I haven’t had a chance to post my reflections on Stephen Downes’ presentation to our 831 class but it wasn’t due to lack of impression. In fact I found Stephen’s presentation to be very impressive for most part. His views on static vs dynamic relationships as applied to technology still has me scratching my head. I’ve been thinking for awhile on this one and I am still not certain what he was getting at. If anyone has a link that I could use to research this it would be greatly appreciated. I just need a little more clarity on this topic.
One weakness that I found in the presentation was that he did get a little too technical for us non computer science people. His description of his program that created a newsletter from searching the web was way over my head. However, I think that the potential of this software is huge. To be able to search the web and create a document with very little effort is going to revolutionize the way that information is brought into the classroom. I can’t wait until this technology becomes user friendly for the general population of educators.
Your comment on his “technical” aspect of the presentation was noted by me as well. I however could see glimpses of where he is going with the software in terms of dealing with all types of incoming and outgoing communication. The only comment I could make was his dismay with his Mac….c’mon, a Mac?
Not all are believers in the Mac! However, the more I am away from them the more I desire another.