By Phil Hill. With the annual Kuali conference – Kuali Days – starting today in Indianapolis, the big topic should be the August decision to move from a community source to a professional open source model, moving key development to a commercial entity, the newly-formed KualiCo. Now there will be two new announcements for the community to discuss, both centering on a esoteric license choice that could have far-reaching implications. More...
By Michael Feldstein and Phil Hill. We have been quiet about e-Literate TV lately, but it doesn’t mean that we have been idle. In fact, we’ve been hard at work filming our next series. In addition to working with our old friends at IN THE TELLING—naturally—we’re also collaborating with EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative (ELI) and getting funding and support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. More...
By Cathy Davidson. On Thursday, Nov 20, at 11 am EST, I will be interviewed on CNN’s @This Hour, with hosts John Berman and Michaela Pereira. Our focus is a new documentary Ivory Tower. I previewed the documentary last night. It is pretty terrifying, even apocalyptic, if you are a student, a professor, a parent, or just a general citizen of the US concerned about your future. I don’t want to “spoil” the movie for anyone so I’ll only give away what is in the Ivory Tower trailer.
Ivory Tower focuses on both economics and on learning. On the economic side the focus is on: the 1 trillion in student loan debt; the even greater debt that colleges and universities have taken on over the last decades making them unstable and unsustainable; the declining state funding of public universities beginning with Governor Reagan’s program of defunding the University of California and vowing, as a presidential candidate, to dismantle the Department of Education. More...
By Cathy Davidson. Recently I gave a talk at POD (Professinal Organization and Development) Network and was asked what advice I had for pedagogical innovators who were junior, powerless, and fearful. I gave my usual advice: namely, that the riskiest thing you can do in a career is be fearful, overly cautious, self-censoring. Those things are bad for the soul and nothing kills a career faster than being depressed and cynical about that career. More...
By Audrey Watters. Marx famously remarked that “the history of all previous societies has been the history of class struggles” — an irksome assertion for many reasons, so bear with me for invoking it. I do so only to suggest what seems to be the inverse maxim offered by the technology sector today: “there is no history; there is only planned obsolescence. There is only meritocracy, entrepreneurship, and the sharing economy.”
I write about education technology — a lot about the history of education technology — and so I’m always clenching my teeth when I hear someone suggest that Sebastian Thrun created the first MOOC or that MIT created online education, or that whatever app just raised a million or so dollars will “revolutionize education.” More...
By Audrey Watters. MOOCs and UnMOOCs
Coursera announced that it has struck a deal with the Department of Veterans Affairs, making one free verified certificate available to each US veteran. According to Coursera, “this effort will expose Veteran learners to industry relevant education and help them master new skills to succeed in today’s workforce.” It’s fascinating how the Obama Administration says it wants to crack down on for-profit universities, and then happily funnels money to another for-profit higher ed company. Tressie McMillan Cottom responds.
“Move over MOOCs – Collaborative MOOC 2.0 is coming” – LOL, you mean like connectivist MOOCs? Oh, I see. More...
By Audrey Watters. I’m very excited and honored to be here to talk to you today, in part because, obviously, that’s how you’re supposed to feel when you’re invited to speak at a university. And in part, honestly, I’m stoked because I’m reaching the end of what has been a very long year of speaking engagements.
Initially, I’d planned to spend 2014 working on a book called Teaching Machines. I’m absolutely fascinated by the history of education technology — its development as an industry and a field of study, its connection to scientific management and educational psychology and Americans’ ongoing fears and fascinations with automation. More...
By . There were at the workshop almost 150 participants from more than 30 countries, in the main part European, with over 40 selected research papers/presentations. The workshop was highly interactive, with lots of opportunity for discussion and dialogue, and formal presentations were kept to a minimum. Together with some very stimulating keynotes, the workshop provided a good overview of the current state of online, open and distance learning in Europe. From my perspective it was a very successful workshop. Read more...By . Holy proliferating MOOCs!
By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Knowmad Society
John W. Moravec, Education Futures, 2014/11/09
Good diagram, overall. I don't know where it comes from, exactly; I found it on Facebook. I'm not sure how "not restricted by age" is a 'skill'. I would say "shares" rather than "invites sharing". More...
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