[Xmca-l] Re: [commfac] Re: FW: femtechnet: DOCC 2013: top listed story on Inside Higher Ed

Tue Aug 20 11:53:32 PDT 2013

Precisely the right question, Andy.
mike

On Tue, Aug 20, 2013 at 5:58 AM, Andy Blunden <ablunden@mira.net> wrote:

> What, in your opinion then, Michael, is the best thing a group or
> university teachers, with technical support and access to a website, but no
> appreciable amount of money, could do to offer education in CHAT free to
> the world?
>
> Andy
>
>
> Glassman, Michael wrote:
>
>> I think one of the things we really need to do is change the vocabulary
>> and the way we talk about different initiatives in Internet infused
>> education.  Massive Open Online Courses is a marketing scheme not a point
>> of debate about education.  MOOC sounds kind of cute but it is so broad as
>> to be completely meaningless, and the appropriation of it is an attempt of
>> those with the largest megaphone and smallest intellectual memories to take
>> control of the conversation (same thing that happened with the phrase
>> educational reform I think).  Ironically when the phrase was first
>> introduced it mean something completely different from what we
>> automatically think it means now.  It was introduced to describe a
>> twenty-five person online course with high levels of connectivity by George
>> Siemans at the University of Manitoba.  It was appropriated by venture
>> capital companies like Udacity and EdX I would surmise because it is kind
>> of a cute way of describing things like Teletubbies.  The trou
>>  ble is then we are constantly arguing against the way MOOCs are which
>> creates an uncomfortable bifurcation - is the Internet good for education
>> or bad for education.
>>
>> I think we would be much better off it we used the United Nations terms
>> which are much more descriptive - Open Educational Content and Open
>> Educational Resources.  Open Educational Content sort of describes Udacity
>> while Open Educational Resources describes better Balsamo's project.  This
>> gives us the opportunity to say which is better for educational purposes.
>>  We can ask the question, "Why do you think Open Content" is enough for an
>> educational experience?  Does OEC limit students more than OER?  Basically
>> what those proposing OEC are doing is throwing out centuries of not only
>> discussions of education but pretty much every argument since Des Cartes.
>>  They should be called on this publicly and made to answer for it.
>>
>> Michael
>> ______________________________**__________
>> From: xmca-l-bounces@mailman.ucsd.**edu <xmca-l-bounces@mailman.ucsd.edu>[
>> xmca-l-bounces@mailman.ucsd.**edu <xmca-l-bounces@mailman.ucsd.edu>] on
>> behalf of mike cole [lchcmike@gmail.com]
>> Sent: Monday, August 19, 2013 7:44 PM
>> To: eXtended Mind, Culture, Activity
>> Subject: [Xmca-l] Re: [commfac] Re: FW: femtechnet: DOCC 2013: top listed
>> story on Inside Higher Ed
>>
>> It is unthinkable from the perspective of any world view that values
>> diversity.
>> XMCA values diversity.
>> Ergo....... or is that er.... go??
>> mike
>>
>>
>> On Mon, Aug 19, 2013 at 4:33 PM, Martin John Packer <
>> mpacker@uniandes.edu.co
>>
>>
>>> wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>
>>
>>
>>> I especially like the concluding paragraphs:
>>>
>>> Among the forms of MOOC hype that Balsamo said she hoped the DOCC would
>>> combat is the idea that massive online courses allow some "best"
>>> professor
>>> to interact with students everywhere, so that all can learn from the
>>> superstar. It's not that there aren't very talented professors out there,
>>> she said, but the superstar emphasis is wrong ("Is there really a
>>> 'best'?"
>>> she asks) and doesn't encourage group learning.
>>>
>>> Said Balsamo: "The idea of the one best talking head, the best expert in
>>> the world, that couldn't be more patriarchal. That displays a hubris that
>>> is unthinkable from a feminist perspective."
>>>
>>>
>>> Read more:
>>> http://www.insidehighered.com/**news/2013/08/19/feminist-**
>>> professors-create-alternative-**moocs#ixzz2cSdlb7pt<http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2013/08/19/feminist-professors-create-alternative-moocs#ixzz2cSdlb7pt>
>>> Inside Higher Ed
>>>
>>>
>>> On Aug 19, 2013, at 6:24 PM, mike cole <lchcmike@gmail.com> wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>> Dear Xmcaers-
>>>>
>>>> The following link to femnet mooc seems to me to offer a very
>>>> interesting
>>>> model for members of xmca to think of following. We here at UCSD have
>>>>
>>>>
>>> been
>>>
>>>
>>>> thinking along
>>>> such lines, but this is a developed model that might actually provide
>>>>
>>>>
>>> some
>>>
>>>
>>>> kind of
>>>> strategic guide to action. I can imagine any number of stimulating such
>>>> efforts various
>>>> congeries of xmca could cook up.
>>>> mike
>>>>
>>>> Forwarded from Lisa Cartwright at ucsd.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>> Hi everyone, the DOCC 2013 MOOC alternative course discussed today
>>>>> today
>>>>> in Inside Higher Ed had one of its pilots taught in our department last
>>>>> spring by Liz Losh and me with Monika Sengul Jones, Cristina Visperas,
>>>>> Lousie Hickman, Erika Cheng, Yelena Guzman and others leading the
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>> effort to
>>>
>>>
>>>> produce innovative course design and materials and hosting a conference
>>>>> dedicated to it--big shout-out to these graduate students for making
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>> this
>>>
>>>
>>>> launch happen. We are one of the 17 colleges offering the class to
>>>>> undergrads in this coming year. I thought some of you you might enjoy
>>>>> reading this alternative effort given the pervasive of MOOC discussions
>>>>> right now.  Best to everyone, Lisa
>>>>>
>>>>> I suggest you take a look.
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>> mike
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>> ------------------------------
>>>>>
>>>>> http://www.insidehighered.com/
>>>>>
>>>>> ______________________________**_________________
>>>>> femtechnet mailing list
>>>>> femtechnet@lists.uoregon.edu
>>>>> https://lists-prod.uoregon.**edu/mailman/listinfo/**femtechnet<https://lists-prod.uoregon.edu/mailman/listinfo/femtechnet>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>
> --
> ------------------------------**------------------------------**
> ------------
> *Andy Blunden*
> Home Page: http://home.mira.net/~andy/
> Book: http://www.brill.nl/concepts
> http://marxists.academia.edu/**AndyBlunden<http://marxists.academia.edu/AndyBlunden>
>
>
>
>