2004¦~12¤ë6¤é

Moore's New Nano Law. The Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) announced a research program -- the Nanoelectronics Research Initiative (NRI) -- focused on develop new technologies for microelectronic devices with feature sizes smaller than 10 nanometers. "We are still in the very early stages of launching the NRI," said SIA president George Scalise. "Our first order of business is to get consensus among... [AlwaysOn Network] 3:45:26 PM

Samsung phones outsell Motorola's. But Nokia still ruled in Q3, says researcher [The Register] 10:56:59 AM

Lifetime Personal Webspace. (via George Siemens) Now I know I'm kinda strange, but the premise of this article from Educause seriously gives me chills: What do we wish for? That every citizen, at birth, will be granted acradle-to-grave, lifetime personal Web space that will enable connections among personal, educational, social, and business systems. Ok, now I know that's a lot to wrap your brain around, especially on a Friday afternoon. But if you are at all interested in the potential of the read/write Web and what it might evolve into, I think this is must reading. The paradigm shift is staggering, and the pedagogical foundation its build on is still pretty rickety, but think about some of this, for starters: The LPWS will store searchable content (personal, educational,social, business) that was important in a user¡¦s past and make it accessible for future use, as well as current projects. Since technology changes over time, the older sections of the Web space (for example, K¡V12 grade content) might be technologically less sophisticated, but would connect nonetheless to newer additions (such as postgraduate work activities).The primary user would decide whether a cell is private or public (potentially functioning as an e-portfolio or Web site) and who will be permitted to enter various parts of the structure. Some cells may be off-limits (even invisible) to all but the primary user. Moreover, the user will decide which cells connect to others and which do not. As the user matures, an analysis of the types and numbers of connections might assist in setting goals and strategies for subsequent personal and professional development. Um, whoa. I seriously want one of these. And the benefits: Few students maintain ready access to both the content and products from their K¡V12 years. College students typically sell their books and lose access to their collegiate course management Web sites. While an e-portfolio provides ready access to selected work products, intent and effort are required to transport content between separate, often incompatible systems. The LPWS construct will enable users to preserve more knowledge over time and to forge richer connections between their academic and work endeavors. Read the scenario that's included. In fact, read the whole thing. What a concept.I think the reason this idea connects so strongly for me is because of what I've been mentioning recently about this being a learning log, and probably the most educational experience of my life. It's really wild when I think about it. For me, blogging just clicked; maybe I had the gene, or maybe it was because I always wanted to write, or that I'm an info junkie or a hundred other reasons. But I have sampled the Kool-Aid, and I really do believe. In some really strange way (remember, I am sorta out there...) it's like my recorded life began three years ago, and I really wish I had a more historical archive. Should have started earlier. Anyway, this is what the read/write Web makes possible for us and for our students. We just have to grab it. [Weblogg-ed News] 8:51:38 AM

Open Access RSS Directory Proposed. Robin Good has proposed an interesting idea related to RSS - "It is important to acknowledge though the issue of free content re-use when many of the content originators want to enforce tight controls on the use and re-syndication of their news. I have recently catalyzed some attention around the issue of content re-use by engaging relatively small traditional publisher who uses the Internet for syndicating press-releases from major outlets, into evaluating whether my RSSification of his content headlines and further public distribution was legal, appropriate and beneficial. Additional Details on Open Access RSS Directory [RSS Blog] 8:23:13 AM

'Shocking' Remote Control Tanks These 'Shocking Remote Control Tanks' definitely live up to their name. Each remote control has electrodes (I'm guessing) that will give you a mild electric shock each time your opponent's tank scores a hit. Set the shock to high and you'll get double the firepower for being a risk taker. These $50 toys look to be a much greater success than the Communicable Funtime Battle Drones, which gave the loser of each bout syphilis. Catalog Page [ShockingFun] - lev (joeljohnson@gmail.com) [Gizmodo] 8:13:55 AM

