How the Web was Ghettoized for Teaching and Learning in Higher Ed?
Jim Broom, bavatuesdays, March 27, 2014

Can't say I disagree with this: "For more than a decade the web has been systematically ghettoized as a dangerous space where people steal and victims are robbed (not entirely false, but not the whole story either).... The fear and loathing surrounding the internet, copyright, and downloading that enabled universities during the late 90s to shutoff the web for anything beyond basic business operations is best summed up for me in the :38 second GI Joe PSA 'Stop All the Downloading.'" I would add that the deeply disturbing aspect is that the materials available through the 'safe' portals are just as harmful, albeit in more long term and subtle ways, as students are guadually acclimatized to a learned helplessness and dependence on augthority and order.

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European Commission launches network to foster web talent through Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs)
Press Release, European Commission, March 27, 2014

Nick Kearney pointed me to the European Commission's ususual definition of MOOCs: "MOOCs are online university courses which enable people to access quality education without having to leave their homes." I wonder who it was who convinced them that the massive and open aspects of these courses are compleetely incidental. There's a network discussion group that can be found on the European Commission’s portal Open Education Europa. "The initiative is coordinated by p.a.u. education and in partnership with Iversity." Oh - that's who think the massive and open aspects are incidental.

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The Shifting Role of University Systems
Steven Mintz, Inside Higher Ed, March 27, 2014

As the impact of online learning gradually becomes apparent, what becomes of the role of the traditional university system? One person's view: "My personal view is that there is great value in systemness... system can serve as innovation incubators, assisting campuses in building the data-driven strategic enrollment and student lifecycle management infrastructure needed to support education in the 21st century; in advancing next-generation online learning, which will play a critical role in enhancing access, affordability, student success, and institutional sustainability; and leading the way as institutions gradually develop outcomes-driven, competency-based, career-oriented educational pathways."

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