Implementing OA Mandates in Europe: OpenAIRE Study
Iryna Kuchma, Birgit Schmidt, OpenAIRE, January 17, 2013

This is a detailed listing and description of funder and research institution open access policies in Europe (including Norway, Switzerland and Turkey), publishers’ self-archiving policies, and implementation startegies and initiatives. It is hence an essential reference for researchers working in the field of open access. More...

The Open University releases ROLE eBook
ROLE - Responsive Open Learning Environments, January 17, 2013

The Open University has released a book on ROLE. This is good, as ROLE - Responsive Open Learning Environments - is a major project covering many aspects of recent work in fields such as Personal Learning Environments (which some of us in MOOC-mania haven't forgotten). Unfortunately, I can't provide a review, since I'm in the office and hence using my PC Desktop, not an Apple or iPad, and the book was deveped, as neatly as I can tell, exclusively for the Apple platform. More...

Stanford Makes Open Source Platform, Class2Go, Available to All; Launches MOOC on Platform Today
Dan Colman, Open Culture, January 17, 2013

Open Culture covers "Stanford’s Class2Go. The platform is open, meaning that you can grab the code base for free and run it on your very own server. Class2Go is also portable, giving schools the ability to move documents and media to other platforms if they so choose. The Stanford platform is interoperable in the sense that it builds on existing software (MySQL, Github, Piazza, MySQL, Python Django, etc.). And, unlike some other platforms, Class2Go gives educators immediate access to valuable data, allowing them to make refinements to the educational experience." I read some thing about how great Python is and how that's why they used it to develop Class2G. More...

Rent Vs. Own in the Internet Space
James Lambert, .eduGuru, January 17, 2013

Nice analogy. Would you spend $20,000 to upgrade your renatl apartment? No, of course not, you could lose your investment on a whim of the landlord. But companies are investing proportionally large amounts of money into 'rented' space on Twitter, Facebook and other internet landlord platforms. More...

MOOCs: ‘dropout’ a category mistake, look at ‘uptake’?
Donald Clark, Donald Clark Plan B, January 17, 2013

Donald Clark is on point in this reframing of the 'dropout argument' against MOOCs: "We need to look at uptake, not dropout. It’s astonishing that MOOCs exist at all, never mind the millions, and shortly many millions, who have given them a go. Dropout is a highly pejorative term that comes from ‘schooling’. The ‘high school dropout’. More...

What Makes a MOOC Massive?
Stephen Downes, Half an Hour, January 17, 2013

I've been asked this a few times recently, so I thought I should expend a few paragraphs describing the difference between online courses that are and are not 'massive'. I argue, first, that it's not the raw count of participants that's important, but how the course is structured. It's not simply a big course. Then given that caveat I go on to explain that a course needs 150 active participants to be thought of as 'massive' - this because 150 people - Dunbar's Number - is more than any one person can attend to, and hence is a course that will resist groupish properties (such as an emphasis on sameness rather than diversity).
[Link] [Comment]. More...

As California Goes?
Paul Fain, Inside Higher Ed, January 16, 2013

California has taken centre stage in the discussions around online learning and MOOCs in recent weeks, prompted by passage of tax increases (see more and more) to cover rising deficits in the state's higher education system. An organization called 20 Million Minds (20MM) organized a conference to discuss proposals. E-Literate provided very good coverage of the event, which was called Re:Boot California Higher education - a post listing statements made before the conference, some opening thoughts from Michael Feldstein, Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg's introduction, and bottleneck courses. At WCET, Phil Hill describes the state's increasing rolein the governance of the system. More...

5 Wishes for the Next Stage of Online Learning
Contact North, January 16, 2013

Interesting discussion paper from Contact North that doesn't stay with the usual observaions and recommendations typical of such papers. Surveying what was important in 2012, the author points to the arricval of MOOCs (ofcourse) but also at new approaches to credit recognition and private sector engagement. More...

Yes, You Can Make Money with Open Source
Igor Faletski, Harvard Business Review Blogs, January 16, 2013

I am constantly asked to make this case in my day job, despite overwhelming evidence in the form of Apache, MySQL, Moodle and so much more. The most recent request for 'a case' came in the morning email. Here are the ways listed in this article:

• Paid support is one of the most common sources of revenue - annual service contract or a la carte.
• Package more substantial (and expensive) professional services with open source software.
• Sell commercial versions of popular open source - quality-tested versions; license management; code maintenance.
• Augment it, make significant improvements, and then sell it under a more restricted license.

Not that I haven't mentioned all of these (and more) in the past. More...

Graph Search: Facebook and Microsoft team up to take on Google’s search dominance
Brian Jackson, ITBusiness.ca, January 16, 2013

facebook and Microsoft announced today a new 'graph search' service. "Graph Search will be the new empty field next to a magnifying glass icon that appears at the top of every Facebook Page you visit, eventually. The tool is in limited rollout to the market right now and only available to select US English users. More...