Harnessing informal and social learning
Charles Gould, Brightwave, Slideshare, 2014/10/21

Interesting presentation (especially the screen shots in the latter half) on personal and informal learning. "Key learning points: Early adoption examples of dynamic social learning in real-world scenarios; How to use social media to create personalised learning experiences; The role of digital learning in large scale transformation; How Tin Can API [aka Experience API] changes the landscape of e-learning." See more from Brightwave here.

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The Open Standard
Various authors, Mozilla, 2014/10/21

Mozilla has launched a newsletter called 'The Open Standard' which addresses issues such as privacy, transparency and trust. The lead article today, for example, is titled: Who’s Collecting Kids’ Personal Data? Lots of People. It draws from sources like the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse and Fordham Law School’s Center on Law and Information Policy (CLIP). Another article looks at the recent Whisper controversy. Another studies a university library with no books. Overall it looks like a pretty nice effort (but these things are easy to start and a lot harder to maintain over years and decades).

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Chartbeat tries to fight the smoke and mirrors in web measurement by going public with its metrics
Mathew Ingram, GigaOm, 2014/10/21

We need to "stop thinking about pageviews or other traffic-focused metrics, and start thinking about measuring actual attention or engagement," says Chartbeat founder and CEO Tony Haile as his company is set to open access to the company's metrics and procedures. Although these metrics are intended for the web content industry, it's hard not to think that they will be relevant to e-learning as well. They are, after all, a prima facie indicator of engagement, which is a primary indicator for learning. It would also be interesting to see cross-industry analysis - one wonders how a MOOC really does compare to a newspaper website, YouTibe channel, or advertising campaign.

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Canadian colleges’ successes with disadvantaged learners Highlighted at UNESCO-UNEVOC Skills Summit
Unattributed, Colleges, Institutes Canada, 2014/10/21

According to this post, Colleges and Institutes Canada has released a report describing "the programs, support services and innovations that Canadian colleges are using to increase access to post-secondary education for vulnerable groups." The report (60 page PDF) is organized as a series of 55 or so one-page articles, each describing a case where someone uses one of the services (it would make a great series of blog posts). Topics include Indigenous learners, language support for new arrivals, learning disabilities, the transition to college, mental illness and crime. "Reducing the barriers that prevent young people from entering and completing post-secondary education is key to improved self-confidence, employment success and economic prosperity."

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Social Learning is Voluntary; Collaboration Platforms are Enablers
Sahana Chattopadhyay, ID and Other Reflections, 2014/10/21

I've used the phrase 'free learning and control learning' in the past to highlight the same distinction, but while my terminology didn't really take off, perhaps Jane Hart's 'social learning and fauxial learning' will fare better. I'm not betting on it. But the distinction is valid, and so is the recognition that people can depend on people other than teachers to support their own learning. "Organizations can no longer exist in silos -- either internally or in relation to the external ecosystem. Cooperation and collaboration will yield greater benefits than competitiveness. Employees will no longer tolerate being treated like replaceable cogs."

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Review of ‘Online Distance Education: Towards a Research Agenda.’
Tony Bates, online learning and distance education resources, 2014/10/21

Although Tony Bates considers this book "essential reading for anyone who wants to take a professional, evidence-based approach to online learning (distance or otherwise)" he suggests that "we need a better way to disseminate this research than a 500 page printed text that only those already expert in the field are likely to access." It doesn't help that there's no open access version (at least that I could find). Moreover, writes Bates, "I groaned when I first saw the list of contributors. The same old, same old list of distance education experts with a heavy bias towards open universities."

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