Stephen Downes

link:

Posts referring to Stephen Downes

Deinstitutionalizing Education
In this article at Huffington Post I argue we need to question how we manage education altogether. For it is manifest, I believe, that the institution, the form in which we have managed education and society in general, has ultimately come to failure. Stephen Downes, Huffington Post, November 3, 2010. [Comment] [Link]

The Uber Tool
These are notes from the Friday discussion, which led eventually to discussion about what a PLE tool (or set of tools) should actually do. There is some elaboration in the comments. Stephen Downes, Half an Hour, November 1, 2010. [Comment] [Link]

Having Reasons
In this blog post, I try to explain the importance of semantics, why we are studying critical literacies, and how this relates to knowledge and learning. "The whole concept of 'having reasons' is probably the deepest challenge there is for connectivism, or for any theory of learning. We don't want people to simply to react instinctively to events, we want them to react on a reasonable (and hopefully rational) basis." Stephen Downes, Half an Hour, July 6, 2010. [Comment] [Link]

The Representative Student
In this presentation I explore two related questions: first, what is the role of models and simulations both in delivering learning, and in learning about learning; and second, what is the relation between adaptive courseware, and the social network approach to learning based on creativity and communication? The Elluminate recording is available here. Stephen Downes, Stephen's Web, June 24, 2010. [Comment] [Link]

A Gathering of Ideas
I write this commentary for a discussion taking place at the Institute for Distributed Creativity (iDC) discussion list. And while it wasn't intended to be a part of this course, some in the discussion have suggested that it fits the course themes very well. Stephen Downes, Half an Hour, June 11, 2010. [Comment] [Link]

How To Add RSS Feeds to Critical Literacies 2010
I've created a video showing you how to add your RSS Feed to the Critical Literacies 2010 course. We will start displaying posts from your blogs shortly. The video will show you how to create a blog in blogger, how to log in to the newsletter website, and how to enter your blog.

Even if you've submitted your RSS feed some time in the past, you need to do it again, because all previous feeds have been cleaned out to make way for this course. Here are two links to remember:

View the helpful video: http://connect.downes.ca/files/addrss/

Login to the Newsletter: http://connect.downes.ca/options.htm

Submit New RSS Feed: http://connect.downes.ca/new_feed.htm

You can submit any RSS feed you like; it doesn't have to be a blog. Remember, though: if you want your content listed in the newsletter, it MUST have the tag CritLit2010 somewhere in the title, content or category of the post. That way we'll know you it's a post about this course, and not pictures of your cat. Stephen Downes, Critical Literacies 2010, June 8, 2010. [Comment] [Link]

Patterns of Change
To read the article, click the title of this post, or click here. The purpose of this article is to make it clear that it is possible to think systematically about change, and that it is fairly easy to recognize different types of change. Almost every theory you encounter in any discipline will appeal to one of the theories of change described above. Knowing that these theories have properties – and strengths, and weaknesses – in common helps you understand them and to criticize them. This article surveys the major types of change, and helps you identify and evaluate them. Stephen Downes, CritLit2010, June 7, 2010. [Comment] [Link]

How to Write Articles and Essays Quickly and Expertly
In this article I write about the four major forms of cognition: description, definition, argument and explanation. I do this in the context of how to write an essay quicky and efficiently. Stephen Downes, Half an Hour, June 3, 2010. [Comment] [Link]

Seven Habits of Highly Connected People
This is a quick summary I wrote describing how best to work and grow in a connected and networked environment. "Learning and communicating are not merely acts of sending content over a wire. They are about engaging in (what Wittgenstein called) a 'way of life.' Having a cat is as important for a physicist as having an advanced research lab. These common everyday things form the mental structure on which we hang the highly theoretical structure." Stephen Downes, eLearn Magazine, June 3, 2010. [Comment] [Link]

The Role of Open Educational Resources in Personal Learning
The role of open educational resources is to function as a vocabulary in which we converse. The main emphasis of this presentation was to speak of their role in the development of networks - these networks are the characteristic result of conversations. Stephen Downes, Stephen's Web, December 1, 2009. [Comment] [Link]

New Tools for Personal Learning
In this presentation I describe how new technologies are being designed in order to adapt to a rapidly changing and complex world. In this picture, learning is not a matter of knowledge acquisition and memorization, but rather, personal development in such a way that we become able to navigate and work with this knowledge and content in the same manner, with the same capacities, as the expert. This is a type of learning that is based on the creation of tools that support a mesh network; this network, in turn, supports the conversation and interactions that foster the development of an expert character. Slides and audio here Stephen Downes, Stephen's Web, November 25, 2009. [Comment] [Link]

Speaking in Lolcats, Take 2
Reprise of my talk from last week, in more detail and some new slides. What it means to be literate in an information age is fundamentally distinct from the literacy of the 3Rs, and teaching new literacy an evolving challenge for those of us still struggling to learn it. This talk looks at the elements of 21st century literacies, redefines critical thinking for the internet age, and suggests a redefinition of what we think of as 'core' curriculum. Slides and audio ; Elluminate session recording (with video) will be available soon. Stephen Downes, Stephen's Web, November 25, 2009. [Comment] [Link]

