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Massively Open Online Courses are the discussion in Open Education -- I think the important thing is that students want to CONNECT around content - it is the relationships and connections that are so amazing more than just the content. People with a common passion are connecting through the content. The content becomes a conduit.  "Consider Stanford's experience: Last fall, 160,000 students in 190 countries enrolled in an Artificial Intelligence course taught by Mr. Thrun and Peter Norvig, a Google colleague. An additional 200 registered for the course on campus, but a few weeks into the semester, attendance at Stanford dwindled to about 30, as those who had the option of seeing their professors in person decided they preferred the online videos, with their simple views of a hand holding a pen, working through the problems. Mr. Thrun was enraptured by the scale of the course, and how it spawned its own culture, including a Facebook group, online discussions and an army of volunteer translators who made it available in 44 languages. "Having done this, I can't teach at Stanford again," he said at a digital conference in Germany in January. "I feel like there's a red pill and a blue pill, and you can take the blue pill and go back to your classroom and lecture your 20 students. But I've taken the red pill, and I've seen Wonderland."

A new PEW report about the most desired skills of 2020. Things like focus, critical thinking and collaborative skills are on the list. This is an important paper to read as we shape education. Not much on this report indicates doing well on a standardized test will prepare you. "software designer Fred Stutzman said the future is bright for people who take advantage of their ability to work cooperatively through networked communication