and use their own web applications, for example, and may install their own browser extensions, helpers, and social software support. If it were me (and probably a good number of institutions are doing this) I would provide students with virtual machines; individual environments would operate in a virtual space, an abstract layer insulated from network and hardware controls. Anyhow this post outlines the process of creating an implementation strategy, whatever you decide to do. Janey Clarey, Workplace Learning Today, February 9, 2010 [Tags: Networks, Web 2.0] [Link] [Comment] ]]> Tue, 9 Feb 2010 15:11:32 -0400 http://www.downes.ca/cgi-bin/page.cgi?post=51641 Networks Web 2.0 http://www.downes.ca/cgi-bin/page.cgi?post=51640 More on Weave sync, as Mozilla offers more APIs and tools for developers. "Using this free browser add-on from Mozilla Labs, you can use secure mechanisms to access all of your personal data (including your bookmarks, saved passwords, browsing history, and open browser tabs) across all of your supported devices, making your Web experience instantly more personal and useful. And all of your data is encrypted end-to-end to help ensure your privacy." Erica Jostedt, Mozilla Blog, February 9, 2010 [Tags: Privacy Issues, Experience] [Link] [Comment] ]]> Tue, 9 Feb 2010 15:02:18 -0400 http://www.downes.ca/cgi-bin/page.cgi?post=51640 Privacy Issues Experience http://www.downes.ca/cgi-bin/page.cgi?post=51639 I am inclined to agree with Joey Coleman - business schools will expand not because they offer anything uniquely academic, but "only because they are profitable units within the money-hungry modern university." The success of business schools, in other words, is derived from their clientèle, not their academic content. Which means we should look at the suggestion that they include more of the liberal arts. If we follow this to its logical conclusion, liberal arts will be offered increasingly in business schools, and decreasingly to the general population as a whole. So Coleman's response is, essentially, if business people want to study liberal arts, then great, but they should be studying it from people who actually specialize in the subject, and teach it to everyone, and not some sort of private business-only version. Joey Coleman, Globe Campus, February 9, 2010 [Tags: Schools, Academia] [Link] [Comment] ]]> Tue, 9 Feb 2010 14:59:31 -0400 http://www.downes.ca/cgi-bin/page.cgi?post=51639 Schools Academia http://www.downes.ca/cgi-bin/page.cgi?post=51638 If we tried simply to improve the wheel, not reinvent it, we would never have had airplanes. That's my first response to this article, which argues we should focus on improving what we already have in universities. This is in response to a book, Academic Transformation: The Forces Reshaping Higher Education, which argues "that Ontario's model for providing undergraduate education, the research-university model, is no longer sustainable. Among the proposed solutions are greater differentiation among existing universities and creating new institutions – both liberal-arts teaching colleges and a distance-learning university." All very well to exercise caution, but the counterproposal - a distance network that connects the existing universities - does little to address the real need, much less address cost and efficiency issues. This lack of imagination in existing institutions is why we have to look outside them. Roseann O'Reilly Runte, University Affairs, February 9, 2010 [Tags: Online Learning, Networks, Research] [Link] [Comment] ]]> Tue, 9 Feb 2010 14:47:03 -0400 http://www.downes.ca/cgi-bin/page.cgi?post=51638 Online Learning Networks Research http://www.downes.ca/cgi-bin/page.cgi?post=51637
A large two-volume set summarizing e-learning in countries in Europe and Asia has been released. PDFs: Volume One, Volume Two. Interestingly, as Paul Kawachi writes, "Many countries including most reviewed in this book generally hold onto an apprentice model and experiential learning through a cooperative process. Even with e-learning technology, the apprentice model is still employed." Though the papers are in English, the emphasis is on 39 countries outside the English-speaking world. Ugur Demiray, Ed., Book, February 9, 2010 [Tags: Online Learning, Books, European Union] [Link] [Comment] ]]> Tue, 9 Feb 2010 07:38:31 -0400 http://www.downes.ca/cgi-bin/page.cgi?post=51637 Online Learning Books European Union http://www.downes.ca/cgi-bin/page.cgi?post=51636 Yes, blog comments are worth it - as Suarez says, a blog without comments is just another website. "There is no interaction. No dialogue. No conversation. No reaction. No nothing. You just basically consume the content… and move on. Just like you would do with a regular (1.0) Web site." I read every comment on my blog (they come to me by email; I have an email subscription set up but it needs a tweak before I can use it). I comment frequently on other people's blogs. Still, though, spam and SEO detritus are big problems for comments - the main reason I set up mIDm so many years ago (before OpenID, even) was to design a system where your comments lived on your blog, and linked to mine only if I could find you in my friend network. Still working on that. Luis Suarez, E L S U A, February 9, 2010 [Tags: Subscription Services, Networks, OpenID, Spam, Interaction, Web Logs] [Link] [Comment] ]]> Tue, 9 Feb 2010 05:27:48 -0400 http://www.downes.ca/cgi-bin/page.cgi?post=51636 Subscription Services Networks OpenID Spam Interaction Web Logs http://www.downes.ca/cgi-bin/page.cgi?post=51635 I can actually hear the sense of entitlement in the narrator's voice. Reminds me of Nirvana: "We are here now, entertain us!" Like the attendees at SXSW. I know that's not what is meant, but that's how it comes across, especially when he asks, "Is this what I paid for?" as though we owe him somehow. David Hopkins, Elearning Blog Dont Waste Your Time, February 9, 2010 [Tags: Video] [Link] [Comment] ]]> Tue, 9 Feb 2010 05:20:32 -0400 http://www.downes.ca/cgi-bin/page.cgi?post=51635 Video http://www.downes.ca/cgi-bin/page.cgi?post=51634 If all you can do is teach at a university, you are about to become underqualified. The long-expected crisis is upon us, and as governments restrain spending the expense of maintaining university professors is beginning to look less and less attractive to them. I wrote (back in 1998, and at various times since then) that the crisis would approach very gradually, and then appear suddenly, as though overnight. Well, it's night. Jessica Shepherd and Owen Bowcott , The Guardian, February 9, 2010 [Tags: none] [Link] [Comment] ]]> Tue, 9 Feb 2010 05:14:13 -0400 http://www.downes.ca/cgi-bin/page.cgi?post=51634 http://www.downes.ca/cgi-bin/page.cgi?post=51632 I hit a bit of a brick wall today - not always a bad thing - which makes me rethink the state of software. Could there ever be a seat-of-your-pants startup, like Facebook or Twitter or Flickr? I'm thinking not. The internet has evolved to the point where you need quite an infrastructure to create any sort of popular application, and existing applications have closed most of the niches, creating a large 'reinventing the wheel' hurdle to any new development. This will be the case for the new graphical software discussed in this post, especially as the applications favoured even by largish university projects are insufficient for the new environment.

It's hard to explain what I mean (which is the story of my day today) but I've been thinking of it like this: there was a time when you were inventing a new car where all you had to build was the car, but by the 60s or 70s you had to design not just the car but production lines, supply networks, dealerships, and a whole lot more; and moreover, the cars, with electronics and braking systems and the rest became a lot more complex. You can't just invent a new car today; it can only be done by an existing major player. The same, largely, with software.

Or - could you just build small simple things that interact? Do you have to build an enterprise system every time you want to build an application? Doug Holton, EdTechDev, February 8, 2010 [Tags: Twitter, Books, Networks, Project Based Learning, Flickr] [Link] [Comment] ]]> Mon, 8 Feb 2010 15:24:00 -0400 http://www.downes.ca/cgi-bin/page.cgi?post=51632 Twitter Books Networks Project Based Learning Flickr http://www.downes.ca/cgi-bin/page.cgi?post=51631 Making the rounds today is this classroom parody of The Office (which itself is parody). Not only does the classroom ring true, in more ways than once, it's also a great example of students exercising their own creativity (in a manner exactly opposite to the classroom portrayed in The Class). Note how one act of creativity uses a prior act as a frame. This is common, and fundamental to creativity. Also, it wouldn't be a YouTube hit unless it was inspired by something people already know. Michael Wesch, Digital Ethnography, February 8, 2010 [Tags: Video, YouTube] [Link] [Comment] ]]> Mon, 