Beyond the stack
Mike Loukides, O'Reilly Radar, May 30, 2014

One of the interesting 'behind the scenes' things about the new MOOC platforms is the way they're built: distributed computing. Coursera, for example, relies on Amazon Web Services (AWS). EdX's default distribution also uses AWS. As tghe article states, "A new toolset has grown up to support the development of massively distributed applications. We call this new toolset the Distributed Developer’s Stack (DDS)." This article is a good overview of the new paradigm.

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Google+ Stories
Alex Chitu, Google Operating System, May 30, 2014

Google+ is offering a new service: "Google+ Photos added a new feature called Stories. Google automatically groups some of your best photos and videos, based on the date and the place where they were taken, and creates animated stories you can edit and share with other people." This is relatively easy to do if all your photos are in the Google database (which of course is what Google wants). It's a lot harder if your photos are scattered across the internet - I would be much more impressed if Google+ found your photos wherever they are, grouped them, and linked out to them. But Google doesn't want people leaving the Googleplex.

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Brilliance struck. We call it Canvas Catalog.
Matt Goodwin, Canvas by Instructure, May 30, 2014

Instructure is launching a new product called Canvas Catalog, "a white-label platform that enables any institution, government entity, university or K-12 school to create a branded index of online courses." This means, according to the blog post, "any organization using Canvas now has the ability to build a marketplace or storefront for their courses. This gives learners the ability to register, enroll, pay (if that’s your thing), and start taking courses without all the typical hassle." What I'd like to see from this service is an RSS feed - free courses should be freely syndicated (here's a sample RSS-Events file and the RSS-Events schema is available here). As usual, the announcement comes before the actual product is available, which is always annoying. So is the whole 'accidental invention' analogy, which in this context (and given the existence already of MOOC catalogues) is ridiculous.

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The Future Of Online Ed Isn't Heading Where You Expect
Anya Kamenetz, NPR, May 30, 2014

Short article with what is (I think) important news: "Trinidad and Tobago. Its government this week announced the creation of a National Knowledge Network to promote free online learning in partnership with Khan Academy and Coursera." I think we can ignore the bit about the providers - these can change over time, while the idea of a national networks for free learning is something that can endure, and eventually, become entrenched. We've been seeing a number of stories like this, as the proprietors of these providers work their political connections to get national announcements.

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Connectivism: Informing Distance Education Theory, Pedagogy and Research (Critical Review)
Kelli Ralph, Technology for Teaching & Learning, May 30, 2014

This is a good post reflecting on George Siemens's 2004 Connectivism article, discussing both the theoretical infliences and the points where the paper establishes new ground. It is rife with points of reference to related literature (perhaps overly so; the author's own voice seems lost). But it's definitely worth a read, situating as it does Siemens's paper in historical context. P.S. the author who penned the editor's note cited in the article was Donald G. Perrin.

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