Connectivism: A Theory of Personal Learning
I got this link from Stephen's other daily newsletter. It's a presentation he delivered last year. 90+ slides are included, covering Stephen's PLE, learning, networks and interaction, and a review of how CCK08 was designed. It serves as a good mid-course review for CCK09... Stephen Downes, , October 21, 2009. [Comment] [Link]

Intelligent Communities Summit
These are notes from the Intelligent Communities Summit (Day One, Day Two) that I attended over the last two days. In particular, youy may want to look at my summary of a talk by Rahaf Harfoush, a social media expert who worked on the Obama campaign and author of the book 'Yes We Did', who discusses social media principles. Stephen Downes, Half an Hour, October 8, 2009. [Comment] [Link]

Four Struggles
This is a presentation I (Stephen) gave Friday at St. Thomas University. It addresses the phenomenon of globalization as it is impacted by new models of organization based on networks. Stephen Downes, Stephen's Web, October 7, 2009. [Comment] [Link]

An Introduction to Connective Knowledge
For those of you who want more than just the assigned readings, you may want to have a look at this long exploration of connective knowledge in one of my earlier posts on the subject. Stephen Downes, Stephen's Web, October 5, 2009. [Comment] [Link]

Twitter #CCK09 Feed
I've added the Twitter RSS feed to the list of harvested feeds; Twitter posts tagged #cck09 will now show up in the contributed content (below). If you have similar feeds from other services, be sure to enter them into the feed list - go to the submit page to add them. Stephen Downes, Twitter, September 30, 2009. [Comment] [Link]

Future of Learning, 10 Years On
As Stephen has been too humble to link to this article, I've decided to throw it out to the group. Digesting the concepts and ideas in this lengthy article are well worth the time. Great insights into possible future directions of education, as well as a review of his previous article from 1998. Stephen Downes, , November 25, 2008. [Comment] [Link]

The Future of Online Learning: Ten Years On
This is a major paper I authored over the summer and released yesterday. It's quite long, so don't feel a need to read it for the course. That said, you may find value skimming the headings, to get a lay of the land, and perhaps reading sections of interest to you. Stephen Downes, Half an Hour, November 17, 2008. [Comment] [Link]

Top 10 Web 2.0 Things You Can Do
People, when they think about working with new technologies, think about the big things - getting their entire institution to switch, for example. But in this video I focus on the little - and effective - things. Thanks to Helge Scherlund for making this video (see also this item, on the same page: "The Global Education Collaborative is an online community for teachers and students who are interested in joining global education projects"). Stephen Downes, YouTube, November 17, 2008. [Comment] [Link]

Openness in Education
In this video, discusses the major elements of openness in education, including types of openness, types of licenses, sustainability models, and related issues. You can follow along with slides at this presentation. Stephen Downes, blip.tv, November 14, 2008. [Comment] [Link]

Seven Questions
Short video in which I respond to a series of questions about learning, the current educational system, and what we will need in the future. Stephen Downes, Blip.tv, November 11, 2008. [Comment] [Link]

Principles for Evaluating Websites
I wrote this article a few years ago to give people looking at online sources some assistance in assessment and evaluation. It is consistent with my Fallacies guide, though much briefer and more applied. Readers of this course should notice the effort to balance the decline in the role of the authority with the increase in the role of reason and critical thinking on the part off non-authorities.

Sometimes it feels as though people think that non-authoritarian learning means students can advance whatever point of view they want, as though every view were equal. But not so. As Tom Whyte says, "providing students with training on verifying knowledge and sources is very important." True - but not just because it saves time (though it does) but so they have some mechanism for selecting with of their ideas to offer as candidates for belief. Stephen Downes, Stephen's Web, November 4, 2008. [Comment] [Link]

Educamp CCK08 Talk
This is a talk I gave online last week describing the course. It's a fairly brief presentation and moves along at a brisk pace. Slides and audio. You may also be interested in this talk, also from last week, projecting the future of advanced learning technologies. Both talks are 15 minutes or so. Stephen Downes, Stephen's Web, November 4, 2008. [Comment] [Link]

Power and Auto-Subscribe
So, Stephen decided to rock the boat and display the power he has as a moodle administrator: "Moodle offers me the option to 'force everyone to be subscribed to this forum'. Given that this week we are talking about Power, Authority, and Control... what did you think about that? And if you are one of the many who simply did not subscribe to new weeks' forums as they came up... why not?" And, mailboxes from CCK08 participants are filling up as we speak, and opinions started flowing in. What does it mean to be in control today? What do we want to do for ourselves? What right do other people have to do things on our behalf? Stephen Downes, , October 27, 2008. [Comment] [Link]

Toward a New Knowledge Society
As we begin this unit on chaos and complexity I would like to introduce readers to a presentation I gave last year. It doesn't focus on chaos and complexity in particular, but it does address the theme as it relates to the wider questions of networking and online learning.

