By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. 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.". More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. 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. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. OUSA Releases Broader Learning Environment Policy Paper
Alex Hobbs, Antonio Sergi, Chris Fernlund, Ontario Undergraduate Student Alliance (OUSA), 2015/12/25
The Ontario Undergraduate Student Alliance (OUSA) has it exactly right with this policy paper (3 page PDF, 29 page PDF) addressing learning environments. "There is much more to higher education than simply attending class," they write in a paper "to discuss the learning environment in all its forms, as we have come to understand its fuller meaning." In particular, they address four areas of concern. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. What Theory is Not
Robert I. Sutton; Barry M. Staw, Administrative Science Quarterly, 2015/12/24

Useful post from 1995 that every aspiring writer should read. It outlines five things theories are not (education writers should especially take note), offers a solid definition of a theory, and offers several arguments against theories. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. No, the Best Science Students Aren’t Becoming Financiers
Nicole Torres, Harvard Business Review, 2015/12/22

Money. It's at the heart of so many endeavours. It grabs the attentions of many top graduates (though if this article is to be believed, not the very top graduates). It's also a system in jeopardy. This visualization of all the world's money has been making the rounds this week. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. College at Oxford Will Remove Cecil Rhodes Plaque
Inside Higher Ed, 2015/12/21

I have always been opposed to the Rhodes Scholarship. Not only are the obvious reasons to oppose it - as in the case of the monument, the scholarship "an uncritical celebration of a controversial figure, and the colonialism and the oppression of black communities." More...