Here’s a summary of ideas and conversations from the edublogging community that have captured our attention in the past 48 hours.
Stephen Downes is back from his hiatus and leads off with this response to Will Richardson’s post on why he is not reading as much in the blogosphere as he used to. Stephen writes:
“Why write posts? Why blog at all? If the content of what you are reading or
writing isn’t absorbing in and of itself, to you, then the blog just becomes a
vehicle for some sort of external reward. Let go of the reward; leave that for
the self-promoters and the shysters and the advertisers. And eschew these in
your reading. Invest in your passions and follow those of others; the rest will
follow.”
Ben Vershbow has an informative piece over at if:book on defining the networked book. As he points out, this concept has been getting quite a bit of currency of late. This article recaps recent discussion, offers up a definition of the networked book — “a networked book is an open book designed to be written, edited and read in a networked environment.” — and provides a list of projects related to networked books.
And, as George Siemens points out, it’s just not a one-way world anymore. “We may still control certification, but the learning act itself is quickly
moving into the hands of learners.” Indeed, education cannot and will not escape this evolutionary event.
Finally, check out Vicki Davis’ post on “interesting facts around the blogosphere.” She points to predominant language use, education opportunities, and a whole lot more.
Here’s our take on news that matters for Tuesday, May 2. Today’s theme is they’re still here , and here are a some links to headlines about technology that is changing the way we live and learn.
- Gaming — Looks like we can expect details on Nintendo Lite pricing and launch info later this week. Also, Electronic Arts will be releasing the new role playing game “Orcs & Elves” to Verizon Wireless customers this month.
- Blogging, mediacasting, and online creations — If you haven’t been following this controversy, The Los Angeles Times has taken action against Pulitzer Prize winner Michael Hiltzik for blogging under anonymous names. The editor’s note at the Times read: “The Times is discontinuing Michael Hiltzik’s Golden State column, which ran in the Business section, because the columnist violated the newspaper’s ethics guidelines. This follows the suspension last week of his blog on latimes.com, which also has been discontinued. Hiltzik has acknowledged using pseudonyms to post a single comment on his blog on latimes.com and multiple comments elsewhere on the Web that dealt with his column and other issues involving the newspaper.”
- Handhelds – Visa and Nokia are testing a new Cell Phone/RFID combo in Malaysia that will allows users to make purchases of in-store goods using their cell phones. This technology is aimed at eliminating the need for customers to carry credit cards. “Houston, we have confirmation. Apple and the record labels have agreed to stick with their pricing of $.99 per tune.”
- Social Networks – beginning today, you can get your new Helio phone and service. This is the newest venture by Earthlink founder Sky Dalton and is aimed at the younger generation who want social networking and other rich media extended to their cell phones. Pete Cashmore has this review of kSolo, an online karaoke site. Yep, you heard me. I’ll even hum a few bars if you like.
- Technology Talks — Microsoft has announced that it will spend an additional $2 billion on technology acquisition in the upcoming fiscal year that begins July 1. This jives with Microsoft’s commitment to position itself more competitively against Yahoo! and Google, as well as the company’s historical pattern of being a second mover in technology trends. The New York Times has this good article on how the battle between Microsoft and google will shape the future of how we access information.
Here’s a summary of ideas and conversations from the edublogging community that have captured our attention in the past 48 hours.
Will Richardson starts the week with this nice post on Lifelong Teachers. We are using blogs and podcasts to crete new models for lifelong learners, he argues, so why no turn the same kind of thinking onto the teaching guild.
Also, Graham Wegner is talking about mobile learning and its potential, and is responding to some of the good work by Alex Hayes. Bryan Alexander is also musing about the shift form PCs to mobile computing.
I’m not sure what the motivation was/is, but Stephen Powell has this list of reasons institutions of Higher Education don’t change. These do have a certain air of familiarity to them.
Christopher Sessums has this insightful article on inquiry and blog-based approaches to Professional development training.
“It is my contention that weblogs provide a particularly helpful environment that allows educators to record and share their thoughts, treatment plans, and analyses. Weblogs also provide a place where educators can seek counsel and advice from peers, hold informal conversations about related and unrelated topics, as well as network with other educators from a variety of institutions. Weblogs also provide an environment that permits teacher educators to study issues such as self-presentation and reflective thinking that in turn refines research and understanding of teacher professional development.”
Here’s our take on news that matters for Monday, May 1. Today’s theme is they’re still here , and here are a some links to headlines about technology that is changing the way we live and learn.
