By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. A SLap in the face
Linden Labs is turning nasty. According to this report, Joanna McKay (also well known as JoKay) is being told to rename her SLeducation wiki because Linden has a trademark on the name. Where, one wonders, is Linden's 'SLeducation wiki'. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. More Than Notes is Evernote
OK, let me first put out a global call to get a Google Wave invitation to Alan Levine, the CogDog, because if anyone would use it well, he would (sorry Alan, by invites disappeared within ten minutes of me getting them). That said, he is jumping for joy over Evernote, the tool that allows him to capture clippings, contents and other snippets from the web for use later. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Great Way to Start the New Year: Set Up a Personal Board of Directors
An intriguing idea: "Do you have a personal board of directors? I don't mean a traditional corporate board, nor do I mean an informal board of business advisors. I mean a personal board of directors composed of seven people you deeply respect and would not want to let down." More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Learning Styles, ha, ha, ha, ha
Jay Cross, Internet Time Blog, April 12, 2013
I still think there's something to the basaic idea of learning styles, but the most effective criticism that can be levied against them is offered here, as Jay Cross reviews some of the dozens of dichotomies that define different learning styles theories. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Do We Still Need the "Opinions Are My Own" Social Media Disclaimer?
Joshua Kim, Inside Higher Ed, April 8, 2013
I've never used the "Opinions expressed are solely my own and do not express the views or opinions of my employer" disclaimer. This is not because my words represent an official position of my employer. Indeed, quite the opposite. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Sizing Up the Opposition
Let me, at some risk, draw a connection between two separate threads. On the one hand, there is this series of posts discussing the creation of School 2.0 (or Education 2.0) groups on Ning. What is the motivation for this? there have been some emails flinging around - I haven't taken part in this exchange - where people are examining each other's motivations. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. De-Schooling (or Re-Schooling) Society
I am feeling better but now hopelessly behind in my work with a flight to Bahrain looming. So, quickly: Graham Attwell expands on his deschooling remarks and comments. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Your Market Is Laughing; at You
I am including a post from my co-guest editor Harold Jarche today, because his blog has some of the most thought provoking content out there, and because this particular post has one of my favorite videos - Father Guido Sarduci on the "five minute university". More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Platforms for Collective Awareness and Action
Unattributed, European Commission Information Society, July 31, 2011.
This is a new European Commission Information Society project intended to create online environments to support collaboration. "The vision is that individuals can "save the planet" if they are given the opportunity to act socially, based on trusted information. The key is enabling access to trusted knowledge about the state of their environment, the actions underway in their Communities to improve that situation, and the impact of their own actions." I think there is merit to the underlying idea of feeding external data and information into social communities. More...