By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Top 10 reasons to trust Microsoft in the cloud
Tim Bush, Microsoft UK Schools News Blog, 2014/08/22

OK, I'll be pretty blunt about this: don't trust Microsoft in the cloud. I speak from personal experience: I paid Microsoft for online products (specifically, videos) and thanks to some back-end account problem, I cannot play those videos. My efforts over the last few weeks to fix this have been fruitless. Their online assistance helps for a bit, but then loses interest and stops responding. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Recent Research Review -- Reviewed (and Lamented)
Will Thalheimer, Will at Work Learning, 2014/08/22

I will admit that this article is an excellent read and that if you are in the field and haven't read it, you should correct this oversight immediately. If you really really don't have time this overview from Will Thalheimer will do nicely. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Why The Education Economy Is The Next Big Thing For The American Workforce
Brandon Busteed, Fast Company, 2014/08/21

The author, Brandon Busteed, is executive director of education at Gallup. He argues that there should be a tighter commection between education and the economy to create what we calls the educonomy. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Robo-readers aren’t as good as human readers — they’re better
Annie Murphy Paul, The Hechinger Report, 2014/08/21

When I read that robots are "unable to discern meaning" my first thought is to wonder what the critic thinks it is for a human to discern meaning. Yes, you can fool computers with nonsense - but you can also fool human referees of academic journals with nonsense as wel. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Expert performance and training: what we really know
Daniel Lemire, 2014/08/21

Sometimes I don't agree with Daniel Lemire at all - this post on the culture of envy, for example, is wrong in so many ways - but in this post he nails it. Expertise isn't simply inherited, and isn't acquired overnight; while it does require some predisposition, it is primarily the result of practice, and not just any practice, but reasonably guided and reflective practice. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Four-day week will cut absences, superintendent says
Alison DeNisco, District Administration: Education News, 2014/08/21

I have long believed we should adopt what amounts to a 3.5 day week - that is, 28 hours. This allows us to have what amounts to 7-day coverage of any position with two staff, with the work divided between them. It allows for 7-day use of facilities and resources. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Show Your Work

Donald Clark, Big Dog, Little Dog, 2014/08/20

Donald Clark reviews Jane Bozarth's Show Your Work, which, he says, "beautifully describes how we need to rethink teaching and learning." I am in agreement with be basic premise of Bozarth's argument. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. How 'Google Science' could transform academic publishing
Liat Clark, Wired, 2014/08/20

According to Wired, "Google is allegedly working on a free, open access platform for the research, collaboration and publishing of peer-reviewed scientific journals. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Chromebox and Chromebase - definite contenders for desktop replacements
David Andrade, Educational Technology Guy, 2014/08/20

I'm not yet ready to make the leap to Google's Chromebox and Chromebase but my recent experience with a Windows 8 debacle (downloaded videos that refused to play because I was not online) pushes me away from Mocrosoft and back into thinking there may be alternatives. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. One chart that debunks the biggest myth about student loans
Libby Nelson, Vox, 2014/08/18

OK, first of all, people don't actually believe that the average student loan debt is more than $50K, so the supposed 'myth' being busted here is a straw man. Second, by focusing on the average balance the article focuses only on the amount still owing, not the amount that has already been paid back. More...