By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. The MOOC Misstep and the Open Education Infrastructure
David Wiley, iterating toward openness, 2014/09/23
Useful and interesting article by David Wiley saying some of the things that needed to be said without pulling any punches: "The horrific corruption perpetrated by the Udacity, Coursera, and other copycat MOOCs is to pretend that the last forty years never happened. Their modus operandi has been to copy and paste the 1969 idea of open entry into online courses in 2014." More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. A shift toward efficacy
John Watson, Keeping Pace, 2014/09/23
Discussion of the Pearson report published in 2013 The Incomplete Guide to Delivering Learning Outcomes, which “outlines Pearson’s own efficacy programme and shares the company’s strategy and initiatives in its first phase.” I think 'efficacy' is a nice non-threatening way of saying 'outcomes' (it's like they have writers or something). More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Our open Geography textbook is alive!
Clint Lalonde, ClintLalonde.net, 2014/09/22

In many ways, British Columbia is leading the way in Canada in the support of open content and open learning. Here we have the launch of a Creative Commons licensed geography textbook. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. I’m Not in Love with the Word Empowerment
Bud Hunt, Bud the Teacher, 2014/09/22
I am generally in agreement with Bud Hunt's concern with the word 'empowerment' though I'm probably not going to stop using it. He says, "for me to empower you, especially when I hear the word used by others, I’ve got to have something that you don’t have, and I have to give it to you." In this sense, it is like 'giving freedom' or 'giving choice', as though these things wouldn't exist without your magnificence. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Ed Tech Investment & Exit Report – 2014 On Track for New Funding Record
Unattributed, CB Insights, 2014/09/26
Interesting set of statistics related to venturer capital investments in education technology. The first overall trend is that money is pouring into the sector at a record pace. Second, the list of must well-funded ed tech companies might surprise you - leading the way are companies like Open English, TutorGroup and lynda.com. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. That’s Just, Like, Your Opinion, Man
Rebecca Schuman, Inside Higher Ed, 2014/09/26
Fun read in which Inside Higher Ed and Slate education writer Rebecca Schuman defends herself against a long criticism authored by by Cornell writing lecturer Charles Green. "I think she crafts fundamentally anti-academic arguments, anti-academic in that they rely heavily on unsourced and unsupported generality clothed in hyperbole," he writes. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Problem: Teachers Better at Using Tech than Digital Native Students
Dian Schaffhauser, T.H.E. Journal, 2014/11/03
One of the problems with a term like 'better than' is that it is context-free. Even when pinned down to some extent, as in the headline "Teachers Better at Using Tech than Digital Native Students", we still don't know what is meant by 'better', and the end result is nonsense. More...