By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Dexter Schools testing Facebook-engineered program in the classroom
Lauren Slagter, Michigan Live, 2016/11/29

I can't say I have a lot of confidence in Facebook's ability to design a learning program, but there it is. It's "a new personalized learning system called Summit Basecamp this school year that gives students more control over their learning." More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Teachers on Facebook: Is posting that beach bikini shot going too far?
Jacquie Miller, Ottawa Citizen, 2016/11/29
It is always a subject of astonishment to me that behaviour that is otherwise normal is deemed by some to be (a) not acceptable for teachers, and (b) not appropriate on the internet (or Facebook). The case this time (as it is so often) involves the posting of a photo of oneself relaxing on the beach. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Watson, Please Replace Me!
Dan Butin, 2016/11/22

Perhaps we're looking at the idea of computers replacing teachers in the wrong light, says Dan Butin. "Much of my job is repetitive," he writes. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Social media and public pedagogies of political mis-education
Ben Williamson, Code Acts in Education, 2016/11/22

Many people are linking the failure of education with the rise of the post-fact reality. They're also blaming social media, and especially Facebook. Clearly there are educational implications. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. The role of higher education in reducing inequity: Using tuition, drop-out rates, and opportunity hoarding
Mark Guzdial, Computing Education Blog, 2016/11/22
Good post explaining why simply providing access to an education isn't enough to address income inequality. First, let's look at the cost of education in the first place and the load it places on people. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Academic rankings: The university’s new clothes?
Yves Gingras, University Affairs, 2016/11/22

I have said on numerous occasions that things like university rankings are a lobbying tool, not a measuring tool. Organizations take the values they want to see emulated and grade the universities according to them. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Open peer review finds more takers
Ewen Callaway, Nature, 2016/11/25
A step forward for open peer review. "Nature Communications announced that around 60% of its authors in 2016 had agreed to have their reviews published, and that it would therefore continue to offer scientists the option — although would not make it mandatory." More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. The choreography of lectures
Alastair Creelman, The corridor of uncertainty, 2016/11/25

Even as you read this, I will be giving a lecture. If lectures are so awful, why do I do it? Because they're not so awful. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Young people aren’t skeptical of ‘fake news’
Brooke Donald-Stanford, Futurity, 2016/11/25

I've seen this story in various forms over the last few days. It's a natural follow-up to the meme that fake news swayed the U.S. election. There's just one problem with this line of thinking. Young people aren't the ones actually falling for fake news. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. I Am Now More Open-Minded About Football
Chris Kennedy, Culture of Yes, 2016/11/25

I don't like the physical damage football and hockey create. And I think college sports has taken on absurd proportions (at the very least, they should properly pay their athletes). More...