Metadata for the Masses
Nice brief discussion of the idea of ethnoclassification - classifications systems evolving through undirected use by a population, rather than stipulated from above by a standards body. More...
First Principles of Instruction
First rate paper arguing, first, that there are general principles underlying all instructional theory, and second, that learning suffers if these principles are not followed. The second part remains speculation, but the first part is examined in some detail through the lens of a variety of models and theories. More...
Describe This
According to the announcement, Describe This is "a service designed for the automatic extraction of metadata from online resources. The site offers an easy to use interface where you can indicate the resource to analyze and how to download the results as XML, XHTML or RDF files." I tested it on my own website and on David Merrill's PDF (see below) and it worked for both, though certain desirable metadata (such as DC:creator) were missing. More...
Australia 2004
The complete summary of my Australian trip. This page contains links to audio recordings of my talks, collections of photos, and other resources. By Stephen Downes, Stephen's Web, October 22, 2004 [Refer][Research][Reflect]. More...
Tanya Wooley - Flexible Learning Leader 2004
Another educational technology blog that may be new to many readers, though the blog itself isn't that new. Based in Alice Springs, Tanya Wooley introduced me to the people in Alice's Aboriginal Development community (and also to the best Chinese tea-house in town). More...
Point. Shoot. Kiss It Good-Bye.
Todd sent me this item from Wired looking at the difficulties surrounding the finding of a photo once you've taken it. Large image libraries, such as the Bettmann Archive (owned by Corbis), employ metataggers, but assigning metadata is more of a dark art than a science. More...
IM Readiness: A View from the Centre
More than I can read while listening to David Macneil's presentation at NAWeb, but readers will want to know that presentations from the Information Management conference held by the government of Canada are now online. Intriguing titles include 'Changing the Knowledge Culture at Canadian Heritage' and 'Framework for the Management of Information. More...
Gaming Ad Network Launches
When I talk about learning being a resource that is located inside an environment, syndicated into an environment, this is the sort of thing I mean. More...
Computer Simulations in Distance Education
The October issue of the International Journal of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning is now out. I cite two items today. More...
Ten Years After
Today's newsletter comes from the back row of the NAWeb conference in Fredericton, New Brunswick - readers should note that the presentations are all online. This is the tenth year of NAWeb, and the last for organizer Rik Hall, who earns the applause and commendations of this list for this work. Hence the title of my talk, a bit of a retrospective on the conference and tribute to Rik Hall - peace, love and happiness - and where e-learning is going in the future. The title link is to the slides for my keynote here - caution, it's 5 megabytes, full of images. I have also uploaded the audio of my talk - click here for the audio (30 minutes, 3,7 megabytes) By Stephen Downes, Stephen's Web, October 19, 2004 [Refer][Research][Reflect]. More...
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