Comments on: Corporations need to catch up on open content

By: Scott Hewitt

Scott Hewitt — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 09:14:18 +0000

Interesting to read about IT departments limiting access to youtube. Having worked in IT for very large corporations there are a number of reasons with one of them being bandwidth and the costs associated with it.

I recall when google earth came out it coincided with the company network becoming incredibly slow…a huge number of employees had downloaded the app and were using it on a daily basis! Even if the company had wanted to let the staff have full access it was tricky as the network would struggle.

By: Jack McShea

Jack McShea — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 16:22:20 +0000

I had difficulty locating the article cited. It might have been moved. I believe the current URL is:

http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/138/who-needs-harvard.html?page=0%2C3

Certainly an interesting read.

By: Peter Isackson

Peter Isackson — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 09:54:20 +0000

I still feel uncomfortable with the reliance on multiple choice questions, especially when linked with grades. Multiple choice can actually be good for exploring multiple directions (and everything has multiple directions) but the whole system of judging how good people are at recognizing the unique officially “right” answer seems to me a clear regression that reinforces the notions of both “infallible educational authority” and canned knowledge divorced from both context and complexity.

Where the corporate world is in advance in its apparent concern to assess the benefits of learning in terms of increased performance rather than grades. But of course I have to use the qualifier “apparent” because I don’t see a lot of effort put into establishing and appreciating the link between the two.

Also I believe we need to think about the significance of transforming the sage on the stage to the sage behind the stage, Wizard of Oz style.

Forget the string quartet: the model should be the jam session, where talent is developed through interplay and motivated interaction and where the less proficient learn from their more proficient peers, developing their own style and voice from the different ones they listen to and interact with.