Ministries of ICT, Education, & UNESCO join to formally launch School of Open Africa
Jane Park, Creative Commons, 2014/10/22

Like the headline says: "“This event will help establish a conversation platform for policymakers around School of Open Africa, connecting and synchronising education and ICT policies with the innovative open education programs being led by Creative Commons volunteers in Africa. It will also connect current School of Open programs in primary and high school education to academia and NRENs1 — towards the realisation of the international aspiration for universal access to education."

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Four Platforms You Can Use To Make A Blog For Kids
Patricia Fioriello, Kids Learn to Blog, 2014/10/22

Just for the record: blogging still exists. It's still good for kids. Educational blogging is still relevant. "Blogs offer a powerful means of socializing and they are also lots of fun. Even though it’s hard to let your kids loose on the Internet with little supervision, it is healthy in some ways. Careful preparation will enable you help your kids launch their first blogging ventures." This post highlights four platforms where kids can set up blogs.

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Gone Figuring
Alan Levine, CogDogBlog, 2014/10/22

There's a storm once again over misogyny in the gaming development community. It's called #gamergate and I confess I am not close enough to it to know who is on which side (I've been reading articles like this and I still do not know who the players are). I think everybody knows I have no tolerance for abuse and threats against women. I agree with Audrey Watters that it's an ed tech issue. But I echo Alan Levine: "The outfall of this is beyond ugly, and when things go from rudeness to physical threats and abuse, things have crossed a line into evil territory. Trying to get to an understanding is hard, I gave Deadspin’s comprehensive The Future Of The Culture Wars Is Here, And It’s Gamergate one read, and that leaves me still wondering if I 'get it'." I get that I can't simply admonish people to "play nice". But what motivates people to act so badly?

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The Simple Genius of the Blackboard
Lewis Buzbee, Slate, 2014/10/22

I'm not sure quite what to make of this, but... "The blackboard-centered classroom offers more than pedagogical efficiency; it also offers an effective set of teaching possibilities. In such a classroom students are focused on the teacher (on a good day), but most importantly, they are focused. The teacher is not the focus of the class but rather a lens through which the lesson is created and clarified."

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Why Big Data Won't Cure Us
Gina Neff, Big Data, 2014/10/22

One of the flaws of contemporary economics is that it postulates the economically rational consumer who will always choose in his or her best interest. We know, however, that this is rarely the case, and that the economy is beset by forces that are essentially irrational. The same problem applies to big data. As Gina Neff writes, "At last year's Stanford Medicine X Conference, a speaker confidently gave a simple, linear equation: 'Data leads to knowledge which leads to change.' This seemed sensible enough to most in the room because it reflects the values of quantified self and data-driven health innovation. An audience member, however, changed the tone of the discussion by responding, 'If knowledge translated into behavior we wouldn't need psychologists.' At the heart of many current attempts at data-driven health is a powerfully seductive but inherently flawed model of the relationship of data to knowledge, interpretation, and action."

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