Monday, July 27, 2009

The World is Open

Last year I attended the CAP (Commission for Accelerated Programs) Accelerated Online and Blended Learning Workshop in Denver, and was lucky enough to see Curt Bonk’s presentations and then share these with my Livescribe Pulse Pen (the complete details and links are on my blog). Little did I know that the experience would turn up in Curt’s next book…

Curt kindly sent me a copy this past week. I appear on page 302. You can read the excerpt whilst listening to the recording.

The book ("The World Is Open: How Web Technology Is Revolutionizing Education") operates as a response to Thomas Friedman’s “The World Is Flat” - demonstrating how learning has been flattened in such a way that "anyone can now learn anything from anyone at anytime." This is both revolutionary and evolutionary. The concepts of traditional education are challenged, as is the role of the university.

Curt positions his argument with ten openers (WE-ALL-LEARN):

  1. Web Searching in the World of e-Books
  2. E-Learning and Blended Learning
  3. Availability of Open Source and Free Software
  4. Leveraged Resources and OpenCourseWare
  5. Learning Object Repositories and Portals
  6. Learner Participation in Open Information Communities
  7. Electronic Collaboration
  8. Alternate Reality Learning
  9. Real-Time Mobility and Portability
  10. Networks of Personalized Learning

There are two versions of the book: currently available is a dead tree version, available soon will be the ebook. The ebook will have same chapter sequence and same size, but different content (including a prequel and postscript). The ebook will be available from https://worldisopen.com in two months (or less).

Here is what Curt has to say on the ebook: “With the firm belief of open education and open access, there will actually be a 2nd free e-book extension (same chapters, same size, different content) since I wrote too much as well as a prequel and postscript. https://worldisopen.com/. This will be out in 1-2 months.”

I highly suggest you take a look at the book, ebook and blog.

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Thursday, November 20, 2008

SEO Book Chapter - Now on Amazon

I contributed a chapter to the IMC (Integrated Marketing Communications) Handbook on Search Engine Optimization. The book is available to order via Amazon or the publisher (Racom Books). The chapter follows a similar structure to the SEO Seminar I present.

 SEO is a moving target. However, most of what I wrote still stands. A planned approach to relevance, utility, quality and web standards is more than half the battle.

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Thursday, July 5, 2007

Book: Rule The Web

I went on a book-buying binge last week and now find myself in the pleasant dilemma of deciding what to read next. This morning I started reading Rule The Web by Mark Frauenfelder. Mark Frauenfelder is one of the founders of Boing-Boing, said to be one of the most popular blogs. Reading Boing-Boing is part of my daily routine so I decided to buy the book.

Rule The Web is a compendium of tips on advice on how to use the Web. A book to flick through and keep near your computer. I must admit that so far I have not come across much in the way of advice that is new to me but the writing is fun and engaging. However, the tips that I was not aware of are extremely useful and worth the price of admission.

My only major complaint about the book is the quality of the construction. The paper and binding feels very cheap. Already my book is starting to look a little dog-eared and scruffy.

The book has a companion site with updates and corrections.

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