This Is a Blog Post. It Is Not a “Blog.”
Forrest Wickman, Slate, May 27, 2013

I completely agree: "For many, using the word blog when you mean blog post is an understandable mistake. Most who make it are new to blogging, or aren’t fluent in the language of the Web. But over the last several months it’s become clear to me that the tendency to make this error has infected even some of the most Internet-savvy denizens of the Web. And it needs to stop."

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What is the Quantified Self Now?
Whitney Erin Boesel, Quantified Self, May 27, 2013

This article is unnecessarily convoluted as the author tries to pick out nuances between 'Qualitified Self' (upper case, referring to the group) and 'quantified self' (lower case, the practice more generally) but the article is nonetheless useful as it draws out and explores this widening trend which will ultimately have an impact on education (indeed, take the time to read through the rest of 'Quantified Self' (the website)) - while they are weak on nomenclature, they are strong on concept. Via Teemu Arina. See also his presentation Quantified Self and Biohacking.

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Pattern recognition, quantified self and big data
Esko Kilpi, Interactive Value Creation, May 27, 2013

Good post on how people reason and how people manage their lives. "Most of the choices we make each day are believed to be the products of well-considered, rational decisions based on knowledge, but they are not. They are repeating patterns, habits." Most of your life, writes Esko Kilpi, is run on autopilot. This can be dangerous - "neither the brain nor the people in a tightly knit community can, in the end, tell the difference between a bad habit and a good habit." This is why it is important to seek out a wide range of diverse experiences, to shake up our day-to-day by meeting new people and taking on new challenges. "The productivity suites of tomorrow are going to be a combination of sensors, big data and quantified-self technologies. When used together, these create totally new opportunities for live feedback, daily reflection and iterative change. And, most importantly – based on our unique context and our own unique storyline."

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Welcome to Moodle MOOC on WizIQ
Nellie Deutsch, WizIQ Blog, May 27, 2013

For those waiting for the worlds of Moodle and MOOC to be combined, "Teaching with Moodle is a self-paced 4-week Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) for teachers and anyone interested in teaching online using Moodle, WizIQ, and other web technologies." The opening session starts May 31.

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Teacher Resignation Video: Ellie Rubenstein Explains 'Everything I Love About Teaching Is Extinct'
Sara Gates, Huffington Post, May 27, 2013

The video is a bit long and feels repetitive in places, but it's also a searing indictment of the school system in Illinois spoken by teacher Ellie Rubenstein. In the video, "Rubenstein explains why she is quitting and addresses several major problems she says she has faced as a teacher in the U.S. public education system. 'I was proud to say I was a teacher,' Rubenstein tells the camera, after describing how she abandoned a career in public relations to 'do something meaningful' with her life. 'But over the past 15 years, I've experienced the depressing, gradual downfall and misdirection of communication that has slowly eaten away at my love of teaching.'"

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The Myth and the Millennialism of "Disruptive Innovation"
Audrey Watters, Hack Education, May 26, 2013

Audrey Watters analyzes and deconstructs Clayton Christensen's myth of "disruptive innovation," showing how it appeals to the apocalyptic sense of change - "Doom. Suffering. Change. Then paradise." And "no doubt (as a Harvard professor) Christensen has faced very little skepticism or criticism about his theory about the transformation of industries." She questions the premise and challenges the "unassailably true" part of the myth. But you have to read all the way to the end (and do take the time to do so, the article is well-worthwhile) to see the other shoe drop: "The Clayton Christensen Institute does not just offer models -- business models -- for the future... It has actively lobbied governments for certain aspects of its agenda (its mythology?)... (and) is a member of ALEC, for example, a corporate lobbying organization whose education initiatives include writing and pushing for legislation that enables the outsourcing of education to for-profit, online education providers."

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