Where Have All the Intellectuals Gone?
Reading the review was probably enough for me, as it depicts what seems to be a pro-intellectualist rail against what it is today's intellectuals (including myself, if I may be so bold) are actually saying. More...
Firefrss, Your New RSS-enabled Browsing Buddy
The big news on the web this week is the long awaited release of Firefox 1.0, the first 'production' version of the popular open source web browser. And the big news with this new release is the integration of RSS right into the browsing experience, something that not only vaults RSS into the mainstream but which means that designers may well realize their goal of a million downloads in ten days. More...
New Students, New Learning
Greetings from Canberra. This issue of OLDaily is a little short, but having landed just yesterday and given a longish presentation today, I'm dead tired. This item is the slides from the presentation - originally intended to be two separate talks, one on e-learning quality, one on the new student, but mixed and mashed into one quite long presentation. I have audio, but rather than inflict 130 megabytes of download on you, will try to get it compressed first. Meanwhile, enjoy the slides. Readings associated with the talks may be found on my wiki, here and here - feel free to add your own resources or comments. By Stephen Downes, Stephen's Web, September 16, 2004 [Refer][Research][Reflect]. More...
Realize the Full Potential of Recognition of Prior Learning
Papers from the VET Research Conference, held in July 2004 at Southern Cross University, are now available. Topics range from learning assessment to literacy to knowledge representation. I list two papers. This first paper, written mostly in point form, surveys the motivations for recognition of prior learning (RPL), surveys the landscape in Australian states, recommends wider use of RPL, and suggests success factors: clarity of definitions, removal of financial disincentives, improved support services, and publicizing known examples of good practice. More...
Intrallect Newsletter
Martin Morrey of Intrallect just sent me the first issue of their newsletter, and while I'm not thrilled by the format (PDF, so I can hardly read it; no RSS, so I can't syndicate it) the content is good and it is overall a good example of how companies should be communicating with customers and news aggregators such as myself. In this issue, after the obligatory 'wins big contract' PR piece I read a basic-level article on learning object repositories and a more interesting piece on repository networks (the diagram is quite useful). More...
Thoughts on Stephen Downes’ ITI Keynote
More on my presentation in Utah. D'Arcy Norman picks out some good bits (not necessarily the bits I would have picked - but that's why commentary is so interesting). Here are the links to the Apollo and Pachyderm projects he mentions. I don't think they're it, but we need to talk about it more. More...
Skype Offers Pocket PC P2P Telephony Software
Skype has released software for the pocket PC, making free IP telephony possibly from any wifi hot spot using a device that fits in your pocket. More...
Downes Wiki
I have added a wiki to my website. As I write, it's still mostly empty. But it adds for me something my website has been badly missing - a scratch pad, where I can jot down ideas. I'm going to use it in the short term to plan my talks for my trip to Australia (you should feel free to add your thoughts and ideas). Longer term, who knows? The software I used is called berliOS:ErfurtWiki. This is not an endorsement - It didn't install cleanly and I had to rewrite some code myself to make it work. That said, now that it works, I really like it. A lot. The page design formatting is still a bit off, but that will be improved over time.
Speaking of Australia - I leave for Canberra on Monday. I will try to get a Daily issue out on Monday, but no guarantees. There will be no issue Tuesday. After that, there may be additional disruptions, depending on internet access. Readers of OLWeekly should not expect any major disruptions (and I'll get the newsletter title fixed as soon as I can). By Stephen Downes, Stephen's Web, September 10, 2004 [Refer][Research][Reflect]. More...
WebCT and Online Assessment: The Best Thing Since SOAP?
By SOAP the authors mean not web services but Student Online Assessment Program. This essay looks at what may be the best thing since then, the WebCT quiz application. Nice discussion of the evolution of SOAP and a nice chart near the middle of the essay comparing SOAP with the WebCT feature. More...
The Content Conundrum
A fun dialogue in the great tradition of gentle satire looking at some of the assumptions behind the idea of reusable learning objects. "Q: So, RLOs, where will they come from? A: Good question, and one that seldom gets asked. There's tacit agreement that you and I will be creating RLOs." There's some good information behind the links - the colour is subtle so be watching for it. More...
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