Edu_RSS
History rewritten over
Last few days I spent more time than usual in front of the TV - watching Second World War stories, remembrance and celebrations. It feels strange - being surrounded by "other" views and ways than those that I grew up with. In Russia it's celebrated today - 9 May - as a Victory Day. I remember it colorful - colorful parades, colorful medals, colorful flowers. I learnt the war - and Victory - stories as I grew up, picking up from adults, from official propaganda, from school, but, most importantly from stories in my family. Especially from the story of my grandparent From
Mathemagenic on May 9, 2005 at 10:51 p.m..
South African National Curriculum Wiki
Will Richardson
reports on this remarkable wiki, a website containing pages for each subject area in each class for the South African grades 10-12 curriculum. Because it's a wiki, anyone can edit the pages, and as a result the wiki is filling up with instructional material. By Various Authors, May, 2005 [
Refer][
Research][
OLDaily on May 9, 2005 at 9:45 p.m..
Ms Pancake
Nice item on whether or not to get rid of one'sblogroll. Why? As a means of countering the counting oflinks that produce those 'Top 100' blogger lists that"are hurting us." For example, Doc Searles makesthe bland assertion that blogging isn't school, commenting,"These good folks succeed by earning links, notgrades. It From
OLDaily on May 9, 2005 at 9:45 p.m..
The Development of Socialization in an On-line Learning Environment
What I like about this item is that it is an application of Gilly Salmon's five stage model of moderation. The context of this application is a set of e-moderator courses designed to train on-line tutors. According to the study, if Stage 1 of the model - "access and motivation" - is effectively designed and facilitated, then socialization follows. What's interesting is that socialization during Stage 2 - "Socialization" - actually drops. This suggests that "effective e-tivity design and implementation at Stage 1 might mean that Stage 2 can be completely omitted from the five-stage mo From
OLDaily on May 9, 2005 at 9:45 p.m..
Overcoming the Biggest Barrier to Student Success
According to the abstract, "life interruptions are common for students and that more fixed seat time in courses increases the probability of student failure. Redesigning course schedules is critical to increasing student success." Reasonably short PowerPoint presentation that makes the case. Casting aside traditional explanations for non-completion, such as bad advice or too heavy a course load, the presentation shows a correlation between inflexibility and failure and recommends more flexible scheduling and incentives for course completion. By Ron Bleed, ELI (Formerly NLII) Meetings (2005), From
OLDaily on May 9, 2005 at 9:45 p.m..
From Course Management to Curricular Capabilities: A Capabilities Approach for the Next-Generation CMS
Soimething I've argued for a long time: "The genetic weakness of the contemporary CMS stems from its uncritical acceptance of the traditional features of the classroom model." The author proposes an alternative to the traditional LMS, "a capabilities approach... The learner-centered capabilities are (1) a critical thinking capability, (2) a self-confidence capability, (3) a peer-learning capability, and (4) a knowledge management capability. The CMS curricular capabilities are (1) a discovery-based learning capability, (2) a 360 degree out-of-the-course capability, (3) a knowledge asset c From
OLDaily on May 9, 2005 at 9:45 p.m..
In Praise of Sharing
The author argues, "we should reject the notion that we, or our institutions, own ideas. Even though much of what we do can be made to fit an ownership model, this is the wrong model for the long haul." Moreover, "we should resist the temptation to think about our endeavors in commercial terms." And we should reward sharing. It may be a long haul, but I believe that these ideas will prevail over the "ideas as property" model. By James L. Hilton, EDUCAUSE Review, May, 2005 [
Refer][
OLDaily on May 9, 2005 at 9:45 p.m..
Now Grading Your Student Essay -- A Computer
There have been numerous articles and commentaries about this item. For myself, I consider it a trivial distraction. Not because I am opposed to the use of computers to grade essays - I'm not. Not because this program does it well - it doesn't. But because the use of computers to grade essays is old news and because the use of any instrument (up to and including blind mice) to grade essays would be about as fair and consistent as the current practice. I think, one day, we will get beyond grading, a useless and archaic concept that supposes learning is some sort of competition. From
OLDaily on May 9, 2005 at 9:45 p.m..
Charter Threatens Parents With Lawsuit
One of the advantages of charter schools, we are told, is that they enable direct parental input. Another is that they take advantage of the free market to allow free and informed choice. But
Charter Schools USA has nullified both advantages with a single action recently with the sending of a Cease and Desist notice to a group of parents voicing their concerns about the school in an online forum. We need to remember that when private enterprise takes over our normal rights and freedoms are abrogated. Lawsuits like this are just th From
OLDaily on May 9, 2005 at 9:45 p.m..
