Open Textbooks and Open Educational Practices

I was included in an MN Daily story about open textbooks last week. It was actually a bit embarrassing as I thought a few other colleagues would ‘co-star’ with me in this story because there are exciting work on open textbooks and affordable content going on at UMN. University of Minnesota professors use their free time to write free textbooks: https://t.co/iCgMCxC3qf @mndailynews @bod0ng @dernst @UMNews #UMNproud #CEHD Learn more: https://t.co/eydHtKE8Em @open_textbooks #oer @LTMediaLab @UMN_CI pic.

Episodes from my trip in China

I am not an ethnographer. But there were a few episodes from my trip to/in China last month that caught my attention, or ‘gaze’. To put these episodes into perspective, my most recent trip to China took place in October 2016. On the Escalator As more subways are built underground, I encountered more of those super long escalators in mega cities. On one escalator in Shanghai, I heard its accompanying ‘voice reminder system’ saying:

Web Annotation of Research Articles in Learning Sciences

As a member of the Outreach Advisory Board of the Journal of the Learning Sciences (JLS), I was really glad to see the journal putting together a web annotation event during December 11-22, 2017. This activity is yet another move made by the editorial team to engage its readership on various social media venues. Coming Soon: Web annotation of JLS articles in Hypothes.is. The first article is a study by Akkerman and Bruining published in 2016 in Volume 25 (2).

The Forest

(Photo Credit: Wikipedia) The universe is expanding, but at what price. The Milky Way is a beauty, but at what price. The Sun is shining, but at what price. The Earth looks blue, but at what price. All continents are moving, but at what price. Civilizations boom, but at what price. A wall defends ‘us’, but at what price. Pyramids are built tall, but at what price. Boats cross the ocean, but at what price.

AERA-NSF Workshop: Data Sharing and Research Transparency (Part II)

Story continued, after Part I. In the 2.5 days of the workshop, the group continued to deepen the discussion on Data Sharing to more concrete and practical items. In Part II of my personal reflection, I summarize key Data Sharing resources/initiatives to be aware of, possible action items, and some personal random thoughts on future directions. The 3-day workshop on "Data Sharing and Research Transparency at the Article Publishing Stage" comes to a close today in D.