20th Century Assessment In A 21st Century Learning Environment
Terry Heick, TeachThought, May 2, 2014
Why is there so much emphasis (still!) on testing? "According to SmarterBalanced.org, the per-student cost for testing is currently around $31 per student. Multiply that by nearly fifty million students, and you’ve got a big pile of money up for grabs. More...

Yahoo Ditches “Do Not Track”: Lack Of Standards Said Too Confusing
Marketing Land, Ginny Marvin, May 2, 2014

So what we have here is a group of companies (Google, Facebook, Yahoo) creating standards confusion, and then using standards confusion as a reason not to implement a customer-friendly feature. More...

Why Connectivism is a Learning Theory
Geoff Cain, Brainstorm in Progress, May 1, 2014
Yeah, this is kind of how I see it too: "Most of the criticisms I have read of Connectivism boil down to the new theory is not like the old theories." This is asserted in by Geoff Cain as he explains why the 'incompleteness' (David Wiley's concern) of connectivism doesn't mean it's not a theory. More...

Visualizing my understanding of connectivism
Matthias Melcher, x28’s new Blog, May 1, 2014

Connectivism, as I describe it, suggests that there are different types of knowing networks. A human neural network is one. A society (or social network) is another. A neural net computer program is another. So far so good. But Geoff Cain asks the question: "how are these related? The recent criticisms show that it is difficult to reconcile these two." I would point out that there is no particular requirement that they be reconciled. More...

Blackboard's Screeching IPO
More analysis of the Blackboard IPO. What struck me was this remark: "Another great characteristic of the business is that there are significant costs to switching from one software package to another." OK, Earth to Fool: this is not an advantage. More...

Facts About Basic Education in Developing Countries
Just in case we need a refresher about the importance of what we are doing. "Basic education is a fundamental building block for all development initiatives. Educated people are more likely to seek modern medical care, understand the consequences and treatment of infectious diseases and treat illnesses correctly. More...

One Last Night in Hammamet
I'm just going to link to the home page of Andy's blog because he has about eight or ten posts absolutely worth reading as he describes his experiences in Tunisia as a delegate to the WSIS prep-con. He also refers us to summary of the meeting. More...

Benefits of An Online Discussion List in A Traditional Distance Education Course
The authors describe the use of online discussion in a nursing course at Central Queensland University and conclude that the exercise demonstrated "success in fostering an environment where students could develop higher order thinking." This they attribute to "ensuring the elements of a constructivist model of learning were incorporated in the design and use of the discussion list." This conclusion does not follow from the study, since they do not set up and test similar discussion list where constructivist principles were not employed; it may be possible that a discussion list promotes higher order thinking with or without constructivist elements. More...