Half an Hour

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]

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 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]

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]

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]

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]

Strong Criticism
Catherine Fitzpatrick comments on my post (scroll to the bottom): "Here's my problem with your ideology, Stephen, which appears to me to be even more radical than constructivism and tries not only to describe or defend a new epistemology, but appears to disrupt social systems as well, in the name of some putative technocommunism that will reign supreme on the Internet with everybody working for nothing and getting everything for free and living happily ever after." Catherine Fitzpatrick, Half an Hour, September 10, 2008. [Comment] [Link]

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