By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. If I Could Make a School
Unattributed, Business Innovation Factory, 2015/01/09
Longish article (32 page PDF) describing the he Business Innovation Factory’s Student Experience Lab. They write, "Using BIF’s student-centered participatory design approach we seek to:

1. Put the student at the center of the innovation in education conversation
2. Develop and test innovative design concepts for new school experiences
3. Provide new life and learning skills for student. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. The Core Model: Designing Inside Out for Better Results
Ida Aalen, A List Apart, 2015/01/09
The design of internet technology always gets back to what you want from your application, and what you want your users to do. It's easy to forget. This article reframes that discussion by focusing on the "core mode;" which defines "the core tasks users need to accomplish". More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Post-Collegiate Outcomes Initiative
Teri Lyn Hinds, Kent Phillippe, American Association of Community Colleges, 2015/01/09
It seems a bit odd that the Gates Foundation is funding this project looking at redefining the outcomes of post-secondary education. After all, isn't that what a government would normally look at, as it assesses funding priorities? But then again, maybe it's not so odd, when we look at this background document. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Preparing Students for Competency-Based Hiring
Stacey Clawson, EDUCAUSE, 2015/01/08
Get ready for this. The days of the transcript (if it was used at all) as a basis for hiring is about to change. Competencies, rather than transcripts or credentials, will become the hiring standard of the future (or - I should add - something like competencies (for a variety of reasons). More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Here's What Some Teens Are Using Instead Of Snapchat And Instagram To Share Pictures In Class
Maya Kosoff, Business Insider, 2015/01/06

This article advertises describes AirDrop, an application for Apple iPhones. The underlying technology is overtaking Near-Field Communications (NFC) and depends on a combination of Bluetooth and Wifi but is Mac-only. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Academic Journals: The Most Profitable Obsolete Technology in History
Jason Schmitt, Huffington Post, 2015/01/06

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Manifesto 15
Various authors, 2015/01/06

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Challenge Propagation: Towards a theory of distributed intelligence and the global brain
Francis Heylighen, Spanda Journal, 2015/01/05
This is a really good paper that outlines many of the major elements underlying connectivism. It begins by recognizing that "Contemporary science sees societies, organisms and brains as complex adaptive systems. More...