Stephen Downes

I am sitting here listening to EdTech Mega-Brainstorm #14b which, after a brief discussion of PowerPoint ("PowerPoint is not a gateway drug, it just leads to more PowerPoint"), launched into a lengthy discussion of whether blogging ought to be required in class. The show's hosts, surprisingly (and in my view, wrongly), aregued that it should. "Our classrooms are standardization agents." Articulately arguing the other point of view was Barbara Sawhill (she comments on her blog, "You can't manage learning. You can manage your class notes, you can manage the bodies in your classroom - but you can't manage what (if anything) anyone learns."), who argued that students' learning needs and learning styles should be taken into account. If you listen to one podcast this week, listen to this one. MP3 of EdTech Mega-Brainstorm #14b. Also on Ed Tech Talk this week: an interview with edupodcasting pioneer Bob Sprankle and Bud the Teacher.