By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. George H. Buck[Edit][Delete]: The First Wave: The Beginnings of Radio, Journal of Distance Education [Edit][Delete] November 28, 2006
My very first exposure to the concept of distance learning was a documentary film on the School of the Air in Australia, from which I learned about the use of radio to provide an education to children living on sheep stations in the Outback. So it was a highlight of my trip to Australia in 2004 when I was able to visit the School in Alice Springs and use the modern version of their network to talk about the today's version of the same thing. Now along comes this absolutely fascinating look at the Canadian equivalent, offered through (of all places) the Canadian National Railway. I have actually heard the phrase, "CBC educated," which speaks to the power of radio as a learning medium in Canada, and I think of my own experiences as a child at home or out camping or driving the highway to Slave Lake or in my small cabin, listening to the comforting words of people like Lister Sinclair and Peter Gzowski and I realize with a start that I too am 'CBC educated'. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Norm Friesen[Edit][Delete]: E-Learning Myth #3: The Myth of the Knowledge Economy, Ipseity [Edit][Delete] November 28, 2006
Norm Friesen has posted another installment of his interesting and engaging E-Learning Myths series. In this item, he challenges the perception that we are in 'the networked society' or 'the information age' (among other designations). Perhaps we should say we are in the 'Would You Like Fries With That Age'. Friesen observes, "Creating more jobs than the remaining seven put together are: 'Hospitality,' 'health care,' and 'retail'" - all service industry jobs. Consistent with the pattern of reasoning in the previous installments (Myth 1, Myth 2), Friesen points to the unequal society obscured by these myths. "no account of the characteristics of our postindustrial economy would be complete without mention of polarization - both of income and class". More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Various authors[Edit][Delete]: E-Learning Concepts and Techniques, Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania [Edit][Delete] November 24, 2006
I had a nice time reading this 11-chapter online book this morning instead of doing my work like I'm supposed to. As the site says, "E-Learning Concepts and Techniques is a collaborative e-book project by Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania's Department of Instructional Technology students and guest authors." The result is a quite acceptable introductory level text that not only covers the basics of traditional instructional design but also manages to incorporate mor contemporary approaches, from Siemens on learning design to the use of games in e-learning delivery. If you need an introductory text to get you up to speed in the topics discussed in OLDaily, this definitely will get you started on the right track.
(Oh - and a note for people who say there is no distinction between groups and networks: this was a network production, because each person wrote his or her own part autonomously; a group version of the same book would have all the authors collaboratively (and not independently) author the book as a whole). More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Geoff Minshull and Judith Mole, eds.[Edit][Delete]: Innovating e-Learning 2006: Transforming Learning Experiences, Jisc [Edit][Delete]JISC [Edit][Delete] November 22, 2006
Putting conference proceedings online is a good idea, even for online conferences (which are often buried or lost after they are held). Summarizing the proceedings is a good idea - in the Learner Experiences theme, for example, there were 453 messages exchanged. I am rather less convinced that putting the proceedings into clumsy PDF texts was a good idea. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Nancy White[Edit][Delete]: Second Wave Adoption, Full Circle Online Interaction Blog [Edit][Delete] November 7, 2006
Nancy White is looking at the question of whether people are adopting Web 2.0 tools in learning. I can't imagine that they're not, but then again, I am one of those "smart, innovative people who are coming up with really wonderful uses of new internet based technologies" and not one of the people putting these tools into practice (I assume I can get away with that self-designation here). But again: it is not so relevant whether instructors use these tools nor whether or not they are used in the classroom; what matters is that students are using them, in or out of the classroom. And again: why is the focus in our discussions always on the instructor? The world could end - and it would not matter unless it impacted teaching practices. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Kelly Edmonds[Edit][Delete]: Off With Their heads! Copyright Infringement in the Canadian Online Higher Educational Environment, Canadian Journal of Learning and Technology [Edit][Delete] November 6, 2006
As the author notes, "It becomes increasingly frustrating to remain current on how to create, use and publish works in the digital environment in ways that respect copyright... The consequences for copyright infringement, whether intended or not, are out of proportion to the need for open access for learning and knowledge creation." Quite right. Good and comprehensive overview of copyright's impact on Canadian academic. Additional articles from the Spring, 2006, Canadian Journal of Learning and Technology are also available online. (p.s. I got an email today, and now I see an editorial, boasting about low acceptance rates). More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Martha Irvine[Edit][Delete]: Online Can't Match One-on-One, The Morning Call [Edit][Delete] October 9, 2006
I find it ironic that a journalism professor is touting the benefits of personal interaction as opposed to the online variety. "He points out the students he's seen walking across campus, holding hands with significant others while talking on cell phones to someone else. He's also observed them in coffee shops, surrounded by people, but staring instead at a computer screen." Well - yeah. Would he also object to people holding hands while listening to the radio? Sitting in a cafe while reading a newspaper. More...