Blogs in Education 3.0?
So if a small bunch of teachers running around screaming blogs to a largely uninitiated audience is edblogging 1.0, and a suddenly bigger bunch of teachers blogging their own journeys and implementing the tools with their students is edblogging 2.0, then I think Ken Smith (who I'll say again has been doing some of the best blogging out there of late) might just have the
premise for edblogging 3.0: But most of the benefit of the education blogging community is hidden away in the teaching of the individuals and th From
weblogged News on May 9, 2005 at 8:47 p.m..
The miracle of life in a dead garden
With all my travel, my
fire escape garden has been sorely neglected. In fact, nearly everything out there is dead. Most stuff did not survive last summer/fall, and what managed to hang on died this spring. Everything that is except my pinks, which are growing well and on the verge of exploding with blossoms. So yesterday I leaned out the window to clean some dried dead stuff out of the container (old dried pinks from last summer) and as I did so, I moved a dead rose plant out of the way. All of the sudden, there was From
megnut on May 9, 2005 at 8:45 p.m..
Bitty browser
Scott Matthews' Bitty has a very cool bit of code that lets you embed one page in another, sort of like an iframe (in fact, it uses iframes) , but with better formatting and browser controls. For example, here's what Joho's RSS feed looks like as a Bitty window: Joho the BlogOpen "Joho the Blog" in a new windowAbout Bitty BrowserAbout Turnstyle And here is IT Conversations: IT ConversationsOpen "IT Conversations" in a new windowAbout Bitty BrowserAbout Turnstyle And here's a chiclet that launches a separate Bitty window. In this case, it launches the entire page, not the RS From
Joho the Blog on May 9, 2005 at 7:49 p.m..
GMSV: From Newsletter to Blog
Good Morning Silicon Valley, a long-standing feature of the San Jose Mercury News online operation, is one of the earliest and most popular technology e-newsletters. And like many e-newsletters, it's now been
relaunched as a blog.Written in an (often) irreverent style, GMSV is produced by John Paczkowski and John Murrell. Paczkowski says the move to become a blog adds a reader comments feature and "extended posting through the workday."As a newsletter, GMSV has more than 85,00 From
Poynter E-Media Tidbits on May 9, 2005 at 6:54 p.m..
Huffington Off to a Good Start; Can It Last?
Arianna Huffington's left-leaning celebrity group blog, the
Huffington Post, debuted today. I have to admit that I rather like it -- today. The mix of posts is interesting, and much of the writing is engaging. Yeah, there's a certain amount of curiosity that makes me want to read what these assembled celebrities have to say.Not that they're all big names. There's
Laurie David, perhaps better known as wife of comedian L From
Poynter E-Media Tidbits on May 9, 2005 at 5:54 p.m..
SLAPPing Discussion Forums: 1st Amendment Threat?
Many activists and concerned citizens know how much a
SLAPP (strategic lawsuit against public participation) can hurt. These lawsuits generally involve charges of defamation, libel, slander, conspiracy, etc.; their primary purpose is to silence public criticism, questions, or dissent. Even though SLAPPs rarely succeed in court, they effectively chill speech simply by threatening to consume the money, time, reputation, and other resources of people who wish to challenge or question powerful interests. People often self-censor or recant in order to a From
Poynter E-Media Tidbits on May 9, 2005 at 5:54 p.m..
Social Security, gone in a Flash
MoveOn.org has announced the winner of its contest to create a Flash animation about W's [Does anyone call him that any more? Or are we all now clear about which Pres. Bush we're talking about?] Social Security plan. The winner, by Andy Menconi, is a pleasingly straightforward presentation that claims that there would be no crisis if SS tax weren't capped at somewhere around $5,500/year. I have a question: Are benefits also capped?... From
Joho the Blog on May 9, 2005 at 5:48 p.m..
Transparency vs. Substantiation: Two Sides of the Credibility Coin
Who can you trust? What should you believe? These are core questions for any news audience, in any media. When trying to understand what's happening, or to make meaning out of current events or trends, it's important to decide how much you should trust or believe particular sources of news, commentary, and analysis. Thus, credibility is key to news reporting and discussion. But what is credibility, really?... From
Contentious Weblog on May 9, 2005 at 4:54 p.m..
A total French spazz!
