October 2008
72 posts
Social Networks, the Next Educational Tool? →
Social Networks, the Next Educational Tool?: “At last year’s Educause conference, in Seattle, educators pondered what to do about students’ technology habits. Should they try to change them?…
Introduction to Emerging Technologies →
A few weeks ago, I mentioned that University of Manitoba is offering a Certificate in Emerging Technologies for Learning. The first course - introduction to emerging technologies - starts November…
D’Arcy Norman is officially awesome. →
If you read this site via RSS, you likely won’t notice a difference. If, however, you visit the site, you’ll notice it’s changed. I finally migrated from Movable Type to Word Press, thanks to …
Storytelling: Web 2.0 Style →
Alan Levine and Bryan Alexander have published an important article: Web 2.0 Storytelling: Emergence of a New Genre (and a supporting wiki). When new faculty or training professionals…
Microsoft Office embraces the browser →
Microsoft doesn’t really have an optioin: Microsoft Office embraces the browser. I watch how my children use software. Multiple devices (ipods, laptop, desktop, mobile phones) access the same…
Connectivism Course (CCK08) →
For those interested in the connectivism course, but haven’t been directly following the flow of conversation, here are a few links of potential interest:
Live Session Recordings
Main Site
…
Free Learning Events →
Curt Bonk lists a variety of free learning events during the month of November. Online conferences and workshops are a great way to increase dialogue around key topics. Numerous for-fee online…
Corporate Learning Trends & Innovations 08... →
Like Jay Cross, I’m looking biased and forward to our upcoming online conference on corporate learning trends and innovations. Jay has compiled an agenda for a quick overview of topics and…
Behaviour Online →
Michele Martin, in looking at our Work Literacy online course, concludes that Online Negative Behavior is a Product of Culture:
This is the conclusion I’m drawing from using social media for…
“Footprints in the Digital Age” →
From the “Shameless Self-Promotion Department” I just wanted to note that for whatever reason, my essay in the November issue of Educational Leadership has been picked for free Web viewing. Would…
Mourning Old Media, Mourning Old Media Teachers →
I remember when I first starting teaching journalism way back in the day actually using one of those stinky, buzz-inducing ditto machines to publish my students’ work “widely” up and down the…
Source? →
There are some ideas that capture our imagination and provide us with a way forward or a framework for further action or study. For me personal knowledge management (PKM) and wirearchy are two…
Rhizome Project, or, what have they done with Dave... →
Earlier this year, I edited an issue of Innovate on the future of education. One of the most frequently cited articles from that issue is Dave Cormier’s article on Rhizomatic Education. If the…
Academic Upstarts →
The latest book from Clay Christensen and his team, authors of The Innovator’s Dilemma and others, is Disrupting Class, where they examine education. Tom Haskins reviews the book and provides…
It’s the Parents’ Fault. Not. →
Recently, during a Q & A after a presentation, I had an interesting exchange with a high school principal that went something like this:
Principal: So I just want to give you my take on this.
Me:…
Teaching the second little pig - rhizomatic... →
As previously mentioned here… I was asked by Steve Warburton (congrats on the (nicely named) new project steve!) to do a presentation on MOOCs for the evolve community. This has sent me off on a…
The amplified individual →
The Institute for the Future published a report last year, that I just came across, on The Future of Work. It discusses the integration of work and technology, which of course is part of my area…
Corporate Learning: Trends and Innovations →
A few months ago, I posted a link to the upcoming Corporate Learning: Trends and Innovations conference Tony Karrer, Jay Cross, and I are organizing. We now have a list of speakers posted on the…
Thoughts on “learning spaces” presentation →
Whether you agree or disagree with this post, it’s worth thinking about: Thoughts on “learning spaces” presentation: “You know why a student would prefer to look at a picture or watch a video?…
Social Lending →
This afternoon, I presented to a group of masters/phd students on the potentially transformative impact of technology on how we teach and learn. The age of grand narratives - or even narratives of…
I’m sure I’m doing it wrong →
Most educators have been told, during the completion of their degrees, that learning starts with objectives or outcomes. Then, often relying on a Bloom’s Taxonomy verb list, those outcomes are…
The Training Department in the 21st Century →
I’m speaking in Toronto next month at the SkillSoft Canadian Perspectives conference and have been developing my presentation, which is based on this post and a previous one, on the changing…
Airline scheduling →
I spend more time in airports and airplanes than I would ideally like. Multi-hour layovers are good opportunities to catch up on email, read, write, and ponder how this complex structure of global…
Britannica Debate: Will Web 2.0 be an Integral... →
The Britannica blog is hosting a conversation about Web 2.0 in education, and Steve Hargadon argues that the technologies will make a huge impact on the future or learning while Daniel…
Britannica and 1999 →
Britannica is hosting a discussion on Brave New Classroom 2.0. It sounds like discussions we were having in 1999 about whether technology was effective in classrooms (oh, and remember the “no…
Is online noise really bad for you? →
This post reads like wishful thinking from someone who has not yet been able to come to grips with the time-destroying joys of online noise and, instead of modifying his behaviour, has decided to…
Is reputation obsolete? →
Is reputation obsolete?: “Today, I often no longer have to rely on someone else’s account of your past behavior: I can see for myself.
