Cognitive Theory of Multimedia Learning
Kevin Thorn, YouTube, 2017/09/15
You might be interested in this presentation of what I would consider a folk theory of cognition. Presented as a video by Kevin Thorn, it describes two tracks of perception and information processing - words and images. These correspond to verbal and pictorial representations, first in working memory, then in long-term memory. More...

How to Teach Pivotability, Not Stability
Alex Ellison, The Synapse, 2017/09/12
This is just a short post to highlight an article where the author hasn't throught the concept through. She wants to use the word "pivot", because it's the new buzzword among startups (and in the business press generally). It means, basically, to do something different when what you're doing now is failing. More...

Nobody’s Version of Dumb
Sherri Spelic, edifiedlistener, 2017/09/12
Prompted by a recently-posted article on Twitter-based echo chambers, George Siemens tweeted that his own experience is similar, and commented "Sadly, bright and intelligent people are reduced to RTing pithy statements rather than thinking. More...

Directories for Domains: a Community Approach
Jim Groom, bavatuesdays, 2017/11/29
I'm always watching Jim Groom & Co's Domain of One's Own project, and in particular how they approach content aggregation (a long-time interest of my own). Historically they have been using FeedPress (in WordPress) but in this post Groom describes a new approach using the WordPress API. More...

Can Learning Really Happen With Crowdsourcing?
Roy Saunderson, Training, 2017/11/28
It's not easy managing crowdsourcing in support of learning outcomes, writes the author. "Crowdsourcing, in general, tends to be a unilateral, one-way experience used for social computing, problem solving, and creative product development." The question is, how can crowds give individuals high-quality feedback. More...

Alasdair MacIntyre on Education
Gardner Campbell, Gardner Writes, 2017/09/11
As usual a Gardner Campbell post promptys in me a host of reflections. The core question being considered is whether epistemology - 'how we know what we know' is foundational, or whether something else, such as morality - 'what ought we to do next' - is foundational. More...

Timebomb: How The University Cartel is Failing Britain’s Students
Richard Tice, Tariq Al-Humaidhi, UK2020, 2017/09/18
The premise of this report (157 page PDF) is that British students are getting a poor return for their tuition fees, this largely because the entrenched interests of a university cartel limiting the potential benefits of a competitive system. The authors have no issues with the higher fees, but feel students should get more stuff for their money. More...

4 Ways We Can Fund Personalized Learning to Create More Equitable Schools
Ace Parsi, Bryant Best, Getting Smart, 2017/09/25
The four methods are listed about half way through the post, and seem reasonable to me:

• close group-based opportunity gaps and support best practices in teaching traditionally disadvantaged populations
• acess to learning opportunities such as Advanced Placement (AP), International Baccalaureate (IB)...  through strategies such as universal design for learning
• targeted and supplemental investments can include support around professional development
• create equity-based professional-development opportunities for district and school leaders.

The idea here, as I see it, is to fund personalization in such a way as to target those most in need, and to have that funding follow that need through direct investment in learning support, as well as investment in those providing that support. More...

Anatomy of a Moral Panic
Maciej Cegłowski, Idle Words, 2017/09/25
Those of us in education have experience no end to the moral panics about this and that over the years. This article is an extended take on moral panics in the media over sales of charcol, suphur and saltpeter on the internet. These, of course, are the ingredients to make black powder, a favourite of hobbyists worldwide. More...