By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. The Dark Side of Web 2.0 and Kids
OK, I admit that I laughed out loud when I heard the description of fence plowing: "youths taking a running start and hurling themselves into a fence, sending slats flying." Other than that, I'm wondering what the fuss is. Do people lose their memories when they become teachers and principals? Do they think that fighting and bullying began with YouTube? I have a traumatic childhood that says otherwise. Sheesh. The bullies were never punished in my day; if they're now getting caught in the act because of video, great. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. All or Nothing
So anyhow, Jay Cross wrote this article a few days ago, offering a mixer analogy to highlight some of the ways informal learning differs from traditional learning. That prompted me to comment and, well, once I got going I didn't stop until I laid out a fairly comprehensive objection to the metaphor - and to the characterization of informal learning in general. Some people - like Mark Berthelemy - think that instead of the clarity and accuracy I am looking for, "Most managers, executives, whatever you want to call them, don't read academic arguments - they respond to marketing messages: simple, clear pictures that they can understand and relate to." If that's true then they deserve to have their business fail; I have no sympathy for someone who cannot be bothered to learn about the business they are supposedly managing. But in a post titled Politcally radical - perfectly natural Tom Haskins gets to the source of the disagreement. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. One More Unworkable Idea From Those in the Know?
"Personalised learning is yet another plan dreamed up by those with no experience of the chalkface, says Rosemary Clark." And next week, the same author will argue that another pipe dream, the search engine, could never work because nobody could afford to pay enough people to read all those books. Oh, and after that, that instant messaging will be a flop because the pigeons would get stuck in the letterbox. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Audio Quality Does Matter
Your mileage will probably vary, but as this post notes, audio quality does matter. "Audio fidelity will attract attention to media. Audio fidelity will affect people's memory for audio information. People will evaluate better audio fidelity differently than poorer audio fidelity." Now I need to get myself one of those funky microphones. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Game Over - Play Again?
"People learn just [fine] without us. And not only that, the web is making it possible for people to...GASP...learn from each other...WITHOUT us! Holy career crashers, Batman!". More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Happy B-Day: Logic + Emotion Turns One
The Logic+Emotion weblog has been one of my favorites for, well, almost a year now. Author David Armano celebrates the first anniversay of the blog by releasing a year's worth of graphics in a PowerPoint presentation. Some good stuff here, such as 'Approach to Creating Experiences' (slide 18). More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Toward a Theory of Discontent: What Can Learning Theory Contribute to Education?
"A theory is as much an assumption, a basis for belief, as it is an explanation, an ontology, or an understanding of things." So writes Christopher D. Sessums in this criticism of the theories advanced by George Siemens and I during last week's Connectivism conference. But this tactic of reducing all theory to the level of assumption, opinion and belief is misleading and, frankly, wrong. It's the tactic creationists use to make their fancies the scientific equivalent of the years of study and research that inform evolution. And in the same way Sessums argues that my own theory (which is not substantially different from that offered by George Siemens, despite the personification of Connectivism that seems to characterize some writing) "resists an explanation of how we overcome learning difficulties." Um.... huh? Sessums characterizes my and Siemens's work thus: "how do we design educational settings or social contexts for learning in such a way that they encourage and develop intentional learning." Perhaps he missed the bit where I said, "It's not a theory of intentional learning". More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Isaac Asimov Asks, “How Do People Get New Ideas?”
Isaac Asimov, MIT Technology review, 2014/10/24
Isaac Asimov was very influential on me ion my youth, and I read many of the dozens and dozens of books he authored. This essay is a previously unpublished article he wrote on creativity, and it is not surprising to see the affinity between my own thought and what he wrote. "What is needed," he writes, "is not only people with a good background in a particular field, but also people capable of making a connection between item 1 and item 2 which might not ordinarily seem connected." And, "Making the cross-connection requires a certain daring". More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Conversation on Workplace Learning and Literacy
Stephen Downes, Valerie Irvine, John Kenney, YouTube, 2014/10/24
Framed around the LPSS program, and looking at specific issues such as workplace learning and literacy, this discussion outlines some of my views on the problems we are trying to solve, the applicability of the solutions we are creating, and the question of broader social needs being served by the program. I am in one window; Valerie Irvine and John Kenney are in the other. [Link] [Comment]. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Gone Figuring
Alan Levine, CogDogBlog, 2014/10/22
There's a storm once again over misogyny in the gaming development community. It's called #gamergate and I confess I am not close enough to it to know who is on which side (I've been reading articles like this and I still do not know who the players are). I think everybody knows I have no tolerance for abuse and threats against women. I agree with Audrey Watters that it's an ed tech issue. But I echo Alan Levine: "The outfall of this is beyond ugly, and when things go from rudeness to physical threats and abuse, things have crossed a line into evil territory. Trying to get to an understanding is hard, I gave Deadspin’s comprehensive The Future Of The Culture Wars Is Here, And It’s Gamergate one read, and that leaves me still wondering if I 'get it'." I get that I can't simply admonish people to "play nice". More...