Open and online but not a MOOC, GCU Games On – an alternative model for online engagement?
Sheila McNeil, ALT Online Newsletter, Jul 17, 2014

As Sheila McNeil reports, "Glasgow Caledonian University have taken their first steps into the world of open online education this week with the launch of GCU Games On - a three-week, open online event." What's interesting about this item is that the open event was not created using the usual MOOC technology. She writes, "A key factor that enabled us to develop the event so quickly and easily including badges was our VLE BlackBoard which has just launched their new MOOC platform Open Education." Here's the associated press release from Blackboard. Like the platforms offered by MOOC providers, the new Blackboard platform "that allows teachers and faculty to run public online courses and/or Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs), is currently being piloted via the public cloud." Here's the link to the site. Looks nice.

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Who am I? and if so, how many? – book overview
Selena, learning elearning, Jul 17, 2014

As I was flying back from Britain on Monday I recall thinking that every time I travel, I return home a different person. By this what I mean of course is that my attitudes, values and outlook have changed slightly, reflections of the new experiences I've had, often in difficult or memorable circumstances. This is also true of my day-to-day life, though the increments of change are much smaller. I do feel the thread or identity over time, but as more time in my life goes by, this thread becomes more tenuous, and to me my self of, say, thirty years ago is a very different person. This post from Selena is a review of Who am I? and if so, how many? by R.D. Precht originally written in German and translated by Shelley Frisch. I've read many of the " dry and difficult to access ‘text books’ on philosophy" mentioned by the author, and am sympathetic to the need to discuss the issues around identity in an informative and engaging way, without at the same time descending into populist nonsense.

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Using an Android Tablet with Active Stylus To Create Screencasts Easily and Inexpensively
Henry Greenside, Duke Center for Instructional Technology, Jul 17, 2014

I've long wondered how those screencasts with he handwritten text are made (and have wondered ever since seeing Dave Cormier's MOOC videos or the wonderful How to Be Alone Poem. This isn't the whole story (I still don't know how the text plays over video) but it's a big part of it, I think.

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Brightspace – The Next Era of Innovation for D2L
John Baker, Desire2Learn, Jul 17, 2014

I'll just cigte this IHE post in full: "Desire2Learn's learning management system now has a name: Brightspace. The company had previously referred to the system as its 'integrated learning platform.' The name change, along with partnerships with IBM, Microsoft and five major publishers, were announced during Desire2Learn's user conference in Nashville this week." Baker writes, " we are introducing a new brand to represent the evolution to our integrated learning platform. What we are calling Brightspace." So there you go. I can't say I like the name.

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Massive Open Online Courses (MOOC) Market to Grow at a 56.61% CAGR
Press Release, Sandler Research, Jul 17, 2014

I both agree and disagree with the prediction made in this report. I agree in the sense that the market for open online learning will continue to grow at a substantial speed. But I don't agree in the sense that the MOOC itself will most likely evolve, will most likely be branded as something other than a MOOC, and will most likely be seen as competition to traditional MOOCs and eating in to their growth. (p.s. just read the summary; the report itself is ridiculously expensive; you get better value for money sticking with OLDaily).

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