Stephen Downes on what learners need and want in a networked world. Although he does go on in his usual way, this is a really interesting take on current educational models vs. what students want and need, and are beginning to access themselves.

Stephen Downes on what learners need and want in a networked world. Although he does go on in his usual way, this is a really interesting take on current educational models vs. what students want and need, and are beginning to access themselves.

Op ed piece by David L. Kirp, a Berkley professor. The business models that are proliferating in educational thinking and assessment does not work, and the greatest determiner of success are the interpersonal relationships of students and teachers, students and students, and teachers and teachers. Adding more and new technology has not been successful because of this. Rewarding "good" schools with merit pay while closing and punishing those in areas of poverty because they are "failing" schools without instituting known programs that engender success is a crime in his view.

Op ed piece by David L. Kirp, a Berkley professor. The business models that are proliferating in educational thinking and assessment does not work, and the greatest determiner of success are the interpersonal relationships of students and teachers, students and students, and teachers and teachers. Adding more and new technology has not been successful because of this. Rewarding "good" schools with merit pay while closing and punishing those in areas of poverty because they are "failing" schools without instituting known programs that engender success is a crime in his view.

Terese Bird and Grainne Conole are holding a webinar on A Pedagogical Look at MOOCs. Funded by the EU project eMundus, they are trying to map out patterns of open educational partnerships between institutions around the world. This webinar will take a pedagogical look at MOOCs. They chose 5 MOOCs, each corresponding to a primary learning approach. They then mapped each MOOC against the 12 dimensions Grainne identified. The blog goes on to attempt to do this with one MOOC as an example.

The new science of social physics which is about the way human social networks spread ideas and transform those ideas into behaviors. Alex Pentland has a new book: Social Physics: How Good Ideas Spread: The Lessons from a New Science that explores the patterns of information exchange in social networks, the ways humans are like bees, and how networks large and small can be tuned to increase exploration and community engagement.

The new science of social physics which is about the way human social networks spread ideas and transform those ideas into behaviors. Alex Pentland has a new book: Social Physics: How Good Ideas Spread: The Lessons from a New Science that explores the patterns of information exchange in social networks, the ways humans are like bees, and how networks large and small can be tuned to increase exploration and community engagement.

A Guide to New Theories, Methods, and Practices for Open Peer Teaching and Learning, written by the 21st Century Collective, which includes Cathy Davidson. Includes contributions organized by Motivations, Provocations, Invitations

Following on to the Networked Learning Conference 2012, selected papers have been upgraded and bundled into this interesting book, published by Springer. From practice to theory. Scooped by Steven Verjans onto Networked learning The Design, Experience and Practice of Networked Learning - Springer From link.springer.com - Today, 5:44 AM In the introductory chapter, we explore how networked learning has developed in recent years by summarising and discussing the research presented in the chapters of the book. The chapters are structured in three sections, each highlighting a particular aspect of practice. The first section focuses on the relationship between design and its influence on how networked learning practices are implemented. The second section extends this discussion by raising the notion of experiencing networked learning practices. Here the expected and unexpected effects of design and its implementation are scrutinised. The third and final section draws attention to a growing topic of interest within networked learning: that of networked learning in informal practices. In addition, we provide a reflection on the theories, methods and settings featured in the networked learning research of the chapters. We conclude the introduction by discussing four main themes that have emerged from our reading of the chapters and which we believe are important in taking forward the theory of networked learning. They are as follows: practice as epistemology; the coupling of learning contexts (the relationship and connection of learning contexts and spaces); the agency and active role of technology within networked learning; and the messy, often chaotic and always political nature of the design, experience and practice of networked learning.

I just signed up for this as it looks really interesting. A Professor at Duke, Cathy N. Davidson has created a MOOC about MOOCs and the future of learning, which also is part of a global initiative to examine this topic. Here's the link to the inside Higher Ed article about it: http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2013/11/04/duke-u-professor-plans-massive-collaborative-effort-tackle-challenges-facing-higher Davidson is the co-founder of the Humanities, Arts, Science and Technology Alliance and Collaborative, or HASTAC. The MOOC will track the origins of what has become accepted features of higher education, from majors and graduate programs to grades and multiple choice tests, and evaluate new forms of teaching and learning. At the same time, students in affiliated face-to-face courses in disciplines as different as African and African-American studies, gender and sexuality studies, and film studies will contribute to a centralized wiki. The end result could be a massive collection of ideas on how to change higher education.

