Disqus - Latest Comments for Tom Hoffman

Re: Will’s Links 11/08/2007

Tom Hoffman — Fri, 09 Nov 2007 08:18:22 -0000

I'm just not sure that modeling the right cell phone behavior isn't "turn it off during meetings."

Re: Does anyone blog the really bad stuff on a work blog?

Tom Hoffman — Mon, 18 Sep 2006 16:03:49 -0000

This is actually pretty common in the US. If you google the "Carnival of Education" you should find some relevant links.

Re: Some decent Martin Luther King sites

Tom Hoffman — Sun, 19 Nov 2006 15:01:55 -0000

Thanks for pitching in, Robert!

Unfortunately, your links are munged up.

Re: Some decent Martin Luther King sites

Tom Hoffman — Sun, 19 Nov 2006 15:20:23 -0000

OTOH, that may be my fault...

Re: 5 things you may not know about me etc

Tom Hoffman — Thu, 28 Dec 2006 00:24:51 -0000

Actually, mine are from Annie Hall.

Re: Tim O’Reilly Interview on Education and Web2.0

Tom Hoffman — Sat, 05 May 2007 11:26:07 -0000

This is, essentially, why I'm so persistent about free software and cheap, reliable hardware. If I had a million bucks to spend on a school, I certainly wouldn't spend it all on "technology." Maybe a quarter or a third, and it had better keep running without constant hand-holding.

Re: Wedding Present at the Liquid Rooms

Tom Hoffman — Thu, 25 Oct 2007 16:52:11 -0000

Sounds like a great night. One of my personal favorites, too.

BTW, the links back to your posts don't work in Google Reader. Not sure why.

Re: Education, Young People and the Social Graph

Tom Hoffman — Wed, 28 Nov 2007 13:38:03 -0000

I think you're barking up the wrong tree with this one, Robert.

First off, don't count on open social graphs and SSO arriving any time soon. These have never really been difficult technical problems. I don't really believe things have changed enough to think standards for doing these things will be adopted any time soon.

But even if I'm wrong about that, why does the school care about a kid's social graph? I'd need some concrete examples, I guess.

Re: Running Windows Software on Eee PC using Wine

Tom Hoffman — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 13:30:29 -0000

Also, Wine is important because it gives vendors a way to do quick, cheap Linux ports.

Re: EeePC and EyeOS

Tom Hoffman — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 16:21:37 -0000

The only problem with that is you need a more powerful computer to run your computer inside a browser than you to do just run your computer on itself.

Re: Disrupting Class

Tom Hoffman — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 09:59:18 -0000

I'm pretty familiar with Christiansen's work, but I haven't read this one, and I have a hard time figuring out how it could apply to the parts of education I'm interested in -- specifically urban secondary education.

I can very much see "disruptive innovation" applies to US post-secondary education -- there is a clear opportunity and need for a cheaper, more broadly accessible "worse is better" solution than our expensive four year colleges with fancy dorms, gyms, activities, etc.

OTOH, the interesting/difficult parts of primary and secondary education already have to do with serving the least desirable parts of the market (a hallmark of disruptive education) and doing it cheaply (ditto). These things are already (in the US at least) already as much "worse" as they are going to get, if you know what I mean. The overwhelming design constraint is already about doing it cheaply, and just about any innovation you can think of is more expensive.

Anyhow, I don't feel like reading this book myself, because I imagine he's just talking about other parts of education. Am I right?

Re: TIMSS 2007

Tom Hoffman — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 10:39:48 -0000

Yes, I though this would cause some problem for you folks when I saw the scores. Good luck.

Also, tell your traffic feed that I do NOT live in Cranston!

Re: Roger Williams Park Road - StimulusWatch.org

Tom Hoffman — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 10:41:38 -0000

This road is completely crumbling in places, which significantly degrades the value of the park. It hurts the aesthetics and makes bike riding unpleasant and dangerous.

Re: Roger Williams Park Lade Dredging - StimulusWatch.org

Tom Hoffman — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 10:43:36 -0000

These would be beautiful ponds, if they weren't full of crap.

Re: This week at the Diego - Patrice's Weblog

Tom Hoffman — Thu, 17 Nov 2005 14:31:00 -0000

Hi Patrice,

SchoolTool is initially focusing on "student information system" functionality for primary and secondary schools, rather than being a VLE like Moodle, for example. There are lots of implications for this focus on how we design the software, some more subtle than others. Right now, we're staring to work in attendance functionality, for example. In doing attendance, what is important is not what "course" is being taught (the curriculum) but which "section" you're teaching (the actual grouping of students and teachers who meet at a particular time).