August 16, 2006

OLDaily

Press Release[Edit][Delete]: Statement Regarding Captain Copyright, Access Copyright [Edit][Delete] August 16, 2006
[link: 8 Hits] Today's issue has several of the longer posts I have been writing recently. This is unusual, but I do plan to occasionally include the longer posts. It would be useful to receive feedback on this - do people prefer the 100 word items exclusively, or is it preferable to get as much as 500 words on an item from time to time?

This item is a statement on the revisions proposed for the 'Captain Copyright' comic, an effort that was widely (and justly) criticized. The authors also say they were "saddened by the misconceptions" regardingb their linking policy (despite what the policy actually said). As for me, well, I am wondering whether they have permission to use the 'Canada' logo at the bottom of the page. The logo has strict use conditions and a display of the logo implies that the government endorses or is responsible for the content of the page. [Tags: , , ] [Comment] [Edit] [Delete] [Spam]

John Daniel, Asha Kanwar and Stamenka Uvalic-Trumbic[Edit][Delete]: A Tectonic Shift in Global Higher Education, Change [Edit][Delete] August 16, 2006
[link: Hits] It would be tempting but wrong to swiftly dismiss this article. The heart of the argument is this: "Undoubtedly, tens of millions of young adults in the third world will be seeking postsecondary education in the coming years... By necessity, those nations are likely to seek a much greater role for private, for-profit institutions than is the case in the developed world. We predict that, seeing a massive market opening, for-profit institutions in the developed world will expand their cross-border provision of educational services, especially distance and e-learning. Establishing quality assurance mechanisms for such rapid expansion thus will be a major challenge for governments."

Leave aside the fact that this crisis was caused by the very people who will now purport to fix it - the World Bank, for example, actively discouraged investments in higher education. The solution being proposed is that governments charge tuition fees, thus "leveling the playing field" for private institutions, who can then attract grants to create scholarhips, thus creating the premise of the argument, a more equitable access than via a free tuition policy.

"The net result will be that within a decade or two, private, for-profit provision, already estimated at $350 billion worldwide, is likely to account for a larger proportion of higher education in the developing countries than it now does in the industrialized world." Maybe so. Keeping the flim-flam artists out will require a major effort, which explains the emphasis on quality. And that's where WTO and OECD are putting their efforts. For those interested in learning, however, open educational resources and internet access to communities of practice - a methodology barely discussed by the authors - will serve the genuine need. So long, that is, as we can ensure that these same trade regulations do not make open access - and freedom - illegal. [Tags: , , , , ] [Comment] [Edit] [Delete] [Spam]

Sonia Arrison[Edit][Delete]: A Laptop in Every Hut?, TechNewsWorld [Edit][Delete] August 16, 2006
[link: Hits] This opinion column argues that the $100 laptop initiative is a group of "open source zealots are looking to export their ideological crusade overseas, creating a need for their commercial services by tying a new generation of young consumers to laptops running on Linux software." The author is from the Pacific Research Institute, listed at SourceWatch. Via OWL. [Tags: , ] [Comment] [Edit] [Delete] [Spam]

Various authors[Edit][Delete]: The Gong Project, August 16, 2006
[link: 1 Hits] More multimedia goodness. "Gong is a free system for voice communication on the Web. It allows groups of people such as students and teachers to participate in discussion groups using their computers, using both synchronous (real-time) and asynchronous chat. It is commonly used by schools and universities for providing a 'voice board' for teaching purposes." Via Scott Leslie. [Tags: , , ] [Comment] [Edit] [Delete] [Spam]

Alan Levine[Edit][Delete]: Portals Redux, Cogdogblog [Edit][Delete]CogDogBlog [Edit][Delete] August 16, 2006
[link: Hits] RSS, feeds, web 2.0 - they're on your grandfather's portal now. So says Alan Levine. Correctly. Check out Sphere, a blog search engine with RSS feeds. [Tags: , ] [Comment] [Edit] [Delete] [Spam]

Mark Ahlness[Edit][Delete]: Arbor Heights - a Dozen Years on the Web!, WWWEDU [Edit][Delete] August 16, 2006
[link: 1 Hits] By looking in the right place, you sometimes find the right thing. The right place, in this instance, is this post by Mark Ahlness on WWWDEV. The right thing was found when I decided it was worth listing here in OLDaily, and is found below.

