These are reflections - and nothing more than that, really - from the WeGovern Learning Community as it moves into phase two. It's interesting for couple of reasons - one, in that it offers an example of the new sort of learning once we break out of traditional patterns, and two, in considering the relation between why we govern ourselves (in this case, to "uplift the collective dignity, wholeness, and thriving of one another"), and how we govern ourselves. The observations apply directly, in my view, to how we manage and govern learning amongst ourselves as well.
It is well worth the time for any educator to become familiar with Wittgenstein's concept of the 'language game' - that is, the idea that language is not a set of rules, meanings and syntax but rather a "community-wide game of charades, where each new game builds on those that have gone before." This is important because "it is constantly re-contrived generation after generation." Indeed, "we talk without knowing the rules of our language just as we play tennis without knowing the laws of physics, or sing without knowing music theory. In this very real sense, we speak, and do so skillfully and effectively, without knowing our language at all."
It doesn't matter what the story is, I'm just glad someone besides me is using this phrase, because it's exactly right. Poynter is very limited in its advocacy: "Paywalls bolster news organizations' bottom lines, but leave Americans in the dark. As a public service, let everyone read election stories for free." It should be more than just election stories, and it should be for everyone. There's a very close link to being able to access knowledge and being able to govern ourselves, as the developers of the first libraries knew very well.
Even if we don't end up with a system exactly as described in this document, we're going to end up with something like it. Why? It addresses the need for each of us to have an individual set of identity credentials, that we manage ourselves, the way we handle cards and documents in a wallet, and it addresses the issues of confidentiality, reliability, persistence and efficiency. This document is a long and detailed description of self-sovereign identity, from the perspective of a certificate provider, and something every education technologist will want to at least know about, if not understand deeply enough to be planning to use something like this in five to ten years.
Ben Werdmüller discusses different ways of paying for content on the web. What bothers me about commentaries like this one is that they suppose (a) 'paying for the web' (as in the title) is the same things as 'paying for content', and (b) the suggestion that there wouldn't even be a web as we know it without commercial models. Both of these are really wrong. We already pay for the web when we purchase computer systems, buy a lot of software, and pay for internet access. That's why it's so cheap to distribute content on the web; the consumers pay the cost of transmission! And there was a very robust and active online culture that had developed well before the internet was ever commercialized. There was never any need to pay for content until commercial entities pushed out and replaced our conversations, message boards, helper posts, and everything else. There's no actual need for commercial content. There's just a lot of people selling it who really want you to believe you can't live without it.
This MOOC covers all applications of analytics in learning, surveys criticisms, describes ethical approaches, and examines the ethics of analytics with a view to recent ethical theory.
This paper presents an overview of connectivism, offering a connectivist account of learning and a detailed analysis of how learning occurs in networks.
Coronavirus / Covid19 quick reference kit, to take your class or conference online cheaply and in a hurry:
Stephen Downes works with the Digital Technologies Research Centre at the National Research Council of Canada specializing in new instructional media and personal learning technology. His degrees are in Philosophy, specializing in epistemology, philosophy of mind, and philosophy of science. He has taught for the University of Alberta, Athabasca University, Grand Prairie Regional College and Assiniboine Community College. His background includes expertise in journalism and media, both as a prominent blogger and as founder of the Moncton Free Press online news cooperative. He is one of the originators of the first Massive Open Online Course, has published frequently about online and networked learning, has authored learning management and content syndication software, and is the author of the widely read e-learning newsletter OLDaily. Downes is a member of NRC's Research Ethics Board. He is a popular keynote speaker and has spoken in three dozen countries on six continents.
The Future of Online Learning 2020, April 28, 2020.
TSupporting Open Educational Resources, January 7, 2022.
The Agile Approach to Learning Design, Online Educa Berlin, December 7, 2015.
Your Instant Decentralized Learning Community, April 6, 2021.
The MOOC Ecosystem, Association of Medical Educators of Europe (AMEE) E-Learning Symposium, Glasgow, Scotland, September 6, 2015.
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6797-9012
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