10 octobre 2017

The persistent myth of the 'skills gap'
Michal Rozworski, Academic Matters, 2016/08/24
The point of this article isn't that there is no skills gap. There is. But as my one-time colleague Jim Stanford writes, according to the skills-shortage perspective, "the biggest challenge facing our labour market is adjusting the attitudes, capabilities and mobility of jobless workers… The problem is with the unemployed." Indeed, as Rozworski writes, "employers in Ontario spend dramatically less on employee training than they did just two decades ago." And "the obvious solutions to attracting more workers, raising wages, gets nary a mention." All true. More...

Amara
Amara, 2015/12/30
I recently uploaded a new video of my panel presentation on agile learning design at OEB (the sound on the first was gibbled, but this came out much better). Not long after I got an email from a friend saying volunteers had completed a set of subtitles for the talk. More...

A South African perspective on what makes a great teacher
Kathy McKnight, Pearson, 2015/12/30
There's plenty of evidence that the main premise of this article - "no factor is more important to education standards than the quality of the teacher" - is false. More...

Improving Instruction in a Digital World
Eric Sheninger, A Principal's Reflections, 2015/12/30
When I first saw the diagram I thought it was about the use of open educational resources (OERs). Then I thought it was about Bloom's taxonomy. In the end, it's a little of both, as it outlines a framework (specifically, the Rigor and Relevance Framework) for learning and learning technology. More...

Cycling in Berlin. (Theory vs. Reality)
Claudia Brückner, Vimeo, 2015/12/30
I have an interest in cycling, but that's not why I'm posting this item here. The filmmaker Claudia Brückner writes in the credits, " I learned a lot from the amazing online DIY & indie-filmmaker scene - and its hero Casey Neistat - that influenced and inspired the style of making this video." This, I think, is where the future of education and journalism overlap. More...

6 Harsh Truths That Will Make You a Better Person
David Wong, Cracked.com, 2015/12/30
This was written a few years ago, but it's making the end-of-year rounds again, and I think it should be shared (note, though: language warning - it's on Cracked.com after all). The harsh truths are all to the effect that the world is not a nice place. Here they are (quoted):

• The world only cares about what it can get from you
• You are nothing more than the sum total of your useful skills
• What you produce does not have to make money, but it does have to benefit people
• You hate yourself because you don't do anything
• What you are inside only matters because of what it makes you do
• Everything inside you will fight improvement

This is both right and it is wrong. Here is where it is wrong: it is basically a denial that you - or anyone else - has any intrinsic worth. More...

MOOCs and crowdsourcing: Massive courses and massive resources
John Prpić, James Melton, Araz Taeihagh, Terry Anderson, First Monday, 2015/12/29
This paper draws an interesting parallel between two types of massive phenomena: MOOCs, and crowdsourcing. The former are online courses designed to enable access to learning to large numbers of people at once, while the latter takes advantage of the contributions of many people to support a single objective, such as the creation of an online encyclopedia. More...

How to Run A Shiny App in the Cloud Using Tutum, Digital Ocean and Docker Containers
Tony Hirst, OUseful Info, 2015/12/29
A few weeks ago I ran a link about running an application in a container in the cloud. The idea of this is that you create a complete operating system and server in a single package and run it on a cloud-based service. More...

2016 eLearning Hype Curve Predictions
Andy Hicken, Web Courseworks, 2015/12/29
No real surprises here, but I appreciate the slightly different take offered by Andy Hicken. At the top opf the hype cycle are badges. MOOCs and xAPI are on the way down. MOC (Maintenance of Certification) have troughed and are on the way up again. Still on the hype cycle accelerator are subscription learning, gamification, and free online education. More...

Forget laptops – here’s how you can get a 17″ portable desktop PC for $250
Maren Estrada, BGR.com, 2015/12/28
You will probably want to splurge on a keyboard and mouse as well, but you'll still only be ahead of the game. The kit includes two essential pieces:

• Kangaroo - the $99 computer announced in October that's about the size of my Galaxy Note. You'll want the docking port too, for a bit extra. Battery life is only 4 hours - but it's hard to beat being able to carry your computer around with you in your pocket. More.
• AOC 17-inch portable monitor - it comes with a case and connects with USB (which also powers it).
  

Now these precise products aren't the point. More...