OLDaily

Open Learning, Open Networks
Stephen Downes, Half an Hour, 2017/06/07

Open online learning entered the mainstream with the growth and popularity of MOOCs, but while interest in open online courses has never been greater MOOCs represent only the first step in a broader open learning infrastructure. Adapted from a talk given March 9, 2017, at the State University of New York in Syracuse, this essay describes several key innovations shaping the future of open learning: distributed social networks, cloud infrastructures and virtualization, immersive reality, and personal learning environments. It outlines the challenges this evolving model will pose to learning providers and educational institutions and recommend policies and processes to meet them.

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Equality of Educational Opportunity
Liam Shields, Anne Newman, Debra Satz, Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2017/06/07

I'm surprised to find such an article in an encyclopedia of philosophy, but in fact philosophers have addressed the subject over the years, and it is a matter of current philosophical import (hence my own involvement in the subject). What emerges is a generally fair-minded discussion of the issues behind the concept and varying perspectives. It begins by examining the value of education and the various concepts of equality of opportunity, including opportunity based on merit and opportunity based on fairness. It also examines why we would support such a concept: is it to aid flourishing, to support society, to fill the labour market or to promote citizenship. Finally, who receives opportunity: is it individuals, or groups? Image: DW.

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Handbook of Learning Analytics (open)
George Siemens, Charles Lang, Alyssa Wise, Dragan Gašević, elearnspace, 2017/06/07

I'll enthusiastically give the platform to George Siemens here: "I’m very excited about a new project that started as an idea during LAK13 in Leuven and is another commitment to openness by the Society for Learning Analytics Research: The Handbook of Learning Analytics. The book, CC-licensed, weighs in at 356 pages and provides a good snapshot of the status of learning analytics as a field. It’s a free download (both the book and the chapters)." Awsome. See also:  Journal for Learning Analytics.

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Creative vs. Transactional Collaboration
Asha Curran, Stanford Social Innovation Review, 2017/06/07

This post essentially distinguishes between collaboration (which it calls 'creative collaboration') and cooperation (which it calls transactional collaboration) and then asserts that only the former is good. "Collaboration that builds organizational capacity, moves people to take part, and propels the sector forward, by contrast, involves true co-creation and uses the unique strengths of each partner as building blocks." I don't agree with this, and more to the point, I don't think Stanford does either. What they are actually saying, I think, is that they will work only with people who already agree with their sense of what the mission is and how it should be approached.

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What Kind of (Digital) Citizen?
Alec Couros, Katia Hildebrandt, Open Thinking, 2017/06/07

There has been a lot of discussion recently on the concept of the digital citizen. A lot of the talk is focused on what we might call Right Behaviour. For example, here's Bonnie Stewart on digital platforms: "They do not lend themselves to good digital citizenship because they shape and direct human behaviour in ways that privilege capital and circulation and extremes, rather than, say, collaboration or empathy." But maybe there's a concept of citizenship beyond the concept of responsibility. That's what Alec Couros and Katia Hildebrandt explore in this post. So we have the personally responsible citizen, the participatory citizen, and the justice oriented citizen. More on the current conversation here, here, here, here and here. Twitterstream here.

I'm not really happy with any of those. Not because I oppose responsibility, participation or justice. But rather because I don't see those as definitive of my place in society. We need to base society on voluntary cooperation, rather than involuntary collaboration. I have the right (or responsibility) to oppose as much as to support, and this isn't inherent, but follows from how I create my own place in society. If I am doing nothing, I have no inherent duty or responsibility to act or care. You don't get to define me; I define myself. My citizenship begins with, and is defined only by, my actions. (This is a new concept for me but I think it's an important one.)

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