Can people educate themselves? The jury's still out, I think, on this. But these five autodidact sites suggest that, maybe, they can. Jeff Cobb, Mission to Learn, March 10, 2010 [Tags: none] [Link] [Comment]

The emphasis we place on a single word in a sentence can change the whole meaning of the sentence. This is because the meaning is based, in part, on the alternatives excluded by the sentence, snd these are contextually bound and indicated by emphasis. That's (one reason) why we say meaning is not contained solely in the sentence itself, but is distributed across an environment. This post is intended to be a cautionary note abut social media, but extends to the use of text generally. That's why I'll often indicate emphasis in posts, with either italics or *stars*. Steve Borsch, Connecting the Dots, March 10, 2010 [Tags: none] [Link] [Comment]

Just for fun, I have posted a bunch of screenshots from one of my earliest web sites, from 1995. Stephen Downes, Half an Hour, March 10, 2010 [Tags: none] [Link] [Comment]

In this article, a forward for a forthcoming book, I look at the relation between control and software. Web and learning applications, I write, look like language, with all its attendant expressiveness and freedom, but functions like architecture, which can be cold and inflexible. Stephen Downes, Half an Hour, March 10, 2010 [Tags: none] [Link] [Comment]

David Wiley points to the new US $500m OER initiative and notes they will be free for commercial reuse. "We now know that the resources created under the AGI funding will either be licensed CC BY or placed in the public domain. We know this because no CC licenses with SA or NC clauses live up to the promises made in the above statements. And the GFDL has been relegated to the realm of the OPL." Well, we'll see how this works out. The U.S. can provide content infrastructure (I agree with Wiley on this point, that content is infrastructure) free to citizens and corporations if it wants; we'll see how it reacts to what will be the natural impulse of the corporations to block access to the free stuff. David Wiley, iterating toward openness, March 9, 2010 [Tags: Books, Open Educational Resources] [Link] [Comment]

The standard for online courses, we are told, is firmly in place. Mark Guzdial protests. "Surely, this can't be it - it can't be that Sakai + Twitter + a blog or Wiki is what all future studies will call the 'traditional' form of online courses? What about amazingly and powerful collaborative spaces like Kansas, and provably better ways of teaching with technology like cognitive tutors Surely we can do better than what's being used today? It's that second step that's more promising. We can do much better than that.  It's not even very hard.  Have you seen the great new tools that CMU has made available for building your own cognitive tutors I've learned that there is a term for those trying to change education through radical on-line approaches: 'edupunks.'" Mark Guzdial, Computing Education Blog, March 9, 2010 [Tags: Traditional and Online Courses, Portals, Twitter, Edupunk, Online Learning, Web Logs] [Link] [Comment]

Is standardisation of curriculum 'an (un)stable and precarious achievement'? It is disquieting, writes Artichoke, "that after reading Edwards this seems increasingly likely." These reflections are based on a reading of Lanier's You Are Not a Gadget: A Manifesto. Some good stuff here, like this: "innovate in order to find a way to describe your internal state instead of trivial external events, to avoid the creeping danger of believing that objectively described events define you, as they would define a machine."

Artichoke considers this in turn with respect to Richard Edwards Translating the Prescribed into the Enacted Curriculum (paywall, sorry) which draws "from actor-network theory (ANT) [to] provide alternative readings of the translations of the prescribed into the enacted curriculum." What we see is essentially a critique of knowledge translation, which has become popular in some public policy circles. Artichoke quotes Latour, "To translate is to betray: ambiguity is part of translation." 'Translating' (evidence-based) theory into practice is a one-way interaction, where what is really needed is diversity and conversation. Artichoke, Weblog, March 9, 2010 [Tags: Networks, Research, Interaction] [Link] [Comment]

The meaning of a word, for Derrida, is in part defined by the alternatives it excludes. (See p. 89, here). What was the range of choices from which one could have selected? We see this explicitly in this model of Google Suggest. What questions can we ask, and what questions are excluded? What do you suggest represents this relationship visually, and interestingly, shows how by reforming language Google Suggest reforms what we can imagine. Alex Chitu, Google Operating System, March 9, 2010 [Tags: Google] [Link] [Comment]

