By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Harold Jarche[Edit][Delete]: Whither ISD, ADDIE and HPT?, [Edit][Delete] November 7, 2006
This month's Big Question from Learning Circuits is notable mostly for containing more acronyms than words (for the uninitiated, courtesy Harold Jarche, HPT stands for 'Human Performance Technology', ISD stands for 'Instructional Systems Design [or Development]' and ADDIE is a process, 'Analysis, Design, Development, Design, Evaluation', stemming from the Systems Approach to Training (SAT)). The question is, are they relevant? Jarche writes, "The short answer is yes, but not everywhere." And me? I might think about this, but frankly, these concepts don't touch my life and work, never have. More...
Whither ISD, ADDIE and HPT?
What Does Web 2.0 Look Like?
By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Ian Delaney[Edit][Delete]: What Does Web 2.0 Look Like?, twopointouch [Edit][Delete] November 7, 2006
Another of those diagrams that tries to make the essentially messy clear. I don't know - to me this just looks like buzzwords in boxes. But not every diagram speaks to everyone, I guess. And I guess I'm just not sufficiently into Enterprise 2.0. A better read. More...
Add To [A Whole Lot of] Any
By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Jenny Levine[Edit][Delete]: Add To [A Whole Lot of] Any, Shifted Librarian [Edit][Delete] November 7, 2006
Something else that needs to be fixed. You had to know, once one aggregator created a proprietary 'add to' link, they all had to. So what do we need? A way to declare an aggregator account. Oh, wait, a personal identity system could do that, something like this. So where is this system. More...
10 Steps into the Spanish Speaking Blogosphere
By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. José Luis Orihuela[Edit][Delete]: 10 Steps into the Spanish Speaking Blogosphere, November 6, 2006
This is useful. Is there a similar page for the French speaking blogosphere? Other languages. More...
Open UniversityAdd to Clippings
By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Editorial[Edit][Delete]: Open UniversityAdd to Clippings, Times of India [Edit][Delete] November 6, 2006
It is pretty ridiculous to require a background check of an online information provider, and that's why this article suggests that the New York City education department's ban on e-tutors from India for failure to provide such background checks will fail in the face of market forces. More...
SkillSoft to Acquire NETg from Thomson
By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Unattributed[Edit][Delete]: SkillSoft to Acquire NETg from Thomson, Learning Circuits [Edit][Delete] November 6, 2006
I keep forgetting to mention this. "According to the press release, 'the acquisition supports the company's overall strategy to continually increase the quality and flexibility of learning solutions available to corporate, government, education, and small-to-medium size business customers from SkillSoft.'" Looks to me like a reaction to the Blackboard patent. More...
Stephen Downes is Wrong? Is It Really Cool?
By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Tony Karrer[Edit][Delete]: Stephen Downes is Wrong? Is It Really Cool?, eLearning Technology [Edit][Delete] November 6, 2006
I can't resist the opportunity to link to a post with this title. Tony Karrer writes, "I agree with Stephen that right now this stuff is early stage and it's a mess. I'm not planning on using that particular tool anytime soon. It's more of a toy than anything else. Oh, I am using something similar to create my personalized home page. More...
Article -, EdTechPost
By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Scott Leslie[Edit][Delete]: Article -, EdTechPost [Edit][Delete] November 6, 2006
Scott Leslie wonders why "First Monday publishes this article by the co-author of The Social Life of Information, Paul Duguid, that asks questions about the oft-asserted transferability of "laws of quality" from open source software projects to the peer production of 'knowledge' in sites like Wikipedia, and literally almost no one replies." Perhaps, he says, "everyone just read this already and went on with their business." Count me as one who read it and went about his business. Well - I thought I had linked to it, but I didn't. More...
Off With Their heads! Copyright Infringement in the Canadian Online Higher Educational Environment
By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Kelly Edmonds[Edit][Delete]: Off With Their heads! Copyright Infringement in the Canadian Online Higher Educational Environment, Canadian Journal of Learning and Technology [Edit][Delete] November 6, 2006
As the author notes, "It becomes increasingly frustrating to remain current on how to create, use and publish works in the digital environment in ways that respect copyright... The consequences for copyright infringement, whether intended or not, are out of proportion to the need for open access for learning and knowledge creation." Quite right. Good and comprehensive overview of copyright's impact on Canadian academic. Additional articles from the Spring, 2006, Canadian Journal of Learning and Technology are also available online. (p.s. I got an email today, and now I see an editorial, boasting about low acceptance rates). More...
Semantics in HTML - 1. Traditional Semantic HTML
By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Semantics in HTML - 1. Traditional Semantic HTML
Nice discussion of the concept of semantics in HTML, identifying the different types of meaning imparted by different types of tags. Useful as a prelude to deeper thoughts about the semantics of XML. Via elearningpost. More...