January 2008
86 posts
Review: Moodle Teaching Techniques →
I had written a review of William Rice’s previous book and noted that it was rather technical. Moodle Teaching Techniques is more pedagogical and gets down to the details of how to develop online courses in Moodle.
Moodle adoption is growing and it is probably the most widely-used open source learning content management system in the world. That makes this book rather timely [not like my...
Visual communication and visualization →
Together with Cyprien Lomas, I presented a few sessions on data visualization at EDUCAUSE (an Elluminate recording from a similar session in early 2007 is available here). With the concept of visualization still fresh in my thinking, I encountered two excellent resources on visual thinking: 175 data visualization samples
And an exceptional resource on the history of visual communication (via...
All things mobile →
Mobile phones - which significantly outsell computers annually - are becoming a critical focus for technology companies (and, less intensely, for educators). A panel at Davos, with corporate leaders, details the intent of many to create an advertising model around mobile phones (how long until access is free, but ad-supported, like Google’s search model?). Wesley Fryer presents a more...
From Access to Information to Access to People →
Nice article in Educause by John Seely Brown and Richard P. Adler titled “Minds on Fire: Open Education, the Long Tail, and Learning 2.0″ which is another great conversation starter for those who still may not have a basic understanding of these shifts. It’s written more toward the higher ed audience, obviously, but there is still a lot of resonance for the K-12 set.
There are many familiar...
Horizon Report →
Horizon Report 2008 is now out, as has been detailed on many listservs, blogs, and web sites. The report is a valuable resource for administrators, academic leaders, and educators to gain a broad perspective of dominant trends within education and technology. In a sense, it’s a report that reaches beyond the some what densely connected small world of edubloggers and early adopters to engage...
RFID - data and privacy →
Most of what we define as data or information is what we explicitly create or gather. For example, if I write an article or contribute to a wiki, the resulting information is intentional and a result of active work on my part. When a scientist discovers a cure to a disease, or a new drug to treat or reduce symptoms, the information is again a consequence of intent. Our conversations are similar -...
EDUCAUSE - San Antonio →
EDUCAUSE (ELI’s) annual meeting in San Antonio has been a great experience. Had the opportunity to meet many of my favorite bloggers Gardner Campbell, Brian Lamb, Bryan Alexander, Alan Levine, Barbara Ganley, and others. Over the last few years, EDUCAUSE has been making more of their resources freely available to educators - including ECAR research, 7 Things You Should Know, and conference...
Community in a Box →
I’ve mentioned before that I’m getting a lot of questions about creating “facebook-in-a-box” applications for industry niches or associations. Everyone wants a social network, but on their own terms.
I was commissioned to get a community going around the learning industry in our province in 2003, but that endeavour failed, for reasons I’ve noted. I also worked on a walled-garden healthcare...
Multitasking →
Multitasking gets lots of attention…but true multi-tasking doesn’t exist (rapid task switching may leave the impression of multi-tasking). A recent paper addresses this concept - The Autumn of Multitaskers: “Multitasking messes with the brain in several ways. At the most basic level, the mental balancing acts that it requires—the constant switching and pivoting—energize regions...
First, we kill the curriculum →
The printing press changed our relationship with knowledge and sparked the Protestant Reformation, which one could say helped bring about the Enlightenment and all of those scientific advances (such as real medicine) that we now take for granted. As John Naughton, of The Observer, says of a UK study on information seeking:
The study confirms what many are beginning to suspect: that the web is...
Would you like a diploma with those fries? →
With much controversy, deriding, ridicule, and some approval, UK has granted several large corporations (including McDonald’s) “the power to award the equivalent of advanced high-school qualifications” (see Would you like a diploma with those fries? and Graham Atwell’s commentary). I don’t think this is what most of us have in mind when we talk about expanding the...
EDUCAUSE - San Antonio Presentation →
I’m at EDUCAUSE in San Antonio. I’ve had the opportunity to watch a cattle drive, watch the San Antonio Spurs get severely embarrassed, walk (miles and miles) on the beautiful River Walk, and, of course, enjoy the local cuisine. I’m speaking later today, and have posted my presentation on slideshare: Curriculum, Knowledge, and Learning.