- Gaming — Well, there’s a new game in town, or at least a new physics chip for games. The new chip is designed to add a new level of reality to game play. ”
Buildings will blow up spectacularly, football tackles will become more
bone-crunching, and cloth will flutter and crumple, lending a dramatic
flair to online role-playing games.” Also, in the “no big surprise” category, Sony has announced that it is expecting big losses on its new PS3 console.
- Blogging, mediacasting, and online creations — Napster is back to offering free music but it’s only free is you listen to streaming music from your computer and you are limited to the number of times you can listen to a track (5). These tactics seem peculiar to me given that they tend to be Web and Flash-based, something that many handhelds will be able to handle in the next 12-18 months. At that point, I guess it’s just the limited play of tracks that will be a detractor. I mean really, in two years downloading just won’t be that big of a deal to subscribers. Also, according to a study by Jacobs Media, podcasting may be the up and coming way to Rock.
- Handhelds – Thankfully, researchers are working on a universal chip for cell phones that would allow any phone to sync with any mobile service worldwide. Now that’s useful technology!
- Social Networks –
MyNewPlace is an online apartment search service using a series of Web 2.0 services such as map mashups and blogs. According to this article, “The site differentiates itself from competitors by giving would-be
renters the opportunity to post blog entries talking about their
experiences and asking for tips, and by also providing Google maps
showing apartments’ locations with even the simplest searches.” And yes, the video sharing space was already crowded, but now there is yet another player — SelfCastTV. Better look at it quick because it may not be around long as it offers no serious threat to YouTube. If you haven’t been checking out all the online video sites, never fear, Wired as this guide.
- Technology Talks — A couple of good articles appeared over the weekend that addressed new advances with e-ink and other e-book technologies. The CNET article has more information on the iLiad reader along with a link to a nice slide show. The New York Times ran an article about Microsoft’s new Vista-based reader that allows users to download entire newspapers and view them offline on a handheld or desktop. Also, Yahoo is launching a new Technology news and assistance site. It will be interesting to see how they marry this effort with other Web 2.0 services.
This is Rob Reynolds’ weekly assessment of events related to technology, education, and culture. This week’s recap touches on Live Mail, Microsoft’s e-publishing partnership with the New York Times, and other technology news related to FaceBook, Yahoo, eBay, and Sony. From the education world, Rob mentions posts abot the blogging/wiki session at the Milken Institute, as well as Clarence Fisher’s reflections on his experiences with classroom blogging this past year.
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This is Rob Reynolds’ weekly assessment of events related to technology, education, and culture. This week’s recap touches recent developments in video gaming and provides an overview of reports o blogging and podcasting from Technorati, Feedburner, and Arbitron. This presentation also provides updates regarding the mobile phone trends and goings on in the social networking space. From the education world, Rob treats discussions related to censorship and Web filtering by schools, and mentions ongoing memes such as “Telling the New Story.”
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Click here to download the transcript
View article links for this podcast on del.icio.us
Click here to download MP3 file
You would think that with all the amazingly cool gadgets, smart computers and incredible machines and ideas floating around these days, people could come up with a better way of measuring a high schooler’s intelligence than standardized tests. The ACT and the SAT are, in theory, good ideas. No one can tamper with the tests and since they’re all the same, they have to be fair…right?
These standardized tests are supposed to be “super tests” but they can be beaten easily by a good test taker and a small amount of study time. The answers are actually fairly predictable — for example in the English portion the shortest answer is almost always the right one. They may say that the triangles and rectangles are not drawn to size, but they really are. And, since colleges base admission off of these tests, it pays (literally) to be a good test taker even if you don’t have the best grades. Unfortunately, that’s bad news for the people who may be brilliant but who process information differently or who can’t take a test well to save their lives.
I scored a 32 out of 36 on the ACT and consider myself a good test taker so I have nothing to complain about. But it’s the principle of the idea. People who read slowly or who are precise and thorough in their thinking are generally penalized with a time limit on the test. While they may have an IQ of one hundred and thirty, they might not score above a twenty on the test because they don’t have time to fully read the questions or process their thinking in the allotted time period.
Some very intelligent people just don’t take tests well. I’ve sat in class before and watched perfectionists take tests. They will sit and agonize over every single question narrowing down the answers one by one until there are only two left, and then they’ll bubble in one answer. But wait! That wasn’t the right answer. So they take out their erasers (yes they have erasers and the erasers always look very worn) and they erase the first bubble and begin to bubble in the other answer. Midway through this exercise they change their minds again and have to erase. Often there isn’t much of an answer sheet left after the kid has practically erased holes in the sheet. Not that it matters — the time limit has passed and they won’t score well at any rate.