Levels of online courses; Where is yours? Putting on the cyber glasses I start to sort the courses into levels Online courses can be divided into four different levels. These four different levels are not determined by the LMS used, they are determined by the developers approach. Level one Courses The characteristic that indicates that you have developed a level one course is: An attempt to recreate the textbook style of teaching. Often recognized as the boring high school class, read the content and do the questions at the end of the unit. We have all taken this type of course in the face to face classroom, it is normally taught by the teacher who is not a content expert and has to rely on the textbook to teach the curriculum. All the problems associated with this method of teacher in the face to face classroom are carried over to the online world. These courses achieve mild success online. We could get into an intellectual discussion about what is success, but for this, we are talking about the students staying in the course and passing. The design of the course fulfills the curriculum and is a content presentation...test...content presentation cycle. This is mostly a text based course and the teacher is there to keep the students on task and response often when asked a content question with “It is written write there in plan English can’t these student read.” This method of cookie cutter design is the easiest to create. Digitize a text book’s content and add the unit questions into the online testing system. Once recreated, revisions are few. (PowerPoint slides converted to html with a discussion board attached courses are not even at this level but that is another discussion.) This level of course will never develop into a level two. It is destined to always be a level one type course. It is missing the ownership of an instructor. The question about the student success that needs to be asked is: Does the design of the course have any impact on the student’s success rate? Or Is the type of students who remain in the courses the type of students who would be successful no matter what type of design was used? Level two Course The characteristic that indicates that you have developed a level two course is: The recreation of a successful face to face course online. It is based on a content experts approach to the teaching of curriculum. The design approach is: On day one in the F2F classroom what would you do….Create that as close as you can in the online environment. If you introduced yourself, create an html file with an image of your face and containing the content that you would tell the students in the F2F. Then ask yourself what is the second thing you do in the F2F, digitize that and so on. Success rate in this level of course is a little higher than level one because it tends to have a little bit more personality than the text book approach. This type of course is taught by the teacher who created it and has taken ownership for it and has a vested interest in seeing the student be successful. A certain level of confidence is need by the teacher, as well as a certain level of reflection on their teaching style and lessons. This type of course is never finished and revised continuously and in time develops into the next level. It will develop into a level three course when there is some recognition by the teacher that F2F teaching strategies are not enough to ensure success for students online. The teacher’s need for the course to succeed and amount of “student mothering” that occurs increases the success rate of the students. The resources used in this type of course are the teacher’s head and the text book. A good question to ask if you want to know if you have a level two course is: Is it possible to take what you have developed back into the face to face classroom with very few alterations? In other words the technology and the internet did not influence the course development in anyway. Level three Course The characteristic that indicates that you have developed a level three course is: It is a level two course in which the teacher recognizes the fact that they are teaching with the largest library in the world at their fingertips and have access to technology. The general design of the course is still content presentation…test…content presentation cycle but the content presentation recognizes the technology and the internet and uses it to enhance the presentation. Course is a little bit more media rich, still based on the F2F classroom approach but the teacher removes themselves from the stage and begins to recognize that the answer to the questions don’t have to come from themselves or even from within the course presentation. Starting to lean towards a student centered self discovery method of learning. Teacher asks the questions and facilitates or gives the student the tools and skills to find the answers. The goal of a curriculum driven course is to have the student know a certain body of information. Teachers have to get to the point where they have to be willing to set their student free to learn this content. Level four Course The characteristic that indicates that you have developed a level four course is: A level three course which recognizes the student might be able to choose the questions and the teacher assist them in using the technology and the internet to find the answers. How to achieve a level three and four is the subject of an other post…stay tuned. My cyber glasses will return with their vision. 8:13:17 AM

Blogging as breathing or how to find time for blogging?. From Ton's write-up of BlogWalk in Umea: On the use of time for blogging The most asked question when I speak to people who don't blog, is where I get the time to do it. In Umea we discussed time consumption and listed a number of time-consuming factors. Time is needed: To get used to the tools To grow a network To get into action with others To grow trust For getting to know and find useful (re)sources To find your voice (for yourself, for others) This seems like a list of things that apply to a lot more situations than just blogging. For instance we compared it to Stephanie's experiences when she first moved from the US to Sweden, and had to find her rhythm in a new country. It also resonates with my own perception that the time I spend blogging is either not very large, or all of the time. Reading blogs, writing to reflect and digest, writing to collect and gather, and sharing along different channels (blog, wiki, company portal, e-mails, etc.) is just the way how I collect and process my personal information flow. Asking me how much time I spend blogging, is treating blogging as an additional activity in my life (which it was at first), and feels to me like asking how much of my time I spend breathing. My answers to this question are pretty similar: I can afford spending quite a lot of time blogging only because it's so integrated with my regular activities that it's not an add-on anymore. A brief brainstorm of the role blogging plays in my own work:  professional awareness I read weblogs instead of reading mailing lists and searching professional web-sites to stay updated with news and trends work-related search saving time for searching as in many cases I come across papers/information I need for my work via weblogs and blog/bookmark it social search - very often I know whom to ask for a specific information/advice networking reading weblogs is a low-cost way to stay in touch with others (if they have weblogs :) writing my own weblog exposes my own work and expertise, so it's easier to establish contacts better use of f2f time as with bloggers there is no need for updates on each other news conversations getting help or answers fast without being too intrusive feedback on ideas and early drafts development of ideas in a community (actually: in different communities :) research data collection, interpretation and presentation (e.g. as everyday grounded theory) reading other weblogs and being a blogger are part of my data collection instruments  I use my weblog to test my interpretations and to get a feedback on ways of presenting some pieces of research weblog as a research notebook keeping notes on reading, research progress, ideas, publications organising notes into themes to support thinking and future retrieval writing low-threshold space to start writing that helps to start small when working on large pieces (like papers or PhD as a whole) space to get an early (or urgent :) feedback on writing getting emotional support I guess there is more... Anyway I'll be back on it because I'm thinking about writing a paper on blogging as a research method :) [Mathemagenic] 8:10:55 AM