By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Getting Web Services Up and Running on Amazon Web Services (AWS) Using Vagrant and the AWS CLI
Tony Hirst, OUseful Info, 2017/04/06
This is the sort of stuff I've been working on recently. This is a particularly useful project: "here’s an example of how to get a browser based application up and running on EC2 using vagrant from the command line." The description is pretty detailed and is probably not for everyone. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Why we never think alone
David Gurteen, Gurteen Knowledge-Log, 2017/04/06
This short post is a restatement of something from Steven Sloman that has appeared numerous times in these pages over the years: "Humans have built hugely complex societies and technologies, but most of us don't even know how a pen or a toilet works. How have we achieved so much despite understanding so little? Because whilst individuals know very little, the collective or ‘hive' mind knows a lot.". More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. How French “Intellectuals” Ruined the West: Postmodernism and Its Impact, Explained
Helen Pluckrose, Aero Magazine, 2017/04/06
I am more or less a post-modernist, though I arrived at my understanding of the core ideas independently of the authors cited in this article (though on reading them find myself nodding in agreement). So I appreciate this clear and articulate description of postmodernism, and the argument offered against it. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Education is Changing—It’s Time Assessment Caught Up
Esther Care, Alvin Vista, Stanford Social Innovation Review, 2017/03/28
This is a lightweight article touting the benefits of adaptive testing "where, based on a student response to one test item, that student was presented with another item, appropriately targeted so that the student’s response would provide more information about his or her range of understanding.". More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. The three exclamation point problem
timoni west, Product Matters, Medium, 2017/03/28
The best way to create a bias against a group is to normalize a behaviour that others can't, or won't, conform to. American digerati have perfected this in the form of casual profanity in writing. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Cloud computing pushes into the classroom, but not without challenges
Ron Miller, Ars Technica, 2017/03/28
"Slowly but surely, in spite of the issues, cloud tools are coming to the classroom," according to this report. But infrastructure challenges remain. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Self-paced language learning
Philip J. Kerr, Adaptive Learning in ELT, 2017/03/28
The point of departure for this post is self-paced language learning using Duolingo, but it quickly moves into a fascinating history of self-paced learning generally. Efforts began in the 1800s with the massification of learning, and very quickly self-paced was associated with personalized learning as designers attempted to adapt their designs to the different abilities of students. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. For-Profit Involvement in OER - Part 6
Dan McGuire, 2017/04/19

More on Lumen Learning. "The $10-$25 per course that Lumen-Follett is collecting to provide the 'packaging' for free OER courses is a steep price," writes Dan McGuire. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Lumen and Follett: Canary in the Curricular Materials Coal Mine?
Michael Feldstein, e-Literate, 2017/04/19

Michael Feldstein offers a slanted perspective on the discussion around Lumen Learning. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. High Quality Education for All
Christian M. Stracke, SlideShare, 2017/04/19
This is a set of slides delivered by Christian M. Stracke (newly appointed ICDE Chair in Open Educational Resources (OER)) at the International Lensky Education Forum in Yakutsk. More...