If you've met me in person, you know I'm quite the gesticulator when I speak. And I also have a strange tendency -- which my brother has as well, so I can only imagine it's something we developed as children -- to make sound effects to accompany my actions. For example, if you and I are walking towards each other in a narrow hallway, and I skirt to the side to avoid a collision, I will also utter, "yurreeek," or some sound to approximate a skid and/or close call. While in Paris, I added a whistle to my communication style to indicate something that I didn't have From
megnut on May 9, 2005 at 4:45 p.m..
Software for Marking Writing Projects
Here's a thought-provoking piece by Matt Sedensky about some software that was written by a sociology professor and AI expert for marking student essays. We all know writing is important, and it is difficult to assign a lot of writing... From
Rick's Café Canadien on May 9, 2005 at 3:46 p.m..
New EdBloggers
Over the last week or so I've come across a few new edbloggers who are writing, thinking and doing in ways that have pushed my own thinking...which is the best part of the Read/Write Web, the finding new teachers part. First off is Konrad Glogowski who is writing the "
Blog of Proximal Development." He is a writing and media teacher in Ontario, I believe, and he's been blogging since February but has already covered some pretty heady ground with his students. I like his
weblogged News on May 9, 2005 at 1:48 p.m..
Marketing y comunicación: eTC
Me anuncia Fernando Polo que la agencia de diseño Territorio Creativo lanza un weblog corporativo sobre marketing y comunicación: eTc - El Blog de Marketing en Español: Afirman sus promotores que se trata de un primer intento serio de bitácora... From
eCuaderno v.2.0 on May 9, 2005 at 12:51 p.m..
Graeme Daniel
Innovations in the application of ICTs to education are inevitably accompanied by new crops of problems and issues, some generated by student creativity - which at least demonstrates that some learning processes are working - and others arising from the technologies themselves, and the ways in whic From
wwwtools on May 9, 2005 at 11:56 a.m..
What is Your Learning Style?
Find out with free online learning style assessment tests and learn how to make the most of your preferences. Fascinated? Don't miss these learning style article and test links.... From
Adult/Continuing Education on May 9, 2005 at 11:50 a.m..
Weblogs y Medios en eCuaderno
Una selección de posts publicados en eCuaderno sobre las relaciones entre Weblogs, Medios y Periodismo: Salam Pax en español: El weblog Where is Raed? en formato libro Best Media/Journalist Blog: Los weblogs periodÃsticos nominados a los premios Wizbang 2003 Weblog... From
eCuaderno v.2.0 on May 9, 2005 at 10:51 a.m..
RSS Advertising: How Can I Pull If You Keep Pushing?
The latest RSS wave to hit the news is the final arrival of tangible RSS advertising options like the ones offered by Google AdSense (who is just beta testing the solution with a selected number of publishers), Pheedo, RSSAds and soon many others. Photo credit: Jim De Lillo It is in fact way too easy to jump on the RSS advertising train, without spending much thought about the pros and cons of this choice. I myself, have decided to ponder and step back on this one, at least for now. From my personal viewpoint, ads inside RSS feeds are a... From
Robin Good' Sharewood Tidings on May 9, 2005 at 10:50 a.m..
Computers Grade Students' Writing
A professor, tired of marking the same old mistakes in university compositions, invents software to do the work. It's one of several programs that ease teachers' busywork, but do students learn more than how to trick the automated graders? From
Wired News on May 9, 2005 at 10:45 a.m..
Spitzer Sets Sights on Spyware
New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer, the 'sheriff of Wall Street,' has ramped up the staff of his Internet Bureau, and seems to be readying to take on companies who use spyware and adware to do business. From
Wired News on May 9, 2005 at 10:45 a.m..
Spycams on Patrol
Chicago's two-fisted street cops have a new kind of backup: a citywide crime-fighting surveillance network. (Smile for the camera.) By Noah Shachtman from Wired magazine. From
Wired News on May 9, 2005 at 10:45 a.m..
Splitsville for CC and BzzAgent
The short-lived, oddball marriage between BzzAgent's word-of-mouth marketers and Creative Commons' copyright reformers is over. By Daniel Terdiman. From
Wired News on May 9, 2005 at 10:45 a.m..
Time Travelers Welcome at MIT
Science geeks from MIT invite folks from the future to drop in for chips and soda. Musicians and MIT profs entertain denizens of the present, but nobody bucks the time continuum to shimmer onto the landing pad. By Mark Baard. From
Wired News on May 9, 2005 at 10:45 a.m..
