Gawker Was Murdered by Gaslight
Tom Scocca, Gawker, 2016/08/24
Read this one, I guess, before it disappears from the web. I think that web writers (like me) all know that they're one offended billionaire away from being deprived of their lot and livelihood. We're also aware how skewed the judgements are. More...

WTFUK
Rachel Nabors, Medium, 2016/08/24
I know that this isn't exactly an education or learning technology story, but this account of a woman stopped at customs and turned away from the UK for accepting an honorarium should give a lot of academics pause. It's not simply that people should be really careful to research the rules before traveling abroad (though they should). More...

As Koller Exits Coursera, Thinking About What’s Next with MOOCs in Context
Steve Krause, stevendkrause.com, 2016/08/24
Contemplating Daphne Koller's departure from Coursa: "It’s not useful (or smart) for anyone to look at the 'end' of MOOCs and to happily pronounce “well, I’m glad that’s over with and I’ll never have to worry about that again," writes Steve Krause. More...

The persistent myth of the 'skills gap'
Michal Rozworski, Academic Matters, 2016/08/24
The point of this article isn't that there is no skills gap. There is. But as my one-time colleague Jim Stanford writes, according to the skills-shortage perspective, "the biggest challenge facing our labour market is adjusting the attitudes, capabilities and mobility of jobless workers… The problem is with the unemployed." Indeed, as Rozworski writes, "employers in Ontario spend dramatically less on employee training than they did just two decades ago." And "the obvious solutions to attracting more workers, raising wages, gets nary a mention." All true. More...

Amara
Amara, 2015/12/30
I recently uploaded a new video of my panel presentation on agile learning design at OEB (the sound on the first was gibbled, but this came out much better). Not long after I got an email from a friend saying volunteers had completed a set of subtitles for the talk. More...

A South African perspective on what makes a great teacher
Kathy McKnight, Pearson, 2015/12/30
There's plenty of evidence that the main premise of this article - "no factor is more important to education standards than the quality of the teacher" - is false. More...

Improving Instruction in a Digital World
Eric Sheninger, A Principal's Reflections, 2015/12/30
When I first saw the diagram I thought it was about the use of open educational resources (OERs). Then I thought it was about Bloom's taxonomy. In the end, it's a little of both, as it outlines a framework (specifically, the Rigor and Relevance Framework) for learning and learning technology. More...

Cycling in Berlin. (Theory vs. Reality)
Claudia Brückner, Vimeo, 2015/12/30
I have an interest in cycling, but that's not why I'm posting this item here. The filmmaker Claudia Brückner writes in the credits, " I learned a lot from the amazing online DIY & indie-filmmaker scene - and its hero Casey Neistat - that influenced and inspired the style of making this video." This, I think, is where the future of education and journalism overlap. More...

6 Harsh Truths That Will Make You a Better Person
David Wong, Cracked.com, 2015/12/30
This was written a few years ago, but it's making the end-of-year rounds again, and I think it should be shared (note, though: language warning - it's on Cracked.com after all). The harsh truths are all to the effect that the world is not a nice place. Here they are (quoted):

• The world only cares about what it can get from you
• You are nothing more than the sum total of your useful skills
• What you produce does not have to make money, but it does have to benefit people
• You hate yourself because you don't do anything
• What you are inside only matters because of what it makes you do
• Everything inside you will fight improvement

This is both right and it is wrong. Here is where it is wrong: it is basically a denial that you - or anyone else - has any intrinsic worth. More...