By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. e-Learning Tech That is Fit For Purpose, Innovative and Sustainable
Wilbert Kraan asks the question central to e-learning standards: "for a new type of tool, do you agree an interoperability specification first, and then build applications, or build applications first, and then agree a spec later?" A bit of both, he seems to argue; that's why the E-learning Framework (ELF) is being developed iteratively. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Godfrey Parkin: E-learning Grows Up, Parkin's Lot November 19, 2005

I still have a lot of catching up to do, but I think this article is an appropriate way to lead today's unusual Saturday edition of OLDaily. Godfrey Parkin writes, "the 'e-learning 2.0' name is a ghastly and inappropriate label... because it suggests a finite release of a formal upgrade, which is the opposite of what is really happening." Well, I do apologize for it - but if I hadn't coined it, some marketing type would have, and then we'd be seeing "e-learning 2.0 (tm)" advertisements all over the place. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Terry Anderson: Distance Learning Social Software's Killer Ap?, Open and Distance Learning Association of Australia November 15, 2005

It's funny. Terry Anderson describes distance learning as social software's killer app, while I describe social software as distance learning's killer app. Difference in perspective, I guess. Anyhow, this article begins with a short outline of Anderson's social presence theory (good reading if it's new to you) and an overview of social software. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Sarah Knight, et.al.?: Innovative Practice with e-Learning, Jisc September 28, 2005
This is a great quote: "Before we were concerned with controlling learners' use of computers, but now the challenge is to know how they are accessing their own technology to enhance their own learning." This is the tenor that infoms this look at "pedagogies based partially or wholly on the use of mobile devices, including those without built-in connectivity, and those that offer mobile access to resources on the web." After surveying the technological environment, the pedagogies are examined through the lens of four perspectives on learning: associative, two types of constructivist, and situative or social learning". More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Unattributed: E-Learning Standards Survey, Learning Circuits September 24, 2005

Results of a survey on the importance of standards completed by 248 self-selected Learning Circuits readers (therefore, expect a substantial skew, especially with respondants from academic institutions representing only 6.5 percent of the total). More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Katrina A. Meyer: Exploring the Potential for Unintended Consequences in Online Learning, International Journal of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning September 24, 2005
Though we inevitable predict the future, predictions are tricky business, especially regarding major impacts (such as the introduction of the internet) and distance events. This is because variables are not independent; there is feedback, chaos, and the inevitable unintended consequences. The author skecthes a model or framework for understanding the nature of unintended consequences in prediction, and then maps out scenarios in which these can be expected in e-learning. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Stephanie A. Clemons: Brain-Based Learning: Brain-Based Learning: Possible Implications for Online Instruction, International Journal of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning September 24, 2005
There is a certain audacity inherent in giving a subsection of your paper a title like 'The Brain: A Synopsis'. Nonetheless, we live in heady times, and this article, from the September issue of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning, demonstrates this. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Stephen Downes and Teemu Arina: E-Learning 2.0 In Brief, Stephen's Web September 24, 2005
So anyhow, I played my first game of golf in 16 years yesterday, a community social afternoon that stretched into a social evening and delayed today's newsletter 24 hours. Meanwhile, at the crack of dawn this morning I was awake and preparing for an online talk with a group put together by Teemu Arina in Finland. What was significant was not the content of the talk (which was a brief version of a talk I gave in Ottawa last week) but how we did it. For the audio, Teemu gave me a call on Skype, which he hooked into some speakers. We then set up a chat window for all the participants using a CGI:IRC he had installed on his server, which "allows you to use Internet Relay Chat from a web browser without having to use Java." For slides, we used S5. As we planned (all this started Wednesday afternoon) we thought it would be neat if I could advance the slides fom my end; 24 hours later the programmers at Teemu's end had whipped together a version of S5 that uses Ajax server calls to coordinate slide advances. And first thing this morning, I rewrote their server code (because it requires BerkeleyDB, which I don't have). It all worked pretty well, considering it's probably the first time anyone has done this; Teemu took some photos. If you want to try it yourself, here's the code Teemu's team put together, and here's my hacked together server code. Sure, you could buy Centra or Elluminate or any of these expensive conferencing systems, or you could it for free, the way we did. Note that if you click on the link above, the slide how may move around on its own as others access it, and you might start on any given page. Hover your mouse on the lower right hand side of the page to see the navigation options. [Comment]. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. NinJam
This is pretty cool. NimJam allows people to collaborate to make music online. The big problem with jamming online is latency - there is a lag between what you play and what the other person hears. More...