March 5, 2012
Emerge: Artists + Scientist Redesign the Future – Closing Day
Hans de Zwart,
Technology, Innovation, Education, March 5, 2012.
This would have been a fun conference to attend, with contributions from people like Stephenson, Turkle and Sterling. Hans de Zwart offers a pretty good summary of a number of the presentations.
Instruction for Masses Knocks Down Campus Walls
Tamar Lewin,
New York Times, March 5, 2012.
None of us receive any credit for having invented the form - it all goes to Stanford and MIT - but it's still nice to see the MOOC make the pages of the New York Times.
More reflections on MOOCs and MITx
Tony Bates,
Online Learning and Distance Education Resources, March 4, 2012.
Tony Bates offers at once a response to my post on MOOCs and brings in a critique from the traditional perspective. The response? That MOOCs follow in a well-established tradition: "They belong philosophically within the context of thinkers such as R. H. Tawney, Ivan Illich and Paulo Freire, who believed strongly in self-education, as part of their broader socialist views on equality, the need to open access to knowledge, and to educate the workers." And the critique, from an unnamed university administrator: "Who will benefit? It seems that those who meet the standards of discussion and the hidden requirements [of the presenters] can exchange and enhance their knowledge."
I’m an introvert. And that’s ok.
Daniel Lemire,
Weblog, March 3, 2012.
As I head out to yet another conference, this post is timely. Like many others, I too am an introvert, and as Daniel Lemire says, it's not that I can't speak in front of people or express myself, it's that there is a transaction cost, and after a few hours I need time alone. Some people thrive on company, others feel drained. And it's worth noting that tjhis is just how some people are, they won't be trained out of it, and events - including learning events and conferences - should take this into account. Lemire mentions a couple good resources: Carl King's essay 10 myths about introverts and Susan Cain's video Quiet - the power of introverts in a world that can't stop talking.
Let’s leave them to their own devices
Dick Moore,
ToolsAndTaxonomy.com, March 1, 2012.
Discussion over the concept of 'bring your own device' continues to be based around the problem of the digital divide and inequality (a problem that I think would be solved quite easily by some moderately forward-looking policies, but I digress). This post enjoins readers to look at some of the unexpected benefits of 'byod' - using them to introduce themselves, to participate in activities, to interact with each other, to be freed from the classroom computer (and the classroom itself), and most importantly (in my mind) to assert their own sense of ownership and identity. "As a result of using their own device within the course, it’s much more likely that learners will be creating bookmarks and be integrating content and links into their workspace."
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