Pages

Wednesday, March 27, 2002


Metadata, objects and repositories: Steps towards the Semantic web in Education by Terry Anderson, Professor and Research Chair in Distance Education, Athabasca University was great.

My takeaways from today's talk included, but were certainly not limited to:

  • CANCORE
  • how granular (small or big) can or should objects be? Dr. Anderson says the answer is somewhere between "too small and you've essentially got a database. Too large and the 'reusability' of objects is lost."
  • Canadians are lagging way behind the European Community in researching the Semantic Web. I look forward to doing my part.




Tuesday, March 26, 2002


Here's a post that's been in my Drafts folder for nearly a year [3/26/2002 11:22:14 PM] and I'm finally getting around to posting it.

-----
Jay Cross and the gang at internettime.com point to:

From JOHO, covering Negroponte's presentation at TED12:

Nicholas Negroponte wrapped up the sessions by predicting that in 1-2 years, we will see the development of a "viral telecommunications network" based on 802.11 wirelessness, a single installation serving an entire neighborhood. This will go beyond merely enabling multiple connections to the Internet, Negroponte predicts, resulting in a peer-to-peer network that parallels the current Internet topography. Further, he suggests that establishing wireless networks in areas of strife will enable children to reach past their parents' stupidity.

He connected this with our culture's odd idea that at the age of 5 children should stop learning by playing and start learning by facing forward and being taught. Give kids a connected computer and they will teach themselves and others by exploring the Internet. Pointing to his experience building schools in rural Cambodia, he said: "People say it's not sufficient to give kids computers and connectivity. You know what? It is."

Damn good stuff.

-----
Couldn't agree more Jay, damn good stuff indeed.


This week's (March 27) lecture in the Knowledge Media Design Institute (KMDI) Technology in Support of Learning and Teaching, Spring 2002 Lecture Series is:

Metadata, objects and repositories: Steps towards the Semantic web in Education by Terry Anderson, Professor and Research Chair in Distance Education, Athabasca University.

Dr. Anderson was formerly the Director of the University of Alberta's Academic Technologies for Learning (ATL) in the Faculty of Extension.

Those interested in "object-based" education, may also find the ATL Educational Objects Projects - A Progress Update of interest. The page contains a number of great links to theory and practice in this area.

How to attend Dr. Anderson's lecture, 27 Mar 02 at 5:00 EST:

In person:
The Lecture Theatre, Room 103, Faculty of Architecture, Landscape, and Design, 230 College Street (at Huron Street), at the University of Toronto.

Online:
Visit the Registration page at the KMDI's ePresence Lab to register and perform a wizard-based system check and follow the prompts provided; then, log on a little before 5:00 PM EST to participate in the webcast of Dr. Anderson's lecture on the ePresence server.

I'm looking forward to the 'cast.

Monday, March 25, 2002


The learning continues....

I learned this morning that I'm less than productive after 3:00 AM.

Duh, like that's a surprise.

Anyway, I was working to get an HTML-based presentation ready for one of my courses at OISE/UT. Suffice it to say that I was a little groggy by the end of it all and was making more mistakes than not by the end of the evening (morning).

On the upside, one more assignment is outta the way.

On to the next challenge.