By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Could Do Better: A Checklist for Participatory Communication for Development.
Probing questions, a list of dimensions of 'participatory communications' from G.A. Dragon, and even a citation from Illich's To Hell With Good Intentions: "By definition, you cannot help being ultimately vacationing salesmen for the middle-class 'American Way of Life,' since that is really the only life you know." Well, yeah, and I can't help being anything other than an opinionated Canadian with a healthy disrespect for power and control. And the Finns I've seen carry their Finnishness with them, and the Brits their Britishness, and so on. So what do we do when we reach out to another culture? I had to find my own way teaching in First Nations communities. And the main thing I decided was to not try to be something other than what I am. The place where I draw the line is in trying to make other people into images of me (though I have to say, it's really tempting). They have to find their own way - and me, well I'll just be maximally me and they can take whatever they want from that, or nothing, if that's what they want. But I'm not going to pull back, to be less of who I am. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Bfree - Export Courses From Blackboard
Scott Leslie points to this product that lets you extract courses from a Blackboard archive file. "It allows you to open a Blackboard course export or archive file, select the files you want and then export these as an independent website". More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Setting up your first assignment face-to-face in class using Peergrade
W. Ian O'Byrne, YouTube, 2019/02/12
As the caption to this 7 minute video says, this is "a quick overview of how I use Peergrade as an activity in class to work through the process and expectations of peer evaluation and assessment." He outlines an exercise using a video on digital literacy; after watching the video, they use the application in class, and tghen use PeerGrade to write some quick responses. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Review: The Globotics Upheaval: Globalization, Robotics and the Future of Work by Richard Baldwin
Brian Castellani, Sociology and Complexity Science Blog, 2019/02/12
There are two major points being made hewre. The first is the oft-heard observation that "a new form of globalization will combine with software robots to disrupt service-sector and professional jobs." Second, and more significantly, "the current backlash against our global commitments to one another, particularly across western society, has very much to do with the failure of public policy to adequately address the negative impact that post-industrialization and globalisation have had on the working and middle classes". More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. A Framework for Modern Workplace Learning 2019
Jane Hart, Modern Workplace Learning, 2019/02/12
This is chapter 1 of a longer work (you'll have to pay for subsequent chapters, and they're not written yet) and a good introduction to the topic of modern workplace learning. The linchpin is the new framework (presented in a frustratingly small diagram; a big version would help tired old eyes like mine) where "everyone is responsible for their own continuous improvement, learning and development." In particular, Hart envisions a new role, "Modern Learning Advisors," who "enable and support learningby (a) helping individuals build modern learning skills, organize & manage their own self-development, and (b) helping managers and their teams get the most out of daily work experiences". More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. How Canada’s Philanthropic Pop Industrial Complex Took Over The World
Ben Paynter, Fast Company, 2019/02/12
The most misleading word in this headline is "philanthropic". Our investment in music isn't charity. The story talks about government support for Canadian music, and even makes it clear that the funding program (through organizations like the Canada Music Fund and FACTOR) "wasn’t altruism... You need variety and good quality." Government investment not only creates success, it protects artists. “When the record breaks, they aren’t walking around L.A. signing (bad) record and management deals because that’s all they got.” Why is this important? Because we should be doing the same thing for open educational resources. More...