DJ Spooky Raps About Remixing
DJ Spooky shares his ideas about art, music and sampling in his new book, Rhythm Science, and CD. Spooky sat down with Katie Dean to answer questions about remixing and culture. From
Wired News on May 9, 2005 at 10:45 a.m..
The Bookless
In Bell's view, the big gains so far have been in the realm of research. "Today, a scholar in South Dakota, or Shanghai, or Albania--anywhere on earth with an Internet connection--has a research library at her fingertips." A democratization has... From
Teaching and Developing Online. on May 9, 2005 at 5:54 a.m..
Technology changes classroom.
In a recent "Ethics and Public Policy" class, Brown University professor Ross Cheit asked his students if they had a moral obligation to report cheating if they knew about it. ADVERTISEMENT The room began to hum, but no one called... From
Teaching and Developing Online. on May 9, 2005 at 4:48 a.m..
Computers in the High School Classroom
High school teachers face enormous pressure to prepare students for state standardized tests, college admissions tests, and AP exams. Do computers "get in the way" of teaching in such an environment or can technology improve achievement without taking time away... From
Teaching and Developing Online. on May 9, 2005 at 4:48 a.m..
Parents chech out virtual school.
Imagine getting your kids an education without the need to leave the confines of your home. It's called virtual learning, and it's available for students in grades kindergarten through eighth grade. Parents can check out virtual school Saturday... From
Teaching and Developing Online. on May 9, 2005 at 4:48 a.m..
What an IA Should Know About Prototypes for User Testing
This is a nice
article from Boxes and Arrows, which focuses on a) the degree of fidelity and b) the level of interactivity for your prototypes. These two points are also useful when using distributed teams to build systems -- both factors are high initially but with shared understanding they gradually come down. From
elearningpost on May 9, 2005 at 3:46 a.m..
damned
Don't like that at all. Far away from a decent internet connection and a fading blog software. Thinking about letting
Radio Userland behind. But almost no second left to do it. --- It's working again. In the course of debugging I decided to get rid of the
liveTopics tool. It was fantastic when Matt Mower introduced it long before the tagging hype started giving
thomas n. burg | randgänge on May 9, 2005 at 1:47 a.m..
Italy - Day 4
I'm actually writing this on the 9 hour flight home because I have been unable to get on line since yesterday afternoon. I realized that my need to be online roughly synchronizes with the Italian grad students' need to step outside and smoke. Ah, one sweet lungful of bits is all I crave. Anyway, yesterday was quite wonderful. After breakfast with Derrick, class started again at 10AM. We talked about Internet time (threads vs. moments), whether the experience of the Web will universalize or localize knowledge, and other topics like those. Have I mentioned how lucky I feel to be... From
Joho the Blog on May 9, 2005 at 12:48 a.m..
A poem
On Drinking a Cold One The coldness you feel in your fingersis your beer warming up. Although I wrote that profundity at the little cafe near the end of the walk to the Natural Arch, I promise you that it is not the very very bad poem I mentioned in the previous post. That one has already been buried in a lead-lined container so that its smell won't fell the local wildlife. [Technorati tags: poem DeepThoughts]... From
Joho the Blog on May 9, 2005 at 12:48 a.m..
From the Aggregator
I haven't done much of this in the past, but I'm not getting the time to write about a lot of the stuff I read. (And since this is Mother's Day, as soon as my wife wakes up the computer gets put away for the day.) So here are some snippets of interesting stuff with links all in one big post. From
Auricle, writing about the need to make institutional weblog software relvant to our students: The community urgently needs the open source equivalents of MySpace.com if there' From
weblogged News on May 9, 2005 at 12:47 a.m..
AECT's International Convention
'Exploring the Vision' October 18-22, 2005 Orlando FL Over 1000 proposals and workshops have been reviewed and will be scheduled soon. Check the website as the program is being developed. Take advantage of the 'Early-Bird' registration and save! http://www.aect.org/events/Orlando/default.asp... From
Rick's Café Canadien on May 8, 2005 at 11:53 p.m..
Innovate-Live webcasts
Innovate-Live webcasts offer an opportunity to synchronously interact with the authors of the articles in the April/May 2005 issue of Innovate (http://www.innovateonline.info). These webcasts are produced as a public service by our partner, ULiveandLearn. If you wish to participate in... From
Rick's Café Canadien on May 8, 2005 at 11:53 p.m..