PISA 2012 Results in Focus
Various authors, OECD, December 4, 2013

So the latest PISA results are out, and Canada's performance has declined, leading to much wailing and gnashing of teeth. But it's something that could be predicted, especially with funding pressures (and a back to basics movement) on education. 32 page PDF. I would like to point out (once again) that Shanghai, Hong Kong and Macau are not countries, and it makes as much sense to include them in the nation rankings as it would to include Ontario. See also, the CMEC report on PISA.

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Overview and Analysis of Practices with Open Educational Resources in Adult Education in Europe
Isobel Falconer, Lou McGill, Allison Littlejohn, Eleni Boursinou, European Commission, Joint Research Centre, December 4, 2013

Email from Andreia Inamorato: "I'd like to draw your attention to a research report recently published by the European Commission Institute for Prospective Technological Studies (IPTS) Overview and Analysis of Practices with Open Educational Resources in Adult Education in Europe The report identifies over 150 OER initiatives and classifies them. It also brings to light some of the tensions that drive the development of open educational practices in adult learning." The recommendations from the report (82 page PDF) are in one sense overly broad, but are also telling: "Recognise that 'learning' takes place everywhere," for example, and "Think of OER more broadly than as content."

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Why students need to fail
Moira MacDonald, University Affairs, December 4, 2013

Interesting article on the design of a course that has students act as instructors, drawing their presentations from dense and difficult texts, in an environment that is challenging and often results in failure. The course, taught by Concrodia University professor Vivek Venkatesh, "was really about thinking on your feet,” says Tieja Thomas, a PhD candidate who took the course. “You had to come prepared . . . It really was a deeper form of learning.”

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MOOC Platforms : a primer - biggies, newbies & freebooters
Donald Clark, Donald Clark Plan B, December 4, 2013

Donald Clark comes out with a good list and overview of MOOC platforms. "We need a pluralistic landscape. The internet may like ‘ones’ but education likes ‘many’. We also have to get away from the hopelessly simplistic xMOOC v cMOOC dualism. The MOOC landscape and taxonomy is way more complicated than this rather historic distinction suggests."

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