Stephen Downes’ new column on e-Learn does a great job of showing that solving the informational cascade problem is more challenging than I had presented it to be in my own article on the topic. In fact, his own analysis reveals that the problem may be harder to solve than even he himself suggests. The […]
Stephen-Downes
Learning Objects Aren't Legos, Part II
In my last post, I agreed with Stephen Downes that we have to be careful not to take our analogies too literally and specifically pointed out flaws in the “learning-object-as-software-object” analogy. Sometimes the best way to make sure an analogy doesn’t get too deeply rooted is to counter it with another analogy that causes just […]
Learning Objects Aren't Legos, Part I
I’ve been looking forward to having the time and energy to respond to Stephen’s most recent response to the whole pattern language of educational experiences conversation. Stephen writes: Even so, [Michael] effectively finds the source of the tension: “I believe that the rules for re-using experience patterns and the rules for re-using content are respectively […]
Re-usable Learning Content Objects or Re-usable Learning Experience Objects?
Yesterday, Stephen Downes replied to my most recent post on educational pattern languages: Michael Feldstein is on the right track, mostly, with his exploration of the applicability of pettern language to learning. In this brief item, he asks, “Can we deduce sort of generative grammar of educational experience that enables us to string together these […]
The Definitive Article on Educational Blogging
I’m going to do something I normally don’t like to do an echo blog this. Stephen Downes’ piece on educational blogging in EDUCAUSE is currently the definitive piece on blogging in education. Well worth the read whether you are a newbie or a veteran. I don’t really have anything of use to add here; Stephen […]
Informational Cascades, Network Theory, and Behavioral Economics
Stephen Downes’ mention of my article on informational cascades (thanks for the plug, Stephen) led me to his post in the trdev discussion group. He writes: In network theory, ‘groupthink’ is an instance of what is known as a cascade phenomenon. A cascade occurs (all other things being equal) when the propogation of a property […]
Help Break the Power Law: Downes Leads the Way
In the August 1st edition of OLDaily, Stephen Downes does the e-learning community a great service. (I would have provided a hyperlink to the edition, but the site doesn’t seem to have conventional permalinks and the page hasn’t been rolled over to the persistent site archives yet. Poke around at http://www.downes.ca and you’ll find it […]