Stephen Downes

The authors advance a new version of open science (aka 2.0) based on a transition from 'access' to 'understanding'. But what do we mean by understanding? We might answer in traditional cognitivist terms - ontologies, explanations, predictions, principles. This article references verifiability, expertise and impact. I'm not really sure these count as 'understanding' either, at least in the normal sense we understand me them. Today: Total: Ashutosh Ghildiyal, Maria Machado, Gareth Dyke, The Scholarly Kitchen, 2026/07/16 [Direct Link]

This article uses the example of resistance in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul metropolitan area to make its point, but the message is relevant even without the political overtime. It describes the way large centralized organizations get all the press, money and credit for organizing in contrast with the important roles played by networks of small decentralized community groups that operate without funding and in relative obscurity. "Centralized organizations are easier to identify, easier to contact, and easier to evaluate using conventional metrics." We see the same dynamic play out in education where the large organizations take the credit and get the funding but where the real work is being done in quiet local communities without fanfare, often by people with the most precarious employment. Today: Total: Neeraj Mehta, SSIR, 2026/07/16 [Direct Link]

This is a set of slides from a conference presentation that treats a set of Reddit subreddits as epistemic communities, in this case, a set of them specific to Taylor Swift. To a large degree, sourcing matters to people who post (less so for people who comment) and while the usual media of record is relied upon, there are some surprises (such as one sub classifying the NY Times as no more credible than a gossip column). I wouldn't exactly consider Reddit a reliable source (though that varies widely by sub) but I do think studying the communities' epistemic practices is important and informative. Today: Total: Samantha Vilkins, Sebastian Svegaard, Axel Bruns, Katherine M. FitzGerald, Snurblog, 2026/07/15 [Direct Link]

The suggestion here is that "The more audiobooks I’ve read, the more I’ve finally embraced the reality that listening to audiobooks is reading." Sarah Clinton-McCausland adds, "Recent research has started confirming what audiobookworms have known all along: a 2019 study, for instance, found that 'the semantic representations evoked by listening versus reading are almost identical.'" That's my experience as well; I see myself as having 'read' Moby Dick even though I actually listened to it. Today: Total: Sarah Clinton-McCausland, ACRLog, 2026/07/15 [Direct Link]

This article unintentionally points to the danger of 'evidence-based' strategies. Different evidence points different ways. So, near the start we read, "immersive, experiential, relevant learning was impactful for kids, but it’s way too expensive to be accessible to all." Ok. But the actually proposals are based on "10 skills that research links to long-term success... if these are learning experiences we know matter, what’s preventing schools from providing them today?" These are two very different things. The research on what skills were needed in the past may be totally irrelevant to future needs, and anyhow doesn't speak to immersive and experiental learning at all. The evidence underdetermines the need. Today: Total: Tara Moon, FutureEd, 2026/07/15 [Direct Link]

The bulk of this article is a 'greatest hits' of UK Ed Tech news from the last quarter, but the interesting bit is the intro discussing the University of Manchester's announcement it will offer work placement to all students, contrasted with previous announcements about online learning. The two actually go together, but it's not clear this is understood. Neil Mosley writes, "if universities really want to signal that they are supporting people with career-focused study motivations, they could do a lot worse than seek to develop more flexible and accessible forms of study, such as online learning…and maybe talk about it once in a while." Today: Total: Neil Mosley, Neil Mosley Consulting, 2026/07/15 [Direct Link]