By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. MOOCS and Social Learning Networks
Stephen Downes, Jul 21, 2015, MOOCs Y Aprendiazaje en Redes Sociales, Santiago de Compostela, Spain

In this presentation I look at the intersection of MOOCs and social learning networks by looking at the various aspects of openness in MOOCs - open admissions, open content, open instruction, open assessment - and considering how they change when applied to networks and to social networks. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Adblock Plus Study
Press Release, Simon Fraser University, 2015/07/20

I use ad blocking software all the time. I refuse to turn it off - even when 'free' wifi in Madrid airport was conditional on turning off ad blockers, I decided to go without internet rather than turn it on. It's a good choice. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. The Next Wave
John Markoff, Edge, 2015/07/17
Although it feels like the future is rushing forward at us, argues John Markoff, in fact, right now, it's on a pause. "In the last two years, the price of each transistor has stopped falling." We're seeing advances in pattern recognition technology and in robots. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. The Web We Have to Save
Hossein Derakhshan, Medium, 2015/07/17

When blogger Hossein Derakhshan - also known as 'Hoder' - emerged from six years of jail in Iran, he encountered an internet very different from the one that existed the last time he blogged. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Turning self-assessments into powerful engagement tools
Sarah Beckett, HRSG, 2015/07/17

I'm sure most Facebook users remember the appeal of the spate of Buzzfeed quizzes that made the rounds last year. The Facebook algorithm has since moved on to promoting other branded content, but it remains true that quizzes - especially quizzes about oneself - remain an excellent way to engage readers. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. The Economic Potential of The Internet of Thing
Irving Wladawsky-Berger, 2015/07/17

Article identifying 9 distinct 'settings' where we'll find the internet of things (IoT). Settings are "the physical environments in which these various systems and applications are deployed." More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Emerging Trends in MOOC Delivery of Business Education
Martine Plompen, EMFD, 2015/07/17

This is an interesting phenomenon: "a growing number of business-related MOOCs are being offered by institutions for whom academics are a less central focus." The MOOC, it seems, is an excellent way to deliver a course if you're business model does not depend on degrees and credentials. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Just How Good Is 'To Kill a Mockingbird'?
William Giraldi, New Republic, 2015/07/16

I read To Kill a Mockingbird many years ago, when I was still young, and no number of reviews for or against will alter my own appreciation of the work (I've never seen the movie, but that's OK). More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. If You Build It Will They Come An Evaluation of Whiteboard a Networked Academic Profiles Project
Stian Håklev, Frances Garrett, Matt Price, Higher Education Quality Council of Ontario, 2015/07/16
What I like about this report is that it described what really happened rather than whitewashing a project that essentially never really succeeded. More...