Crypto 2.0 and DAWCs: Dawn of Decentralized Autonomous Workers Councils.
Rob Myers, Humanity+, 2015/10/14

This is related to the case of Colony, which I posted about earlier this week. Colony is one instance of whaat this article calls 'decentralized autonomous workers councils'. "Workers’ Councils are a Liberatarian Socialist system of organization. Rather than implementing Soviet-style centralized command economies, workers councils are decentralized and democratic. Workers in a particular workplace decide what their objectives are then appoint temporary (and instantly revocable) delegates to be responsible for them. Workplaces appoint representatives to local councils, local councils appoint representatives to regional councils, and so on, always temporarily and revocably. It is a system of face to face socialisation and political representation rather than top-down control."

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Embracing Differentiation and Reclaiming Audacity: An Interview with James Hilton
James Hilton, EDUCAUSE Review, 2015/10/14

According to interviewee James Hilton, "We're going to see growing pressure on higher education to offer increasingly differentiated paths to education." Now it should be noted that this is different from the concept of differentiated instruction. This is about institutions finding unique roles or niches for themselves. "I think there is going to be intense pressure on higher education institutions to 'find their North Star' and differentiate on that. Research universities need to be places where students go because they want to participate in the discovery of things not yet known..." (funny how these discussions always come back to research universities, who will remain the same while everyone else changes). There's some interesting stuff about collaboration and cooperation, the "audacity of the shared vision" - "What is that vision now, in the 21st century? For me, it's the notion that education can be tailored and customized for every single individual."

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Higher Ed Disruption in Context
Jonathan Blake Huer, EDUCAUSE Review, 2015/10/14

More on the disruption of higher education by technology. In this item Jonathan Blake Huer takes the position that disruptive technology definitely exists, but suggests that higher education may be uniquely resistant to it. "In higher education, we can continually look for the technology that will causes colleges and universities to be disrupted. Or, we can argue for the internal expansion and acceptance of new technologies, we can proliferate technology and maker culture throughout our organizations, and we can prove why higher education is truly unique and different from all of those other industries already toppled by tech entrepreneurs and venture capital." Rolling my eyes a bit here.

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US Department of Education Opens Financial Aid to Students in ‘Bootcamps’ and Non-Institutional Programs
Tony Wan, EdSurge, 2015/10/14

The American government has announced a new program to connect alternative education initiatives such as MOOCs and EdCamps with traditional education providers. "Here’s the kicker," writes Tony Wan. "Students enrolled in select programs can be eligible for Title IV federal financial aid." The program is called “Educational Quality through Innovation Partnerships” (EQUIP) and includes schools, the alternative educators, and a third-party “Quality Assurance Entity”. The program is intended to broaded opportunities to access university education, which remains out of reach of the poor. "Wealthier students are eight times more likely to get a degree by age 24 than those from low-income families." See also Inside Higher Ed, Community College Daily.

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MacArthur Foundation Launches $25 Million Nonprofit to Inherit Education Projects
Tony Wan, EdSurge, 2015/10/14

The list of projects emcompassed by the foundation's new 'non-profit' is interesting. The first project inherits work from the 'Cities of Learning' project. LRNG  “is creating a 21st century ecosystem of learning that combines in-school, out-of-school, work-based, and online learning opportunities that are visible and accessible to all.” Other projects reflect other MacArthur interests. They include " Open Badges, developed in partnership with the Mozilla Foundation to create digital credentials, and Educator Innovator, an online community for teachers to learn and explore new ideas."

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