November 2007
75 posts
Bees and the internet →
Setting aside the recent challenges of colony collapse disorder, the ability of bees to achieving complex tasks has long fascinated organizational theorists. And now the dances of bees (not starring Costner) are being used to improve the efficiency of web servers: “Bees tackle their resource allocation problem (i.e. a limited number of bees and unpredictable demand on their time and desired...
2007 Post Secondary Fact Book →
Signal Hill produces a regular newsletter focusing on the economics of learning and technology companies. In a slight deviation from that typical publication, they have released their 2007 Post-Secondary Fact Book (.pdf). Some interesting information on the US post-secondary market - over 900 billion spent on education annually (that appears to include k-12 and other forms of education),...
Technology and biology integration →
Research of this nature is intriguing, yet does cause a moment of reflection on what does it mean to be human?…and what does our future hold as we integrate biology and technology into combined networks?: “With the ultimate aim of allowing paralysed people to walk again, a team at Duke University in Durham implanted electrodes in the brains of two rhesus macaques and analysed the...
Microcelebrity →
The concept of microcelebrities (people who are very well known to a small group of people) makes sense to me. In the educational blog space - with subsections of corporate, library, open education, higher education, K-12, etc. - has many individuals who are well known to groups ranging in size from dozens to thousands. Of course, the celebrity effect is rather small by traditional standards. The...
Language Learning →
About 15 years ago I planned on going into the field of language learning, but I got sidetracked along the way with flight simulation, computer-based training and the Web. Ken Carroll on Learning is a new blog, with a post this week on language learning, in this case Irish. Since we’ve been running circles around French Immersion in our province, Ken’s perspective may be a welcome change,...
Mobile phones →
Apparently, there are 3.3 billion mobile phone accounts in the world. In contrast, I have seen numbers of computers range from 750-900 million. Which suggests that anyone designing learning without an eye on access by (or designed for) mobile phones is missing a huge opportunity. (via smartmobs)
Blogs →
Commoncraft just released a short video on Blogs in Plain English
Email is dead? (again) →
Email’s demise is once again forecast: email is dead?. The author states: “Email isn’t the only problem here, but its facility and omnivalence is. We use it for everything, from ultra-informal to ultra-formal: to broadcast announcements, arrange meetings, change meetings, share jokes, ask questions, negotiate plead and persuade, issue rationales and justifications, share documents,...
Semantic Web Applications →
When I last mentioned Radian6, they didn’t have much information on their website. Now you can see screen shots and get more detailed information on this New Brunswick company that is focused on “social media monitoring”; or basically finding out who’s saying what about your stuff.
A post today on Read/Write Web covers 10 Semantic Web applications to watch, showing how this field is growing in...
Universal Digital Library →
I much prefer collaborations of this sort - Universal Digital Library - for digitizing books than the Google/Microsoft ventures. While I appreciate the many “free” tools and resources provided by both companies, their digitization efforts are not altruistic. Eventually, value will be extracted - likely in the form of monetizing viewer attention through marketing. Knowledge artifacts...
Canadian mobile phone industry →
Well, this officially makes me happy: Ottawa opens up wireless industry to more competition. My mobile phone use is hampered by current pricing - web browsing, email, send pictures. Increased competition will hopefully bring the Canadian mobile market in line with prices other countries enjoy.
French as a Second Language Commission →
Following up from my post on pedagogy and politics, here is an update on what is happening in New Brunswick. The best place for up to date information and contacts at the FSL Commission is at Canadian Parents for French NB.
Locally, Amanda Cockschutt, sent a letter to the FSL Commission:
Dear Commissioners Lee and Croll,
As a parent and PSSC member, I have submitted my opinions on FSL programs...
Video Principles →
I’ve been thinking that video on the Web tells some stories a lot better than writing about them. After having stumbled through digital photography, I’m now thinking about trying my hand at videos.
Tom Werner has collected some excellent advice on how to shoot video and has posted it as a handy checklist for anyone interested in improving their skills. The advice comes from Phil Pendy, whom I met...
