MOOCS: Expectations and Reality
Devayani Tirthali, Fiona M. Hollands, Teachers College Columbia University, May 13, 2014

Longish report (211 page PDF) about the use and understanding of MOOCs in an institutional context. More...

The Open Virus
Martin Weller, The Ed Techie, May 13, 2014

Though the spread of the open virus is by no means guaranteed, it seems like a natural progression from one domain to the next. More...

ALT Members views on Learning Analytics
Martin Hawksey, ALT Online Newsletter, May 13, 2014

Interesting set of reflections from the Association for Learning Technology. I liked the distinction between educational data mining, which is focused on "developing methods for exploring the unique types of data that come from educational settings," and learning analytics. More...

MOOCs’ disruption is only beginning
Clayton M. Christensen, Michelle R. Weise, Boston Globe, May 12, 2014
What characterizes a bubble isn't the chorus of sceptics. It's thee lack of them. So MOOCs - who have certainly attracted the sceptics - are far from the bubble stage of their existence. So say Clayton M. Christensen and Michelle R. Weise in this op-ed. More...

The future of the open Internet is decentralized
Joseph Cox, The Daily Dot, May 12, 2014

Many of the recent problems being seen in digital communications - from the cost of acess to the widespread spying to the blocking of services like YouTube and Twitter to the commodification of commercialization of services that used to be free - have resulted from the ongoing re-centralization of the internet, where one or a few services are able to monopolize discourse. More...

The Basic Framework in the General Sociology of Harrison C. White
Reza Azarian, Stockholm University, May 11, 2014

While writing my posts over the last few days I had occasion, thanks to a tweet, to look up a number of works by and about Harrison White. It's not an understatement to say that a lot of what I say is anticipated years earlier in his work. More...

Trading routes, bypasses, and risky intersections
Gernot Grabher, University of Bonn, May 11, 2014

I found a lot of good stuff in this paper, which I found while looking for a combination of Harrison White and Actor Network Theory. Part I.1 has a nice summary of the history of the distinction between groups and networks. Part II.1 talks about network governance and II.5 talks about informal networks. Part II.1 takes what I consider to be the key network 'turn', from network content to network structure. More...

“Would you ever say that to me in class?” : Exploring the Implications of Disinhibition for Relationality in Online Teaching and Learning
Ellen Rose, Proceedings of the 9th International Conference on Networked Learning 2014, May 11, 2014

This paper confirms the impression that discourse online is much less inhibited than discourse in person. "Interviews with 20 instructors and 20 students from a variety of disciplines revealed that their experiences of connection with, or disconnection from, each other were profoundly influenced by the phenomenon of online disinhibition." What is important about this is that it informs our understanding of the nature of education, whether online or offline. More...

Educational Technology and Related Education Conferences, June - December, 2014
Clayton R. Wright, Stephen's Web, May 9, 2014

Clayton R. Wright has distributed his seminal calendar of education technology related events once again, as usual in MS-Word format. More...

Mini-Lectures Using Learning Objects: Bosch's The Haywain (1516)
Susan Smith Nash, E-Learning Queen, May 9, 2014
Janet Clarey comments, "I love this for its simplicity." It is a set of mini-lessons offered by Susan Smith Nash, each one small and self-contained, using learning objects the way (I think) they were intended to be used. More...