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free Web 2.0 technologies could be a threat to some of the commercial tools

Is the edupunk ideology saying that the use of social media in commercial learning management systems is an assault on the very philosophy of learning 2.0?Ideologies shouldn’t be rigid should they? Rather they should be adapted and used in pragmatic ways don’t you think? If you’re a trainer embracing learning 2.0, who gives a rats ass where it lives.

If you have a population of learners who have already adopted tools (such as blogging and social bookmarking) for themselves that are different than the corporate tool (the LMS) do you ask them to move?

If your population has not adopted a tool yet, do you have a responsibility to the individual to show them tools that can live beyond their engagement at the company?

“Next Generation” of Learning Management Systems, BlackBoard 8

to survive as a LMS, but that survival is not necessarily dependent on a technology or an innovation, rather it is a means of taking the imaginative experimentation of others and wrapping them up as a product that can be bought and sold like a pair of shoes. The insanely irresponsible advertising for BlackBoard 8 suggests that Academic Suite release 8.0 will “enhance critical thinking skills” and “improve classroom performance.” What LMS can do this? What Web 2.0 tool can do this? This is total bullshit, how can they make such an irresponsible claim? These things are not done by technology, but rather people thinking and working together. Our technology may afford a unique possibility in this endeavor by bringing disparate individuals together in an otherwise untenable community, yet it doesn’t enhance critical thinking or improve classroom performance, we do that, together.

they are taking the experiments and innovations of thousands of people and re-packaging them as their own, unique contribution to the educational world of Web 2.0

An issue will be finding faculty with the imagination to integrate these options into their teaching and learning, and an even more difficult issue will be credentialing that kind of work.

Trent Batson

And what we're trying to do here at WSU is bring outside employers into the process. Then we can have those employers validate that what we're doing aligns with what they find to be valuable. At the same time, we have the opportunity to demonstrate to employers who work with us the complexity of the work we do.

A real student-centered model would put the authority, or ownership, of that ePortfolio in the hands of the students: They could share evidence of their learning for review with peers, and offer that evidence to instructors for grading and credentialing.

Right now, we've only swapped the little red schoolhouses for the little online boxes we call course management systems. Students enroll, read posted information, and maybe listen to podcasts. A few of the more sophisticated students have some kind of electronic discussion with other students in the class, but the instructor is still at the center of the classroom. That model, pedagogically as well as for all kinds of practical purposes, is starting to lose its effectiveness.

Higher ed professionals are beginning to recognize that ePortfolios may be more effective than standardized tests when it comes to documenting student learning.

"We don't care about test scores. What we want is evidence that students have been involved in internships and service learning programs, and that they've done project work and have developed team, collaboration, communication, and leadership skills."

In the right environment the social networking potential of the learning landscape and eportfolio-related tools are features that facilitate and enhance the making of connections and the linking together of people, ideas, resources and learning… (pp. 30)

here is certainly a lot more worthwhile reading in the full handbook which contains contributions from over 100 of the world’s leading experts.