By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Tim Stahmer[Edit][Delete]: Kindergarten Gulag, Assorted Stuff [Edit][Delete] September 6, 2006

The headline says it all, doesn't it? "Instead of story time, finger painting, tracing letters and snack, first graders are spending hours doing math work sheets and sounding out words in reading groups. In some places, recess, music, art and even social studies are being replaced by writing exercises and spelling quizzes. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Stephen Downes[Edit][Delete]: Learning objects - what are they good for?, Skypecast [Edit][Delete] September 5, 2006
Greetings from Africa.
With my website and email having been down the last few days, and of course with my flight to South Africa, I am needless to say way behind on things. Oh, and very tired.
Today I completed a preconference workshop, and tomorrow morning I give a keynote address. I will have files to upload soon, but for now the outline is in my wiki at Jotspot. One of the highlights was the World Premiere of my video, Bogota, which will be online soon.
But even better, we successfully ran a Skypecast from the workshop (my thanks to those of you who were able to join). With no website and no newsletter, I wasn't able to advertise it, but I did post a note on Half an Hour.
This success means we are going ahead with part two of the plan: the World's First (I check) keynote address from anything to be Skypecast. Yes, when I speak at 9:45 local time tomorrow, here in South Africa, we will be welcoming people from around the world to join us.
To join, click on the Skypecast link around the time the Skypecast is to start (if you are early, reload the page every few minutes, just in case). You need Skype version 2.5 and when you click you will be joined to the Skypecast. We know the sound works, beautifilly, even from Africa.
I also have some photos online (not many though). [Tags: Newsletters, Marketing, Voice Over IP, Skype, Flickr] [Comment]. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Tom Hoffman[Edit][Delete]: Turning SIF On Its Head with TinyZIS, Tuttle SVC [Edit][Delete] June 9, 2006
I am sympathetic with the intent of this post, whih is to replace the Schools Interoperability Format (SIF), "a classic top-down, commercially driven standard, with no uptake whatsoever in the open source world," withg a small and agile open alternative. But I don't like some of the phrasing. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Harold Jarche[Edit][Delete]: The Relevance of the Learning Profession, jarche.com [Edit][Delete] June 6, 2006
Another way of saying pretty much what I'm saying. "As a learning professional, it's time to take a stance. Enabling learning is no longer about disseminating good content. Enabling learning is about being a learner yourself, sharing your knowledge and enthusiasm and then taking a back seat. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Stephen Downes[Edit][Delete]: London, England, June 5, 2006
I spent the day today at the Open University in Milton Keynes, England, where I took part in a panel on 'the global university' and then presented myself on 'The Students Own Learning'. I will have media available soon. It's now late at night after a long day and I'm in Manchester for tomorrow's PLE meeting (see below). So it's a short newsletter today, beginning with this link to my London photos - though I have finished the descriptions, I'm sure you will enjoy this set. [Tags: Newsletters] [Comment]. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Jay Cross[Edit][Delete]: More Signal, Less Noise, Informal Learning [Edit][Delete] June 1, 2006
A nice write-up by Jay Cross of the current ADETA Newsletter (well worth a look) but with some nice irony. Cross writes about the A-List blogging set, "The A-list blogosphere is an immense echo chamber," and comments, "The training and development world sometimes suffers the same narrowmindedness." Well maybe. And I certainly agree with him when he says we should consult "non-traditional sources." But who is featured in the ADETA Newsletter. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. James Daly[Edit][Delete]: Editor's Note, Edutopia [Edit][Delete] June 1, 2006
Via Chris Lehmann, I agree with this: "Just as supermarket magnates realized that when people shop for groceries, they want to do more than stock the fridge, we need to understand that the final result of a dozen years of education isn't just a gilt-trimmed diploma. It's about creating a brighter and more compassionate society. First, however, we must devote as much energy and thinking to our schools as we do our food emporiums". More...