Workplace performance →
Jay Cross on Improving workplace performance (.pdf): “Knowledge workers are becoming self-service learners, taking on responsibilities that once resided with supervisors and the training department. Knowledge work requires
judgment and decision-making, and workers are beginning to use those abilities to manage themselves.”
An Important Lesson About Grassroots Media →
If you build it, they may not come. And, if they come, you will likely not be able to monetize their contributions. An Important Lesson About Grassroots Media: “I take some solace in knowing that some other smart people — who raised far more money from investors than we did -– also couldn’t figure out how to make user contributed content work as a business.”
The value...
Views of Google →
My dichotomous view of Google is aptly summed up with two articles I encountered today: Google funds renewable energy(good) and Google hands over anonymous bloggers IP address (not good).
Openness →
Much of my writing and speaking over the last few years flies under the banner of “openness”. Open environments enable connections to form. Connections and networks represent the foundation of knowledge and learning, which in turn represent society’s ability to function in complex and adaptive climates. The heart of openness rests in democracy (as conceived in days gone by, not...
Wetpaint: no-ad education wikis →
Wetpaint is an innovative and user-friendly wiki site. I’ve used it for various in-class and conference related presentations. So, needless to say (but I will anyway), I am rather pleased to see that they are now offering educators ad-free wikis when used for learning.
Student Entrepreneurship, Part 2 →
Once again, I’ll be going to TRHS and talking to the high school entrepreneurship class this week. I had some good feedback last time and would always appreciate more input. Zach, the teacher who is behind this, said that the Spring session was a hit, especially the trailer for the movie The Corporation. Many of the students now go and rent the movie and show it to their parents.
I may have a...
Pocket Texting and Open Phone Tests →
From the “So What Do We Do About This?” Department comes a story about the tech savvyness of one 14-year old South Korean youngster who is making his phone play an important part in his education.
Insoo doesn’t even have to take the phone out of his pocket to send an SMS. He knows how to slide it open, which buttons to push how many times to reach the “Send SMS” menu option, compose the entire...
Canadian Education Stats →
CBC News (follow the link for data on each province & territory) reports that:
The student staff ratio is going down, with a current average of about 1:16
Expenditures on public education have increased by almost 25% in the past six years
Outwardly, these are positive signs, as there are more teachers per student and we are spending more. Add the fact of falling school drop-out rates and...
A Wiring Diagram of the Brain →
A Wiring Diagram of the Brain: “…to truly understand how a network of neurons can perform a particular function, scientists need a new kind of map. “A lot of properties of brain function are at the level of the circuit—information is being integrated, processed, extracted…To understand what that means, you need to be able to see who connects to who.”“
China's bid for world domination →
China’s bid for world domination (a rather subtle, non-confrontational, non-fear inducing title) is a sign of the depth of global change in not just economics, but also education: “What defines a global “superpower”? In the past, it was the size of national armies or possession of nuclear weapons.
But now there is a more important (and peaceful) benchmark: the size and...
Data Driven Driving Decisions →
When my beloved Honda Accord with about 170,000 miles on it finally started breaking down from far too frequent trips to the airport, Wendy and I decided it was time walk the talk and replace it with a hybrid. We did some family research on the matter, talked a lot about why we were making this decision, and narrowed our choices (as if there were a slew) to a Civic Hybrid or a Prius. After a few...
No place to hide →
The growing prominence of networks is the most defining shift of the last half century. Networks of communication and information have existed as long as people have communicated with each other. The initial forms consisted of conversations shared in small groups/tribes. The development of writing as a means to make the spoken word explicit and more permanent, permitted networks to form outside of...
More FUD? →
The mass media are carrying a variety of stories about the Internet’s inability to carry traffic in as little as two years. I’m not an investigative journalist but I wonder if this is a concerted FUD (fear, uncertainty, doubt) campaign to put pressure on governments and regulators to allow the telecommunications oligopoly to more freely implement packet shaping. First tell everyone that there is...
