By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Trust Score (Beta) for Ethereum
Nantium OÜ, Decentralize Today, 2017/02/20
I agree with Nantium OÜ that "decentralization will lead to a more fair society where monopolies lose their stranglehold over some of our key economic sectors (and possibly even government sectors)." I'm less convinced that trust is a key part of this, but I'm willing to listen. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Source: Getty Images Top Hat Raises $22.5 Million to Go After Pearson, McGraw-Hill
Gerrit De Vynck, Bloomberg, 2017/02/20
Bloomberg offers coverage to this Canadian company that has set up an online bookstore for textbooks. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Revenge of the Lunch Lady
Jane Black, Huffington Post, 2017/02/13
This is a really interesting report looking into issues related to school lunches in the United States by focusing on schools in Huntington, West Virginia, which had been labeled "the most unhealthy in the country" and had suffered the attentions of British celebrity chef Jamie Oliver. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. What We All Agree On
Unattributed, University Ventures, 2017/02/13
This post from University Ventures Exchange, people who "invests in entrepreneurs and institutions that are reimagining the future of higher education", seeks to find common ground where "the many challenges and opportunities facing higher education lend themselves to bipartisan consensus." More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Editorial: Why Apple ignores so much pundit innovation advice
Daniel Eran Dilger, Apple Insider, 2017/02/13
This is a good article even if the writing gets excessively syrupy and sycophantic at times. The author identifies three major themes of "toxic innovation advice" and talks about how Apple has avoided them. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Show me the evidence…
James Clay, e-Learning Stuff, 2017/02/13

At a certain point, writes James Clay, "the problem is not the lack of evidence, but one of resistance to change, fear, culture, rhetoric and motivation." At what point, he asks, is there enough evidence. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. I look like a self-made millionaire. But I owe my success to privilege.
Jason Ford, Vox, 2017/02/13
When we talk about education and human development we often overlook the fact that success is driven by a lot of factors that have nothing to do with learning. This article makes the point as clearly as any I've seen. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. eLearning partnership opens doors to 10 million students
Ochieng’ O Benny, University World News, 2017/02/13
An agreement between the Association of African Universities and eLearnAfrica "will enable 10 million students to access higher education through online services provided to AAU member universities," according to this report. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. The “Secret Sauce” to Scaling Up Quality Education in Developing Countries
Julia Gillard, Jenny Perlman Robinson, Stanford Social Innovation Review, 2017/02/16
According to this article, "we know that large-scale progress, in both getting children into school and learning, is possible." It being Stanford, a certain amount of scepticism is warranted (83 page PDF). The 'secret sauce' is actually a combination of "14 core ingredients that appear to contribute to scaling quality learning, with the right combination depending on the context," grouped into four areas. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. GE’s Bill Ruh on the Industrial Internet Revolution
Art Kleiner, John Sviokla, Strategy+Business, 2017/02/16
Interesting discussion around the topic of internet-based computational services in industry. More...