Being a Philosopher
My response to a comment from Pandora on a post about philosophy > “Isn’t philosophy taught mostly like read this, talk about it, write about it, argue about it.” Yes,…
Stephen Downes
K-12 MOOCs and Communities
Responding to questions from Paul Genge: > My question is about what tools do you think I should use to connect students with genres or communities of practice based on…
Questions from students at Vancouver Island University
I received a flurry of questions on some articles on my website yesterday, questions from students at Vancouver Island University. Rather than attempt to answer them individually, I’m grouping there…
Critical Thinking and Knowledge Domains
by Stephen Downes Responding to Alex Reid http://www.alex-reid.net/2012/08/critical-thinking-is-bogus.html (posting here in case he doesn’t approve the post in moderation): It would be helpful if we understood what you mean by…
Future Learning Interview
Hiya Peter, Answers to questions follow. 1. What do you think will be the long-term effects of tools like Cousera and Udacity, as well as the online material posted by…
The Robot Teachers
“Can you recommend a good doctor?” This is the final question in an article by Tony Bates about teaching, and it frames the debate nicely. We would be very disinclined…
Computer Use Guidelines
Responding to Alfred Thompson’s Ten Commandments of Computer Ethics: Leaving aside the questionable wisdom of framing generic advice within a construct specific to a certain religion… The commandments say, essentially,…
New Forms of Assessment: measuring what you contribute rather than what you collect
Once again, as we do at the start of every school year, we are hearing about the rampant cheating that goes on, especially online, but in fact, everywhere, and without…
Jobs That I’ve Had
Following up on this post from Blue Skunk blog, here’s a list of the jobs that I’ve had over the years: – 1970-74 – Newspaper carrier – I started with…
Transparency, Radical or Otherwise
Responding to Doug Johnson, who in turn is responding to Miguel Guhlin, who has made his RSS work again. 🙂 My managers and co-workers read my blog (though not as…
My Charitable Giving Profile
Responding to a post from Beth Kanter My giving is focused and specific. In particular, I avoid charities performing functions that ought to be performed by the public domain. Specifically,…
Connectivism as Epistemology
Responding to questions from Vance McPherson 1) What is your response to Rita Kop’s suggestion that connectivism is a new epistemology but not a new learning theory? As I understand…
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…
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…