By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. University of Phoenix Online Platform Receives Patent from United States Patent and Trademark Office
University of Phoenix, February 4, 2013
This one passed by last week and I just never got the chance to ake note (I spent most of last week quite under the weather). It's the sort of link I need extra energy to writem, because it's another one of those "the U.S. patent system is broken" links. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. LearnDash
LearnDash, February 4, 2013
Audrey Watters notes this website in passing in her weekly summary: "LearnDash (is) a WordPress plugin that lets you create courses, set up quizzes, and track user info. It also takes advantage of the TinCan API (which I [Watters] wrote about here)." Note that even though WordPress is an open source application, this plug-in is not free. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Educon: Unraveling the Textbook
Tim Stahmer, assortedstuff, February 4, 2013

Tim Stahmer, reflecting on Educon (and linking to a few of the wonderful reflections written by others) jots down a few short notes about textbooks. "A replacement for the textbook should

• be accessible on any device, anywhere
• allow users to add comments
• allow certain users (teachers, trusted students) to add and update materials
• have a social media component to allow users to discuss the materials
• have content controlled by educators, not publishers."

The fact that this would completely disrupt the textbook industry should tell us something. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Negating the learner in the learning process
George Siemens, elearns, February 4, 2013
Nice. It looks like the bulk of CCK08 is now available again online. The newsletter archives have always been available, here - scroll down to 2008. Now the pages and Moodle forum are back on the University of Manitoba website, here. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. 21st Century Literacy: New Initiative Makes the Case that Learning to Code is for Everyone
Mimi Ko Cruz, Berkman Center for Internet, Society, Jul 11, 2014

You have to admire their capacity to win research grants. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Net Neutrality Offensive
Carl Straumsheim, Inside Higher Ed, Jul 11, 2014

Academic groups are (once again) stressing the importance of net neutrality. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Report: Open Access to Journal Articles Gaining Acceptance from Researchers
Leila Meyer, Campus Technology, Jul 11, 2014
More evidence of the increasing acceptability of open access research. "The report, "Taylor & Francis Open Access Survey, June 2014," is the second annual survey of journal authors on their opinions toward open access publication. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Extended Artificial Memory. Toward an integral cognitive theory of memory and technology
Lars Ludwig, Kluedo, Jul 11, 2014
Lars Ludwig wrote to tell me about work he has done on the possibility of extending memory with machines. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Beyond Assessment - Recognizing Achievement in a Networked World
Stephen Downes, Jul 11, 2014, 12th ePortfolio, Open Badges and Identity Conference , University of Greenwich, Greenwich, UK
ePortfolios and Open Badges are only the first wave in what will emerge as a wider network-based form of assessment that makes tests and reviews unnecessary. In this talk I discuss work being done in network-based automated competency development and recognition, the challenges it presents to traditional institutions, and the opportunities created for genuinely autonomous open learning.

[Link] [Slides] [Audio]. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Beyond Free - Open Learning in a Networked World
Stephen Downes, Jul 08, 2014, 12th Annual Academic Practise & Technology Conference, University of Greenwich, Greenwich, UK
The evolution of open content and open learning are explored in this presentation that seeks to recapture the essence of what it is that a MOOC is designed to do.

[Link] [Slides] [Audio]. More...