Learning Innovation

Audrey Watters has a great piece this week in her Hack (Higher) Education column Top Ed-Tech Trends of 2012: The Business of Ed-Tech What resonated most with me is her assertion that: "…for all the finger-pointing about the flaws in the business models of higher education, it's not clear that the business models of many education companies, particularly startups, will fare that much better."

Sweet Tooth is my favorite novel of 2012. Ian McEwan's story of literature meets spies is at once completely original and totally engrossing.

Is the Google Drive app an iTunes U app killer? Can the Google Drive ecosystem (web and apps) replace the Apple course content delivery ecosystem (Course Manager and the iTunes U app)?

Aaron Bady's excellent critique of Clay Shirky's thought provoking post "Napster, Udacity, and the Academy" provides a powerful window into our most important debates about how higher ed will evolve over the next few years. The comments to Bady's article, and Shirky's response to his critique, provide strong evidence of the power of an open exchange of ideas and views within an informed community.

The EDUCAUSE 2013 call for proposals just landed in my inbox. Are you planning on proposing a session, panel, point/counterpoint or poster?

Did you read about Pearson College in the NYTimes? An (almost, working on it) accredited institution of higher learning situated within the corporate campus, and designed and delivered within the corporate structure, seems like a huge deal to me.

The language we use matters when discussing the various players in the education ecosystem. Labels are never neutral, but rather carry with them a history of judgments, debates, and conclusions.

I don't know much about K-12 education. Beyond the fact that I have two kids (8th and 10th grade) in our local public middle school and high school, and that I spent 12 years in public primary and secondary schools, my knowledge of the sector is embarrassingly skimpy.