By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. We are the Monkeys of Rum
Ben Werdmuller, Medium, 2016/05/03

This is a great story. I wonder how many people have stories like this - certainly most of the people I know and talk to and work with have their own internet origin stories. I did. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Simbot, Give Me Five
Yian Shang, Elena Zheleva, Source, 2016/04/28

This is the sort of thing I want to see enabled for a personal learning environment. It is, of course, a lot easier to do on a multti-user hosted platform such as Slack (using specialty applications called slackbots). More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. In Search of Ludwig Wittgenstein’s Secluded Hut in Norway: A Short Travel Film
Dan Coleman, Open Culture, 2016/04/28
I've spent a lot of time with Ludwig Wittgenstein in my head, not the least when I went searching for his hut at the end of the Sognefjord in Norway. Well, OK, I didn't exactly search for his hut, but I did once sail up the Sognefjord looking for huts generally, as depicted in this photo set. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. The Case Against Reality
Chris Ashley, The Atlantic, 2016/04/27

I've always felt the case against realism is pretty definitive, so this article doesn't surprise me. And I love this analogy: "You could not form a true description of the innards of the computer if your entire view of reality was confined to the desktop. And yet the desktop is useful. That blue rectangular icon guides my behavior, and it hides a complex reality that I don’t need to know." More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. To Make Content Findable, Put It Everywhere
Michael Caulfield, Hapgood, 2016/04/26

Mike Caulfield takes on a persistent truism in the OER world: that we need one central location where everyone can find open resources. This has never been true, and when tried it has never worked. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. UN to urge media to take more 'constructive' approach to news
Jasper Jackson, The Guardian, 2016/04/26

According to this article, "the United Nations is to call for the world’s media to take a more 'constructive' and 'solutions-focused' approach to news to combat 'apathy and indifference'." I can't see that happening in the news media. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. The Man Who Studies the Spread of Ignorance
Georgina Kenyon, BBC, 2016/04/22
Today's new word is 'agnotology', the deliberate spreading of ignorance. In internet and education technology, it has traditionally been known as FUD - "fear, uncertainty and doubt," which are the major means of manufacturing ignorance. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Reconsidering Rigor in Schools
Mike Crowley, The Synapse, 2016/04/20
I've never been a fan of so-called 'rigor' in schools. This article makes the case against nicely as it reviews Thom Markham's description of "a demand for more personalized learning, brain-friendly environments, less recall and more thoughtful application of knowledge, optimal conditions for eliciting intelligent behaviors, constructivist tools, and respectful, caring relationships that honor the learner." More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. How (Not) to Hide a Scandal
Ellen Wexler, Inside Higher Ed, 2016/04/20

You probably remember the images from 2011 of a police officer walking up and down a line of seated student protesters at UC Davis, casually dousing them with pepper spray. But until last week, you would not have seen the image when searching for UC Davis. More...