There's also audio. For those who have no background in chaos theory, this brief introduction linked from the slide show may be of use. Stephen Downes, Stephen's Web, October 14, 2008. [Comment] [Link]

Educamp CCK08 Talk
This is an audio recording of a presentation I (Stephen) delivered online over the weekend to an educamp conference in Germany. In it, I describe the technology used to set up this course, outline the things that have been added by students, discuss our progress in the course, and briefly describe the gRSShopper tool being used to generate this newsletter. Stephen Downes, Stephen's Web, October 14, 2008. [Comment] [Link]

Seven Habits of Highly Connected People
This article came up in our discussion with Terry Anderson yesterday. In it, I (Stephen) outline the practical side of networking - the way our understanding of how networks work manifests itself in day-to-day practice. Stephen Downes, Stephen's Web, October 9, 2008. [Comment] [Link]

Re: Passion Versus Reason
What distinguishes between groups and networks? We've talked about various characteristics - such as reason and passions - but in my (Stephen's) writings, I have identified four dimensions of difference between the two:
1. groups emphasize sameness, networks emphasize diversity
2. groups emphasize order and control, networks emphasize autonomy
3. groups emphasize borders and membership, networks emphasize openness
4. groups emphasize additive, cumulative knowledge, networks emphasize emergent knowledge. Stephen Downes, CCK08 Moodle Forums, October 9, 2008. [Comment] [Link]

Intentionalism and Meaning
This is an in-depth discussion of how Connectivism, as I (Stephen) see it, engages with the philosophical positions known as intentionalism, associationism and realism. Difficult reading (sorry) but rewarding if you want to place the theory into perspective against more traditional philosophies. Stephen Downes, CCK08, September 29, 2008. [Comment] [Link]

Krebs On Networks - Session 1 Summary and Recording
Stephen managed to live blog Valdis Krebs presentation this morning. Key points made during the session are captured if you don't have the 65 minutes required to view the recording (though I highly recommend it). ...and .pdf versions of his slides Stephen Downes, CCK08, September 24, 2008. [Comment] [Link]

At the End of Week Two
My reflections on the course at the end of two weeks. I discuss the idea of connective knowledge and talk a bit about the different way conversation has played out in the moodle forums and in the blogs. As a postscript to that: I have coded an RSS autodiscovery function that fixes almost all of the blog feed errors we've been having. If you've registered your blog, check it out on the feeds page. If not, register your blog using the form. Stephen Downes, CCK08, September 21, 2008. [Comment] [Link]

Places
If you are finding yourself buried by the Moodle posts (and given this chart if would not be surprising if you were) you might want to relocate yourself to one of the many other places this course is being offered. I have been collecting these locations on a page - if you know of additional places where CCK08 groups have gathered to discuss the course among themselves, please add a comment to this post and let us know. Stephen Downes, CCK08, September 17, 2008. [Comment] [Link]

Types of Knowledge and Connective Knowledge
This post begins our week on Connective Knowledge by mapping some of the different areas of discussion. We need, for example, to sort out between knowledge about networks and knowledge created by networks. This post constitutes the first few steps of a discussion; it is by no means a full discussion. It's one thing to use, for example, coal as a metaphor to explain the role of connections, but in reality networks are often much more dynamic than a lump of coal. But it's a start, a place to begin. Stephen Downes, Half an Hour, September 15, 2008. [Comment] [Link]

The Daily Archives
Did you miss earlier issues of The Daily? Are you afraid you might miss some in the future? Now you can view every issue of the Daily online, through our archives feature. Also, the Daily is now available as an RSS Feed, so you can follow along in your news reader. Stephen Downes, CCK08, September 11, 2008. [Comment] [Link]

MOOC and Mookies: The Connectivism & Connective Knowledge Online Course
This is kind of a fun presentation I gave yesterday at eFest offering a description of the software environment used so support our Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) along with an outline of where the students have taken it and of the principles governing the design. Related: George and Stephen discuss how to set up the course back in August at the Ed Tech Talk online radio show. Stephen Downes, Stephen's Web, September 11, 2008. [Comment] [Link]

How I Know What I Know About The Web
The question of whether or not Connectivism is a learning theory leads straight to the question, what is a learning theory? People interested in this question will want to listen to my presentation on the subject of scientific theories and methodology (or just look at the slides, which is faster). You'll want to ask, does a theory solve problems? offer explanations? describe a research programme? prescribe practice? And then, the question is, does Connectivism do any of these. Stephen Downes, Stephen's Web, September 11, 2008. [Comment] [Link]

What Is Connectivism?
This is UStream video of my opening thoughts on Connectivism. It may be a bit jittery - it might not be possible to record UStream properly from my office. If you cannot view video or hear sound, don't worry - the content is very similar to my article, What Connectivism Is. Stephen Downes, UStream, September 8, 2008. [Comment] [Link]

Your Options
Registered in the course? Then you can add your name and other information by visitng your Options page on the Daily website. This information won't be transferred anywhere else - you will need to enter it separately in Moodle, or Second Life, or whatever (this illustrates a technical issue for Connectivist courses - single sign-on across multiple domains). Stephen Downes, CCK08, September 8, 2008. [Comment] [Link]