November 28, 2006

OLDaily

Stephen Downes, Michael Feldstein and Cable Green[Edit][Delete]: EduPatents: The Gathering Storm, Ohio Learning Network [Edit][Delete] November 28, 2006
[link: Hits] I had a fascinating (and long - I didn't get out of the office until after 10 last night) discussion with Michael Feldstein and OLN's Cable Green on edupatents and, in particular, the Blackboard patent. In addition to some interesting back and forth between the three of us, we were also visited by Blackboard counsel Matthew Small, who added his own perspective on things near the end of the session. The Elluminate archive may be accessed directly (you'll need to install Elluminate to make it work) and an MP3 recording of the session (for those who cannot or won't install Elluminate) is also available thanks to the novel audio-capture of the Elluminate session effected by Ed Tech Talk (this is a temporary link; I'll be storing it at a permanent location on my site in a day or two). [Tags: , , ] [Comment] [Edit] [Delete] [Spam]

Stephen Downes, Dave Cormier and Jeff Lebow[Edit][Delete]: Webcast Discussion with Stephen Downes and Mike King of IBM, Ed Tech Talk [Edit][Delete] November 28, 2006
[link: 29 Hits] In the first part of yesterday's doubleheader I spent an engaging hour online with Mike King, Director, IBM Global Education Industry (MP3 Audio). We talked about IBM's approach to open source, its relation to other open source companies, its support for projects such as Sakai and Moodle, and its stance regarding the Blackboard patent. [Tags: , , , , ] [Comment] [Edit] [Delete] [Spam]

Stuart Yeates[Edit][Delete]: The Ingenuity of Cryptanalysts, EDUCAUSE Blogs [Edit][Delete] November 28, 2006
[link: 2 Hits] Just more proof that DRM won't work - and that the stuff that cracks DRM will be available to people running ordinary PCs. It turns out that different operations take different lengths of time to process on CPUs, so by analyzing the processing time you can decrypt what the CPU is doing. [Tags: ] [Comment] [Edit] [Delete] [Spam]

Norm Friesen[Edit][Delete]: E-Learning Myth #3: The Myth of the Knowledge Economy, Ipseity [Edit][Delete] November 28, 2006
[link: 15 Hits] Norm Friesen has posted another installment of his interesting and engaging E-Learning Myths series. In this item, he challenges the perception that we are in 'the networked society' or 'the information age' (among other designations). Perhaps we should say we are in the 'Would You Like Fries With That Age'. Friesen observes, "Creating more jobs than the remaining seven put together are: 'Hospitality,' 'health care,' and 'retail'" - all service industry jobs. Consistent with the pattern of reasoning in the previous installments (Myth 1, Myth 2), Friesen points to the unequal society obscured by these myths. "no account of the characteristics of our postindustrial economy would be complete without mention of polarization - both of income and class. The rich are getting richer, using economic changes related to knowledge and technology to increase their wealth, and the poor are getting poorer." [Tags: , ] [Comment] [Edit] [Delete] [Spam]

Will Thalheimer[Edit][Delete]: Web 3.0 and Learning, Will at Work Learning [Edit][Delete] November 28, 2006
[link: Hits] I have commented on what some are calling "Web 3.0" before, questioning the concept. Here's a case in point. From the post: "[The holy-grail of Web 3.0 developers] is to build a system that can give a reasonable and complete response to a simple question like: 'I'm looking for a warm place to vacation and I have a budget of $3,000. Oh, and I have an 11-year-old child.'" OK, now, think about that. Do we ask questions like that? Well - no. First of all, we tend to forget to add the qualifiers (such as the budget and the child) when we ask. But even more importantly, we don't want to include some of this information in the question. It's an old rule - never tell the sales person what you're willing to spend. But also - I don't want to limit what I'm looking for. I'll spend more than $3000 if the trip is worth it, and I'll find a sitter for the child if I have to. What this means, then, is that whatever we're looking at, it won't be set up like a search or a query. It has to be much more subtle, much more interpretive, much more dynamic, much more immersive. The Web 3.0 people are talking about is the old Web 1.0 - we deliver content, you listen. But the next generation web will be more like Web 2.0 on steroids - the web itself will warp according my needs, my interests, my contributions. [Tags: , ] [Comment] [Edit] [Delete] [Spam]

Clarence Fisher[Edit][Delete]: Mini - Manifesto for Classrooms 2.0, Remote Access [Edit][Delete] November 28, 2006
[link: Hits] It is mini and it is a manifesto and it's pretty much the message that has been carried in numerous ways in these pages:
- Teaching and Learning are about Forming Networks
- New Tools Give us New Channels
- Ideas are Viral
- Pursuing Your Own Goals
- The Gatekeepers are Gone
Like other manifestos, it is also the harbinger of a change, of a realignment of power structures. [Tags: ] [Comment] [Edit] [Delete] [Spam]

Tony Hirst[Edit][Delete]: OpenLearn Daily Learning Chunks via RSS, OUseful Info [Edit][Delete] November 28, 2006
[link: 7 Hits] It was only a matter of time before someone developed this (I have been calling them 'RSS Scripts') - RSS feeds for serialized episodes that start at the beginning no matter when you subscribe. Tony Hirst is experimenting with them. "Just like 'tip of the day', materials can be delivered one small chunk at a time once per day to the informal learner's feed reader. For learners who can get into the habit of looking at the feed once every day or two, the course material will be delivered in a sensibly paced way, and will not overload the learner in advance." [Tags: ] [Comment] [Edit] [Delete] [Spam]

Various authors[Edit][Delete]: Top 50 P2P Podcasts by Topic, P2P Foundation [Edit][Delete] November 28, 2006
[link: Hits] The P2P foundation, which has been indexing podcasts on the subject, has released its list of the top fifty. I have listened to many of these recordings, and am happy to have contributed one of them, a talk on connective knowledge. [Tags: ] [Comment] [Edit] [Delete] [Spam]

George H. Buck[Edit][Delete]: The First Wave: The Beginnings of Radio, Journal of Distance Education [Edit][Delete] November 28, 2006
[link: Hits] My very first exposure to the concept of distance learning was a documentary film on the School of the Air in Australia, from which I learned about the use of radio to provide an education to children living on sheep stations in the Outback. So it was a highlight of my trip to Australia in 2004 when I was able to visit the School in Alice Springs and use the modern version of their network to talk about the today's version of the same thing. Now along comes this absolutely fascinating look at the Canadian equivalent, offered through (of all places) the Canadian National Railway. I have actually heard the phrase, "CBC educated," which speaks to the power of radio as a learning medium in Canada, and I think of my own experiences as a child at home or out camping or driving the highway to Slave Lake or in my small cabin, listening to the comforting words of people like Lister Sinclair and Peter Gzowski and I realize with a start that I too am 'CBC educated'. Thanks, George Buck, for this. [Tags: , , , , , , ] [Comment] [Edit] [Delete] [Spam]

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Copyright 2006 Stephen Downes
National Research Council Canada

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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