A Quick ProfHack: Kindling the Presentation
By Erin E. Templeton. A few weeks ago, I had the privilege of speaking at the Digital Humanities Summer Institute at the University of Victoria. If you haven’t attended (and didn’t have your Twitter stream flooded with #DHSI2014 tweets), DHSI is a week-long Digital Humanities extravaganza, which you can read about in a previous ProfHacker post. I was participating in one of the new “Birds of a Feather” discussions, which asked two provocateurs to make short presentations and then would open up into a discussion with the audience. Read more...Unizin, Technology Tables, and the Trouble with Silos
By Eric Stoller. In Iowa, my home state, silos are everywhere. In higher education, we have silos too. The siloed state of higher education is generally split between academic affairs and student affairs. Strategic partnerships and collaborative efforts abound and yet our siloed structures persist. Recently, while reading a story on IHE, I read about the Unizin initiative. According to the Unizin consortium's website, Unizin is "an inter-university technology service that supports teaching and learning in the modern digital landscape." It sounds fantastic. However, it would appear at first blush that one of the most important silos in the higher education sphere has been left out of the conversation. Read more...
Leaked Text of Bezos' Amazon Phone Announcement
By Joshua Kim. I happen to be in possession of a leaked copy of what Jeff Bezos plans to say on Wednesday as he introduces the new Amazon smart phone.
The big surprise is that mobile learning is prominently featured in Amazon’s product and strategy.
Text from the Amazon Phone Announcement:
Production Note: Jeff enters stage left to an adoring throng:
"Well howdy. Glad you could all make it to our little Amazon event. Read more...
Le numérique, facteur d'incertitude créative dans l'enseignement
Par Élodie Lestonat. Se reposer sur une mécanique bien rodée réduit incertitude et risque. Même en matière d’apprentissage, se fonder sur un scénario pédagogique excluant les facteurs d’incertitude liés à des pratiques, techniques pédagogiques nouvelles ainsi qu’à l’introduction de technologies innovantes, offre un confort indéniable. C’est aussi un bon moyen d’éviter de se mettre en difficulté et de s’assurer une réputation d’enseignant plébiscité par ses élèves (ainsi que leurs parents). En effet, bien que l’apport des nouveaux outils soit pensé comme nécessaire par la communauté des apprenants, ces derniers restent sceptiques lorsqu’ils sont confrontés à une modification de leurs habitudes d’apprentissage. Suite...
Hackers et makers dans un monde qui bouge,… co-révolutionnaires !
Do the new anonymous social media apps encourage us to overshare?
By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Do the new anonymous social media apps encourage us to overshare?
Oliver Burkeman, The Guardian, June 11, 2014
I guess the answer to that question is, "who knows?" What we do know is that there has been a negative response to the Facebook dictum that " The days of you having a different image for your work friends [and] for the other people you know are probably coming to an end… " But there are certainly downsides to anonymity. More...
ProQuest Case Study: Using the Oscillation Principle for Software Development
By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. ProQuest Case Study: Using the Oscillation Principle for Software Development
Nancy Dixon, Conversation Matters, June 11, 2014
This is an interesting and extended look at the software development methodology employed by ProQuest (you may have seen their online maps). They use what Dixon calls the "oscillation principle" meeting three times a year for three days. More...
Digital News Report 2014
By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Digital News Report 2014
Nic Newman, Reuters, June 14, 2014
The disruptions to news reporting caused by the internet and social media are just beginning, according to this report released by Reuters. Facebook is vital worldwide for news distribution, Twitter in the US, UK and Spain, and WhatsApp in many other parts of the world. Sharing is widespread in the US, Brazil and Spain (though much less so in the UK. So, in related news, we are seeing that the next five years will see a major revenue shift for news agencies. More...