By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Bringing It to the Masses
Colleen Flaherty, Inside Higher Ed, Jul 16, 2014
I like this more than I should, probably. But it's a great initiative and does for the sciences what I would like to do for education technology research, if only I had the time: to cut through the jargon and state what it is the research actually shows. "Publiscize has an intuitive interface that allows users to create accounts either as scient. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. How E-Reading Threatens Learning in the Humanities
Naomi S. Baron, The Chronicle: Commentary, Jul 16, 2014
Having made my living somehow as a student of the humanities, and having read extensively both in the paper-based and digital forms of long and short text, I think I'm in a good position to discuss this commentary in the Chronicle (where else?) from Naomi S. Baron explaining why digital reading is so impoverished. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. The Asilomar Convention for Learning Research in Higher Education
Mitchell L. Stevens, Susan S. Silbey, Asilomar 2014, Jul 16, 2014
Worth noting: "On 1-4 June, 2014, a group of educators, scientists, and legal/ethical scholars assembled at the Asilomar Conference Grounds in Pacific Grove, California. Their task was to develop a framework to inform decisions about appropriate use of data and technology in learning research for higher education. A modified Chatham House Rule guided their deliberations, which produced the convention presented here." Via Inside Higher Ed. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Will SOOCs eat MOOCs for breakfast?
Unattributed, Pearson, Jul 16, 2014
You can almost hear the disbelief in Audrey Watters's voice as she says "wow" on reading this article from Pearson advocating a form of online learning that removes "unwanted diversity" from open online courses. Yes, you read that correctly, and it's not out of context. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Ministers and Key Partners Chart Path Forward for Education and Skills in Canada
Press Release, Council of Education Ministers, Canada (CMEC), Jul 14, 2014
The Council of Education Ministers, Canada (CMEC), met with "his week with more than 200 key business and labour leaders, academics, representatives of student organizations, and other stakeholders" l;ast weekend in Charlottetown, and recommended the following:

• Education and training must empower Canadians to acquire the skills they need for success in the job market in a flexible and dynamic environment.
• Partnerships and alignment with business, labour, education, and training providers are key to ensuring synergy between education and skills training systems and Canada's labour markets.
• Access to accurate, relevant, and timely labour market and education data is essential to support Canadians to make smart career choices, as well as enable government and business to make evidence-based decisions in planning for the future. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Peer Assessment for Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs)
Hoi K. Suen, International Review of Research in Open, Distance Learning (IRRODL), Jul 14, 2014
This article examines the application of peer assessment in massive open online courses (MOOCs). More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Social media in education: ethical concerns
Unattributed, ALT Online Newsletter, Jul 14, 2014
This is a summary of a recent workshop on ethical concerns around the use of social media in education. Four major areas were highlighted: the need for a code of conduct or legislation, online harassment and bullying, intellectual property, and authenticity of voice. More...