On “The Twitterialization” of Blogging, Networks,... →
On the somewhat surreal occasion of the 1,000th person to follow me on Twitter (really, how is that possible?), and since Twitter seemed to be on the tip of everyone’s tongues at EduCon this weekend, it’s probably an appropriate moment to reflect on how I’ve evolved in my thinking on this strange yet somehow important little tool.
In my session on Saturday, when I opened up the discussion on...
Richard Florida in Sackville on 6 Feb 2008 →
Richard Florida, author and blogger, will be presenting a lecture at Convocation Hall at Mount Allison University on 6 Feb ‘08 at 7:30 PM.
The title of his lecture is “The Creative Class: The Role of the Artistic Community in Building Towns and Cities.” Everyone is welcome and there is no admission charge.
Given Sackville’s designation as a cultural capital this year, Florida’s presentation is...
Live Blogging from the Panel →
Powered by ScribeFire.
Local Connections and Global Connections →
There’s much to write about EduCon Day 1, but here are just some quick thoughts before heading over for the final sessions:
*Science Leadership Academy is a special place. There are tons of schools out there that have more technology, better facilities, etc., but I think we’d all be hard pressed to find a school that has a more positive, deeply connected culture than this school. You talk to the...
EduCon 2.0 Session →
Just in case anyone might be interested in watching my EduCon session. Would love to have those of you who attended drop some of your comments in here if you like.
Technorati Tags: educon
Powered by ScribeFire.
Blog Commenting Evolves →
So the cool news here is that the CommentPress project that’s been spearheaded by the folks at The Institute for the Future of the Book is about to evolve into something that I think will be greatly useful for educators using WordPress blogs in their own practice or with their students. For the uninitiated, CommentPress is currently a WordPress template that allows readers to leave feedback not...
Some (more) thoughts on online communities for... →
I’ve been asked on several occasions over the past year to see if it’s possible to build a “facebook-in-a-box” for an organisation or association, so I’ve put some thoughts together here. It’s still a work in progress.
This is a follow up from a previous post, The Community Goldrush.
Implementing a Niche Business Network
The success of business-oriented online communities depends more on...
“First, Kill All the School Boards” →
The Atlantic has a piece by Matt Miller that made for some great plane ride reading last night. The article “A Modest Proposal to Fix the Schools: First, Kill All the School Boards,” gives a quick overview of Horace Mann’s desire to bring a Prussian system of nationalized schooling to America before lamenting the effects that the local control we ended up with have had on our educational...
Trust Barometer →
This is an interesting study: Trust Barometer, 2008. The report looks at how people form trust with companies in different countries. Some findings are obvious (trust is higher with a “person like yourself”), but others provide insight into trends: citizens in countries with high government control rely on online forums and social network sites to gain information, youth are more more...
The future →
The future figured prominently in my reading this week. Janet Clarey questions the future of physical classrooms based on Elliot Masie’s question of Classrooms of the future. She asks: do we need physical classrooms for learning. While the comments to her (and Elliot’s) post range significantly, a tone of classrooms are dead is obvious. I disagree. All tools in context. Narrow,...
The Power of Being Influenced →
Marketers rely on a few prominent people to promote their message, assuming that we will be influenced by celebrities (“be like Mike”). Research on networks suggests influence doesn’t work that way - The Power of Being Influenced: “A key reason some ideas are so successful, conventional wisdom has held, is that a few highly influential people espouse them…It’s a...
Second Life Tutorials →
I’m preparing for a Second Life workshop I’m slated to deliver in the near future. And this list of tutorials looks useful for participants and newcomers to Second Life. User created tutorials have come a long way. When I first tried installing Movable Type in 2001, I followed a written tutorial provided by the company. The process took quite a while (probably more to do with my skills...
Educating Our Children →
The current issue of Forbes is focused on educating our children. Numerous experts have put forward their theories in short articles. Missing, however, are the views and opinions of teachers, parents, and students. While the commentaries of prominent people will obviously gain more attention, I think more wisdom is likely to be found in educators in the trenches. Better yet, host a “submit...
