By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. State of the Commons Report
Various authors, Creative Commons, 2015/12/09
I looked at it this morning; I'm deeply sceptical of some of the numbers, but I don't have time to investigate it deeply. The message is, as always, that the number of Creative Commons licensed works continues to rise, which I don't doubt, but that more and more people are opting for so-called 'free' licenses (ie., licenses that allow you to block access by demanding money), which I doubt. More...
Edcamp with Students - Finally!
By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Edcamp with Students - Finally!
Liz B Davis, The Power of Educational Innovation, 2015/12/07
We know that EduCamps (as I know them) are quite useful for teachers, but what about offering them to students themselves? Sure, why not! But in the school system you have to tie everything to a lesson, so in this case, it's... Benjamin Franklin. More...
Mark Zuckerberg Is Betting Tech Can Address Educational Equity. Is It That Simple?
By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Mark Zuckerberg Is Betting Tech Can Address Educational Equity. Is It That Simple?
Anya Kamenetz, NPR Ed, 2015/12/07
In this NPR article Michael Feldstein is asked about the need for more than just technology to support personalized learning. More...
Theories and Applications of Massive Online Open Courses (MOOCs): The Case for Hybrid Design
By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Theories and Applications of Massive Online Open Courses (MOOCs): The Case for Hybrid Design
Abram Anders, The International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning (IRRODL), 2015/12/07
This is an article from a special issue of IRRODL featuring a European view of MOOCs. There's a nice table in the middle of it comparing xMOOCs, hybrids and cMOOs across several dimensions, including (notably) "Cognitive-behaviorist, Social-constructivist, and Connectivist." I find it interesting that social-constructivist is cast as the middle ground. More...
Is Open Education a Movement?
By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Is Open Education a Movement?
Michael Feldstein, e-Literate, 2015/12/04
Text and slides from Michael Feldstein's recent keynote in which he addresses the question of whether the open education movement is a movement. More...
Reflections on Open Education and the Path Forward
By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Reflections on Open Education and the Path Forward
David Wiley, iterating toward openness, 2015/12/04
David Wiley addresses "concern that a focus on open textbooks confuses the means of open education with the end of open education. More...
The Agile Approach to Learning Design
By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. The Agile Approach to Learning Design
Stephen Downes, Dec 03, 2015, Online Educa Berlin, Berlin, Germany
Panel discussion on the use of agile development methodologies in learning design. My own contribution was to highlight the pitfalls of this approach., and I pointed out that learning design is very different from software design - indeed, are we doing agile "learning design", or design for "agile learning". More...
Developing a Personal Learning Infrastructure with Stephen Downes
By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Developing a Personal Learning Infrastructure with Stephen Downes
Stephen Downes, Dec 02, 2015, Online Educa Berlin, Berlin, Germany
This workshop steps through design elements of a personal learning environment and underlying technologies. Note that the audio and video files are some five hours long, and while I've tried to cut out the time spent working in groups, there's a fair amount of dead air. More...
Canada's Innovation Challenge and Opportunities
By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Canada's Innovationm Challenge and Opportunities
Elizabeth Cannon, et.al., 2015/11/30
We again revisit the state of innovation in Canada (international readers can just look away). This is the latest report from the Science, Technology and Innovation Council (STIC), which reports to the federal government. It's not a pretty report. More...
10 Things I Learned From My 3D Printer: An Early Adopter's Diary
By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. 10 Things I Learned From My 3D Printer: An Early Adopter's Diary
Michael Lydick, PC Magazine, 2015/11/30
What I like about this story is that it's not just a story about being an early adopter, it's a story about learning. And it's not one of those "you can learn it in ten minutes" stories, it's a story about what it takes to learn something big, complicated, and unfinished. More...