Is that an ad or a news story?
Ira Besin, Globe and Mail, August 7, 2012.

'Brand jornalism' is the phenomenon wheeby companies ('brands') produce their own conteny in order to attract attention to their products and portray them in a favorable light. Is "transparency the new objectivity," as proponents claim? I think it goes a long way, but still places the onus on readers to identify the bias. This can be difficult - but no less difficult than spotting the bias in traditional news sources. These media obscure the connection between what the (misleadingly) call 'objective' journalism and the brands - large entertainment and media consortia - they represent.

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Innovating Pedagogy
Derek Wenmoth, Derek's Blog, August 1, 2012.

Interesting stuff. I haven't read it yet, but I will. Derek Wenmoth summarizes:

1. Personal inquiry learning  - Learning through collaborative inquiry and active investigation
2. Seamless learning  - Connecting learning across settings, technologies and activities
3. MOOCs - Massive open online courses
4. Assessment for learning  - Assessment that supports the learning process through diagnostic feedback
5. New pedagogy for e-books - Innovative ways of teaching and learning with next-generation e-books
6. Publisher-led short courses - Publishers producing commercial short courses for leisure and professional development
7. Badges to accredit learning  - Open framework for gaining recognition of skills and achievements
8. Rebirth of academic publishing  - New forms of open scholarly publishing 
9. Learning analytics - Data-driven analysis of learning activities and environments
10. Rhizomatic learning - Knowledge constructed by self-aware communities adapting to environmental conditions

[Link] [Comment][Tags: Traditional and Online Courses, Books, Online Learning, Academia]

20 questions (and answers) about MOOCs
Dave Cormier, Dave’s Educational Blog, August 1, 2012.

Dave Cormier offers this light but insightful discussion of MOOCs. One of thye things I like about Dave's approach is that he gets the way MOOCs refocus learning, and doesn't try to equivocate his way around that. I can imagine that some people might answer a question like "is it possible to conduct a MOOC that includes rigour" by talking about graded assignments and what-not, but Cormier refuses to bite. He writes, "The rigour is not the responsibility of the MOOC but of the learner. If the learner needs help to apply rigour to their MOOC experience, they might find it by finding a community that could provide it or working with a professional of somekind (professor, consultant, tutor)." If you want a traditional learning experience, then go look fgor a traditional learning experience. Because this isn't that.

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