Content and learning →
The open education resources (OER) movement continues to gain momentum - Open Yale, MIT OCW, Connexions, Open Learn - the list goes on. Sadly, Canada - Land of Common Sense - has only one institution (Capilano College) with an OER initiative according to OCW Consortium. This week, with a mix of applause and criticism, the The Cape Town Declaration was released as “a statement of principle, a...
Need an Escape Plan? →
I really enjoy the Escape from Cubicle Nation blog and now you can prepare your own escape to free-agentry with this audio program and workbook. Check out “3 Steps to break through the fear of leaving your corporate job so you can get on the road to starting your own business“:
I have no connection with this offer, other than being a regular reader. This also seems like a great gift for...
Usability - KISS →
I’ve been enjoying CBC Radio’s Spark program that looks at technology and culture. The host, Nora Young, is knowledgeable and runs a great show. I pick it up on air from time to time and have downloaded a podcast or two.
As I was listening today, I heard that there was a wiki for sharing information and ideas so I thought I’d give it a try. The site is built on SocialText, which is an enterprise...
Here We Go Again–Part 2 →
After watching the Frontline special “Growing Up Online” last night, I’m left with a couple of thoughts. First, it was not as doom and gloomy as the trailer suggested; in fact, by and large I think it was fairly balanced overall. It pretty accurately described the challenges that educators face at this moment (despite the only 8 minutes allotted to the subject.) It refuted the idea that predators...
Looking for Student “Blogging” →
At the risk of riding into another semantic train wreck, I’m looking for a couple of good examples of student blogging. Blogging as in writing that has “Links with analysis and synthesis that articulates a deeper understanding or relationship to the content being linked [to] and written [about] with potential audience response in mind.” (Was that really almost four years ago?)
I put up a couple...
Do Generational Differences Matter in... →
The Instructional Technology Forum periodically hosts fairly regular discussions on key issues impacting the design of learning (you can subscribe to the forum mailing list here). The current discussion is particularly relevant to educators and trainers trying to make sense of how the so called generational differences impact instructional design. The paper explores the range of literature -...
Some industry stats... →
A few stats on media, blogs, and mobile growth: “Some 40% of web site operators have launched mobile sites and another 22% plan to do so in the next year…he biggest impact of blogs, says the study, is in the speed and availability of news, while 61.8% of the respondents said that blogs were having a significant impact on the “tone” of news reporting…9.3% translates...
EduCon Conversation Update →
With an emphasis on “conversation.” For those who might be thinking of coming to my session on Saturday in Philadelphia, just know that I’m not planning on taking up too much of the time (10-15 mins or so) doing anything but contextualizing the rest of the discussion (the last 75 minutes or so), and that this will be an unconference session along the lines of what we did in Shanghai. The...
Here We Go Again →
Since I can, I’m embedding the trailer for the Frontline presentation of “Growing Up Online” which airs tomorrow at 9 EST on PBS channels everywhere. This looks like another of those “Be vewwy afwaid” moments in the annals of kids and the Internet. Joy.
Again, I think danah boyd says it right:
“You have a generation faced with a society with fundamentally different properties thanks to the...
“New York Measuring Teachers by Test Scores” →
I just love this:
New York City has embarked on an ambitious experiment, yet to be announced, in which some 2,500 teachers are being measured on how much their students improve on annual standardized tests. The move is so contentious that principals in some of the 140 schools participating have not told their teachers that they are being scrutinized based on student performance and improvement....
A Pictoral Commons →
Flickr has initiated The Commons, initially in collaboration with the US Library of Congress.
These beautiful, historic pictures from the Library represent materials for which the Library is not the intellectual property owner. Flickr is working with the Library of Congress to provide an appropriate statement for these materials. It’s called “no known copyright restrictions.”
Hopefully, this...
Aggregating Bookmarks →
I’ve used various social bookmarking tools, such as Furl and Magnolia, but have settled on delicious for a while. If you use many bookmarking applications, as well as rating tools like Digg, you might be interested in SocialMarker, which lets you save a page for filing on several systems at once.
