May 9, 2013
The new enclosure movement
Harold Jarche,
May 9, 2013
Harold Jarche: "But what is the price of enclosure? We will lose our ability to innovate. For a society, a country, or an organization, this is the end of evolution and the beginning of stagnation."
Disruptive technologies
McKinsey & Company,
May 9, 2013
From the website: "In the first of a series of video interviews with high-tech experts, Google executive chairman Eric Schmidt explores the technologies likely to have the greatest disruptive impact on economies, business models, and people." Worth watching. Among the projections:
- - biology goes digital (or as I would say: "in one word: carbon")
- - materials and manufacturing (ultrapowerful, ultralight, ultraconductive materials, ie, more carbon)
- - my computer, my friend ("there should not be a user interface; the information should just be around you.")
- - man vs. machine ("the answer is better education")
If you don't like the slowness of video, you can also read an edited transcript of his comments.
[Link] [Comment][Tags: Project Based Learning, Video, Google]
Similar Site Search
Jinsheng Xu,
May 9, 2013
I had some fun with this one. Jinsheng Xu wrote to me, saying: "I am writing to introduce my website http://www.similarsitesearch.com/ and I hope it can be useful tool for you. It can do searches like:
- (sites like) (youtube.com for education)
- (sites like) facebook.com for education (facebook.com for education)
- elearning technologies (elearning technologies)"
Natrurally I tried it on my own website.
Coursera to offer students free online textbooks, with conditions
Nick Anderson,
Washington Post,
May 9, 2013
Of course it was always the case that Coursera would ultimately make a deal with publishers (if not actually be acquired by them). Here is the first act: "Coursera... announced Wednesday a partnership with several publishers to provide portions of certain textbooks free for students to use while they take the courses. The course materials — from publishers including Cengage Learning, Macmillan Higher Education, Oxford University Press, SAGE and Wiley — would be available through e-readers from the student-services company Chegg." Sounds good - but it's just portions, and even more uselessly, "MOOC students would not be able to print or download the free texts available through the deal." Here's another report, from PaidContent.org, which makes it clear the intent is to sell students stuff, not make it available for free. Here's the Coursera announcement (blog post version). And of course Audrey Watters is right on it. She observes (correctly) "What was a promise for free-range, connected, open-ended learning online, MOOCs are becoming something else altogether. Locked-down. DRM'd. Publisher and profit friendly. Offered via a closed portal, not via the open Web."
[Link] [Comment][Tags: Traditional and Online Courses, Books]
'The MOOC Moment': New Compilation of Articles Available
Inside Higher Ed,
May 9, 2013
Sneaky. Inside Higher Ed is releasing a collection of MOOC articles, entitled 'The MOOC Moment'. I assume they are all from Inside Higher Ed. But the catch is - you have to give them personal details and your email address before they'll let you see the list. Whioch is silly, because this Google search will give you the same list. Or if you want the world's most comprehensive list of MOOC resources, collected and personally curated, you can click here and obtain my archive of 711 individual posts. And I won't ask you for personal information.
Succession plans lacking at Canadian organizations
Canadian Press,
Ottawa Business Journal,
May 9, 2013
What caught my eye in this one was this: "Lauren Friese, owner of the job site TalentEgg, said it's not surprising that the younger generations are looking for jobs that provide more opportunities for personal growth and fulfilment. 'People see themselves as a company," said Friese. 'You Inc. - It's this idea that you are making your own career and that your career isn't defined by your employer. It's defined by you and the skills you have, which you can transfer to various organizations, maybe even your own, throughout your career.'" Yes, people want those things, but this is defining yourself as a person, not a company.
e-Tivities: Stories from the front line- Guest blog project
Gilly Salmon,
May 9, 2013
Two announcements from Gilly Salmon: "Just letting you all know about the launch of my new website www.gillysalmon.com and facebook page www.facebook.com/GillySalmonOnlineLearning . If you would like to connect and collaborate please feel free to join me on either of these sites. Also: in the lead up to the release of the 2nd Edition of E-tivities- we are doing a "stories from the front line" online blogging project around the Five Themes in the new book, starting mid May."
[Link] [Comment][Tags: Books, Project Based Learning, Web Logs]
This newsletter is sent only at the request of subscribers. If you would like to unsubscribe, Click here.
Know a friend who might enjoy this newsletter? Feel free to forward OLDaily to your colleagues. If you received this issue from a friend and would like a free subscription of your own, you can join our mailing list. Click here to subscribe.