Stephen Downes

One Course, Three Platforms: How a Popular Programming MOOC Differs on Coursera, edX, and FutureLearn

This is a fun (and light) read. The same course, taught by none other than Charles Severence, is offered on the three different MOOC platforms. How do they compare? The best bit of the article is the table comparing things like 'ease of use' and 'forums'. The results will make the designers of FutureLearn happy, though having seem all three platforms, I can't say I'm surprised. "FutureLearn makes discussions a central part of each course. Each course page includes a discussion section, shortening the distance between material and questions. And this seems to work: there were many participants and a very knowledgeable mentor."

Today: 36 Total: 86 Pat Bowden, Class Central, 2020/03/11 [Direct Link]

What is education’s responsibility to society? An open, futures course

This is an announcement for an upcoming MOOC being offered by George Siemens and Dave Cormier " on the SSHRC challenge “Truth under Fire in a Post-Fact World,” and the question of how education should respond." Nice topic. Dave Cormier writes, "I used the word ‘host’ earlier deliberately. This course will not be taught by George or I. We are looking to host a conversation, and test out a model for futures discussions that will, hopefully, be an interesting way of looking at how we do strategy for education."

Today: 29 Total: 86 Dave Cormier, Dave’s Educational Blog, 2020/03/10 [Direct Link]

Moving past the ‘tyranny of innovation’

At first I was folling my eyes a bit as this article said things like "more concrete signs that your organisation isn’t nurturing a culture of innovation... include teams working in siloes, and decisions not being driven by data." But there's a nice turn about half way through where the author cites a Lawrie Phipps blog post (that I didn't see last fall when it came out) reflecting on eCampusOntario’s TESS2019 conference. "Phipps cites a successful ecosystem as 'creating an environment where people are able to perform, to do what they need to do, and where necessary reach into the community for support'. In simple terms: performance + creativity = innovation in practice." And this make a lot more sense to me than managerialism masquerading as innovation.

Today: 41 Total: 97 JISC, 2020/03/09 [Direct Link]

Pedagogy before technology, OK?

'Pedagogy before technology' is an oft-repeated mantra, and I can see the appeal, but from where I sit it's often a plea to "let us keep doing what we have been doing, without any change." And this is to effectively dismiss the idea that technology brings with it affordances that enable us to do better: to reach more people, provide more accurate education, and better prepare them for whatever they may face. This article bases its mantra on the assertion that the benefits of technology are not proven; "Neither in language learning / teaching, nor in education more generally, is there any clear evidence of the necessary benefits of introducing educational technology."

But the scope, at least in this article, is sharply limited to the domain where a teacher uses technology in the classrom. Doing the same thing they have been doing. My challenge to teachers is: imagine you did not exist (which is the reality for hundreds of millions of potential students). Would people be better off, or not, without technology to help them learn? Think outside the bounds of what you are doing as an individual, and to what we can do collectively, as a society.

Today: 38 Total: 106 Philip J. Kerr, Adaptive Learning in ELT, 2020/03/13 [Direct Link]

When One Affects Many: The Case For Collective Consent

Anouk Ruhaak argues that the principle of 'informed consent' is dead. If one person gives consent, many people are affected. Also, it's unlikely anyone is truly 'informed' when they give consent. Finally, as we in the field of education should know well, "consent is meaningless without the ability to opt out." Instead, Ruhaak argues for an alternative, collective consent, in which our rights are managed by "a fiduciary, someone with a legal responsibility to look out for your interest, rather than their own." This would not, of course, eliminate the problem of breach of trust. But it could at least make it illegal, and we could imagine a new helping profession emerge, a 'data manager', with obligations similar to those of a lawyer, accountant, or doctor.

Today: 28 Total: 76 Anouk Ruhaak, Mozilla, 2020/03/12 [Direct Link]

Alec Couros was used by scammers to catfish thousands of women and he's a victim too

The truly sad thing about this story is that it's running in 2000, some 13 years after Alec Couros's photos first started to be used in catfishing scams ('catfishing' is where a person assumes a fake ID and pretends to be a potential romantic partner in an effort to defraud you). He "estimates the number of victims to be in the thousands." Though social networks claim to be taking action against it, I've watched Couros's efforts over the years to stop the problem come to no avail. Via Aaron Davis, who recommends more reading: posts by Alan Levine, Dean Shareski and Alec Couros himself. Also the case of Lydia Abdelmalek provides another detailed case.

Today: 40 Total: 148 Bridget Judd, ABC News, 2020/03/11 [Direct Link]

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