Here are the Top 100 Tools for Learning 2015
Jane Hart, http://www.c4lpt.co.uk/blog/, 2015/09/30

Jane Hart routinely surveys educational technologists to find their favoured toolss. This is the list for 2015 (or, at least, this version of the list for 2015). "For the 7th year running Twitter is the  No 1 tool on the list, although this year it is very closely followed by YouTube, and once again, the list is dominated by free online tools and services. I can also see some interesting new trends in the tools that are being used for both personal learning and for creating learning content and experiences for others."

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A Terrific and Dismal View of What Influences CS Faculty to Adopt Teaching Practices
Mark Guzdial, Computing Education Blog, 2015/09/30

According to the study summarized here (but paywalled, so we can't evaluate it for ourselves), the major variable determining whether computer science teachers use a new pedagogical too is "whether students liked it." As one teacher comments (language warning) "You can do something that you think, ‘Wow! If the learning experience was way better this term, the experiment really worked.’ And then you read your teaching reviews, and it’s like the students are pissed off because you did not do what they expected."

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Why GE had to kill its annual performance reviews after more than three decades
Max Nisen, Quartz, 2015/09/30

If performance reviews and grading by the curve are becoming a thing of the past at the auto plant, can they last long in schools and colleges? "'Command and control is what Jack was famous for. Now it’s about connection and inspiration,' Krishnamoorthy recently told a group of HR executives at a conference. ... There’s an emphasis on coaching throughout, and the tone is unrelentingly positive. The app forces users to categorize feedback in one of two forms: To continue doing something, or to consider changing something." See also: the myth of the bell curve.

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Are School Internet Filters the Forgotten Equity Battleground?
Katrina Schwartz, Mind/Shift, 2015/09/30

I haven't written about school internet filters for a long time. They've become generally background, standard, and annoying. But of course they have been quietly shaping students' internet experience for more than a decade now. And what is that experience like? One of the first things to be silenced is the student voice, according to this article, with social network services like Facebook and Twitter hidden behind the barrier. And arguably, "prohibiting students from accessing the tools to create digital stories, share and access other people’s ideas on current events, and watch video lessons restricts their intellectual rights."

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New reforms threaten future of Japanese language study in England
William Hollingworth, Japan Times, 2015/09/30

Another good reason why you should not subcontract hyour education system to a commercial publisher: "From 2017, education firm Pearson is planning to scrap A and A-S levels in Japanese." They say it's due to the need to redevelop the exam, but one wonders why then they would be in discussions to "save" the qualification (hint: they want more money). "A total of 13 lesser-taught language A-levels — including Polish, Turkish and Arabic — are being ditched, leaving only six: French, German, Spanish, Italian, Chinese and Russian."

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