By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Rethinking the nature of inequality and labor: An essay review of Affective Equality
Eleni Schirmer, Michael W. Apple, education review, Jul 22, 2014
Good review of the book Affective Equality posing the central question, "Have the implemented educational reform policies mis-appraised the requirements of equality itself?" There are multiple "social systems that structure both equality and inequality: economic, political, cultural, and, affective." And example of this (not mentioned in the review) are parental expectations of their children. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. The Bitcoins of Learning?
Unknown, Wikispaces, Jul 22, 2014
There isn't time (nor bandwidth in what has become terrible airport lounge wifi over the years) but I think that the concept of a bitcoin for learning is a really bad idea. I get the concept - students are looking for more than just grades; they want a learning 'currency' they can take with them to the workplace. And "currency, ideally, must travel, quickly and simply, and as widely as possible. It's a reductionist, simplistic mode of social interaction." More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. What’s the media got to do with education? The freedom to listen, speak and learn
Annika Burgess, eLearning Africa News Portal, Jul 22, 2014
The headline in the title of this post I think neatly ties together the link between media and education (and to a large degree why they are both interesting to me). More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Bill Gates Talks Performance Funding and MOOCs in Conference Keynote
Don Troop, Chronicle of Higher Education, Jul 23, 2014
Bill Gates talks about education and everyone listens (one of these days I'd like to go to Redmond to talk to MS face-to-face about these topics). Still, some good bits: like this: "My key message today is that that model will be under challenge. And so, instead of tuning it to find 3 percent here or 4 percent there, which has been the story in the past, there will be dramatic changes." See also IHE coverage. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Don't Send Your Kid to the Ivy League
William Deresiewicz, http://www.newrepublic.com/article/118747/ivy-league-schools-are-overrated-send-your-kids-elsewhere, Jul 24, 2014
As I commented on Twitter the other day, I rarely agree with what I read in New Republic, but this article hits much more than it misses. So while you shouldn't consider this post to be a blanket endorsement of everything in the article, it is certainly recommended. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. I am a young person who solves crossword puzzles and maybe you should be one too
Boone B Gorges, Teleogistic, Jul 25, 2014
It's probably not for everyone but as Boone Georges says, crossword puzzles are great for augmenting pattern recognition skills. I don't solve nearly the number he does, but I enjoy my Sunday Times crossword - I save them and solve them on flights to Montreal or Toronto (which gives me about a two-hour window). More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. MOOCs get schoolified: Two reports predict MOOCs will simply be absorbed
Mark Guzdial, Computing Education Blog, Jul 25, 2014
You have to actually read this to realize how silly this sounds. Here it is: "MOOCs are like free gyms, says Mr. Kelly. They might enable some people—mostly people who are already healthy and able to work out without much guidance—to exercise more. But they won’t do much for people who need intensive physical therapy or the care of a doctor." Well of course, then, MOOCs will just be absorbed by the syste... wait. More...