By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Professor Pans 'Learning Style' Teaching Method
It is true that there are good reasons to question the doctrine of learning styles, at least as presently formulated. But the Telegraph does not inform us why we should believe Baroness Greenfield, a professor of pharmacology at Oxford University, when she says so. Does peerage confer psychological insight? Still, Frank Coffield has a point. "I came across labelling such as 'activists' versus 'reflectors', 'globalists' versus 'analysts' and 'left brainers' versus 'right brainers'. There is no scientific justification for any of these terms." There is no good understanding of learning styles as it stands. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Learning Passionately
John Connell summarizes a talk by John Seely Brown regarding 'passion-based learning, "a highly collaborative and social mode of learning that he feels we should be moving towards in schools and beyond,... 'situations where students who are passionate about specific topics study in groups and participate in online communities.'" In a follow-up Connell wonders about the relation between knowledge and social construction. Knowledge, of course, is something that is personal. But it depends for both its creation and representation (in many cases) on social interaction, and so it is tempting to say that knowledge is essentially social, not personal. This would be a mistake - there is some knowledge that indeed is social - things it takes an entire society to know, like how to fly to the moon - but this is not the same as the knowledge you and I have, which exists entirely (and only) in our own heads. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Let'S Not and Say We Did
Mark Pilgrim writes, "Praising companies for providing APIs to get your own data out is like praising auto companies for not filling your airbags with gravel. I'm not saying data export isn't important, it's just aiming kinda low. You mean when I give you data, you'll… give it back to me? People who think this is the pinnacle of freedom aren't really worth listening to". More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Validated Identity for Trust
I've known people who have looked straight into my eyes and lied to my face. So I don't think that knowing someone's identity confers trust. But not knowing someone's identity, for many people, raises doubt. Elliott Masie writes, "Without knowing who you are, it is impossible for me to contextualize your contribution. While I am convinced of the Wisdom of the Crowds, I am not sure that an unsourced Crowd is safe and wise." Fair enough - but what Masie needs is not identity, per se, but history. Knowing a person's name doesn't tell me anything; knowing that they work for some university or knowing that they are a public relations specialist tells me a lot more. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Voice Matters. A Lot.
Christian Long proposes that to get an 'A' means to have changed the reader's way of thinking about a topic. "Want an A? Change the way I see and think. Demonstrate that you have changed as well. And expect me to come back by choice next time... Just like the blogosphere. Just like the real world." Interesting tat the grade should depend as much on the reader as on the writer - something that may get an 'A' from Long might, at my much more cynical and jaded hand, receive only a 'C'. Also, it makes choice of topic a lot more important. You are much more likely to engage your reader by sticking to the mainstream. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Basic Concepts: Reinforcement and Punishment
Basically the idea of providing feedback to achieve a desired state (as instanced by behaviour). When I talk about 'back propagation' I am talking about how these concepts operate at a network level. The important thing to remember about reward and punishment is that it is only one way of inducing a desired state (two others are simple association and personal reflection) which means that the simple adages involving reward and punishment you may hear are frequently contradicted by actual behaviour. More...