Resources on the Concept of
Learning
Articles
Nelson (1974): No more teachers’ dirty looks
nmr-21-nelson4.2MB (pp. 8) – This sample chapter of The New Media Reader byNelson (1974): How to learn anything
Ted Nelson in Dream Machines (p. DM 42), »As far as I can tell, these are the techniques used by bright people who want to learn something other than by taking courses in it. . . . «
Shneiderman (1993): The Maryland Way
Seven lessons by Ben Shneiderman on supporting the process of innovation and building a successful teams.Nygaard (1996): Inspiration
»We teach students very little about the production of new knowledge, and many believe that important new ideas somehow descend upon us through inspiration. It is true that you may get euphoric when something suddenly is understood or created in your mind. I remember very, very clearly the exact moment, around two o’clock in the night at the desk in the bedroom at Nesodden, January 1967, when...«
John Cage: 10 Rules for Students and Teachers in Creativity and Music
Bret Victor: Some Thoughts on Teaching
Müller-Prove (2002): Vision and Reality of Hypertext and Graphical User Interfaces
What happened to the original vision to create a personal dynamic medium for creative thought? Retrospect reveals promising insights that might help to reconcile the desktop environment with the web in order to design a consistent and powerful way to interact with the computer. Join me on this fascinating trip to discover the common roots of the PC Desktop and the World Wide Web.Hillis (2000/2004): Aristotele – The Knowledge Web
This edition of EDGE is a special event focusing on an idea by (W. Daniel) Danny Hillis, currently Chairman and Chief Technology Officer of Applied Minds, Inc., and best known for his innovative work in the design and implementation of the massively parallel supercomputer.
In 2000, Danny wrote the prescient paper "Aristotle", in which he proposed "The Knowledge Web", at a time when the technological possibilities did not equal the vision.
"With the knowledge web," he writes, "humanity's accumulated store of information will become more accessible, more manageable, and more useful. Anyone who wants to learn will be able to find the best and the most meaningful explanations of what they want to know. Anyone with something to teach will have a way to reach those who want to learn. Teachers will move beyond their present role as dispensers of information and become guides, mentors, facilitators, and authors. The knowledge web will make us all smarter. The knowledge web is an idea whose time has come."
"Aristotle" is available on EDGE along with "Reality Club" responses (to date) by Douglas Rushkoff, Marc D. Hauser, Stewart Brand, Jim O'Donnell, Jaron Lanier, Bruce Sterling, Roger Schank, George Dyson, Howard Gardner, Seymour Papert, Freeman Dyson, Esther Dyson, Kai Krause.
Notes Toward a Meeting on the Future of Academic Publishing:
Moritz Stefaner
Worlds, not stories – dataviz as a macroscope to understand the world
Videos
Sir Ken Robinson on education and creativity, TED 2006
Stephen Downes: Web 2.0 and Your Own Learning and Development, 2007
Projects
Squeak /Kay
squeakland.orgSqueak in Germany
according to Markus Denker, 27-Sep-2002
squeakland-de Mailinglist
There is now a German "squeakland-de" Mailinglist. The idea is to have a list for all people interested to use Squeak in German-speaking schools. The list was set up only some weeks ago, traffic is low and there are not yet many subscribers (maybe 5 teachers and 4 other squeakers). But it's a start.
(side-note: This list was set up because we (Markus Gaelli and Markus Denker) got asked to do a short article about Squeak for a German book about "Free Software in Schools". The interesting thing is that this book is published by a german federal government agency and will be available at allmost no cost (EUR 1.50). The book isn't released yet, but it should get released later this year.)
German Squeak Association: Squeak Deutschland e.V.i.Gr.
We (some squeakers from Germany) have started to set up a non-profit, member-based local organisation to support Squeak use and development in Germany.
We are not yet officialy registerd, but we hope to have something going early next year.
More information (in German)
A short description in English was posted to the squeak-dev list.
THE – The Humane Environment /Raskin
The THE project at sourceforge.net
Open souce project based on the ideas of Raskin’s book The Humane Interface.
DeepaMehta /Richter
LAssi – Learner’s Assistant /Töpel, Vallendor
- several dozens of learning activities collected – might be worked out as patterns
- working prototype, tested and used in 4 Hamburg schools
- intent to open source
Learning Activitiy: Matrix
- An Evening with Ivan Sutherland: »Research and Fun«
Q&A at about 1:22:30: A matrix is a special way of thinking. Several axes with certain characteristics form a space for items of a domain. Then put all known items into the matrix fields. Empty spots are strong indicators for yet unknown items of the domain.