We Need Teachers, Not Facilitators!
Gary Stager, Stager-to-Go, December 31, 2012.

Gary Stager reports, "I have been stunned to observe the complete and utter return to whole class instruction in nearly every school I visit (public, private, rich, poor, urban, suburban and rural) everywhere in the world. New teachers have little or no experience with classroom centers, independent work, student projects and the sorts of agency that allow children to enjoy the 'flow' experiences that build upon their obsessions and lead to understanding." If true (and I have no reason to doubt it) that would be sad. Much of my own creativity and independence was developed working on independent projects, elective classes, and the like. These did not simply enable learning in the classroom - they created in me the capacity to learn anywhere, from anything (which I do, wholeheartedly, to this day (how do you measure that?)).

[Link] [Comment][Tags: Schools, Project Based Learning, Experience, Online Learning]

Work, Learning and Freedom
Michael Kasenbacher and Noam Chomsky, New Left Project, December 31, 2012.

Good short interview with Noam Chomsky that makes two good points about the education system: first, that "if you do it (ie., learn) because you want to find out, and you explore and you make mistakes and you look in the wrong place and so on, then ultimately you remember," and second, more interestingly, while "US tuition is now sky high – in part it selects things on a class basis but more than that, it imposes a debt burden. So if you come out of college with a big debt you’re not going to be free to do what you want to do."

[Link] [Comment][Tags: Online Learning, Tuition and Student Fees]

12 Principles for Responding to Negative Online Comments
Charlie Pownall, Social Media Today, December 30, 2012.

Here is a good set of principles for dealing with complaints and criticisms on your website. I would endorse them all, but I would also add a couple of points. In the point that states, "Proactively rebut statements that are demonstrably untrue or misleading and, above all, don’t run away from your page," I would add that you eventually have to cease responding, because there is a large number of people out there who absolutely must have the last word and will not stop until they have it. And second, I swiftly and silently delete posts that violate the rules - which in my case, means posts that are either spam messages or posts that are personal attacks.

[Link] [Comment][Tags: Spam]