I've heard this from a couple sources, that Moodle is becoming a mish-mash of conflicting technologies. This, I think, is the inevitable outcome of the module-based approach that has come to characterize open source software (and a reason why such an approach doesn't appeal to me). Donald Clark talks about the various offshoots, including Open University's pilot, which he calls a "dead end", and Kineo's commercialization. He suggests that its constructivist intentions are "a lot of rot", not implemented in practise, and "a utopian dream". Donald Clark, Plan B, March 9, 2010 [Tags: Open Source, Constructivism] [Link] [Comment]

Let me begin the week with this uplifting post from Dave Pollard. "When much of your life is tied up with work (collaborative or hierarchical) and the schedules and priorities of others, most decisions are made for you, or at least restricted by the constraints of society. It is a bit startling to realize that, suddenly, almost every decision I face is mine alone to make. Each decision may have repercussions for others, which I of course have to think about, but ultimately my decisions are now driven by principles, not by accommodation." What are these principles, he asks? Being generous, valuing time, and living naturally. Dave Pollard, How To Save The World, March 8, 2010 [Tags: none] [Link] [Comment]

Norm Friesen previews a book, "DIY U: Edupunks, Edupreneurs, and the Coming Transformation of Higher Education" by Anya Kamenetz. We both received email this week from the publisher announcing the forthcoming release and noting "Dr. Friesen and you are briefly noted within the text, based on a session that the author attended at UBC." In fact, I was interviewed for the book by the author in January, 2009, and as I reported to our own public affairs people, "The interview focused mostly on models of learning for the future - I talked about the idea of personal learning, the idea that assessment will be dis-aggregated, and that credentials would be granted from numerous agencies." Norm Friesen says the book takes a moderate approach, and the publicity materials I've seen seem to agree. Norm Friesen, Weblog, March 8, 2010 [Tags: Assessment, Books] [Link] [Comment]

If higher education were like an organism that evolved, what would it look like? Probably nothing like this mixed-metaphor formulation: "the pendulum swing(s) faster between proprietary integration and open modulation to accelerate the clock speed for more effective and efficient knowledge creation and distribution?" Evolution isn't teleological; it isn't based on the imperative to "adapt or die". Rather, evolution is more a process of mixing an multiplying, aided by random mutations. If the environment stays the same, most mutations fail; if the environment changes, new mutations multiply rapidly to fill the new niche. In higher education, evolution would be aided by creating a lifecycle of things that grow, flourish, replicate themselves (with some variation), and then die. It is only when we create things that never die naturally - be they institutions or corporations - that we need to start talking about adapting. But adapting is a very different process, and has very different results. Paul Kim, EDUCAUSE Quarterly, March 8, 2010 [Tags: none] [Link] [Comment]

"The Internet is like a new computer running a flashy, exciting demo," writes David Gelernter, "but now it's time to start making the internet do what we want it to do." What the internet brings to the table, he writes, is a sense of "now" that we didn't have before - we know what people are doing now, we know what the price of aluminum is now, the weather now, public opinion, trends and fashions now. But we should refine this into a more complete mastery of time, to enable more reflective, deeper analysis of trends past and future. Scott Leslie, who sent me the link by email, asks, how much of this do we want to program into our machines? We don't want it to do our thinking for us, I think, but it should help us to newer, more reflective kinds of thinking. David Gelernter, Edge, March 8, 2010 [Tags: none] [Link] [Comment]

George Siemens and I have something in common: a background in the restaurant industry. That's just one tidbit from this wide-ranging interview available on video by Ulrike Reinhard. Siemens emerges as a thoughtful and articulate advocate of personalized learning and social networks. Of most interest to me, of course, is his discussion of the Connectivism and Connective Knowledge course we taught starting in 2008. But the key question is found in the title of the post, addressing how the education system can become decentralized. Ulrike Reinhard, Conversations At the Beginning of a New Time, March 8, 2010 [Tags: Personalization, Connectivism, Online Learning, Networks, Video] [Link] [Comment]

A longish article in last Tuesday's New York Times argues that great teaching can be taught. The basis for this proposition is a study by a former teacher named Doug Lemov who, we are told, conducted a study of the techniques used by successful teachers (as determined, in part, by standardized test scores). The advice, summed up as the eponymous "Lemov Taxonomy", a non-school of thought (I found zero scholarly references to it) that incorporates unsurprising techniques to hold the attention of students and to give them clear directions. Even supposing this produces a better teacher, I am left wondering whether this produces a better education.

