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Mind-mapping.org has a good capability for selecting software by map type and operating system (click on the 'Refine software list' tab at the top right of its web page), and shows the price. Unfortunately, it doesn't allow you to filter on price or choose to see only the free ones. This article is therefore a quick list to current software that is free or has a free option. It excludes applications that have a time limit on their operation, for example, free trial software or web applications. "Free" here is as in beer, not in freedom, though some of the software listed is open source, so is free in both senses.

The human element, a magical connection, is at the heart of successful education, and you can’t bottle it.

The human element, a magical connection, is at the heart of successful education, and you can’t bottle it.

This discussion paper explores the nature of online connectivity and, in particular, seeks to better understand how online connections are made in the very first instance of contact. There has been plenty of research on how to develop online connections once they have been made, but the question of how the initial contact is made has not received much attention. What is it that enables a potentially beneficial connection to be made with a previously unknown online communicator? We propose that the answer lies in online resonance, which we have called ‘e-resonance’.

In this paper we consider what the characteristics, affordances and affecting factors of e-resonance might be. What sparks it off? This might not be the content of the post, but rather a secondary topic such as a mutually shared interest. What are the key indicators of e-resonance? Are there any specific skills associated with e-resonance?

In response to these questions we discuss the possibility of ‘beyond verbal’ communication and the importance of being able to filter and select information on personal and conceptual levels. We also consider what e-resonance might mean for the author and reader of online messages in terms of stimulating new thinking. E-resonance is a riddle which is relevant to connectivity and knowledge creation in the online environment. However, we conclude that the riddle of online resonance remains, as yet, unsolved.

Hmmm...trying to decide which tools to use for the Personal Learning Environment Course. The choice will obviously depend on my course goals and how I want to go about it, something I have not yet decided.

I feel like experimenting with Sweetcron (a self-hosted application) to bring together not only my own plenk2010 production (blog, Flickr, delicious, and others I may need) but also the course feeds and specific posts from other participants (permalinks I will bookmark on delicious and tag with plenk 2010 + other meaningful tags and which will hopefully be piped down here) so I have it all under one address. Trouble is that if I mix my own feeds with course feeds, people who subscribe to this feed will be getting my personal environment + some duplicate feeds from the course. Maybe I should keep two different streams: my own outgoing production and the incoming course feeds. Let's see how this works out in practice.

This application also allows for an occasional short post like this one. The longer posts containing a reflection on what I observe and connect to (if I manage to find the time and the motivation to write them) may happen at my main blog, a Wordpress install, as I am more used to it. But plenk 2010 posts made there will be brought over here anyway.

I must now install the comment area for people who would like to contact me here eventually. This will have to be done by implementing a code line which will bring in Disqus. Done! Beauty, it works! If you need the permalink for the post, click in the comment area.

Now, must start adding the feeds. I will start by bookmarking the reading material in delicious, tagging it plenk2010 and piping it here. Also done - what is interesting is that there is a comment area below each paper or resource, so I can make my own comments on the material, share it with others, who can in turn respond. All in one place! Central distribution or distributed centralization?

Hmm... decided to correct a typo and checked the timestamp area (make current time) so this post came now to the top when it should have been the first one at the bottom of the page. Cannot revert it. So all the delicious feeds for this week's reading are now below this one. Oh well.

A wiki with a collection of PLE diagrams from diverse sources.

Abstract. Current systems used in education follow a consistent design pattern, one that is not supportive of lifelong learning or personalization, is asymmetric in terms of user capability, and which is disconnected from the global ecology of Internet services. In this paper we propose an alternative design pattern for educational systems that emphasizes symmetric connections with a range of services both in formal and informal learning, work, and leisure, and identify strategies for implementation and experimentation.

What is it? The term personal learning environment (PLE) describes the tools, communities, and services that constitute the individual educational platforms learners use to direct their own learning and pursue educational goals. A PLE is frequently contrasted with a learning management system in that an LMS tends to be course-centric, whereas a PLE is learner-centric.