Corporate Learning: Trends and Innovations →
The Corporate Learning: Trends and Innovations conference officially wrapped up earlier this week. All 15 recordings are now available. My presentation: Designing your organizational learning infrastructure (or the slidershare version).
Groups, networks, collectives, crews, teams →
Before we truly get to the essence of most issues, greater complexification is required to address many existing nuances (at least, that’s what I tell myself when I get overwhelmed).
Stephen Downes started the conversation with the discussion of groups and networks
Terry Anderson and John Dron then suggested groups, networks, and collectives.
And recently Dave Snowden adds crews and teams...
Our Duty to Protect through Education →
I like John Connell’s statement in Our Duty to Protect through Education: “how do we teach our young people to make responsible use of the web tools and resources at their disposal if we are completely unable to access them in school?”
I fully understand and respect the need for security in schools. But, as John indicates, schools are about preparing people for the...
Bill Kerr: web 2.0 hype →
Bill Kerr’s thoughts resonate: “I’m tired of web2.0 hype, its far from new and because I’m not looking forward to the next education ICT conference that once again will have web2.0 as the main theme and present it as a “revolution”“
So you want to be an e-learning consultant? →
eLearn Magazine has just published my article entitled, So you want to be an e-learning consultant?
Many people dream of striking out on their own as an e-learning consultant but aren’t quite sure what it takes to succeed in a competitive marketplace. In what is sure to be one of eLearn Magazine’s most popular features, consultant Harold Jarche lays out the basics: How to establish and develop...
Google Streetview and cool (geeky) image... →
Google has been building its streetview map feature (complete with what’s likely the goofiest video they could have possibly created - orange spandex=bad) rather quietly. But the feature has lots of promise. How does a company go about getting all of those digital images? With six VWs outfitted with $45K, 11 lens video cameras. At a cost of $125-$700 per mile, the current 50,000 miles logged...
Everything I Know About Presentations, I Learned... →
Darren Barefoot offers advice on how to improve presentation skills: Everything I Know About Presentations, I Learned in Theatre School. Lessons can certainly be extracted for classroom or lecture-based teaching as well.
Reading and books →
It has been a busy week for text, the written word, and reading. Amazon announces Kindle - a digital book reader (which has most appropriately been labeled: ugly, from the 80’s, not of this decade…and the occasional “don’t judge an ebook by its cover” (ugh)). Will Richardson states, in “The ipod of Reading”: “I think it’s clear we’re in a transition...
Report: Redefining how success is measured in... →
Canadian Council on Learning’s most recent report - Redefining how success is measured in First Nations, Inuit and Métis Learning - reflects the experiences I had as an instructor at Red River College. Different learners have different learning needs. No where is this more evident in our school systems than with learners who are not integrated (and may not wish to be) within the...
The First “techPresident” →
I know I haven’t been reading as often or as widely in my aggregator of late, but I’ve been somewhat surprised by how little we’ve been writing about this next election, which, I think is simply put the most important election of my lifetime, at least. I’ve really been struggling with the state of the world more than usual these days. The environment (I think when you travel a lot you really get a...
Gary Stager and Yours Truly Close NYSCATE →
There were only a few hundred people who hung around until the bitter end of this year’s NYSCATE conference in Rochester when Gary Stager and I had an hour to “discuss” (not debate) the world of technology and learning, and I hope they felt it was worth it. Gary and I really don’t disagree on all that much, we just come from different frames. And I admire the passion with which he holds his...
Putting a training peg into an education hole →
Michael Feldstein has been examining Desire2Learn’s competency model that is supposed to make e-learning that much more aligned with education. The D2L model is one that starts with a Competency, from which there are certain Learning Outcomes and from these, Assessments can be developed. Michael shows some of the inherent difficulties with such an approach:
This is the root of one of the most...
The net regards hierarchy as a failure, and routes... →
The title comes from Mark Pesce’s presentation in September on Mob Rules, which I found via Will Richardson. That means that everyone in the edtech field has already heard about it. Anyway, this is an absolutely fascinating read, even for someone already immersed in all this Web 2.0 stuff.
