By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Sketching a Process for Sharing / Getting Feedback on Certification Drafts
Alan Levine, CogDogBlog, 2016/07/14
I am not even remotely convinced that creating a 'Creative Commons Certification' is a good idea either as a means of education or promotion, but it's not my call and of course the organization can do what it wants. Of more interest to me here is the process of getting people worldwide to collaborate on the creation of the certification draft. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. International Organizations and Educational Reform
Louis Volante, CEA Education Canada, 2016/07/13

Amid all the calls in Canada for a "national education policy" about this or that it is rare to see celebrated our provincial divisions. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. The importance of faculty in the higher education experience
Stephen Downes, Jul 04, 2016, Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey, Mexico City, Mexico

The shape of learning is changing with online learning and connective technology creating a new role for students as shapers and creators of knowledge in their own right. Now with the lecture being replaced with online videos and class discussion moving to locations like Facebook and Twitter, what role does the faculty play. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Sugata Mitra – the professor with his head in the cloud
Peter Wilby, The Guardian, 2016/07/04

The Guardian has not had a good few weeks, and this article continues the trend. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Surviving Gamification
Ariana López Di Rocco, teachlr blog, 2016/07/04

Good post on the basics of gamification that begins (as it should) by distinguishing between game-based learning and gamification. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Watch “Don’t Be a Sucker!,” the 1947 US Government Anti-Hatred Film That’s Relevant Again in 2016
Dan Colman, Open Culture, 2016/07/04
The rise of free thinking (and free love) in the United States the 1960s came as a surprise to many people. In retrospect, it shouldn't have. After the second world war the American government unleashed a propaganda effort to make sure it didn't happen again. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. What media companies don’t want you to know about ad blockers
Trevor Timm, Columbia Journalism Review, 2016/07/01

I've made this case before but this article substantiates with data and examples the three major benefits of Ad Blockers. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Massive Open Online Courses and Economic Sustainability
Tharindu R. Liyanagunawardena, Karsten O. Lundqvist, Shirley A. Williams, European Journal of Open, Distance and E-Learning (EURODL), 2016/07/01

Good article looking at the question of economic sustainability for MOOCs. There's a good account of the costs generated through the use of platforms like Coursera and EdX. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. MOOCs for Research: The Case of the Indiana University Plagiarism Tutorials and Tests
Theodore Frick, Cesur Dagli, , Indiana University Bloomington, 2016/07/01
This paper was recommended as a "must read" by David Merrill. I don't agree. Essentially the paper describes a short self-study course revised according to Merrill's "first principles" of instruction, and the revision found to have improved outcomes, as measured by testing. More...