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Howard Rheingold, DML Central, June 11, 2013 Howard Rheingoild interviews Bryan Alexander in this wide-ranging 24-minute video (with text-intro, if you're rushed) on the fuiture of MOOCs. Writes Rheingold, "the ballyhooed arrival of free MOOCs into this frightening intersection of economic, intellectual, and social forces has ignited debate about the future of universities. The Reedie in me asks: What is the place of liberal arts ideals in an atmosphere like this?" [Link] [Comment]

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Ed Yong, The Scientist, June 11, 2013 Discovering how we learn in a completely new domain is teaching us more about how we learn. In this case, reserachers are studying how we learn to use brain-controlled interfaces (BCIs). These are sensors that detect brain activity in order to move cursors, remote-controlled helicopters, and even artificial limbs. "We learn to use BCIs in the same way that we learn other motor skills, like riding a bicycle or throwing a ball. At first, it takes deliberate conscious effort and involves a network of many different brain regions. As people practice, however, the tasks become easier and almost automatic, and the network becomes much less active... we will be able to design systems that train users in the most effective way possible, slowly adding complexity while they develop skill." [Link] [Comment]

Family blogger writes a humorous post about the last few hectic weeks of school, and lands herself a spot on the Today Show.

Family blogger writes a humorous post about the last few hectic weeks of school, and lands herself a spot on the Today Show.

By SEBASTIAN SALAMANCA, the Hook

It’s been nine months since the University of British Columbia joined a select group of postsecondary institutions to offer “massive online open courses,” also known as MOOCs. While several parties are pleased with how the free web classes taught by UBC professors have helped to improve access to education, others have expressed anxieties about the long term financial implications to the higher ed system. “MOOCs have changed the frontiers of education,” said Daphne Koller, the founder of Coursera, a company which partners with universities to offer MOOCs and a professor of computer science at Stanford University. Koller attended a panel last Friday which discussed how UBC’s pilot MOOCs have fared. “Now, you can take the same learning outcome that you can get from a large lecture class and provide that same quality experience to hundreds of thousands around the world.”

http://thetyee.ca/Blogs/TheHook/2013/06/03/UBC-MOOC-Panel/

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By Mary Beth Marklein, CIO-Today

Public universities and systems in nine states say they’ll join a push to greatly expand and improve online learning. Coursera, a Silicon Valley-based company, is [says] that it will partner with university systems in Colorado, Georgia, New York, Tennessee and Texas to develop and evaluate the potential of technology that is fueling dramatic changes in how higher education is designed and delivered. Partnerships with several state flagship universities also are being announced, bringing to more than 70 the number of schools or systems working with the company. Coursera is one of a handful of young companies or non-profit groups that offer an array of free, non-credit, college-level courses to anyone who has an Internet connection and a desire to learn.

http://www.cio-today.com/story.xhtml?story_id=0030003H6P7I

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by Steve Kolowich, Inside Higher Ed

One of the first things researchers have learned about student success in massive open online courses is that in-person, one-on-one teaching still matters. For online learners who took the first session of “Circuits & Electronics,” the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s hallmark MOOC, those who worked on course material offline with a classmate or “someone who teaches or has expertise” in the subject did better than those who did not, according to a new paper by researchers at MIT and Harvard University. The research, published this week by the journal Research & Practice in Assessment, is one of the first peer-reviewed academic studies based on data from a MOOC. Advocates for the massive online courses have cited their potential value as engines of educational research.

http://chronicle.com/blogs/wiredcampus/mooc-students-who-got-offline-help-scored-higher-study-finds/44111

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Google is rumored to be close to acquiring social traffic app Waze, mostly to keep it from Apple and Facebook.

Google is rumored to be close to acquiring social traffic app Waze, mostly to keep it from Apple and Facebook.

Technorati ranked hockey bloggers discuss the 2013 Stanley Cup match-up between the Bruins and Blackhawks

Technorati ranked hockey bloggers discuss the 2013 Stanley Cup match-up between the Bruins and Blackhawks

Die im Informationssystem eingespeicherten gestaltbaren Tabellen aus der "Polizeilichen Kriminalstatistik" des Bundeskriminalamtes wurden um das Jahr 2012 ergänzt.

Ausgewählte Informationen zum Tag der Apotheke unter dem Motto "Erst fragen, dann fahren!" am 13.06.2013

Scott Mcleod, Dangerously Irrelevant, June 10, 2013 "Our actions put the lie to  our school mission statements that state that we’ re about creating 'self-motivated, life-long learners,' writes Scott McLeod. "The result is that most of what [our students] experience during school hours passes over them like the shadow of a cloud, or through them like an undigested seed." Some good discussion, with references, on the concept of intrinsic motivation, and how we seem to have abandoned the concept entirely in education. And elsewhere too, I would argue. See also: Hold it Right There, We learn about black holes in year 10, not year 8, from Alice Leung. [Link] [Comment]

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Ishan Srivastava, The Times of India, June 10, 2013 Amid all the discussion around Athabasca's Mooc Research Initiative was the really good comment that ". This research project appears to have made a deep identification of MOOC with large, centralised providers. Any effort that does not involve large, centralized  providers is already deemed an 'alternative'." Venkataraman Balaji added, in an email, "It would be interesting to speculate what if a similar approach  had gained ground in the earlier stages of OER movement; for example, if OER was identified deeply with celebrity projects like the OCW or CNX, would new, large scale contributors have come on the scene? ...viewing OER as a more generic paradigm with a few initial, shining examples like OCW gave confidence to workers in developing countries that they could meaningfully participate in the global OER paradigm." He refers us to this course as an example of what we might call 'generic MOOC' (as opposed to the heavily publicized 'brand name MOOC' initiatives). I know Coursera and EdX are signing up a lot of partners, but I'm seeing a lot - a lot - of activity outside their corporate firewalls. Which is good, and necessary. [Link] [Comment]

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John Tamny, Forbes, June 10, 2013 Forbes doesn't often get it right, but in this case they do: "With university education jaw-droppingly expensive, it’ s often asked what in terms of instruction kids are getting in return for the huge cost. Of course that’ s a false question. Parents and kids once again aren’ t buying education despite their protests to the contrary. Going to college is a status thing, not a learning thing. Kids go to college for the experience, not for what’ s taught. And that’ s why there’ s no ‘ bubble’ forming in the university world. There isn’ t one not because Yale and Stanford students learn anything of real world value, but because each school is a door opener." If you understand this, you understand why MOOCs have to be about connecting people, rather than merely about transmitting content. [Link] [Comment]

Ça valait le coup d'étudier ça en cours... #Furosémide #diuretique #MED2

Thank you to Valvoline for sponsoring this feature- Getting Your Hands Dirty: Engine Work The Way It’s Meant To Be

Thank you to Valvoline for sponsoring this feature- Getting Your Hands Dirty: Engine Work The Way It’s Meant To Be

Thank you to Valvoline for sponsoring this feature- Getting Your Hands Dirty: Engine Work The Way It’s Meant To Be