September 2008
69 posts
Journalism and the internet →
In education we are facing similar concerns that news media has faced for over a decade - how can the mass of amateurs online possibly recreate the authority and value of the news industry? Who…
Learn the language before you speak to me →
Stuart Henshall says that you should Use the Tools First: Then Talk to Me:
I just walked out of one session where the presenter made a joke about Facebook. I checked; I’m fairly sure he’s not on…
Visualization →
iCharts is a fairly new entrant into the data visualization space. This particular service allows people upload Excel documents and create/share interactive charts. Related - Gapminder …
The Next Internet →
It’s generally a good idea to listen when Google starts to talk about how it sees the next stages of internet development. Even more so when it is Vint Cerf speaking on behalf of the company. In a
Selecting Social Network Platforms →
At the Work Literacy course (starts today, with 365 people registered) we’re using Ning as our social networking platform. According to my co-facilitator, Michele Martin, “Online social…
Launch and Learn →
Jay Cross is currently focusing on the ROI of organisational learning initiatives and debunking some of the myths and metrics. His notes from the CLO Symposium include this:
Jayne Johnson,…
Filter Fun →
So I’ve been getting tweaked by filters again and the amount of stuff that many schools block and try to keep away from kids and, to a depressingly large extent, teachers as well. I know this is…
Looking to the Future: Higher Education in the... →
I had an interesting experience yesterday - I presented to a group from Spain in Second Life. I spoke for 20 seconds and paused for translation. Then spoke, then paused. And then someone would ask…
Effectiveness Of Traditional And Blended Learning... →
Effectiveness Of Traditional And Blended Learning Environments: “Strickland discovered that there were few statistical differences between the effectiveness of a traditional course delivery…
Lots of tools... →
I should reference where I found this site - 270 tools for your online business - but I’m clueless as to where I found it. The list includes a combination of free and for-fee applications….
Best open source social networking platform →
I’ve been a fan of Elgg, the open source social networking platform, since I first saw it. Not only do I like the technology but also its underlying framework of user-centricty (which…
William Farish - the joys of the grade scale →
Ever wonder how we ended up with a grade system in schools and universities? This topic came up in a recent CCK08 thread. We only need to look back a few hundred years to discover William Farish….
Social media is changing the shape of scientific... →
Social media is changing the shape of scientific debate: “The drawback of the journal process is that it doesn’t allow a space for public and open debate and discussion of ideas in a convenient…
Work Literacy and a Storm of New Information →
We announced the WL - Web 2.0 for learning professionals online course yesterday and now have over 100 people signed up after one day. This is a six week (or is that six step?) program, covering…
Cory Doctorow on John Holt on Kid-Centered... →
I’ve become a real Cory Doctorow fan ever since reading Little Brother (and yes, I did double check that.) It’s a great novel for geeks and non geeks alike, and I wish I could remember who I…
Ghost of days past: blogs and blogging →
In 2002/03 most posts on elearnspace eventually returned to blogs. They were cool back then. Now, they are so common as to almost cease to exist as a unique entity. Universities use blogs to…
Free Work Literacy Online Workshop →
On Monday, September 29, Michele Martin, Tony Karrer and I will be hosting a free 6-week learning event on social media for learning professionals. This “course”…
Education in 2050: Neural and Networked →
Last week, I appeared on TVOntario to discuss the future of education. The recording is here: Education in 2050. The discussion didn’t focus as much on the future as I would have hoped. I also…
Color Me Embarrassed →
So I’ve been doing this for seven years and luckily can count on one hand the number of times that I’ve messed up pretty badly, but that last post was a whopper.
Not only did I confuse Mark…
Ethics of searching... →
We don’t fully understand the impact of our transparent online lives. We haven’t yet had a president or prime minister elected that used facebook or myspace. We reveal things in these online forums…
Being Local →
I spent the weekend helping out with a few community events. We had our Fall Fair, with some great entertainers and also had a farm field day that saw over 5,000 visitors, followed by an…
Reading Online is Not Reading On Paper →
I’ve been a Mark Federman fan ever since his great essay “Why Johnny And Janey Can’t Read, and Why Mr. And Ms. Smith Can’t Teach: The challenge of multiple media literacies in a tumultuous…
“Climate change is the result of a massive market... →
If you want to address climate change, then the best thing you can do is get politically active, according to Lester Brown, founder of the Earth Policy Institute, speaking here in Sackville on…
Reflections on Knowledge →
The joy of discussing knowledge is found in that it is a never ending discussion. This week in CCK08, our focus was on connective knowledge. Tom Whyte interviewed a few colleagues on their views…
Information Overload →
Robin Good has posted an article (by Mikkel) on information overload. It’s a challenge that most of us face on a daily basis. When we find a tool - such as RSS - that makes information easier to…
Tools of the Trade →
I’ve been deep into making my technology work this week. One issue was web conferencing and we used Dimdim, which I’ve mentioned before. Dimdim is very simple to use, doesn’t require a plugin,…
The End of 'Command Control' Approaches to... →
The End of ‘Command Control’ Approaches to Knowledge Management? is a fairly short article tackling knowledge management from the field of law: “For the KM purist attached to the command and…
Visualizing Financial Markets →
Visualization of data helps to provide new insight (patterns). Few organizations do it better than NYTimes. Consider their recent visualization of the current financial sector.
