Work
It was a week that had the full range of highs and lows as a manager. We finalized the plan for a large project, with funding and timelines, and everything is go. Awesome. The posting for the Technology Integration Specialist, the person who will be largely running that project for the next 2 years, closed Friday, and the interview and hiring process should happen pretty quickly now. Things are moving along extremely quickly on that now.
And, we are saying goodbye to a valued and important team member, who has decided to go back to teaching in the classroom - his experience as a teacher was one of the things that made him so important in our team. He’s going to leave a really big hole in the team, and we’ll be posting the position ASAP.
The Learning Technologies and Spaces summer research project wrapped up as well - still putting the final touches on the project website (which will also be used as the hub for the Big Project), and then we’ll be sharing that widely. Lots of great work there - talking with students, instructors and staff about their experiences with learning spaces and technologies at the UofC. The video produced by our summer research assistants is online already:
Read
Edtech-ish
- Audrey Watters - The MOOC revolution that wasn’t Audrey gives a fantastic breakdown of the history and the pivot of Venture Capital MOOCs away from Education For All to Job Training for the Rich. Ideal students only need apply. But ideal students would succeed anywhere. Because they’re ideal. Privilege is awesome.
- via Stephen Downes
- Rob Kelly: From F2F to Online: Getting It Right
- Michael Collins: Can Agency Over Digital Tools Liberate Pedagogy?
- Renowned researcher: ‘Why I am no longer comfortable’ in the field of educational measurement - The Washington Post Cheap and political, fodder for shock doctrine disruption. pits haves-vs-have-nots (rich taxpayers with high quality private education vs. poor obviously-freeloading-non-taxpayers with crappy public education).
Miscellanea
- Andrew Cunningham: Phone and laptop encryption guide: Protect your stuff and yourself
- via Merlin Mann: “For decades, Americans have been losing their ability, even their right, to walk. There are places…”
- Jason Kottke: What is the meaning of life for an atheist?
- The Web Is a Customer Service Medium (Ftrain.com) The web is not, despite the desires of so many, a publishing medium. The web is a customer service medium. “Intense moderation” in a customer service medium is what “editing” was for publishing.
- The Politics of the Curation Craze | The New Republic One simple explanation is prestige appropriation. This is understandable—“curation” lends the cultural capital and seriousness associated with art institutions to the mundane assemblages of our lives. Curating an Instagram feed or Christmas list sounds more legitimate, somehow, than si
- Double Robotics - Telepresence Robot for Telecommuters iPad-based telepresence robot. UofA used one to let a student attend classes while in hospital for surgery.
Other
I picked the week that smoke from the Washington State fires smothered the city to start riding to work again. Still, worth it. And I was able to blame my slowness and lack of lung capacity on the smoke, rather than on my being horribly out of shape. Winning.
