Matching Skills and Labour Market Needs: Building Social Partnerships for better skills and better jobs
Unattributed, World Economic Forum, February 17, 2014

This document was produced for the World Economic Forum in Davos in January. "Skills mismatches occur when workers have either fewer or more skills than jobs require." Generally the focus is on those with too few skills; the report recommends adopting a "learn first" approach and cautions that "promoting jobs without paying due attention to their quality and to the skills required may only buy time and ultimately prolong the jobs crisis." In Canada, in addition to underqualification, there is also significant overqualification. This happens when the skills people acquire don't match the needs in the marketplace. But it's not simply a matter of refocusing people; "unattractive working conditions play an important role in explaining the difficulties employers face in recruiting appropriately." 28 page PDF; direct link.

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Ammon Road
Stephen Downes, Let's Make Some Art Dammit, February 17, 2014

Speaking of 'no pedagogical imperative' (see below) I've revived my 'photo a day' habit and added a new twist. I'm using only a compact camera I always carry with me (saving my DSL for special occasions, like travel). I'm uploading to Flickr, with a short autobiographical note, so it's as much a photo journal as a photo. These are then forwarded to my Let's Make Some Art blog, and then, to my Twitter account (all courtesy IFTTT.com). Finally, like all my Tweets, they are forwarded to my Facebook page you have to click the link on Twitter or Facebook to read the story). Why? Because 20 years from now, I'm going to want to remember. This is fun. I want to remember that I had fun.

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Lecture Capture – Sometimes it’s better to be heard…and not seen
Rob Weale, East Midlands Learning Technologists, February 17, 2014

According to Rob Weale, unless there is a pedagogical imperative to presenting video of yourself, online lectures might be better were they presented as audio and supported by slides. At which point, I have to ask, why must there be a pedagogical imperative before we do something? He writes, "this post touches on some broader issues concerning the notions of ‘technology driven education’ vs. ‘education driven technology’." Really? In my most recent presentation page, I posted both video and slide-supported audio. Why? Because I could. Because I want there to be a record of it, even if it's not a pedagogical imperative. Via alt.

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Tiny Robots Mimic Termites' Ability to Build without a Leader
Elizabeth Gibney, Scientific American, February 17, 2014

I've written about self-organizing systems quite a bit in these pages over the years. So it's not surprising to me to see that someone has built robots that construct a building using these principles. The robots work completely autonomously, and following simple rules, build a building. They perform well in changing conditions. "Independently acting robots make for a robust system, he adds. “If some got swept away by the flood, the others wouldn’t have to change what they’re doing."

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Stages of Personalized Learning Environments (v3)
Barbara Bray, Kathleen McClaskey, Personalize Learning, February 16, 2014

Updated version of this chart diagramming the transition from traditional learning to personalized learning, based on feedback received from their course on the subject. Basically it maps the progression from dependence on a teacher and learning environment to independence of the learner and involvement of the wider community. I don't like the use of Slideshare to present the document; you can create perfectly good tables in HTML.

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Thinking about the Pipeline
Athene Donald, Athene Donald's Blog, February 16, 2014

This diagram should give anyone thinking a PhD leads to a career as a professor some cause for doubt. It does lead to such a carrer - being a necessary condition for employment - but only for about one person in 200. The rest go on to careers in government, in industry, or in another field altogether. "The time to start thinking about what next is very early on in the PhD, in order to give oneself time to explore one’s skills, strengths and weaknesses." Me, I have always had other projects on the go - my academic studies only every occupied maybe 25% of my attention. Even while studying philsophy, I was messing around with computers, writing and editing newspapers, being a political activist, and teaching a variety of subjects. Develop an academic depth, yes, but develop a trade too.

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