Stephen Downes

This is a great overview of the 30 year history of JavaScript, one of the most fundamental innovations underlying web browsers. I remember the early days of Mocha and more or less many of the developments that followed, though I admit some things - like React - weren't really for me. And I never did approve of the renaming to ECMAscript just for copyright reasons. Still, great read. Today: Total: Valeriii Filatov, PVS-Studio, 2026/07/13 [Direct Link]

Good article, generally correct, and sufficient to make many people rethink how they come to believe what they believe. Carlo Iacono rests heavily on the need to rely on evidence for belief, which is fair enough, and which to few people do, but there is also room for explanation as to why we arrive at beliefs without evidence, how reliable they are, and what we should do when the evidence is lacking. Today: Total: Carlo Iacono, Hybrid Horizons, 2026/07/13 [Direct Link]

This is a comprehensive paper offering 19 'guidelines' for instructional AI systems. I think it may be a popular approach because the overall result is that 'AI should not change anything', exemplified by this sentiment that "instructors... frequently highlighted the alignment of AI tools with their personal instructional approach because using AI tools with contrasting approaches can be a challenge." The tools studied were all 'personal tutoring' tools, and though the authors worked in the Community of Inquiry (CoI) framework the outcome is still by-the-book 'personalized' instruction. Today: Total: Jennifer Redding, et al., ACM, 2026/07/10 [Direct Link]

I learned this stuff in grad school when I was studying Fred Dretske's Knowlegedge And The Flow Of Information and recognizedIt immediately when I later encountered M.G. Moore's theory of transactional distance. It's the foundation of instructivist learning theories. This 'introduction' goes into a lot of detail, but will reward a careful reading. I didn't think information theory is the foundation of knowledge, but it's still useful to know. Today: Total: Henry Pinkard, Laura Waller, arXiv, 2026/07/10 [Direct Link]

Not a bad post drawing similarities between game design, instruction and leadership, all leading toward a concept Clark Aldrich calls 'experiential leadership' (because everyone knows new leadership theories are where the big money is). The best bit is the chart comparing aspects and timelines of the three; it's worth a critical look. Today: Total: Clark Aldrich, 2026/07/10 [Direct Link]

I've argued at length over the years in favor of network organization of, well, everything. It's important to understand what this entails. This article offers a good list (quoted): adaptability instead of control; contribution before credentials; giving first, not taking; resilience and redundancy instead of rock stardom; diversity and divergence rather than the usual suspects and forced agreement; intricacy and flow, not bottlenecks and hoarding; self-organization and emergence rather than permission and the pursuit of perfection; shift focus from core to the periphery; from working in isolation to working with others and/or out loud; from “Who’s the Leader?” to “We’re the Leaders!" I know, it's a long list, and your internal sense of value resists mightily giving up power, control and wealth. But ask - who made you value these things? How well are they serving you? Today: Total: Curtis Ogden, Network Weaver, 2026/07/10 [Direct Link]