OLDaily

How Spitball's Blockchain Student Economy Disrupts The Global E-Learning Market
John Welsh, Forbes, 2018/11/05

I think this project mistakes the reason why people share resources. Here it is: "Spitball 2.0, a new version of the platform, allows students to earn a cryptocurrency by sharing content or answering questions to buy study resources and possessions, as well as place advertisements for tutoring and student accommodation." If you have to be paid to share, you aren't really sharing. (Note that to bypass Forbe's spamwall I use Ublock Origin on Firefox).

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‘How Corporate Cash Bought American Higher Education’
Marjorie Valbrun, Inside Higher Ed, 2018/11/05

Coverage of a book by Joshua Hunt arguing against corporate influence in education.  “They have kowtowed to this donor because he’s far and away the largest donor we have,” he (Nathan Tublitz) said. And as a result, “he has forced the university to accept the strings attached to those donations and he has had a significant effect on the direction and the integrity of the university.” There's nothing especially new here, though it is helpful to remember that when for-profit corporations donate money, it is with a for-profit objective.

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The automation imperative
Alexander Edlich, McKinsey, 2018/11/05

I heard once again today at a conference how automation is going to impact education, and in particular, what we need to teach and how we need to teach it, But what of automation itself? This report from McKinsey has some interesting bits, including this: "The results favor decentralization... respondents at less successful organizations are more than twice as likely as those at successful ones to say a central team is solely responsible for automation delivery across the organization."

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