By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Vincent Tinto[Edit][Delete]: Learning Communities: Building Gateways to Student Success, National Teaching and Learning Forum [Edit][Delete] January 9, 2006

Mentioned in passing by Alan Levine, Vincent Tinto is a good source for information on learning communities in traditional settings. In this article, from 1998, he identifies several types of learning communities and observes, "The responsibilities and roles of the faculty and students, and of student affairs professionals, become less distinct, more blurred as each attempts to negotiate meaning with the other". More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Tom Hoffman[Edit][Delete]: My Blogging Resolution for 2006, ESchool News [Edit][Delete] January 9, 2006

Tom Hoffman pledges to be honest about his biases in 2006, a good thing, and while pointing to the mostly worthwhile philosophies of the Coalition of Essential Schools he makes most clear, I think, his disdain for some more recent (or as he says, "ersatz") theories of learning. He writes, "Nothing, not a single damn thing I've learned about technology has changed what I've always believed about teaching and learning by humans". More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Sohini Bagchi[Edit][Delete]: The E-learning Boom Is Here!, CXOtoday [Edit][Delete] January 9, 2006

Cheerleading article, useful because it points to market leaders (Wipro, Satyam, Accenture, Convergys, ING Vysya Bank) and points to some weaknesses ("the biggest growth and adaptation inhibitor is not lack of solutions or their quality, but the need for an internal change management. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Christopher D. Sessums[Edit][Delete]: The Beginnings of a Manifesto for Reforming Education in the U.S., January 9, 2006

I don't see why the author would limit his attention to the U.S., but this short article starts off on the right track, I think. Sort of. This bit is good: "This political movement requires âxoeemergence,âxx where change is initiated from below, not handed down from above." But this isn't: "For the act of teaching and learning to change at both an institutional level and an active, social level, teachers need to join together and form a unified vision of working conditions and compensation." No. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. David Wiley[Edit][Delete]: RIP-ping on Learning Objects, Iterating Toward Openness [Edit][Delete]Iterating toward openness [Edit][Delete] January 9, 2006

David Wiley writes, "I don't think I care if learning objects are dead or not." Now if that doesn't get you to click on the link I don't know what will. Wiley recounts the reusability paradox he outlined a few years ago, and yet underlines the value learning objects were supposed to bring. He writes, "As I've thought about that need, I think it is best expressed as easily localizable resources." More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Terry Anderson[Edit][Delete]: PLEs Versus LMS: Are PLEs Ready for Prime Time?, Virtual Canuck [Edit][Delete] January 9, 2006

Terry Anderson cautions, "Although there is something quite compelling about the vision of a lifelong learning environment that is centered upon and perpetually belongs to the learner, I think we are some distance from being able to operationalize that vision." More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Stephen Downes[Edit][Delete]: MyGlu, January 9, 2006