Core knowledge
Yesterday’s OLDaily questions “core knowledge”, and I am trying to guess the tacit discomfort behind this misguided idea: Blinkered specialists vs. broad knowledge, shallow generalists vs. deep knowledge, indirect side effects vs. measurable memorization of facts, absurd amount of useless facts vs. exemplary drill-down on diverse topics. Read more …
Tomorrow’s mind mapping
I had the chance to submit my latest dreams about tomorrow’s mindmapping. And on the other hand, I was disillusioned about its deployment in today’s academia. Read more…
Enchanted by the tools
Lisa Lane has a great advice for the unnecessarily intimidated among faculty: Playing around with online tools oneself, but not getting enchanted by the tools. Read more …
Skimming too quickly?
After returning from vacation, I noticed how quickly I skimmed my RSS reader, and this alarmed me. If an item does not resonate with me immediately, it could also mean that I just don’t understand its context quickly enough. Read more…
Visualization tools again
While many visualization tools focus on the output side (on the impressing presentations), I am again looking for the optimal tool for the input of connected ideas. I wonder if the crucial limitations can be removed by more zooming, or by some “spread”.
Blog vs. forum preferences
While both bloggers and forum lovers on CCK08 value diverse, non-linear, “big picture” style conversations, there might be subtle differences in the type of conceptual connections that both camps feel most comfortable with. This differences affect the “closeness” or “nearness” of the concepts, ideas, and aspects under discussion, both “spatially” and temporally. Read more…
Email anniversary
It was precisely 25 years ago today that I received my first email. Ironically, its relic is not well conserved. As if it was a historical parchment document, time has gnawed away its left margin and I had to reconstruct much of it. To explain this I need to tell a long-winded story.
At this time, a typical file still [...]
Experts vs. Creativity
In a new essay on domain-generality or domain-specifity of creativity, R. Sternberg emphasizes the individual’s decision, attitude, mindset, to use their differing skills, abilities, resources. The decision attitude is described as investment. My own thoughts about this involve the attitude of note-taking.
What can visuals do
George Siemens asks “What can visuals do that text can’t?”, and Dave Gray just presented such a visual about text that answers the question.
Microblogging is not for me
I have always suspected that the trendy new web 2.0 tools are not for everybody’s taste, and now I was able to thoroughly experience what it is like to be on the side of the non-adopters. This lead me to some thoughts about hypes and styles. Read more…