Stephen Downes

I've heard people react to the concept of the personal learning environment by saying "my browser is my personal learning environment". So I'm not surprised to hear someone now say "the internet is my MOOC". And I am forced to ask - which part of the internet? The subscription paywalls keeping people out of news sites? The whole bit where the RIAA sued its customers for downloading music? The unrestrained (and vile) comments on YouTube videos? Phishing attacks? Distributed denial of service? Closed-door learning management systems? Or - is it actually a subset of information and communications technologies, definable by being education focused, distributive and participatory in nature, free, and open? Oh - that internet.