Ahlness writes (I have embedded links into the text), "Today is an important anniversary. Twelve years ago today, August 14, 1994, the Arbor Heights Elementary School web site appeared on the Internet. Below are a dozen items to remember and celebrate:
1) Our first page looked like this.
2) Ours was the 9th elementary school with a web site. It is the only one of those schools still at the same URL: - or these days, just head to www.arborheights.com
3) Take a virtual tour of the evolution of our home page
4) The Arbor Heights Elementary School web site was featured via screenshot in Bill Gates' "The Road Ahead".
5) The site hosts the complete archive of The Random Thoughts of Louis Schmier, a collection of the writings of one of the Internet's visionary educational philosophers for more than a decade.
6) The Arbor Heights web site originated, was the host for several years for, and is still the physical coordinating center for, the largest educational activity coordinated on the Internet, The Earth Day Groceries Project.
Not resting on its laurels, the school is pushing out into the world of web 2.0 with the last six:
7) a PTSA blog.
8) six rss feeds on its home page
9) a PTSA listserv>
10) a school wiki, just starting out
11) podcasts of and pdf versions of the Jr. Seahawk Newsletter, "The oldest continuously published elementary school student newspaper on the Internet" here and here
12) home of http://roomtwelve.com - a classroom of third graders helping to redefine 21st century literacy

[Tags: , , , , , , , ] [Comment] [Edit] [Delete] [Spam]

Louis Schmier[Edit][Delete]: Creating A Motivational Classroom, Random Thoughts [Edit][Delete] August 16, 2006
[link: Hits] Sometimes I wonder whether I'm right in my approach, philosophy and priorities when it comes to learning, and then out of the blue comes a well-respected source that confirms and crystalizes my thoughts on the issue. Hence, from Louis Schmier:

"Too many academics, ignoring the conclusions of Carl Rogers and Edward Deci and Teresa Amabile, if we know who they are and are familiar with their work, think we can "do" something to a student. That is, we can motivate or we can teach. And, too many of us believe we can do it by the pressure of enticement or threat, and control. We crack down, impose stringent discipline, lure and entice with bonuses, make students buckle down, threaten, and force students to behave through reward and punish with grades. Extra credit here, a point taken off a grade there. It doesn't work. We know it doesn't work...."

"The solution to these three problems is really, then, a matter of how to transform forced reluctant and fearful compliance into volunteered dedicated and excited commitment. You have to let students learn in a way so that they are in charge of their intellectual, emotional, spiritual, and moral growth.... Students' definition of success, what they really are seeking is not solely focused on getting the grade though they themselves think it is.... They seek self-approval, self-respect, physical and mental well-being, spiritual contentment, self-actualization, and an overall sense of meaning to their lives. In other words, they want a satisfying, meaningful, rewarding, and significant life, not just a grade or an honor or making a living."

Now: return to the art of complex problem solving I linked to yesterday and compare this to that, with the teacher in the role of 'client' and the students in the role of 'implementors'. [Tags: , ] [Comment] [Edit] [Delete] [Spam]

Projects&Collaborations
Browse through the thousands of links in my knowledge base sorted according to topic category, author and publication.

Research
Browse through the thousands of links in my knowledge base sorted according to topic category, author and publication.


Stephen Downes

About Me
Bio, photos, and assorted odds and ends.

Publications
You know, the ones that appear in refereed journals of Outstanding Rank.

Presentations
Lectures, seminars, and keynotes in a wide variety of formats - everything from streaming video to rough notes.

Articles
All my articles, somewhere around 400 items dating from 1995.

Audio
Audio recordings of my talks recorded in MP3 format. A podcast feed is also available.

Calendar
What I'm doing, where I'm doing it, and when.

Photos
Newly updated! A collection of my photographs. Suitable for downloading as desktop wallpaper.

Stephen's Web
Since 1995

About this Site
Why this site exists, what it does, and how it works.

OLDaily RSS Feed OLDaily
Edu_RSS RSS Feed Edu_RSS
FOAF (Friend of a Friend) FOAF
Podcast Link
OLDaily Audio

OPML

About the Author

Stephen Downes

Copyright � 2006 Stephen Downes
National Research Council Canada

Contact: stephen@downes.ca

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License

.

I want and visualize and aspire toward a system of society and learning where each person is able to rise to his or her fullest potential without social or financial encumberance, where they may express themselves fully and without reservation through art, writing, athletics, invention, or even through their avocations or lifestyle.

Where they are able to form networks of meaningful and rewarding relationships with their peers, with people who share the same interests or hobbies, the same political or religious affiliations - or different interests or affiliations, as the case may be.

