Zone of Proximal Development | Writing to learn and learning about learning.

The article is now available at Uses of a private “virtual margin” on public threaded discussions: An exploratory lab-based study
What a very nice long weekend present….

Well I’ve finally done it. It’s long over due, but here it is. The source code I used for the virtual margin proxy server is now available here Virtual Margin. This  includes the Apache virtual host configuration, the Perl module and the web tree. Everything you need to add virtual margins to your own Knowledge [...]

Computing has moved beyond data entry and data processing. However, we still think of computers from that perspective. That’s what we grew up with, it’s what we know. What we also know is that computers are now primarily used as communication devices. We communicate with each other via computers. Not just “a” computer, but multiple [...]

Jeff Utecht asks Why do I get a computer? and lists some concerns around this question. I had an immediate reaction to several of his concerns:

Will they use it appropriately?
‘Appropriately’ meaning ‘in an acceptable fashion all the time’? The short answer is ‘no.’ Does everyone use their pen appropriately all the time? Should we take [...]

The fundamental problem is that no one can own an idea piece of information. You either keep it to yourself, or you share it. You can’t distribute an idea and keep it to yourself. That is non-sensical. Knowledge as property is just as non-sensical. Property rights are about restricting access. Knowledge is about expanding understanding. [...]

This posting put me in mind of this posting. I haven’t been able to get my mind around the idea of ‘the learner is the product of education.’ It seems to me, the product of each grade (from k-11) is students. Each slightly more advanced than the last. The product of grade 12 is either [...]

The following is the Study Detail document approved by SFU’s ethics board. I’ve lightly edited it to remove identification of the particular courses my subjects are taking.
Outline for Patterns of Virtual Margin usage in semester-long mixed mode courses research proposal
Rationale:
In the transition from paper based to web based communications we have lost the ability to [...]

This evening I demoed Knowledge Forum with the Virtual Margin to the students in the first of two graduate level classes. If all goes according to Hoyle data collection will be complete in December. I already have four signed consent forms. I’m stoked to see the Virtual Margin in real use in a couple of [...]

In The Power of Sharing Mark Pesce makes some very good observations. In a paper I wrote recently, Connected Everywhere, Connected All the Time, Connected to What? I made some similar points, however, I came at the subject from a different angle and projected the results even further. When I wrote it, it felt like [...]

One flower
on the cliffside
Nodding at the canyon
by Jack Kerouac
L.’s teaching practice is informed firstly by her own desire to help her “…students to grow into the fullness of their humanity.” To aid her understanding in this endeavour she has called upon the works of various scholars such as Giroux, hooks, Freire and [...]