EdTechWeekly #174

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EdTechWeekly #174

November 14, 2010 

Regular hosts: Dave, Jen, John 

Dave's Link: As a follow up for last week's "online PhDs are awesome" discussion http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/10/education/10kaplan.html?_r=1&src=tptw NYT's article on Kaplan and lobbying to go with our own fun at UPEI. http://www.cbc.ca/canada/prince-edward-island/story/2010/11/10/pe-upei-degree-maclaughlan-584.html?ref=rss#socialcomments

Jen's Link: Hard to NOT mention the #boycott amazon uproar this week. Jen used the story as an opportunity to try out tweet doc -> http://www.tweetdoc.org. Check out the boycott amazon tweets linked here if you were hiding under a rock on Wednesday and Thursday ... or if you just want to see how tweet doc functions :) ... http://tweetdoc.org/View/6387/Boycott-Amazon

John's Link:  If we're talking about books, there were a couple compelling book-related items that crossed my radar this week. Adrian Hon, founder of Six Apart, addressed book piracy in an Op Ed in the Telegraph a couple weeks ago (Your time is up, publishers. Book piracy is about to arrive on a massive scale). And from Read Write Web comes a piece (Will Your Local Library Lend E-Books? (Or Can They?)) on the impact of e-books on the ability of libraries to legally lend resources. What better topics for one of the few weeks when we don't have a librarian as a guest?

Wiki Agenda

Chat log below


19:05:58 PeggyG -> yes Kaplan
19:06:17 teachkeys -> yes
19:06:43 matt montagne -> 350 K for a lobbying isn't that much...sadly
19:10:13 dave -> above is the kaplan and PEI articles
19:10:47 matt montagne -> the 'for profit' status label isn't necessarily a bad thing...just like the 'non-for profit' isn't necessarily a good thing. 
19:11:35 PeggyG -> great question! does the institution name matter any more?
19:12:35 teachkeys ->  There still has to be a cache about the school. You don't want to say that you got your degree from the "Sally Stuthers correspondence course"
19:17:36 Connie Sitterley -> Isn't the competition factor still there even if more are admitted?
19:17:58 teachkeys -> How about discussing the per-credit course for places like Phoenix. There not exactly, "giving" the courses away for free. They are pretty pricey.
19:18:39 PeggyG -> they are very pricey!!
19:20:18 teachkeys -> no
19:20:21 PeggyG -> they are paying more because they need to work full time and need the online option that allows flexibility in course scheduling
19:20:24 teachkeys -> its about the convenience
19:20:55 Connie Sitterley -> It can be about accessibility also-I have a long drive to any college
19:21:00 dave -> uh-oh here comes the first amendment
19:21:10 PeggyG -> right! lots to do with convenience
19:21:12 dave -> canadian hides under desk
19:22:46 teachkeys -> Is there anyone that actually cues up new book entries and decide whether they "pass the test?"
19:22:50 teachkeys -> at amazon
19:26:25 JenM -> http://www.tweetdoc.org
19:26:47 dave -> ouch. that segway hurt my neck.
19:27:53 PeggyG -> I don't like that it goes to PDF before you get to see it
19:30:26 matt montagne -> I have a love/hate thing going on with Kindle/Amazon...
19:30:34 Connie Sitterley -> I agree-seems like there should be at least a price break for successive purchases from the same vendor
19:31:05 matt montagne -> the lending thing that they are launching is silly...to only be able to 'lend' a book once is just dumb
19:31:37 Connie Sitterley -> The sounds of silence have hit
19:31:53 matt montagne -> follow the $$$...why we can't have interoperatbility and cooperation is beyond me
19:31:54 PeggyG -> my experience with lending books is that they rarely come back--so that means I'm only lending it once :-)
19:32:06 matt montagne -> good point, Peggy!!!
19:32:38 PeggyG -> I really love my Kindle for what it does for me--sure it could do more but I'm happy with it
19:33:58 PeggyG -> I saw a librarian blog post about that recently!! very interesting!! never occurred to me!!
19:34:00 matt montagne -> ebooks have to be impacting library circulation stats...
19:35:33 PeggyG -> or go to borders and sit in their coffee shop hours on end and read it for free :-)
19:36:05 JohnS -> yep :-0
19:39:40 matt montagne -> I think there is some huge latent potential with newly retired teachers...these folks would be great for working on open source content and texts...
19:40:16 PeggyG -> I agree Matt!
19:40:33 JohnS -> yep. I figured out a few years ago that we could write our own American History textbook for less money than it takes to buy one for each kid. 
19:40:47 mpazlopez -> Great idea, Matt.
19:41:19 matt montagne -> i still think about your blog post on that idea js
19:41:52 matt montagne -> peggy...the college board employs quite a few teachers for minimal cost to do AP reading/grading...
19:44:15 PeggyG -> I think that many of them (me included) are ready to leave behind bureaucracy with retirement :-)
19:44:39 PeggyG -> aw shucks!! :-) 
19:44:55 Connie Sitterley -> Absolutely, Peggy!
19:44:56 PeggyG -> it is a great way to head into the new week!!!
19:45:09 matt montagne -> 99cent apps can be a scam too...esp when they come out with an update that requires a new purchase
19:45:18 PeggyG -> thanks! have a great week everyone!
19:45:40 PeggyG -> night all!
19:45:50 matt montagne -> chow all... see you at global ed conf
19:46:15 matt montagne -> cant believe we didnt talk about global ed conf
19:46:55 matt montagne -> no!!
19:47:31 matt montagne -> no, its qiute impressive!!
19:47:49 matt montagne -> got little baby keeping me busy!!!
19:47:51 JenM -> here it is ... http://www.globaleducationconference.com/
19:48:14 matt montagne -> hargadon and lucy gray
19:48:50 Connie Sitterley -> I totally missed k-12 online too
19:49:46 matt montagne -> there were some good k12 sessions...tony vincents on mobile learning was solid
19:50:36 Connie Sitterley -> Trussville Schools in Alabama used the 1st k-12 for a whole year of PD
19:50:58 matt montagne -> this is the 1st year of the conference
19:52:29 matt montagne -> creativ commons would b good dave
19:53:09 Connie Sitterley -> Art Snacks by Kevin Honeycutt
19:53:40 matt montagne -> great call connie. art snacks rocks
19:53:57 matt montagne -> remix culture
19:54:09 matt montagne -> youtube symphony dave
19:55:22 matt montagne -> http://www.youtube.com/user/kutiman   kutiman's stuff dave
19:55:59 matt montagne -> one handed baby typing righy now 
19:56:10 matt montagne -> ill b there js
19:57:16 Connie Sitterley -> Glad you will be coming to PA, John
19:58:38 matt montagne -> http://www.youtube.com/user/kutiman#p/c/2C189BC49E25D16A/0/tprMEs-zfQA stuff like that from kutiman dave
19:58:41 JohnS -> Looking forward to it, Connie.
19:58:50 JohnS -> (We're not really that far apart, you know)
19:59:44 Connie Sitterley -> Yeah I know-schools are similar size also, but rural/urban
20:00:30 matt montagne -> http://www.youtube.com/user/guggenheim dave googenheim utube
20:02:13 Connie Sitterley -> Bye?