Author: Downes

Scott McLeod wrote,Here’s a statement that I’m getting really tired of hearing: “We didn’t have computers when I was in school and I turned out okay. There’s no reason why kids today need ’em.” My response is alway…

Responding to An Open Letter to #OccupyWallStreet   When the OWS people say ‘we’ they do not mean it in the sense of ‘we who are camped out’ but rather ‘we’ as in ‘we who are not among the financial elite’. When they say ‘we are the 99 percen…

*QRapplets*I don’t know why I didn’t think of this sooner. Though to be honest, I don’t know whether they will work – but I see no reason why they shouldn’t. Here’s the idea:- QR codes are used, among other things, to encode URLs. Using a QR code re…

Props to New Scientist for highlighting this report, which identifies a network of 147 tightly clustered entities that control 40 percent of the world’s wealth. The top 20 included Barclays Bank, JPMorgan Chase & Co, and The Goldman Sachs Group.Her…

I was asked the following questions after my presentation to CZ Course RVP_VT21 yesterday:(Elements of Coop.) How to ensure any educational outcomes in accordance with short-time curricular aims? Students having autonomy do not usually feel about the…

Michael Ruse addresses the American First Amendment with a deft argument but with a base of knowledge that does not extend to actually dealing with the hateful. He writes:I detest laws that restrict freedom of speech. Apart from anything else, like …

We had a good crowd of about 500 people in Moncton, which is quite large for a city this size (the same proportion would be 20,000 people in Toronto). Zero police. A lot of horns being honked in sympathy. Loud drums. Union support. No politicians (none…

The Moncton demonstration will most probably be small, but I will be there, and hope many others will be, as we do our small part in the global ‘occupy’ protests October 15th.I just saw in +Daniel Lemire this link to a Bloomburg post http://buswk.co/ny…

The usual disclaimers apply: although I’m creating this myself, it’s probably not unique to me, someone else probably thought of it first, and I don’t expect anyone in the world to actually use this, though if it is in fact new, when it’s reinvented by…

This is a summary of the ‘expert discussion’ at the conclusion of Day One of the International Monitoring Organization conference. Each paragraph denotes a different speaker, the speakers are not identifies, the result being to produce a single more-or…

Stephen H. Foerster write, on OER-forum:      > The logic is that it’s inappropriate for governmentto undercut private industry.  There are many cases where it is appropriate forgovernment to, as you say, ‘undercut indu…

The article is wordy and a a bit too specific, in a misleading way. But it ultimately gets at six of the ways the rich are waging a class war against the poor. Here’s my clearer, more pointed (and more international) list:1. Attacking the VoteIt’s not …

It’s not often that you get a serties of points like this just begging to be refuted:> I don’t think most of us want our dentists to be “out of the box” thinkers.I do. I totally don’t want my dentists practising the way they did when I was a kid, I…

It’s funny how one bad experience can make you feel disempowered and helpless and frustrated.Andrea and I have been struggling with one doctor for several years now (no, not our family doctor, a specialist). Obtaining appointments has become an exercis…

Feedback sent by request to Big Blue Button application authors after our #change11 experience:Our installation is managed by Stephen Dame, who has setup a dedicated server for it. I have copied him on this email. He can provide you with details of the…

Today it’s all about setting up your social web.Remember from yesterday that if you want to engage more actively in the course, the best way is to create your own contributions online. You are not required to do this, but you may well find yourself mor…

This short post is intended to help you participate in the Massive Open Online Course, of MOOC. It won’t cover everything, but it should be enough to get you started. Note that how don’t have to participate this way; it’s just recommended as a good pla…

I have now had the chance to read The Edupunks’ Guide and can now form some opinions based on what I’ve seen. And if I were forced to summarize my critique in a nutshell, it would be this. Edupunk, as described by the putative subculture, is the idea o…

I know that the question of personal identity is one of the most debated and discussed topic in philosophy and in the humanities generally. It is also one that assumes a greater importance as time goes by. As Damon Horowitz wrote, “The technology issue…

What’s the difference between what Google+ does and what I do now? Let me explain, and in so doing point to a way to ‘fix’ Google+.Before Google+ I had several streams of content:- OLDaily, which consisted of short posts documenting and commenting on i…