The New York Times will soon put articles like this behind a subscription paywall, which will raise some issues in some quarters. This article, though ostensibly journalism, is in reality breathless promotion for Lemov's book, Teach Like a Champion, which in turn is promotion for Lemov's consulting service, Uncommon Schools, which in turn promotes aspects of the charter school and core content movements and the oublishing industry that supports those. When the Times is behind a paywall, these promoters will have to publish their articles elsewhere, because the stories will no longer receive wide distribution. Which, for the Times, raises the question of where it will get its stories from in the future. Elizabeth Green, New York Times, March 8, 2010 [Tags: Schools, Tests and Testing, Subscription Services, Books, Google] [Link] [Comment]

With all the talk of the "death of the VLE" one might wonder what Blackboard thinks about it. Wonder no more, as Blackboard's platform evangelist delivers a long and wide-ranging post defending the VLE in general and the company in particular. The post deserves more attention than I can give it in this short space. John Fontaine talks about the drivers for change - what features should count as core, the need for lower-cost systems, the desire to leverage emergent knowledge in a network. He responds to criticisms about the VLE's inflexibility and hegemony. Drawing on research into ten years of the VLE, he argues, "I do not see students requesting that instructors use Blackboard less, and even cites a student newspaper article arguing that the use of Blackboard should be mandatory. John Fontaine, Fountains of Fontaine, March 8, 2010 [Tags: Networks, Personal Learning Environment, Research, Blackboard Inc.] [Link] [Comment]

Following Forterra and Metaplace, another 3D environment, There, is shutting its virtual doors. "There has closed registration, billing, and member program upgrades. Also, developer submissions are closed and rental processing will be stopped, so no more rent will be collected for neighborhoods, lots, or There homes. And, all purchases of Therebucks and member program updates... will be refunded in full." If Second Life can survive the downturn, it'll be in a good place. Karl Kapp, Kapp Notes, March 3, 2010 [Tags: Second Life] [Link] [Comment]

Open Courseware Consortium president Steve Carson responds to David Wiley's post. Included is a link to the orgqanization's strategic plan Call me jaded, but I don't think Wiley's opinion has changed - he posts the Value Proposition to Members" on his blog without comment (just to put things in perspective - for one year's worth of OCWC's $1 million annual budget I could produce OLDaily indefinitely into the future, until I died, by living off the interest (p.s. anybody willing to give me $1 million to do that should feel free to write)). David Wiley, iterating toward openness, March 3, 2010 [Tags: OpenCourseWare, Web Logs] [Link] [Comment]

I agree that we can't ever say "conclusively" about such a study, but games do influence attitudes. "But there's no point in being naive about it: experiences and activities influence our views, thoughts, and beliefs (duh). Even the US Army recognizes the value of games in developing skills (mindsets?) of future soldiers." George Siemens, elearnspace, March 3, 2010 [Tags: Video, Experience] [Link] [Comment]

The Winnipeg Free Press - never a bastion of enlightenment - is calling for tuition increases. "Manitoba students have had it easy for too long for no real purpose other than political" it argues in an editorial. "Low tuition has not opened the post-secondary doors to low-income families." Maybe not - low-income families have many barriers to face that are not addressed by lower fees. But raising tuition fees surely slams the door on any lower-income students that make it that far. Raising fees entrenches higher education as a bastion of privilege for the wealthier set, and devalues academic merit as the criterion for admission. The newspaper should recommend redressing tuition 'shortfalls' with compensating public funding, and recommend means for lowering additional barriers to low-income students, such as public access to open learning resources so they can benefit, like their wealthier counterparts, from a rich information environment prior to enrolment.

We will see a lot more of this. Newspapers and other media will not hesitate to leap to the defense of the wealthier at the expense of the public. That is why it is a public policy imperative to provide alternative routes to post-secondary education. If we depend on universities, and universities remain a very expensive means of providing an education, then an education will once again become reserved for the wealthy. Such routes must not be means-based - why is why I discourage public-private partnerships. They must allow the person willing to devote the time and effort access to educational resources, counselling and support, peer interaction and mentorship, and evaluation and assessement. Editorial, Winnipeg Free Press, March 3, 2010 [Tags: Academia, Tuition and Student Fees] [Link] [Comment]