This to me is a society where knowledge and learning are public goods, freely created and shared, not hoarded or withheld in order to extract wealth or influence.

This is what I aspire toward, this is what I work toward. - Stephen Downes

Feeds

[ ClickFlicks.net - Interviews]
[0xDECAFBAD]
[2 Cents Worth]
[42/1]
[A Difference]
[A List Apart]
[A poke with a sharp stick]
[Abel Newsletter]
[Abject Learning]
[Academic Commons -]
[ACRLog]
[ADLNet.org Event RSS Feed]
[ADLNet.org General News RSS Feed]
[adult and community e-learning: uk [ace:uk]]
[adult literacy meets technology (AL-T) - technology as literacy]
[Alan November Weblog]
[alt tags]
[Andy Carvin's Waste of Bandwidth: The DDN Edition]
[Archer central]
[Around the Corner - MGuhlin.net]
[AssortedStuff]
[Auricle]
[b.cognosco]
[B.Mann Consulting - Technology Consulting in Vancouver]
[blog of proximal development]
[Blogarithms]
[Blogging IT and EDucation]
[Blogscholar Syndication]
[BoardBuzz: NSBA's Daily Weblog]
[Brad Jensen's Posts]
[Bud the Teacher]
[BuzzMachine]
[Canadian Journalist]
[Central Ranges LLEN News]
[CETIS: Standards in Education Technology]
[Chris Correa]
[Christopher D. Sessums : Weblog]
[Chronicle.com - Today's News]
[CIDER]
[Civilities - media structures research]
[Clay Shirky's Essays]
[CNN.com - Education]
[CogDogBlog]
[cogdogblog]
[Cognitive Daily]
[Cognitive Dissonance]
[Column Two]
[Connect Learning, with David Warlick]
[connect.educause.edu - Technology In Academia -- Connect @ EDUCAUSE]
[Connectedness]
[Connectivism Blog]
[considering education]
[considering education]
[Cool Cat Teacher Blog]
[Copyfight]
[Couros Blog]
[Creative Commons Blog]
[cuonline.blog-city.com]
[Curb Cut Design]
[D'Arcy Norman dot net - Just a lowly edtech geek, blogging from the University of Calgary]
[Dan Atkins on CLEAR]
[Dan Gillmor's blog]
[Daring Fireball]
[Dave Tosh : Weblog]
[Dave's Educational Blog]
[David Davies' Weblog]
[DEOS-L]
[Distance-Educator.com's Daily News]
[DJ Alchemi]
[e-Clippings (The Application Becomes The Platform)]
[e-Learning Acupuncture]
[E-Learning Queen]
[e-Literate]
[E-Portfolios for Learning]
[Eamonn's Home]
[eContent]
[Ed-Tech Insider]
[EdBlogger Praxis]
[Edge Perspectives with John Hagel]
[editThisPage News]
[EdNA Home Page Headlines]
[EdTechPost]
[EdTechUK]
[edu.blogs.com]
[EduBlog Insights]
[Education/Technology]
[Education/Technology - Tim Lauer]
[Educational Technology]
[Educational Technology That Talks - EdTechTalk - EdTechTalk Educational Technology That Talks...]
[Educational Weblogs]
[EDUCAUSE RSS | Recent Recent Library Submissions Listings]
[EduResources Weblog--Higher Education Resources Online]
[eGram@sd40.bc.ca]
[eLearn]
[eLearning Technology]
[elearning-reviews.org: new reviews]
[elearningpost]
[eLearnopedia]
[elearnspace]
[Elephant News]
[eSchool News Top Stories]
[everyhuman]
[Ferl Newsfeed]
[FLOSSE Posse]
[Fortnightly Mailing]
[Forum on Information Technology and Research Universities]
[Forum- RSS Feed]
[foss4us blogs]
[Full Circle Online Interaction Blog]
[Golden Swamp]
[Graham Glass, etc.]
[Gurteen Knowledge-Log]
[hackdiary]
[Half an Hour]
[Harold Jarche]
[HeadspaceJ: Instructional Design and Technology Blog]
[Here at WCER]
[Higher Education Insight]
[How to Save the World]
[Human Productivity Lab]
[ICT in Education]
[Ideas and thoughts from an EdTech]
[IDxchange]
[IEEE Learning Technology Standards Committee]
[incorporated subversion]
[incsub - online community projects and publications]
