Tuesday, July 27, 2004

I'm re-posting this item from Stephen Downes' OL Daily because the essay by Guy Bensusan captures, I believe, the essence of individualized teaching and learning. Also, Bensusan's memories of teaching swimming brought back some old memories for me, way back when I taught swimming at a camp during summer breaks from college. I remember vividly that the camp was run by a physicist who designed the shallow pool for kids so that they wouldn't be frightened by sinking over their heads; he also had instructors teach ALL STROKES AT ONCE in the very first lesson because he knew that every body displaced water somewhat differently; a stroke that would be easy for one body type might be very hard for another. The effort was to find a stroke that would be easy and comfortable for every kid--and then teach the other strokes more gradually, allowing students to always revert to the comfortable stroke when they started feeling afraid in the water. JH_____ No Two Swimmers Float Alike. I still feel wistful when I think of Guy Bensusan, a man I never met but who was able to talk to me through his stories, examples, and passion for teaching the person (as opposed to teaching the material). This article takes me back to those heady days on DEOS (now it's all conference announcements and posturing) when we were exploring what teaching online really meant. I haven't seen this article from Bensusan before, though it may be a reprint. Anyway, it takes me back to my own days of swimming lessons when we were packed into a car, driven to Russell, dumped into an icy early morning pool, and drilled red Cross style. I wish I had had Bensusan as a swimming instructor. By Guy Bensusan, International Journal of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning, July, 2004 [Refer][Research][Reflect] [OLDaily] [EduResources Weblog--Higher Education Resources Online] 11:17:47 PM      Google It!.

Gush 1.1. Gush 1.1 has taken longer than expected, but it's finally here and in good shape. A big thank you to everyone who downloaded the two betas and the release candidate, and especially to everyone who reported bugs and suggestions for improvements.  [Gush Blog] 11:15:48 PM      Google It!.

Motorola Field Tests Wireless Broadband At 300Mbps [Slashdot:] 11:12:03 PM      Google It!.

PyNSource - UML Modelling Tools for Python. I have been looking for a good class diagram generator for my jython / python work and stumbled on PyNSource. Here is a quick list of features: A python code scanner and UML modelling tool that generates UML diagram models that you can layout, arrange and print out. UML text diagrams, which you can paste into your source code for documentation purposes. Java or Delphi code (which can be subsequently imported into more sophisticated UML modelling tools, like Enterprise Architect or ESS-Model (free).) Features Resilient: doesn't import the python files, thus will never get "stuck" when syntax is wrong. Fast Recognises inheritance and composition relationships Detects the cardinality of associations e.g. one to one or 1..* etc Optionally treat modules as classes - creating a pseudo class for each module - module variables and functions are treated as Attributes and methods of a class Has been developed using unit tests (supplied) so that you can trust it just that little bit more ;-) Free I gave it a quick try and here is what it looks like (click on the image to see the larger text): I know that a number of python ide's have class browsers built in but how about a class diagram a-la uml as well? I think that would be pretty handy. Please let me know if there are are other python aware tools out there. [All things Jythonic] 11:09:41 PM      Google It!.

Linky.  Linky is a Firefox extension that I use to double-check the links in blog entries. On a Web page displaying an entry I've written, I select the chunk of text that contains all the links I want to verify, then do Right-click -> Linky -> Open Selected Links in Tabs. ... [Jon's Radio] 11:05:21 PM      Google It!.

report from alti-lab meeting by Scott Leslie at http://www.edtechpost.ca/mt/archive/000563.html 3:48:07 PM      Google It!.

Skype 1.0 For Windows Released, Updated Linux Beta [Slashdot:] telephony gets "integrated" into the internet a little at a time -- BL 9:52:25 AM      Google It!.

Sony's $700 Linux-based Remote Control [Slashdot:] 9:03:05 AM      Google It!.

Free Speech Behind the Razor Wire. A so-called free-speech zone has been set up to contain protesters at this week's Democratic National Convention. But it's ringed with chain link and barbed wire, and it looks a lot like a gulag. Mark Baard reports from Boston. [Wired News] 9:00:18 AM      Google It!.

DefCon WiFi Distance Competition Calls For Entrants [Slashdot:] last year winner was 35 miles -- BL 8:59:13 AM      Google It!.

Federating identity the Shibboleth way. In last week's column, I suggested that individuals and corporations should be the authoritative sources of basic information about themselves. That way, if an application needs my name, address, and phone number, I can refer it to a source that I control and guarantee to be correct. But how many applications really need my name, address, and phone number? Capturing the identity of individuals, along with personal information about them, has become a habit. In a climate of increasing concern about privacy, it's a bad habit we must learn to resist. [Full story at InfoWorld.com] ... [Jon's Radio] 8:56:51 AM      Google It!.