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By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Believe it or not, "learning styles" don't exist
Simon Oxenham, Big Think | Neurobonkers, 2015/03/20
Sure, let's revisit this old debate and its one-note protagonist, Daniel Willingham. Here's my (definitive) response: The research doesn't tell us that learning styles don't exist, it tells us that differentiated instruction based on learning styles does not significantly improve educational outcomes. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Coding is not the new literacy
Chris Granger, 2015/03/20

"Being literate isn't simply a matter of being able to put words on the page," writes Chris Granger, "it's solidifying our thoughts such that they can be written. Interpreting and applying someone else's thoughts is the equivalent for reading. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Pearson, PARCC, Privacy, Surveillance, & Trust
Audrey Watters, Hack Education, 2015/03/20

The Audrey Wattrers column on the Pearson spying case raises more questions than answers, but that's OK. And it still carries the inimitable Watters style. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. New structures (MOOCs) demand new ethics?
Jenny Mackness, Jenny Connetced, 2015/03/20

Keith Hamon comments, ‘New structures demand new ethics’, and Jenny Mackness writes, "On reading this, I immediately wondered whether this is true." I personally don't think that new structures require new ethics per se but I could perhaps be persuaded that we need to frame them differently. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. I’m a 12-year-old girl. Why don’t the characters in my apps look like me?
Madeline Messer, Washington Post, 2015/03/19

This article caught my eye not only because it flags a pervasive issue in the gaming community but because it also reflects considerable interest and initiative by a 12-year old net-generation student. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Investing in Curation: A Shared Path to Sustainability - The 4C Roadmap
Various authors, 4C, 2015/03/19

You will have to search around a bit and then use a little intuition to discern that '4C' stands for "Collaboration to Clarify the Costs of Curation". More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Privacy Pitfalls as Education Apps Spread Haphazardly
Natasha Singer, New York Times, 2015/03/19
“A teacher can sign up for anything, without the knowledge of anyone else in the district,” said Steve Young, the chief technology officer of the Judson Independent School District (in the U.S. 'independent' is a synonym for 'private'). More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Udacity's Nanodegrees Get Accredible-d
Unattributed, EdSurge, 2015/03/19

This coverage from EdSurge is interesting: "Accredible, an Imagine K12 graduate that aims to offer trustworthy credentials for online learning providers and students, has nabbed one of its biggest partners yet: Udacity. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Solving the Nation’s Teacher Shortage
Mallory Dwinal, Christensen Institute, 2015/03/19
This white paper has two separate and very distinct parts. In the first part it analyzes the causes of teacher shortages, noting that women are migrating to higher-paying professions outside teaching, that technology in other traditionally women's sectors such as nursing and accounting, and that women staying in the profession prefer not to relocate. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Twitter puts trillions of tweets up for sale to data miners
Juliette Garside, The Guardian, 2015/03/19

Just in case you weren't clear that Twitter has the right to sell your tweets, this post makes it clear that Twitter is selling your tweets to advertisers. More...