The Joy of Stats – 200 Countries, 200 Years, 4 Minutes

Web 3.0 or the Semantic Web will allow “users to “find, share and combine information more easily.” This is a great example.

Hans Rosling uses augmented reality animation.

More at BCC And he has several talks on TED.

Music in Second Life

One of the most incredible experiences I have had in Second Life is music. There is all kinds, from every country. Most of the time, concerts are free. And many of these talented musicians donate time and talents for fund raising.

from the AAUW International Festival of Women’s Music.

The Kansas to Cairo Project #1

President Obama asked for a educational network where students from Kansas can talk to students from Cairo and here it is!

The Conversation Prism= The art of listening, learning and sharing.

The Conversation Prism gives you a whole view of the social media universe, categorized and also organized by how people use each network. V 3.0 introduces new groups and networks and also removes those networks no longer in play. Use the Conversation Prism to see what you’re missing!

To download.

Rethinking Talant, Managing the Net Generation

If you have not yet read Macrowikinomics: Rebooting Business and teh World — the new book from Don Trapscott

http://player.vimeo.com/video/16475778

Don Tapscott Webinar from Rypple on Vimeo.

Slides can also be downloaded.

Tom Chatfield: 7 wyas video games engage the brain

TED does it again…..

Questions I’m no Longer Asking

From George Siemens blog post.

George Siemens is “firmly convinced” of the following (slightly abridged):
1. Learners should be in control of their own learning. Autonomy is key.
2. Learners need to experience confusion and chaos in the learning process.
3. Openness increased the random connections that drive innovation
4. Learning requires time, depth of focus, critical thinking, and reflection.
5. Learning is network formation. Knowledge is distributed.
6. Creation is vital.
7. Making sense of complexity requires social and technological systems.

I don’t agree with some of the stuff I’ve abridged from the principles. For example, I would say “navigating the chaos” instead of “clarifying” it. I wouldn’t mention “ingesting new information,” because that’s not how it works. I am more likely to say educators “model and demonstrate” rather than “initiate, curate, and guide.” But you know, these core seven principles, yes, I can get behind these.

And like George Siemens I am no longer interested in – and have not been for some time, which explains their complete absence from these pages – questions like “Is online learning more or less effective than learning in a classroom?” and “What role do blogs or microblogging [insert tool in question] play?” and “How can educators implement [whatever tool] into their teaching?” They’re irrelevant. So is the learning styles question, but I carp about that because it has been used to make political points about learning which are wrong.

more.