By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Making Sense Of New Technologies And Media: An Opinionated Digest by George Siemens
I have long thought of adding more visual content to OLDaily (well, not in the text edition, of course). But I haven't been able to find a way to make it work with the format. This link is to a Robin Good adaptation of George Siemens's eLearnSpace. It is visually attractive, with better spacing and nice images. Mike Powers (language warning) states, "Robin Good republishes the same material but in a much more presentable form making the very same ideas seem far more interesting." Is this so. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Efficiency Savings
Everybody faces from time to time demands to make whatever they're doing more efficient. I am no supporter of wasted time and effort. But I always caution the people demanding greater efficiency. Imagine, I say to them, that you are at the top of a 20-story building. Standing by the window. You know the most efficient way to get back down to the bottom. Right? And sometimes, I conclude, some inefficiencies - some resistance and some friction - are exactly what are needed. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Late Night Learning With John Krutsch
A fun video looking at academic chating. This is one of a trend of inventive ways of using online video to make a point. See also this video of Richard Dreyfus on reason. And check out this Anti-Kant Attack Ad, for example, or the equally inspired defense in Rules are for a Reason. This is great stuff - now you wouldn't feed people a steady diet of these things; rather, you'd encourage people to make them and share them. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Mining Group Gold: the Art of Learning
Interesting: "The arts discipline is emerging as a role model for business. Writing, reflecting, collaborating,...it's an art and it can lead to great innovations." Not just business. This model also describes the Educamps we just held in Colombia. "Why pursue writing, reflection, and collaborative learning in the workplace?" asks Janet Clarey. "In a word: innovation". More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Immersive Education: Education Grid
Harvard University recently hosted a event to highlight an initiative developing a "platform that combines interactive 3D graphics, commercial game and simulation technology, virtual reality, voice chat (Voice over IP/VoIP), Web cameras (webcams) and rich digital media with collaborative online course environments and classrooms." There are suggestive diagrams on the site describing a layer of common code that will connect Wonderland, Croquet, Second Life and World of Warcraft. There is already a consortium of institutions that have joined this project. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Open Education and the Cape Town Declaration
The discussion concerning the Cape Town Declaration continues. This post summarizes some of the commentary (mostly of mine) on the unesco-oer list. See also Graham Attwell's earlier reactions (here too). Leigh Blackall also comments on the declaration and (mostly) the criticisms. See also his post on Ahrash Bissell. And also some of the interesting interactions between Wikiversity and Wikieducator. Also, Teemu Leinonen discusses the different kinds of "educational equalities" presupposed by different approaches to learning. He also asserts that CC-By-SA is THE license of the free/libre/open educational resources movement. Worth noting, then, that the Open yale courses are under a Creative Commons non-commercial license. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Downes On Kirschner
D-Ed Reckoning has posted a longish summary and criticism of my argument againt Kirshner. I have offered a longish reply. It's pretty interesting discussion (if I say so myself) and you might want to look at the reply for an account of the idea of 'inducing' learning in a student. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. How to Improve the Teaching of Writing
I'm in general agreement with this post, both in the observation that the quality of writing in the teaching profession may be a problem, and also in the specific suggestions for its improvement in teachers and students. I am no formalist, goodness knows, but I do believe that there are good reasons for good writing, and that there are ways to become a better writer. Clarity and precision - whether in writing, art or athletics - are virtues, because they help you obtain your objectives. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Xerceo Prescribe Video Demonstration
I like this. Xerceo Prescribe is a SCORM based and LMS compliant Wiki. As the video demonstrates, creating course content is as easy as authoring a wiki page (a bit easier, actually). It allows for tagging and packaging, so you can export SCORM-compliant content. It also supports tracking and reporting and user competencies. Here's the user guide and the main page (p.s. this is a textbook example of how to use video to demonstrate a product - no loud shouting or hype - just run it through its paces and let the application do the talking). More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. myIcourse
"Now you have the opportunity to share your special skill or knowledge with the world," write the creators of myIcourse. "People are creating their own public and private MyiCourse universities to benefit their business, ministry, product or people through online education and effective coursework." The site and software are made available free to people who want to create their courses; there is a charge applied to people who want to advertise their courses. More...