8 Feb 2010 15:16:19 -0400 http://www.downes.ca/cgi-bin/page.cgi?post=51631 Video YouTube http://www.downes.ca/cgi-bin/page.cgi?post=51630 What I like about this is that it's e-learning having nothing to do with screen or keyboard. Rather, it's a laser scanner and a 3D printer, and what it produces is a series of models of an onion growing, so you can see for yourself the stages of growth. If a garden is slow music, as Michael L Umphrey says, then this is the score. Wayne Hodgins, Off Course On Target, February 8, 2010 [Tags: Online Learning, Project Based Learning] [Link] [Comment] ]]> Mon, 8 Feb 2010 15:12:45 -0400 http://www.downes.ca/cgi-bin/page.cgi?post=51630 Online Learning Project Based Learning http://www.downes.ca/cgi-bin/page.cgi?post=51629 I'm looking forward to a wealth of new reading material available for free online. This time, it's courtesy of the British Library (though of course there are some obligatory sponsorship spots built in). We'll see if it's a case of books really being available free, or whether it's a case of them being free if you buy someone else's hardware. Rocjard Brooks, The Times, February 8, 2010 [Tags: Great Britain, Books] [Link] [Comment] ]]> Mon, 8 Feb 2010 15:09:34 -0400 http://www.downes.ca/cgi-bin/page.cgi?post=51629 Great Britain Books http://www.downes.ca/cgi-bin/page.cgi?post=51628 I admit it - I monitor what people have to say about me online. I need to do this for Twitter, otherwise I'd never get messages. It's also pretty useful if I want to be able to respond to blog comments. But most of all, I do it to find new stuff - if someone's linking to or talking about me, then probably they also link to or talk to things that I'm interested in, which makes them a pretty good source for me. So the techniques mentioned in this post? Yes, I use them. Tina, MakeUseOf, February 8, 2010 [Tags: Twitter, Linking and Deep Linking, Web Logs] [Link] [Comment] ]]> Mon, 8 Feb 2010 15:06:18 -0400 http://www.downes.ca/cgi-bin/page.cgi?post=51628 Twitter Linking and Deep Linking Web Logs http://www.downes.ca/cgi-bin/page.cgi?post=51627 Because everybody loves these 'list' posts - so much easier to read than posts with sentences. Jane Hart, Jane's E-Learning Pick of the Day, February 8, 2010 [Tags: Video] [Link] [Comment] ]]> Mon, 8 Feb 2010 15:03:24 -0400 http://www.downes.ca/cgi-bin/page.cgi?post=51627 Video http://www.downes.ca/cgi-bin/page.cgi?post=51626 Chaouki Regoui talks about what puts the "p" in PLE. "What information to have about the learner (simply called learner profile)? Which information is provided by the learner and which is collected about him/her (through his/her learning patterns, from external sources etc. )?" Chaouki Regoui, Plearn Blog, February 8, 2010 [Tags: none] [Link] [Comment] ]]> Mon, 8 Feb 2010 14:59:41 -0400 http://www.downes.ca/cgi-bin/page.cgi?post=51626 http://www.downes.ca/cgi-bin/page.cgi?post=51625 Awwww. I love XKCD too. Elaine Doyle & Olga Nunes, Weblog, February 8, 2010 [Tags: none] [Link] [Comment] ]]> Mon, 8 Feb 2010 14:57:17 -0400 http://www.downes.ca/cgi-bin/page.cgi?post=51625 http://www.downes.ca/cgi-bin/page.cgi?post=51624 The way music works, you use one song as a frame from which to create a new song. You need to do this - derive from existing archetypes - because otherwise you just end up reinventing songs that have already been written, and get sued, like George Harrison did, even if you did no wrong (thanks to musician Don Belliveau for explaining all this to me). So anyhow, Lady Gaga and Elton John performed a duet at the Grammys, and as this item explains, they "went meta" - "'How wonderful life is with Gaga in the world,' John sang." But it's not just that the lyrics were self-referential. Gaga's Speechless uses Elton John's Your Song as its frame, something that was evident by the way they merged, so when Gaga sings "this is your song, I hope you don't mind" she's acknowledging the song's origins. Which is why it's nice that Elton sings back, "You can tell everyone this is your song." That's how creativity and innovation works, and that's what our intellectual; property system is in the process of wrecking, and be fairly warned, once you break that chain of innovation, you can't get it back; you have to start from scratch again. Which is why the dark ages were so, um, dark. Merrill Perlman, Columbia Journalism Review, February 8, 2010 [Tags: Patents] [Link] [Comment] ]]> Mon, 8 Feb 2010 14:32:22 -0400 http://www.downes.ca/cgi-bin/page.cgi?post=51624 Patents