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Harvard University on Monday became the latest elite institution that will seek to organize its online education offerings with the creation of a high-ranking administrative position. Although not a widespread practice, early adopters say institutions should consider following suit sooner rather than later.

"Good automated feedback gets students writing more. This is the most important thing that any scaffolding for writing can do. The best thing that writers can do to improve their writing is to write more, and to keep practicing. Many students, though, are going to be stuck at the first draft above - they won't see how they can expand. Inexperienced writers need to be nudged in the right direction with advice like this teacher gives. By giving specific suggestions for how a writer can improve, this teacher is keeping students engaged in the writing process."

OER, a part of the global open content movement, are shared teaching, learning, and research resources available under legally recognized open licenses-free for people to reuse, revise, remix, and redistribute. Why are OER important? High-quality OER can save teachers significant time and effort on resource development and advance student learning inside and outside the classroom. Further, open sharing of resources has the potential to fuel collaboration, encourage the improvement of available materials, and aid in the dissemination of best practices.

"As part of this work, we are organizing a conference at University of Texas Arlington December 5-6, 2013: MOOCs and Emerging Educational Models: Policy, Practice, and Learning. Registration is now open. We have a great group of keynote speakers and an outstanding list of successful grantees who will also be presenting."

A Guide to New Theories, Methods, and Practices for Open Peer Teaching and Learning

"Unfortunately, we had to take down your paper," the notice reads. "Academia.edu is committed to enabling a transition to a world where there is open access to scientific literature. Unfortunately, Elsevier takes a different view." It also mentions that more than 13,000 researchers so far have signed a petition "protesting Elsevier's business practices."

The authors lay out four "pillars" of practice, conveniently chosen to form FLIP as an acronym: Flexible environment (Students are allowed a variety of modes of learning and means of assessment) Learning culture (Student-centered communities of inquiry rather than instructor-centered lecture) Intentional content (Basically this means placing content in the most appropriate context - direct instruction prior to class for individual use, video that's accessible to all students, etc.) Professional educator (Being a reflective, accessible instructor who collaborates with other educators and takes responsibility for perfecting one's craft)

"By now, even the most laggard of organizations understands that digital fluency is a pillar of any strategy seeking to engage audiences, cultivate constituent relations, and secure donors.  More than a "next practice," digital engagement is essential to the relevance and solvency of the contemporary nonprofit organization - simply keeping the doors open requires investments of time, talent, and treasure on digital platforms. But social media is playing an important role in how people relate to and understand nonprofit organizations beyond simply their ability to converse on Twitter or post pretty pictures on Facebook.  In our progressively crowd-sourced, collectively intelligent, peer reviewed world that values trusted endorsements foremost among reputation-enhancing communication channels, social media is emerging as one of the most important tools in the fundraising toolbox."

Under the supervision of the instructor - there's the rub. I don't mean a kind of aloof, checking-your-Facebook-while-students-work kind of "supervision" but rather the kind of interactive engagement that a coach might have with his or her players while they practice. The coach doesn't do the exercises for the players, but neither does s/he stand off to the side and let them flail around the entire time. There is interaction between the coach and the player, between different players, and between different groups of players. And through that interaction, questions get answered, others get raised - and things get learned, if it's done right.

"your concepts of academic identity and academic reputation do need to expand. Twitter and social media are now a part of scholarship, as modes of communication and of scholarly practice. So if I tell you I'm exploring the part they now play in academic influence…try not to arch so hard you hurt yourself."

"Digital medicine is poised to transform biomedical research, clinical practice and the commercial sector. Here we introduce a monthly column from R&D/venture creation firm PureTech tracking digital medicine's emergence."

"(most) individuals use the Internet as the primary text for reading, writing, socializing, and communicating. Think about the last time you were talking with friends and someone couldn't remember a basic fact. How long did it take for someone to pull out a cell phone and search for it online? The Internet has provided for us a common text that individuals globally can use to learn, socialize, and communicate. What does it really mean when we use the Internet in our literacy-based practices? What knowledge, skills, and dispositions do we need to build in our students? The Internet is a literacy issue, not a tech issue"

" I know it's not all about technology, which is why fostering collaborative relationships with colleagues is critical for staying on top of best practices. Let's look at the various ways that technology, coupled with a willingness to learn from others, can put first-year teachers on the right track."

Since 2012 many people have expressed the opinion that MOOCs will, or have the potential to, change higher education. However, before MOOCs begin transforming the manner in which higher education operates in the United States, there are at least a few current educational policies and practices that will hinder the advancement of MOOCs.

"I recently published an article describing a a creative online assignment that I've been using successfully in my university courses to teach visual digital literacy. It's a very brief and practical article about the amazing student engagement achieved and some pedagogical complications encountered."

"The primary thing to keep in mind, the supermagic key, is that HTML is used for meaning and CSS is used for presentation. HTML is nothing more than fancy structured content and the visual formatting of that content will come later when we tackle CSS. You might find different approaches elsewhere on the web but HTML Dog focuses on best practice from the outset and getting into the frame of mind of doing things the right way from the start will lead to much better results in the end."

"To help education improve itself for all teachers and learners we have to try to connect with those teachers who aren't comfortable with radical shifts in pedagogy or technology. We believe that the best way to encourage positive change in educational practices across the broad landscape of content areas, learning objectives, and teaching philosophies is by providing tools that are easy-to-use, flexible, and comfortable to the majority of teachers and learners. The door to change must be open and the doorkeeper must be deposed"

"With the 2014 JIF ranking finally expected this week, the anti-JIF coalition of scientists, journal editors, and scholarly publishers who issued the San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment (DORA) are greeting the delayed JIFs with examples of JIF-less "good practices" for scientific assessment. DORA is calling for the scientific community to contribute fresh JIF-less examples to a new DORA web page. "

"It gives me great pleasure to announce that OER Research Hub is now ready to release the first of its dissemination reports. The 'OER Evidence Report 2013-2014′ brings together a range of evidence around the research hypotheses of the product and provides an overview of the impact OER is having on a range of teaching and learning practices."

"Self-determined learning or heutagogy is fast gaining interest from educators around the world interested in an evidence-based approach to learning. Grounded as it is on brain research and extensive research into how people learn self-determined learning is particularly popular among those interested in innovative approaches to learning. This edited book is the perfect primer on self-determined learning or heutagogy. It consists of an introductory chapter explaining the main concepts and principles of this exciting approach to educational practice. This is followed by 16 chapters describing the experience of practitioners in using the approach. These experiences come from a wide variety of interests including school education, higher education, workplace learning, consulting, lifelong learning, training, and community education. Full of links to resources, curated sites,and discussion forums, this is a valuable 'how to' book for the interested practitioner and theoretician alike."