Atlantic Social Media →
Third Tuesday NB had a great meetup last night in Moncton, with CommandN TV on-site. They are an excellent example of folks from Atlantic Canada who have worked hard to create their own niche in…
Immersive Learning →
So I have a feeling that I may be settling into a couple-a-somewhat-meaningful-posts-a-week routine here at the old blogyard, not nearly as much as I have posted in the past. It’s not that I’m…
Teens, Video Games, and Civics →
Pew Internet has released research on Teens, Video Games, and Civics (.pdf). It runs 70+ pages and largely says what most parents/teachers already know: kids like video games. The break down of…
Social Web: All about the small stuff →
The web, especially in the last five years, has lowered the barriers for individuals to create and share content. A secondary, but likely more profound trend, is the ability for individuals to…
New battle ground of ethics →
As we come to understand more about the human brain, we quickly discover that we bump up against many of our views of free will, personal agency, privacy, and more. What is the outcome of this?…
Interview with Dave Cormier: Rhizomatic Education →
Dave Cormier’s article in Innovate on Rhizomatic Education drew a fair bit of attention. I had the opportunity to chat with him today to explore in more detail his view of knowledge and…
Who do you trust on the Web? →
BBC News reports on Tim Berners-Lee’s warning about trust on the Internet and the fact that unfounded rumours, such as those about the LHC, grow very quickly:
Sir Tim told BBC News that there…
Community Platforms →
Dion Hinchcliffe has a good overview of the leading technology platforms for communities of practice, ranking Joomla and Drupal at the top. I’ve used Mambo, from which Joomla developed…
New Book: “Born Digital” by John Palfrey and Urs... →
I had the pleasure of meeting John Palfrey (albeit briefly) and listening to a couple of his presentations when I attended iLaw (which I miss terribly, btw) at Harvard’s Berkman Center a…
Internet optimists and pessimists →
The sign of a field beginning to mature, in my opinion, is that distinctions and terms become clearly demarcated. At the beginning of any discipline, the details are hardly a point of focus….
The future of search →
Since about 2005, Google’s continual release of new tools has gained greater attention than its search service. While much innovation in seen in Google Earth, GMail, Google Reader, Gears, etc.,…
Storytelling 101 →
Great example of blending presentations with storytelling: Storytelling 101 (via Workplace Learning Today). Lecturers, trainers, presenters, and anyone with a message to share, will find this…
Multimedia design →
The growing complexity of technology and tools for designing learning leaves us at an interesting point: should educators/trainers become technologists? Or should the tools of design become so easy…
CCK08 →
It’s been a busy week in our Connectivism and Connective Knowledge Course. I’ll reference course developments once a week here, so readers that are not interested don’t end up being overwhelmed….
Open Up →
Martin Weller mulls over the notion that the Open University or OU should call itself the Open U, with an emphasis on “open”:
Open Source
Open educational resources
Open API
Open content
…
Spore: First Impressions →
Let me just say at the start that I am not a gamer. I’ve never been in World of Warcraft or any of the other popular destinations, and to be totally honest, the whole concept escapes me on some…
Twitter and CERN →
Today, I had the pleasure of reading about the activation of the Large Hadron Collider on CERN’s Twitter feed. Lovers of twitter will hail this as significant. And for good reason. It is. It was…
What if it really does all change? →
I have periodic moments - whether delusional or not is too soon to tell - where I’m struck by the enormous potential that many of our most foundational frameworks of society will unravel in the…
Do You Challenge Queue-Jumpers and Line-Cutters? →
What does research on our reactions to people who cut in line have to do with online learning. Very little (unless you want to push things a bit and ask how our reactions to rude behaviour differ…
For the Brain, Remembering Is Like Reliving →
Scientists have managed to record individual brain cells processing/accessing memories:For the Brain, Remembering Is Like Reliving. Main point: remembering is very similar to doing. Similar…
Open Source; a better model for all of us →
Dave Snowden relates an experience with Wikipedia where the inner circle decides that the actions of a user are not appropriate and he is subsequently banned.
I don’t know all of the…
Social Networking in Higher Education →
Social networking is still part of the hype cycle of educational technology tools. And for good reason. Involvement in a network can be a surprising waste of time…and a surprisingly effective way…
