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by Stephen Downes
June 23, 2009

Ed Media Hawaii

I am at Ed Media in Hawaii (Twitter Feed). I'm giving a talk tomorrow morning, so I'm a bit distracted. Stephen Downes, Flickr, June 23, 2009 [Link] [Tags: Twitter, Flickr] [Comment]

Canadians worried about education system: poll
Now, given that Canadians score consistently well on international tests, and given that Canadian students entering the workforce are informed and literate, so much so that a Globe series a few years ago suggested Canadian youth might be the best educated generation ever to exist, one wonders what it is that is leading the people polled to believe otherwise. Albertan children, in particular, benefit from a high quality educational system, among the best in the world. What do I think? I think CTV and Decima are manufacturing a belief that is false. Why? Perhaps they hope to sell educational services? Canadian Press, CTV, June 23, 2009 [Link] [Tags: Assessment, Video, Canada, Quality] [Comment]

23rd ICDE World Congress
Terry Anderson links to slides (PDF) of his presentation in Maastricht at ICDE. It's a good and topical set of slides, probably containing rather more content than he could have presented in his 20-minute time slot. Slides from the other speakers on OER (Peter Sloep and Andy Lane) are also available. Just an aside: at one point Anderson suggests that it may be that the "student pays" model may be the only sustainable model - which makes me think we should reconsider the use of the term "sustainable" when talking about OERs, as it pushes us toward a cash-centric theory of educational resources (compare with the use of "sustainable development" with respect to the environment). Terry Anderson, Virtual Canuck, June 23, 2009 [Link] [Tags: Open Educational Resources] [Comment]

More shoulder to the wheel
Blackboard's Ray Henderson commits to standards, especially common cartridge. Rob Abel and Chuck Severence write comments saying how happy they are. Ray Henderson, Blackboard, June 23, 2009 [Link] [Tags: Blackboard Inc.] [Comment]

Elsevier Won't Pay (Any More) for Praise
So. Another lesson in ethics from our favorite academic publisher, Elsevier. "Elsevier officials said Monday that it was a mistake for the publishing giant's marketing division to offer $25 Amazon gift cards to anyone who would give a new textbook five stars in a review posted on Amazon or Barnes & Noble." What they mean, of course, is that it was a mistake to do it in such a way that they would be caught. Scott Jaschik, Inside Higher Ed, June 23, 2009 [Link] [Tags: Books, Marketing, Academia] [Comment]

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