By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. BAM! You'Re There! NECC Feeds for Every Session: Blogs, Flickr, Slides
OK, I'm glad that the NECC conference has full feeds and all that. But I think the latest push has taken taging to a new level of abstraction. Here's a tag, for example, for one of the sessions: n07s643. This is exactly the sort of thing I predicted would happen. OK, so, what now? The way it should have been done in the first place: each event has an associated URL. Blog posts, etc., can link to (or 'refer to') that URL. In the metadata (ie., the RSS) for an event URL (which now has the same status as a blog post, right?) you can add some event data ('start','finish','location') and indicate event structure ('parent'). Of course, we have to wait for somebody down south to 'invent' it so we can have such a system; when it's just a voice from the north proposing it, the idea doesn't exist. More...
Technologies of Collaboration
By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Technologies of Collaboration
Overview slide show presented to ASTD listing (and linking to) a variety of cpllaborative technologies. Useful, but pale blue on mini-PDF slides is not the best format for readability (I had to enlarge to 250 percent to read the links). The remarks in the blog post are interesting: "About half of the training professionals had used Google Earth, but almost none had tried Second Life. In fact, I had the impression that much of what I showed was completely new to most of the attendees". More...
A Roadmap to Student Success — and the Technology That Can Get You There
Academic and university success are intertwined, and through communication, data analytics and personalized learning tools, institutions and students can win together. Innovations in artificial intelligence are helping to solve for this problem. More...
Teaching and Learning with Technology faculty fellows focus on learning spaces
Each member of the cohort will undertake a project intended to enhance unique spaces where students learn. More...
60 Years of Higher Ed — Really?
“The real driver of the 60-year curriculum is the job market and length of life,” said Huntington D. Lambert, the dean of the division of continuing education and university extension at Harvard University, who is a leader in the movement. More...
Quantum computer bests all conventional computers in first claim of ‘supremacy’
Gil voices another worry long held by many the field: That after all the hype surrounding quantum supremacy, quantum computing may experience a letdown like the one that plagued the field of artificial intelligence from the 1970s until the current decade, when technology finally caught up with aspirations. More...
For Effective Edtech Platforms, Listen to Users
Edtech has not reached its full potential. The number one essential rule of product development is to make sure you build something that people want and to avoid building something that people don’t want. More...
Swiss University Fights Fake Diplomas with Blockchain Technology
According to a CNN Money Switzerland interview from Sept. 19, the University of St. Gallen has announced that it is introducing a blockchain-based pilot project to verify the authenticity of its degrees in a matter of seconds rather than several days. More...
How Can We Use Chatbots in Education?
The term ‘chatbot’ may not be a universally recognized term yet, but that has not stopped chatbots from embedding themselves in our digital worlds. More...
5G Networks Promise to Make Instructional Technology Better
Classroom technology is on the brink of massive change, and it’s a change many educators are eagerly waiting for. The promise of 5G networks brings with it a robustness like nothing we’ve seen before. More...