SocialMarker lists 31 tools, several which I’ve never heard of, and a new bookmarking service,...
How it All Ends →
Saw this at Chris Lehmann’s site. As he says “This is one science teacher’s attempt to influence the way we talk about the issue of climate change. Pass it on.” And also, take action.
Technorati Tags: climatechange, globalwarming, education
Powered by ScribeFire.
Traditional Media “Elevating the Conversation”... →
Interesting post by Mark Glaser that does a really thorough job of summing up the challenges the major media outlets are facing as they “get the religion of audience participation.” The central question is:
How do you harness the audience’s knowledge and participation without
the forums devolving into a messy online brawl that requires
time-intensive moderation?
The good news here, as Glaser...
Logical Fallacies →
Green Chameleon highlights a nice resource - taxonomy of logical fallacies. Spending a bit of time in a resource like this is beneficial for anyone.
Data Portability →
Data portability is going to become a significant discussion. People are becoming more aware of the hassles of multiple profiles on multiple sites…as well as the concerns about who has ownership of the data. Dataportability.org is introduced in a short video here. I’m generally a big fan of tying pieces together and reducing duplication. But, data portability has its concerns as a...
Learn More →
With different colleges, universities, corporations, and libraries experimenting with technology, the number of tutorials are growing quickly. Gone are the days of sitting down with someone and explaining how to use a wiki or flickr…it’s so much easier to just send a link to a video or tutorial. Ok, that’s not completely true. Emerging technologies get used primarily as a result...
How Google Works →
Google now controls 65% of the search market, with indications its dominance will continue to grow. With its humble ambition of organizing the worlds information, it has become a steady presence in how many people interact with information (and with each other). Yet most people are not aware of how Google works. How and why it returns the results it does. Or the decisions Google makes on behalf of...
25,000 Copies and Counting… →
So I’m going to break my self-imposed rule about blatant self-promotion in my blog posts just this once.
I just found out that my book has eclipsed 25,000 copies sold, and that sales this year so far are actually on the rise.
This. Amazes. Me.
A heartfelt thank you (been doin’ a lot of that lately) to all of you who have read it, who have shared your stories with me about it, who have showed me...
Fair Copyright for Canada →
Have you joined yet?
From the Facebook group description:
In December 2007, it became apparent that the Canadian government was about to introduce new copyright legislation that would have been a complete sell-out to U.S. government and lobbyist demands. The new Canadian legislation was to have mirrored the U.S. Digital Millennium Copyright Act with strong anti-circumvention legislation that...
Social networking in education →
The Economist has been hosting a series of debates. The first focused on technology and education, the second on university recruiting, and the third and final debate is on social networking (great to see Ewan McIntosh in the debate - I always appreciate seeing edubloggers involved in discussions outside of blog community).
The discussion has attracted numerous responses: Will Richardson:...
Social Networks (No) vs. Social Tools (Yes) in... →
Earlier I Tweeted that this post by danah boyd might be the most important blog post I’ve read of 2008 thus far and now, after reading it through for the fourth time, I’m thinking it might stay that way for a while. It’s important to me because it clarifies a lot of my thinking about social networks in schools yet leaves me with a number of other important questions that I struggle to answer.
I...
Making the Network Real–Part 2 →
Just wanted to say thanks to those of you from around the world that contributed to the wiki for our presentation yesterday. (For those who may still want to play, it will stay public for the near future.) It took me a good part of last night and this morning to read through the wonderful responses. Suffice to say, my brain is reeling. The messages and resources and ideas that you left were...
Site Stats →
Tony has asked several fellow bloggers to share their site stats. Obviously I use a different stats package than Tony does [actually, I use several, which all give different data]. Anyway, for what it’s worth and in the interest of finding some patterns in this mess, here are some screen shots of my raw stats. The first image shows this site since it started in April 2003 (the blog went live in...
Diversity in the edublogosphere →
Janet Clarey posts on women in the edublogosphere: “his could be a post about Canadian bloggers, or Australian bloggers, or male bloggers, or under-30 bloggers or bloggers with webbed feet…whatever. But it’s not. It’s a post about women bloggers (mostly in the education space)”.
