Feelings of Science
David Hume’s philosophy of morality is distinct from most approaches in that it does not postulate some set of principles or criteria for moral behaviour. Rather, he argues that we…
Stephen Downes
Experts and Empowerment
We all, as David Wiley writes, want to empower learners. While we read a great deal these days about education as job training and workforce readiness, what we really want…
Moncton On Top
Responding to comments on the Globe and Mail article, Moncton on top after surviving recession, government austerity. Also posted to Moncton Free Press. Bilingualism is an asset. Yes, it means…
The Rise of MOOCs
Responses to interview questions posed by Kevin Charles Redmon, Independent Journalist and Middlebury Fellow in Environmental Journalism 1. Are MOOCs an idea that were floating around the halls of universities…
LCT Poll
I have a quick Twitter poll – I’m considering offering a MOOC in logic and critical thinking starting in September… informal yet rigorous First question – would you be interested…
Notes from Tallinn
Notes from the April 11 talks at the Learning in a Digital Age Conference in Tallinn, Estonia. My presentation at the conference draws largely from these notes. Steve Wheeler –…
Artificial Legs in Thailand
Responding to Harvard Business Review blogs, wherein it is stated, “Doctors in India and Rwanda do not know anything more about the science of eye care or cardiac surgery or…
That Something Else Better
I saw this thing from John T. Spencer consisting of the first two columns below, ‘Management’ and ‘Leadership’ respectively, and while I get that ‘Leadership’ is supposed to be something…
Code for Repression
Responding to James Morton: You say “Judges shouldn’t be making social policy.” I respond that the policy was already made by legislators, and that judges are merely enforcing it. The…
Education as Platform: The MOOC Experience and what we can do to make it better
Presented to EdgeX2012, Delhi, India, March 12, 2012. My name is Stephen Downes, I’m from Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada. New Brunswick is a small province on the eastern side of…
The Centre Moves
The whole argument that the NDP should move to the centre ignores the fact that the centre moves. Responding to David W. Campbell I hear this ‘pragmatist centrist’ argument a…
The Senate
The purpose of the Senate is to To review and approve legislation passed by Parliament before sending it for execution by the Governor-General of Canada; to initiate non-financial legislation; to…
What a MOOC Does – #Change11
Clark Quinn is asking where the further developments in MOOCs will come from, suggesting “he courses really require effective self-learners”, and I see today that Tony Bates continues this line…
Knowledge, Learning and Community
Contribution to #Change11 online course, February 27. The intent of these short contributions to the #Change11 course is to allow guest speakers to summarize their sum contribution to the field…
The OEO Logo and CC
UNESCO recently launched a new OER logo. On 25/02/2012 9:19 PM, Cable Green wrote: UNESCO – please change the license from CC BY ND… to either CC BY … or…
Social Media: An Interview
I was asked to contribute my responses to interview questions on social media for a new journal called The Future of Learning and of course I was happy to send…
One of the Best
Gary Edmund Carter (April 8, 1954 – February 16, 2012) (nickname “The Kid”) was an American former Major League Baseball catcher. During a 19-year baseball career, mostly with the Montreal…
E-Learning: Générations
(English version) Ces dernières années, j’ai travaillé sur deux grandsconcepts: d’abord, la théorie de l’apprentissage en ligne connectivist, quiconsidère l’apprentissage comme un processus de réseau et, deuxièmement, lemassif cours ouverts…
E-Learning Generations
(version française) In recent years I have been working on two major concepts:first, the connectivist theory of online learning, which views learning as anetwork process; and second, the massive open…
Passwords on gRSShopper
Last night with all the indignation of the morally righteous someone wrote to me and demanded that I do exactly what they say or they would blog about how awful…