The real problem is that these standardized tests don’t really measure your intelligence — they just test your ability to test.
There may not be a quick answer to fixing standardized tests. If you take off the time limit some people will abuse that. And, adding more time to some will just let them triple check their answers and increase their test anxiety. Regardless of how we try to fix these test, however, the fact remains that a student’s entrance into college should not be determined by one measly test to begin with. Personally I think each student should be evaluated on an individual basis, with letters from each of his or her teachers. That would give a better insight into a student’s real ability. Of course that would be a lot of extra work for teachers and colleges. The colleges I’m not worried about. They definitely make enough money to invest in such a system. And, while they’re spending some extra money, they can always throw a little in the teachers’ direction.
Problem solved.
Here’s a summary of ideas and conversations from the edublogging community that have captured our attention in the past 48 hours.
The discussion regarding Internet filtering and censorship continues with Doug Johnson posting his ideas about how to address the problem. Yes, he says, a little civil disobedience in the short term might have some effect, but the long-term solution is to attach the process of district policy making. Miguel Guhlin, the original rabble rouser, responds to Doug’s post with a philosophical take on winning through surrender. Bud Hunt also added his take with a nice podcast on filtering conversations, but in the end, I think I like Tom Hoffman’s take the best: “It seems to me that the people with the choke hold on the web filters in our
schools aren’t educators, and often are largely unaccountable. On the whole, ed-tech seems to be subservient to IT. How the hell did that happen?”
D’Arcy Norman has a great description of the Un-Keynote presentation he did in Vancouver with Stephen Downes and Brian Alexander. The three of them roamed the audience, forced collaborative discussion, and instead of a PowerPoint presentation beamed a back channel chat session on the screen. D’Arcy’s description relates the difficulty and anxiety associated with the session, but it also gives nice insight into how this kind of thing can be done and why it can change the way we do presentations in general. Kudos to these pioneers.
Vicki Davis riffs on a Kathy Sierra post and creates her own Typology of Cognitive Pleasures for the classroom. Her list includes Discovery, Challenge, Narrative, Self-expression, Social Framework, Cognitive Arousal, Thrill, Sensation, Triumph, Flow, Accomplishment, Fantasy, and Learning. Worth the read!
Here’s our take on news that matters for Friday, April 21. Today’s theme is onward and upward!, and here are a some links to headlines about technology that is changing the way we live and learn.
- Gaming — BusinessWeek has this good overview of the money that is being made from Second Life. And, speaking of making money, Sony has decided it wants to increase sales of its aging PS2 console. That means a lower selling price. Get yours today for only $129.
- Blogging, mediacasting, and online creations — Renee Callahan over at Corante has an insightful article about Blogging as a form of open source knowledge management. Good stuff here.
- Handhelds – Nokia’s global share of the handheld market has increased form 32% to 35% thanks to strong sales in North America and Asia. Strategy Analytics said total mobile phone sales worldwide could top one billion in 2006 for the first time. Bill Gates sees a world in which Tablet PCs replace textbooks for students. Well, he and I agree on the fact that textbooks will go the way of the DoDo bird, but I’m not sure Tablet PCs will be the winning answer.
- Social Networks – AOL is continuing to make noise about becoming a major player in the social networking space. Scripting News has a rumor that AOL is getting ready to launch a new site aimed directly at MySpace and Facebook. Time will tell. Also, Mashable! gives its take on a couple of new social networking sites. Check out Yuku (a slickly designed MySpace competitor with cool AJAX scripting) and SocialPicks. Finally, according to Om Malik, Skype continues to grow but not at a rate that will help eBay make back its $2+ billion investment anytime soon.
- Technology Talks — Well, it looks like Microsoft is going after the consumer storage space as well with a new product called Live Drive. The goal is to connect everything Microsoft as well as all out our personal items. Google and Microsoft are as hard to differentiate as the men and the pigs these days.
(This is a text summary of the He Said She Said podcast from April 20, 2006. This is a weekly podcast that deals with a wide range of topics on Education and Educational Technology. The show’s host is Rob Reynolds and he is joined by Susan Smith Nash. A new He Said She Said podcast is available every week on XplanaRadio.)In this podcast, Rob and Susan discuss the Long Tail of educational publishing. New markets are opening up along with new publishing alternatives and the means of production and distribution have turned every professor into a content provider. Rob and Susan discuss the possibilities due to Google Books, Lulu.com, BookSurge, and other on-demand print or distribution and e-commerce solutions. They also talk about the effects of social networking on this new publishing world and Rob touches briefly on the potential of projects like Sophie.Broadcast Informationpodcast feedi-podder
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