Jenny explains her experiences with cMOOCs and xMOOCs, and the difference between them as xMOOCs go beyond the didactic video lecture approach. She basis her blog on her experiences taking two xMOOCs and the several cMOOCs she has taken and designed and led. One of the biggest differences is that cMOOCs were designed to test out a theory, connectivist theory, while xMOOCs are not theory based. As a result, xMOOCs are convened on a designated platform, while cMOOCs are designed as massive networks, or to create them. Going forward, she believes that the route will depend on our fundamental beliefs of what education is for.

Great videos on e-learning with such topics as: How does one get started as Instructional Designer? Does Social Media Selling Works? How to build your digital footprint. What's your learning style? Knowledge Creation Digital Age. Embrace the digital communication age. What we're learning from online education. The educators is as site that has resources and blogs about learning. You can spend days here!

Reactions to badges for the hyperlinked library MOOC by Brian Kelly. He found all the badges he was awarded for various tasks: join a tribe; send a friendship request, accept a friendship request, update his MOOC avatar, plus, another badge just for receiving 5 badges. He found all this badge awarding for these simple tasks "cheesy" and that the system was patronizing him. However, he does acknowledge that it may motivate others. He also brought up the issue of cultural diversity. This MOOC has participants from all over the world. How will they find badges?

Reactions to badges for the hyperlinked library MOOC by Brian Kelly. He found all the badges he was awarded for various tasks: join a tribe; send a friendship request, accept a friendship request, update his MOOC avatar, plus, another badge just for receiving 5 badges. He found all this badge awarding for these simple tasks "cheesy" and that the system was patronizing him. However, he does acknowledge that it may motivate others. He also brought up the issue of cultural diversity. This MOOC has participants from all over the world. How will they find badges?

Mixed results for Udacity Moocs at San Jose State University.

For the first time, a reputable institution, the Georgia Institute of Technology, will off a master's degree in computer science through MOOCs for a fraction of the on-campus cost, a first for an elite institution. If it even approaches its goal of drawing thousands of students, it could signal a change to the landscape of higher education.

Interesting NY Times article on a new direction for MOOCs.

Stephen Downes is the guest speaker in the YouTube video and talks about the future of education. It is about an hour and half, but is interesting in getting his future view. Of interest to us is how he view of what he does: philosopher, journalist, technologist, educator. He calls himself a philosophical educator and looks at learning from epistomology, not educational learning theory.

Very interesting interview with Stephen Downes and his view of learning and his role.

Interesting link from Steven Downes' Daily about where education and venture capital funding are colliding. According to Clarence Fisher, a classroom teacher blogger, most venture capital funding is not going to increase technology learning and future learning, but is going to reinforce the "basics". He exempts Coursera, but Downes questions them somewhat, too.

Interesting article on where venture capital is going in education-not to online, DIY, make your meaning kinds of learning but to reinforce basic skills learning.

An especially good blog (IMO) by Harold Jarche on the intersection of Individual, community, and network fluency, and the intersection and interplay of all 3 and the literacies necessary to be part of global networks to solve global issues.

Martin Weller's blog entitled: You can stop worrying about MOOCs now. Interesting in it reports the trend now that commercial MOOC providers are trending toward blended courses, and in Coursera's case, offering "MOOC-based learning on campus" which turns out to essentially be a course!

Germany has abolished student fees for higher education. In his blog, The Ed Techie, Martin Weller explores what would happen to MOOCs if this were the case everywhere. He is a professor of Educational Technology at Open University in the UK. Is the author of: The Digital Scholar: How Technology is Changing Academic Practice

You probably know about this blog, but I just discovered this. Interesting and mostly about MOOCs.

schematic from Jane Hart on the new roles for learning and performance professionals

The New York Times examine the MOOC phenomena.

a new MOOC model: uses open source web content as course design. Won't need a traditional instructor or large start-up investment. Known as a mechanical MOOC.