The whole idea of the Mob is intriguing and seems bang on to me. Now that 3 billion people are connected...
Trailfire - bundling your links →
Jay Cross mentioned Trailfire last week and that had me check it out again. I found a trail about personal knowledge management that included one of my posts. I had just been talking about PKM with a client and promptly sent him the trail, and he responded, “That’s the first time I’ve seen trailfire - that seems a lot better than sending a list of links. Very cool.”
I’ll have to set up a few...
“The iPod of Reading” →
Tomorrow, Amazon is set to release “Kindle,” the digital book reader that holds over 200 books and does a whole lot more (i.e. full text searches, annotations, wireless downloads, online surfing, etc.) It’s a huge suggestion, isn’t it, that we might be on the verge of moving one of the last bastions of the analog world online, and I know that this is a real sore point with many who love to curl up...
On Balance, Chapter 37 →
From today’s Times:
South Korea boasts of being the most wired nation on earth. In fact, perhaps no other country has so fully embraced the Internet. Ninety percent of homes connect to cheap, high-speed broadband, online gaming is a professional sport, and social life for the young revolves around the “PC bang,” dim Internet parlors that sit on practically every street corner.But such ready...
The “So Unexpected” Present →
I forget what pointed me to this incredibly thought provoking speech by Mark Pesce about the potential of networks, but man…talk about a mind bender. How can you not read something that starts with
The world has changed. The world is changing. The world will change a whole lot more. We lucky few, we band of coders, bear witness to the most comprehensive transformation in human communication...
Pedagogy & Politics →
When you have a state-run education system it seems that all education is political, n’est-ce pas? The French Immersion debate has once again reared its head in the Province of New Brunswick, the same place that gave birth to the COR party. The Confederation of Regions party’s main platform was to reverse official bilingualism in the province.
The Minister has commissioned another review of the...
Day One: Corporate Learning →
We had a great opening day for our Corporate Learning:Trends and Innovations conference.
Recordings are available: Tony Karrer on elearning 2.0, Steve Mahaley on “Let’s get real about the virtual”. An informal discussion on elearning 2.0 is also available. Great first day! Tomorrow we hear from Richard Straub, Donald Taylor, Jay Cross, and Rae Tanner.
Ray Sims shares his...
Cutting Textbook costs →
Well, this is a start, but it’s short term at best: To Cut Textbook Costs, They’re Printing Their Own: “On Wednesday, the Arizona community college announced a partnership with Pearson Custom Publishing to allow Rio Salado professors to piece together single individualized textbooks from multiple sources.”
I think schools would be better off collaborating with each other and...
Network Learning Practice →
Obviously, I’ve been taking a bit of a blogging break of late. And while I’m not feeling like I’m totally back at it yet, I have found myself doing some reading, getting back into Twitter, and connecting some dots in my brain. Without question, these last six weeks have been mind-numbing…way too many presentations in way too many cities to have much left in the tank at the end of the day to read...
Blog readability test →
Since a lot of people are checking out their blog’s readability on this quick test, I thought I’d join the crowd. Now I wonder if this is based on US high school levels, or Canadian or European, etc. Personally, I think a lower level is better, so perhaps I should get rid of them words like taxonomy or pedagogy. Anyway, FWIW:
Thanks, Karyn.
We were wrong →
How long until we hear educators, instead of music industry representatives, saying this: “We expected our business would remain blissfully unaffected even as the world of interactivity, constant connection and file sharing was exploding. And of course we were wrong.”
Wonderful World of Wikis →
I’m digging back into wikis for a client; reviewing my bookmarks and following trails of links in this growing field. For instance, WikiMatrix has dozens of options listed and includes a selection wizard to help you select a wiki. In reviewing some saved posts in my aggregator I re-read Nathan’s post on using wikis in a pharmaceutical company, with this advice on a content strategy:
If someone...
