By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Nigerian Students Power Up Their Laptops
This is the week that the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) project begins, and as such, is a major turning point in our field - perhaps the key turning point.
Photos from CNet of Nigerian children using their XO computers. See also this special report from CNet on the OLPC project. Software to emulate the XO interface on a Mac. James O'Hagan also links to a video describing the technology of the XO. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Learning Mill
Worth a look: Interesting software, written in Python, sort of half way between a blog and a wiki. "LeMill is a web community for finding, authoring and sharing open and free learning resources. LeMill is independent server software that is hosted for free for anyone at http://lemill.net and that can be downloaded freely. LeMill is also part of the European Schoolnet's Learning Resource Exchange Portal developed in the European (IST) Calibrate project. In the Calibrate project LeMill is part of the EUN LRE Portal, and referred as the 'Learning Toolbox', since it is a tool used for working collaboratively with resources. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Ingredients of the Future of Learning
Judy Breck points to an article from Bruno Giussani talking about the future of journalism. The point is that educators "will need to reinvent themselves as a skilled part of a crowd rather than as lecturers, to become more tolerant of ambiguity, to become fluent in both the tech innovations and the shifts in social dynamics that are driving the development of media. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Active Learning, the DS Lite and What Our Schools Should Look Like
Discussion of a recent report on the Scottish curriculum that emphasizes the importance of play for younger learners. "There is no long-term advantage to children when there is an over-emphasis on systematic teaching before 6 or 7 years of age." Ewan McIntosh remarks, "the same might not be said for older kids. However, there is much of this which does have a place somewhere in the early secondary curriculum at least." The definition of play changes, of course, as one gets older. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. PLEase
I guess the concept of the personal learning environment "began crossing the chasm into the mainstream" of the corporate e-learning community last week. there may be a land rush shortly, but for now the discussion has mostly been of the head-scratching and visioning variety. Citing some workshops with Harold Jarche and Judy Brown last year, Jay Cross suggests that the best starting point was what we were calling Personal Knowledge Management. meanwhile, Tony karrer responds to my concern that the corporate world is more interested in command and control. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Rethinking WalMart Patronage
I am not a religious man. That statement offends some, dismays others, and confounds even more, as they wonder how I can advance a philosophy of education and technology as profoundly rooted in morality as in science. But, as I once commented to one of my friends in the faith, my morality and my beliefs come from my science. And not, importantly, the reverse.
This statement is to introduce two items. The first is an item in Science that has gotten a lot of discussion, on the topic of framing science (the article is behind a subscription wall - more discussion here, with follow-ups here and here and here). I personally do not care whether people believe in evolution or creation. I do care when one type of enquiry - science - is confused with another type of enquiry - faith. Because if you can do this - simply cross categories like this - then you can do things like substitute one type of belief - morality, say - with another - greed. And when I look at the rise of creationism, what I am seeing is not actually religion seeking to replace science, but rather personal greed and ambition seeking to replace religion.
The second item is a post by Wesley Fryer titled Rethinking WalMart Patronage documenting his reaction to a film on the corporate giant. he makes the right turns, to my mind, in this discussion, ending at the point where faith and reason merge: "ALL human beings deserve and have the right to be treated as ENDS, not merely means. (I share that view with Immanuel Kant as well as Jesus Christ, among many others.) The ongoing development and cultivation of literacy skills is an essential need for all people. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Virginia Tech
I have had this discussion before, about gun control. This is the inevitable result of a country that lives and breathes guns. I'm sorry. I'm angry. There's nothing else to be said. "One person was killed and others were wounded at multiple locations inside a dormitory about 7:15 a.m., Flinchum said. Two hours later, another shooting at Norris Hall, the engineering science and mechanics building, resulted in multiple casualties, the university reported". More...