How to measure the success of learning in rhizo14?
Heli Nurmi, Heli Connecting Ideas, 2014/08/26

Heli Nurmi offers an insightful look at what constitutes success in dave Cormier's Rhizo-MOOC: "It may be an illusion of enthusiasm that I’ve 'learned' these things but it feels like I have a better grasp on how to know them or reconstruct a more viable approach. I’ve gained a tool of understanding that clarifies things that I didn’t have before. Success = People having a serious conversation or, very often, people having fun together. That’s enough."

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At OTF Teaching, Learning & Technology Conference – Hopscotch, Sphero, Social Reading
Doug Peterson, doug - off the record, 2014/08/26

What Doug Peterson describes here is very similar to my own workflow, readingflow, whateverflow. It's a restatement of the "aggregate-remix-repurpose-feed forward" methodology, identifying specific tools that can be used to accomplish it. Does it work? I offer my own career as evidence. Moreover, some of the tools he points to - Hopscotch, Sphero, and Packrati.us - are new to me. I won't use the iPad-only apps, of course, but some others look interesting.

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Hackers Target Video Games for Fun, Profit and Better Scores
Nicole Perlroth, New York Times, 2014/08/26

I lost interest in commercial online multiplayer games when I discovered people cheating (a game crash was followed by a massive attack on my empire that somehow pinpointed every weakness; the other player admitted seeing my troop disposition). It's the same experience I had in Reno - playing poker in the poker room was fun until the hustler came in and started betting the maximum on every hand. At this point - where people are exploiting the system for profit - the games are no longer fun. And, of course, "the industry has done little to share cyber threat information" - probably because they make more money from the people gaming the results than the people just in it for fun (it's the same relationship Google has with advertisers and spammers).

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Learning Vs. Performance -- The Dichotomy
Sahana Chattopadhyay, ID, Other Reflections, 2014/08/26

This article gets at the difference between learning and performance, identifying aspects distinguishing a focus on one as opposed to the other:

• Growth mindset - Carol Dweck, in her research, differentiated between Fixed Mindset and Growth Mindset.
• Limiting beliefs – Related to fixed mindset, limiting beliefs constrain us in many ways.
• Fear of failures – This could directly stem from the organizational culture and environment.

In a follow-up article, Sahana Chattopadhyay makes it clear that training is only one aspect of performance. "Organizational challenges today are multi-pronged and taking a single approach doesn’t work. It is entirely possible that while training may be a requirement, other concerns also need to be simultaneously addressed."

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Self-Regulation: The Other 21st Century Skills
Jackie Gerstein, User Generated Education, 2014/08/26

The whole character-building thing has been in vogue recently, what with people writing about "grit" and other aspects of successful learners (and people). There is some point to this - you will not become successful at anything (whether work, hobbies or even lifestyle) without putting the effort, which takes motivation and perseverence. But there's also an aspect of this movement whereby these are externally defined. Take this: "Self-regulated learning is the conscious planning, monitoring, evaluation, and ultimately control of one’s learning in order to maximize it." It depicts the self as naturally something (someone?) you have to battle in order to succeed. Well - I have never thought that way about my own work. Yes, I work very hard, struggle with means and motivation, and even measure progress sometimes (but not nearly as often as you might thing). But it's not a battle - for me, it's a process of immersing myself completely into my own life. My 'other 21st century skills' are these skills. It's worth noting the difference.

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