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Showing posts from 2009

Just saying...

I found myself perusing Microsoft's Innovative Education Forum website earlier today to see what was what and I thought I'd have a quick look at the FAQs. And then I came across Question 12... Now, I'm not making a major point here, but it just jarred somewhat to see these restrictions placed on a conference aimed at celebrating innovation. Not even a sneaky wee photo of a key note speaker to pop onto Flickr or a handy flip video of a top demonstration to share on YouTube??? Wouldn't that create a bit of buzz and excitement? Guess we'll never know! Hmmm....

Dr Richard Schwier, Informal Learning and My Web

Way way behind in commenting on the goings on in eci831, but it's been another busy week. This past week I have listened to MP3s of George Siemens ' session on Connectivism, and Richard Schwier 's session on Learning Communities. I also watched the Elluminate recording of Sue Waters ' session on Educational Blogging where she posed the question " what are your thoughts on educational blogging? ". There has been lots of food for thought from all 3 sessions and it's very difficult to summarise where I am with it all. A few key points would be: - I'm a lurker, but hopefully not a loafer - I DO feel engaged, with the learning if not so much with my fellow learners - I'm a 'not for credit' student - what I'm involved in is definitely non-formal learning with the odd informal moment along the way. - I feel connected to the course and the social element is something I am conscious of and engaged with on the periphery. I wish I was more engage...

Social Media and Open Education - getting started...

So, I signed up for a Social Media and Open Education course (EC&I 831) as a non-credit student. The course is being run by Alec Couros from the University of Regina in Saskatchewan (which always makes me think of the Proclaimers song "Cap in Hand"), but that was a several weeks ago. Since then, I have, for various reasons, done nothing... Now, I'm catching up! Easy stuff: Follow all the people from the course who are following me, and follow a few extras. I didn't opt to follow everyone - not sure why not, but I imagine it's because I just felt slightly intimidated by the sheer numbers of them. I'm sure I'll add a few more over the duration of the course as I get to see who's doing what and who has interesting things to say. Mind you, if others use the same criteria, I'm not sure I'll generate many new followers! Sort out Twitterdeck - new Twitter column for course related activity. This should help me to keep track of what people are...

Bing v Google

On the face of it, this battle is still no-contest, however... I came across an interesting item on the RIA Journal blog pointing out that Facebook now uses Bing to power their extended search results and not Google. This possibly goes some way to explain the apparent optimism detected by Rory Cellan-Jones when he recently met with some Microsoft executives . As Rory points out however, Bing has only 3.3% of the market, with Google retaining an impressive 84%. Rory makes the point that he, like many, tried out Bing when it first came out but then reverted back to Google and that Bing’s biggest challenge would be to break down that user inertia. Basically, why bother going to Bing? If Bing can get itself “institutionalised” by becoming embedded in major tools like Facebook then it stands a chance. If it can’t, it will remain insignificant. The big question I have is why did Facebook choose Bing?

Words, words, words...

A couple of items in the media caught my attention and started me thinking about the strange beast that is the English language. Firstly, there was an interview on Radio 5 Live with two people in Corby in connection with the story about birth defects and the link with toxic waste . During the course of the interview both interviewees either used a word incorrectly or made up a word. In both cases, on first hearing, it was almost possible to believe that the words were correct, but something jarred and the errors made me laugh and despair at the same time. In the first instance, the interviewee said that "the council was clearly negligible " in their dealings with the toxic waste. In the second instance, a few seconds later a second interviewee said that "the ruling showed that there had clearly been neglection on the part of the council...". I assume that the first interviewee meant to say negligent and the second neglect, but the two mistakes started me thin...

Why typewriters beat computers

Image credit:  Kent K Barnes/kentkb This BBC article caught my eye the other day (well ages ago actually), as I guess I had assumed that the typewriter was largely extinct! Forget One Laptop per Child, how about One typewriter per child?! For all that it is easy to have a laugh at the typewriter's expense,  the article makes a number of interesting points: In many respects the typewriter beats the computer for simplicity and reliability.  This is backed up by Frederick Forsyth who tells us that:  There was the steel-cased portable he used as a foreign correspondent in the 1960s. "It had a crease across the lid which was done by a bullet in Biafra . It just kept tapping away. It didn't need power, it didn't need batteries, it didn't need recharging. One ribbon went back and forward and back until it was a rag, almost, and out came the dispatches." Better Security with a Typewriter? Frederick Forsyth “I have never had an accident where I have pressed ...