[Infocult: Information, Culture, Policy, Education]
[Informal Learning Blog]
[Innovate]
[Inside Higher Ed]
[Inter/National Coalition for Electronic Portfolio Research blogs]
[International Education Webzine]
[Internet Time Blog]
[Ipseity]
[IT Forum]
[iterating toward openness]
[iterating toward openness]
[J-blawg]
[Jane's E-Learning Pick of the Day]
[Jeffrey Zeldman Presents The Daily Report]
[jg's ramblings]
[JISC e-Learning Focus]
[Joho the Blog]
[Joi Ito's Web]
[Jon's Radio]
[Just Learn News Review]
[Kairosnews - A Weblog for Discussing Rhetoric, Technology and Pedagogy]
[Keith's weblog]
[kottke.org]
[kuro5hin.org]
[Lanny on Learning Technology]
[Latest Issue of SourceOECD Education & Skills]
[Latest News]
[Lawrence Lessig]
[learndogpup]
[Learning - Educational Technologies :: Robin Good's Latest News]
[Learning in Hand]
[Learnlets]
[Lessig Blog]
[Lifehacker]
[little train]
[Lost Remote]
[Many-to-Many]
[Marc's Voice]
[Mark Berthelemy's Connections]
[markhemphill.com]
[Mathemagenic]
[McGee's Musings]
[McToonish]
[Meir Navon's Blog]
[Michael Geist\'s Blog]
[Michelle's Online Learning Freakout Party Zone]
[MicroContent Musings (RSS 2.0)]
[Mike Klonsky's Small Talk]
[Most Viewed Articles]
[Multiple Intelligences]
[Musings about Social Computing and Ed. Tech.]
[News Forum]
[NEXTTEXT - ]
[Nouvelles de la Télé-université]
[ongoing]
[Online Journalism Review]
[Online Learning Update]
[Online Rights Canada]
[Open Mind]
[Open Social Forum]
[OSS Watch Announcements]
[OSS Watch Reports]
[OSS Watch Summary]
[OUseful Info]
[Portals and KM]
[Practical Theory]
[PressThink]
[Random Walk in Learning]
[randomselections]
[Recent Items]
[Reflective Ramblings About Teaching and Learning and Other Inconsequential things]
[Release1.0 - The Conversation Starts Here]
[Relevancy]
[Remote Access]
[Rick's Café Canadien]
[Rik Abel]
[Robert Paterson's Weblog]
[Ross Mayfield's Weblog]
[Ruminate]
[Sakai Project News]
[Sasan Salari's blog]
[Scott Sorley's Education Technology Guidebook]
[Scott Wilson's Workblog]
[Seb's Open Research]
[SEGA Tech]
[Simon Willison's Weblog]
[Slashdot]
[Smelly Knowledge - Exploring the depths of learning, identity, and community over technology.]
[Socrates Technological University]
[spokenwordmatters News]
[Stephen's Web ~ by Stephen Downes ~ OLDaily RSS 2.0]
[Sterling Silver Jewelry, Cubic Zirconia CZ Rings, Necklaces, Bracelets]
[Sterling Silver Jewelry, Cubic Zirconia CZ Rings, Necklaces, Bracelets&Pendants, Earrings, Fashion Watches&Jewelry Gifts For Men]
[Stievie's adventures in e-Learning]
[StigmergicWeb]
[Student Self Directed Learning]
[Teach and Learn Online]
[Teach42 - Education and Technology, by Steve Dembo]
[Teachable Moment]
[Teaching and Developing Online.]
[Teaching Generation Z]
[Technologic]
[The Business of Emotions]
[The Chronicle: Wired Campus Blog]
[The Community Engine Blog]
[The Educational Mac]
[The Google Weblog]
[The Illuminated Dragon]
[The Intuitive Life Business Blog]
[The Learned Man!]
[The Learning Circuits Blog]
[The PLE Blog]
[The Shifted Librarian]
[The Wales-Wide Web]
[think:lab]
[Thot]
[timbl's blog]
[TLN Teacher Voices]
[Trends in the Living Networks]
[Tuttle SVC]
[U.S. Department of Education]
[Virtual Canuck]
[VRoot.org - Virtual Reality News and Resources edited by/for the VR Community]
[Weblogg-ed]
[WeblogsInEducation News]
[What is the (Next) Message?]
[wiley.ed.usu.edu - thinking]
[Will at Work Learning]
[WiseWordPress]
[Write Technology]
[XplanaZine]
[XplanaZine]
[Zeugma]