My Take on the Proposed 5th R of Openness
Darren Draper, Drape's Takes, March 13, 2014

Darren Draper offers a reasonable take on what out to be a fifth 'R' of openness: 'Retain'. Maybe this is what's needed - or maybe what's needed is actual ownership of the digital things we access and use. But, he argues, "Why muddy the waters of openness with ownership, if ownership isn’t really what’s needed most?"

[Link] [Comment]

The Red Herring of Big Data
Brian Croxall, March 13, 2014

I can summarize the centrakl argument about big data offered in this essay very easily:

• Data need interpretation
• Data don’t have to be big.
• Data aren’t always the answer

But this doesn't really do it justice. It's not simply that data need interpretation, it is rather that sometimes the data suggest an interpretation, sometimes we bring our own interpretation to the party, and sometimes there just isn't an interpretaion to be had. But that said, "computer-assisted pattern recognition and interpretation is possible on many different levels." In particular, Brian Croxall consider two approaches: maps and graphs.

[Link] [Comment]

Does teaching presence matter in a MOOC?
Terry Anderson, Virtual Canuck, March 13, 2014

Terry Anderson reports on a studty of a Coursera MOOC showing "that teacher presence had no significant relation to course completion, most badges awarded, intent to register in subsequent MOOCs or course satisfaction." This may concern teachers, but one of the aims of the MOOCs we've designed is to support presence with student-student interaction. And as Anderson says, "I argue that if one of the three forms of student interaction (student-student, student-teacher, student content) is at a high level, the other two can be reduced or even eliminated."

[Link] [Comment]

Journeys of the Mind: Yes, We Went to the Moon
Bonnie Bracey Sutton, educational technology & change, March 13, 2014

I watched what I assume was the first episode of the New Cosmos series with Neil DeGrasse Tyson and had the usual reaction for people my age to the effect that he is not Carl Sagan. And the episode was OK - I didn't like the fake spaceship (Carl Sagan would never have allowed his space ship to 'whoosh' or swerve back and forth dodging asteroids) but really appreciated hearing them tell the story of Bruno and make it clear just how vast and how deep both space and time really are. I think NASA does a brilliant job, I wish the rest of science (including my own agency) could reach people the way NASA does, and yes, I saw the first human step on the Moon. That feeling, you know, it never really goes away.

[Link] [Comment]