A manifesto for reproducible science
Marcus Munafò, Wonkhe, 2018/08/30
This article summarizes the points made by a longer article of the same title published in Nature. It alludes to the previously discovered 'reproducibility crisis' in science, and calls for a series of measures to ensure scientific and (especially) statistical rigour and respectability. More...
Topics in Distributed Ledger Technology
Stephen Downes, Aug 30, 2018, In-house Workshop, Ottawa, Ontario. More...
The Time for Open and Interoperable Annotation is Now
Alexander Naydenov, Heather Staines, The Scholarly Kitchen, 2018/08/28
I've resisted covering the recent buzz around the hypothes.is annotation service on the ground that most of it seemed like marketing buzz.I still do. This article introduces annotation as an ancient scholarly trend. I view annotation as an ancient technology trend; I was covering it more than a decade ago - here's Annotea, here's Wikalong, and there's more. More...
How to Incorporate Self-Directed Learning in Your Online Course
Laura Lynch, LearnDash, 2018/08/28
This article is introductory but it's good advice and offers a good starting point for generating your own ideas about creating self-directed learning. The two most important principles, I think, as as follows: "Turn over the keys... one of the hallmarks of self-directed learning is that it requires instructors to turn control of the learning experience over to the learners themselves"; and "Give them a challenge," especially a community challenge. More...
As newspapers cut, grassroots solutions fuel a resurgence of local journalism
Matt DeRienzo, Poynter, 2018/08/28
I've long said that the future of education will follow that of media and journalism. These haven't been good days for media and journalism. But maybe this paints a way forward for local news, and correspondingly, local education. More...
How I got blocked by Tom Peters - you must bow to the cult of Leadership or be rejected as an apostate
Donald Clark, Donald Clark Plan B, 2018/08/28
Donald Clark reports on his spat with Tom Peters that erupted after he posted a thousand words on Why these best selling books on 'Leadership' got it disastrously wrong featuring Peters in a leading role. "BusinessWeek claimed he had ‘faked’ the data. Chapman even wrote a book called In Search of Stupidity, showing that his list of ‘excellent’ companies were actually poor to indifferent." Though, as Clark notes, at least they tried to use data; many business books are filled with nothing but cherry-picked anecdotes. More...
The State of Post-Secondary Education in Canada
Alex Usher, Higher Education Strategy Associates, 2018/08/28
There's a lot of value in this report (62 page PDF) but there are weaknesses as well, and the report should be read in that light. In his blog post announcing the report, Alex Usher writes that "although government funding has been falling, students have made up the difference," though he notes that international students have seen higher fee increases. But this isn't what jumps out as you read the 62 pages; the tone of the report (and many of the evaluative comments) paint a picture of adequate funding, reasonable (sometimes even "trifling") tuition, and the idea that complaints about the system constantly overstate the problem or miss the point. More...
Dark Patterns: When Companies Use Design to Manipulate You
Justin Pot, How-To Geek, 2018/08/27
The concept of dark patterns is making a bit of a comback this summer as new regulations are inspiring companies to be at their sneakiest. A 'dark pattern' is a characteristic ploy used by websites in order to manipulate you into doing things you don't want to do. More...
Are MOOCs Fatally Flawed Concepts That Need Saving by Bots?
Matt Crosslin, EduGeek Journal, 2018/08/27
Matt Crosslin takes Derek Newton's recent article “Not Even Teacher-Bots Will Save Massive Open Online Courses” behind the woodshed and gives it a good thrashing. This take-down is placed in the context of the wider issue of a certain MOOC-narrative having been (mistakenly) created in the popular press. More...
Before difficult conversations happen, create your one-pager
Ewan McIntosh, No Tosh, 2018/08/27
I don't know if this is a paid placement, but if it is, it's a very good one. Ewan McIntosh is referring to a tip offered by Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield's course in MasterClass (note that this link will take you to a subscription wall). I recently heard this advertised on TWIT and looked at it myself; it's basically for-pay courses offered by celebrity spokespeople. More...
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