Posted 6:48 PM by George Siemens
As a tribute...and show of respect and remembrance - here is an excellent link Views of Sept. 11, Through The Web's Sharpest Eyes. To American readers: A year later, our thoughts and prayers are with you.

Posted 6:46 PM by George Siemens
I've been thinking about learning objects. Not quite sure what to make of them yet. Learning objects have a variety of definitions - ranging from a simple Word document to a learning task that includes an objective, content and evaluation. Learning objects have their background in object oriented programming...the reuse of snippets of code to accelerate software development.

For background information on learning objects see:
elearnspace Learning Objects
Learning Objects - Downes
Learning Content Management System
Specifications and Standards

As learning objects develop and increase in popularity, repositories like Merlot and POOL offer valuable services of connecting developers of learning objects with potential users. This brings in additional concerns of validating learning object quality, finding them, negotiating price, etc. Essentially, it is the economic and procedural redevelopment of the existing publishing industry.

So far, no problem, I like learning objects...however, once we get to the use stage that my confusion increases. Two statements I've recently heard: "Educational facilities will begin to share and collaborate at the learning object level"..."the reuse of learning objects is a fairy tale. You don't expect a great movie to be made up of recycled bits and pieces; the great ones are made from scratch. We want engagement. Why expect reuse?" (from Internettime...hmm both provocative (irreconcilable?) statements.

The first benefit of learning objects is usually listed as "reducing cost of future development". Ok...I'll buy that. In object oriented programming, costs are reduced by using bits of code (e.g. drop down menu in a software application) across many design stages. The same piece of code is not rewritten every time - it's reused. This is the premise of learning objects. BUT...computers process objects the same way every time. People do not. This is a significant liability of learning objects (mind you, an argument could be made that a textbook is the same every time, and it is the instructors task to make learning come alive through interaction...so online, it is the instructors task of creating interaction around LO's).

I don't think reusability is a myth...I think the type of reusability currently being pursued by educational facilities is mislead. Learning objects have their greatest value in creating personalized learning...not in reusing objects developed by others. For example, our current notion of a "course" will change significantly over the next few years. Learning will be more closely linked to need or task - more like training with a scalpel versus our current machete model. In this environment, a student will go through an assessment stage, and (based on the needs determined by the assessment), content will be dynamically generated to create a personalized "course". This process requires learning objects...and I think this is where they ultimately will (should) find their greatest adoption. Why this model? It makes sense...and it is learning based. Uses of learning objects that serve institutional purposes (i.e. reduce expenses) overlooks the centricity of tomorrows' student in the learning process.

Posted 6:36 PM by George Siemens
Doonesbury - Blogging saw this in the comics on the weekend...and Kairosnews linked to the digital version. Check it out...

Knowledge repositories are not the driving problem in knowledge management ...great quote from H.G. Wells: "An immense and ever-increasing wealth of knowledge is scattered about the world today; knowledge that would probably suffice to solve all the mighty difficulties of our age, but it is dispersed and unorganized. We need a sort of mental clearing house for the mind: a depot where knowledge and ideas are received, sorted, summarized, digested, clarified and compared."

Posted 12:47 PM by George Siemens
An interesting article on blogs
Quote: "A larger problem in a business environment is the amount of time people will spend on the blogs they feel compelled to monitor, and worse, create. How long will it be before people are E-mailing us hyperlinks to their blogs? As it is, we spend a large part of our day wading through stuff to find the achingly infrequent important messages. It's gotten so bad that I sometimes think the two worst inventions of the past hundred years are E-mail and the Xerox machine. To badly paraphrase Winston Churchill, never in the field of human endeavor have so many wasted so much to obtain so little."

Posted 12:44 PM by George Siemens
M-commerce bust?
Quote: Despite the much-touted benefits of "m-commerce"--such as buying goods or completing financial transactions via cell phones or other handheld devices--several large companies are quietly shutting down their wireless services, and more are expected to follow, analysts say."
Comment:Sucks when a trend doesn't live up to it's over-hyped media image...:). It's always nice when these "waves of the future" crash...it clears the way for useful, results based initiatives - and I think in the mobile world it will be mobile learning and electronic performance support. For example, repairing complex equipment won't need a manual - all that is needed is a PDA to connect with equipment manuals and other technicians. Far more effective. Elearning is great for learning...wireless is great for performance support and knowledge management.

Interesting to note the differences in North American use of wireless - we use it mainly for phone calls. Europeans and Asians use wireless differently "Going online to shop or send an e-mail in Europe and Asia means reaching for your cell phone, not firing up a personal computer."