In a world in which all action is recorded, is there still…
Peer 2 Peer University →
This - Peer 2 Peer University - is one of those concepts that I would love to strongly endorse as a step in a different direction from traditional universities. It reflects much of what I write…
Wrong Medium, No Message →
Last month, in Learn the language before you speak to me, I said that you have to understand what it’s like to be a node in a social network and that there is almost nothing like it in the…
Publish and be wrong →
In the absence of good data or research results, thinking (even uncommon common sense) can prove to be surprisingly valuable. Researchers are suggesting that a good portion of research is wrong (of…
Edtechtalk - ‘Managing’ a Community of Practice →
Some initial comments…
Kind of a funny thing to say isn’t it? Managing a community of practice… but that is exactly what I’m going to be doing over the next 14 months. Edtechtalk is an organic…
Our Kids as Criminals →
Longtime readers of this blog know that I really, really respect and admire Lawrence Lessig who early on pushed my thinking in all sorts of directions with his presentations, books, and …
Beyond training →
Marketing and training have certain similarities - gaining attention; getting your message across; and changing behaviour. When Seth Godin says that mass marketing is dead, I ask if mass training…
The Adrenaline Forest →
So New Zealand turned out to be the most beautiful place I’ve ever been, and aside from some pretty unhelpful airline personnel, the people were more than friendly and helpful. Even though I didn’t…
Unconventional Marketing →
Observing how journalists, marketers, and others communicate their messages can offer insights for educators. Have a look at this article on Unconventional Marketing. Instead of a large linear…
Microblogging Tools for your Newsroom →
The focus is not purely on education, but Microblogging Tools for your Newsroom is worth a review. Organizations, distributed teams and networks will likely find some of the tools interesting….
Data Scraping Wikipedia with Google Spreadsheets →
Why is open data important? Well, for starters, data has limited value. It’s what we do with data that generates value. When we open the stuff that has limited value, we open a door to numerous…
Learnscape Sandbox →
Need a sandbox to test out Web 2.0 tools and techniques and see what they mean for your organisation? You may want to check out our Plug-in Learning 2.0 to go:
Advice on…
The wild web →
It’s important for universities to be aware of social network software and potential dangers they contain. It’s also important for universities to use something called “common sense”. The wild…
Educon 2.1–Call for Conversations →
Just back from New Zealand and still wondering what day it is, but I did want to make sure to post this before I got into one of the other 47 things on my list. The deadline for submissions is…
Quantifying relationships, or perhaps not →
Jay Cross has often discussed the return on investment (ROI) on learning and knows that you can’t properly measure much learning anyway, at least not to a direct cause-effect relationship and then…
Elearning: Promises and practices →
My colleague at the University of Manitoba - Peter Tittenberger - presented a keynote this week at the International Arab Conference of eTechnology…his slides are available: Elearning:…
Reflective practice using blogs →
Paul Lowe is the course leader of the Masters programme in Photojournalism and Documentary Photography at the London College of Communication, and shared his experience using blogs with…
Google does a brain good →
“The bottom line is, when older people read a simulated book page, we see areas of the brain activated that you’d expect, the visual cortex, and areas that control language and reading,” he said….
New memories... →
What are memories? How are they stored in our brains? What occurs when we try and recall events? Or, for that matter, what happens when we have a failure to recall? While much of what we think we…
Greedy Instructional Design →
Last year I wrote that Instructional Design Needs More Agility, saying that it’s time that the training industry develop its own agile approach or risk becoming redundant. Continuing on the theme…
Certificate in Emerging Technologies for Learning →
We’ve been working on project for almost two years (in various forms), so I’m pleased to announce that our Certificate in Emerging Technologies for Learning is finally ready to go. We cover a…
Giving thanks →
It’s Thanksgiving in Canada and we’ve just finished an excellent turkey dinner. The gang is playing a game, but I’m odd man out - sitting and listening to the antics. Meanwhile, the economy seems to…
Learning to Drive →
Nelson, New Zealand
Yesterday, we drove about four hours from a beautiful little town named Hanmer Springs (many Flickr photos to come) up here to Nelson which sits at the top of the south…
The second week of Work Literacy →
This past week on Work Literacy has focused on social bookmarks, perhaps the easiest and simplest of social media. Most people are already using bookmarks/favourites with their preferred browser…
