By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Towards a Trusted Framework for Identity and Data Sharing
Irving Wladawsky-Berger, 2016/11/14

Good article discussing the emerging distributed framework (a la resource profiles, now known as trusted data ecosystems) for digital identity. Two specific technologies are discussed: a blockchain enabled system called Enigma, and a lighter weight framework called OPAL. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Linked Research
Sarven Capadisli, 2016/11/14

Linked Research "is set out to socially and technically enable researchers to take full control, ownership, and responsibility of their knowledge, and have their contributions accessible to society at maximum capacity." The idea is to have open calls for publication and open reviews. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Why do we test school kids anyway?
Finn Poschmann, Atlantic Provinces Economic Council (APEC), 2016/11/14

The Atlantic Provinces Economic Council (APEC) is an "independent think tank" that offers business-friendly advice to governments and lobbyists. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Meet the new IFTTT
IFTTT, 2016/11/14

IFTTT - which stands for "If This Then That" - has long enabled people to partner their services with each other. For example, when I post a new photo on Flickr, I use it to repost it to my art blog and send a notification to Twitter. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. YouTube has (apparently) reinstated RSS feeds
Brian Schrader, BiteofanApple, 2016/11/15

Brian Schrader writes, and I echo every word: "Well if there's something I wasn't expecting to find tonight, it was that apparently YouTube has decided to allow users to follow channels via RSS again, and unlike the last few years, this time it actually looks to be officially supported." More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Network-based assessment in education
David Gibson, Contemporary Issues in Technology, Teacher Education, 2016/11/08

Good article that anticipates the sort off network evaluations modern technologies now make possible online. From 2003 but relevant today. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Collectively Flourishing
Randy Swearer, EdTech Digest, 2016/11/08
Some good thoughts with respect to maker spaces (quoted):

• Makerspaces should never be owned by single departments or disciplines;
• Whenever possible there should be a real-world purpose to the making
• The flow from construction from studio to fabrication lab is critical.
• Eliminate barriers to creation by avoiding as many prerequisites as possible.

Accdording to Swearer, "The collaborative environment makerspaces create helps students develop a sense of empowerment and resourcefulness. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. What Edtech Can Learn from Theranos
Jennifer Carolan, EdSurge, 2016/11/16

How do we explain the high-profile silicon Valley failures in ed tech? Jennifer Carolan suggests we can learn some lessons from their failures in other domains. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. 4 learning and development trends for HR leaders to watch in 2017
Tess Taylor, HR Dive, 2016/11/16

It's not the first 'end of the year' article (believe it or not) but it's early. Too early, in my view, but I digress. Anyhow, it makes four predictions, which I quote:

• Video will continue to enable micro-learning
• Millennials will continue to value learning and development as a prime benefit
• Gamification and virtual reality will continue to enhance learning experiences
• Mobile learning will continue to expand employee development goals

Well, *yawn*. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. HTML 5.1 is the gold standard
Philippe le Hegaret, World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), 2016/11/17

As reported by the W3C: "A couple weeks ago the W3C Web Platform Working Group published HTML 5.1 as a Standard. More...