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"In its ongoing effort to make MOOCs more and more like traditional education, Coursera has launched 'mentor-guided courses'

"In its ongoing effort to make MOOCs more and more like traditional education, Coursera has launched 'mentor-guided courses' for the cost of $US 248." I like Stephen Downes and the way he pokes fun at the big MOOC companies. Their aim though is simply to try and monetize their courses. The mentor...
Source: downes.ca

Evolution seems to have occurred a million times faster than natural selection alone could explain. Could nature be using

Evolution seems to have occurred a million times faster than natural selection alone could explain. Could nature be using some hidden process? Just read Probably Approximately Correct by Leslie Valiant (a computational theorist). It explores a special class of algorithms which he calls 'ecorthims' that...
Source: amazon.co.uk

Statin-Associated Autoimmune Myopathy - Now@NEJM: Statins significantly reduce the incidence of cardiovascular disease,

Statin-Associated Autoimmune Myopathy - Now@NEJM: Statins significantly reduce the incidence of cardiovascular disease, are generally safe, and have an acceptable side-effect profile. It is now recognized, however, that in very rare cases, an autoimmune myopathy develops in patients treated with statins;...
Source: nejm.org

Just (re)read Spencer Johnson's Who Moved My Cheese? A great story. Change happens. Which one are you (at different times)

Just (re)read Spencer Johnson's Who Moved My Cheese? A great story. Change happens. Which one are you (at different times) Sniff, Scurry, Hem, or Haw?
Source: amazon.com

eLearning Modules will Die… and 702010 will hold the Smoking Gun: "When talking about technology and learning it’s hard

eLearning Modules will Die… and 702010 will hold the Smoking Gun: "When talking about technology and learning it’s hard not to think about elearning modules. They’ve been the bread and butter of digital learning solutions for decades and the industry behind them has helped many, including myself,...
Source: learnnovators.com

Just finished reading Edgar Schein's Humble Inquiry: the gentle are of asking instead of telling. Edgar Schein is the Professor

Just finished reading Edgar Schein's Humble Inquiry: the gentle are of asking instead of telling. Edgar Schein is the Professor of Management Emeritus at MIT Sloan School of Management. This simply written and short book communicates his life's work on organisational psychology. Very well written. ...
Source: amazon.co.uk

Just finished reading Enabling Collaboration - a book on "achieving success through strategic alliances and partnerships"

Just finished reading Enabling Collaboration - a book on "achieving success through strategic alliances and partnerships" by Martin Echavarria (@coherence360). Getting things done invariably involves working with others and when those others are themselves complex organisations it requires some thought....
Source: enablingcollaboration.com

ClinicFinder App for displaced people finding healthcare in Europe. Doctors of the World have released an App for those

ClinicFinder App for displaced people finding healthcare in Europe. Doctors of the World have released an App for those with the most need, the least information, and who find themselves in Europe. It is aimed at refugees and migrants and helps them find free primary healthcare and emergency services. There...
Source: clinicfinder.org

The rise of the robots Excellent read but of a gloomy dystopian future where robots and software take over manual tasks

The rise of the robots Excellent read but of a gloomy dystopian future where robots and software take over manual tasks (as they already have done) and also skilled labour displacing even highly skilled jobs in time. Healthcare might survive a little longer but physicians assistants empowered by...
Source: amazon.co.uk

Open journals that piggyback on arXiv gather momentum: Peer-review platforms built around online pre-print repositories

Open journals that piggyback on arXiv gather momentum: Peer-review platforms built around online pre-print repositories spread to astrophysics. Nature News.
Source: nature.com

CDC issues travel advisory for 14 countries with alarming viral outbreaks: Experts scrambling as US sees first birth defect

CDC issues travel advisory for 14 countries with alarming viral outbreaks: Experts scrambling as US sees first birth defect linked to mosquito-spread virus.
Source: arstechnica.com

Dr Phil Hammond - Medicine Balls. "If Hunt and Cameron are to regain the trust of doctors and other NHS staff, and avoid

Dr Phil Hammond - Medicine Balls. "If Hunt and Cameron are to regain the trust of doctors and other NHS staff, and avoid the huge risk of strikes in the middle of January, they must stop spinning and start telling the truth. Staff and patients need to know exactly how much is available and what services...
Source: drphilhammond.com

Professor Nowotny's book (The Cunning of Uncertainty) celebrating the edge of what we know and the inevitable uncertainties

Professor Nowotny's book (The Cunning of Uncertainty) celebrating the edge of what we know and the inevitable uncertainties around us. Touches on current issues such as finance, climate change, and terrorism. Written by a former president of the European Research Council the book covers many aspects...
Source: wiley.com

A not-so-modest proposal to remove atmospheric carbon dioxide: You just have to spread rock powder over a Russia-sized area.

A not-so-modest proposal to remove atmospheric carbon dioxide: You just have to spread rock powder over a Russia-sized area. Every year.
Source: arstechnica.com

This Christmas, take heart: Capitalism [free trade] is saving the world [reducing poverty]: As the remarkable retreat of

This Christmas, take heart: Capitalism [free trade] is saving the world [reducing poverty]: As the remarkable retreat of malaria across Africa shows, free trade is a very efficient way of spreading medicine and wealth.
Source: telegraph.co.uk

Portability of Information Solves Interoperability ~ Part II: 2020 - The Data Democracy — Tincture: We Americans, we’re

Portability of Information Solves Interoperability ~ Part II: 2020 - The Data Democracy — Tincture: We Americans, we’re sick and tired of being sick and tired. We’re tired of reading that the interoperability of our heal…
Source: medium.com

Jogging is so yesteryear. Walking, aka 'steps', is the technology-calibrated exercise du jour: Get fit by doing a bit more

Jogging is so yesteryear. Walking, aka 'steps', is the technology-calibrated exercise du jour: Get fit by doing a bit more of what you’re already doing – what’s not to love about walking? Our panel has its say on the joys and stresses of the new step culture
Source: theguardian.com

VW Emissions Cheating Scandal Spreads to Sports Cars: Volkswagen denies new EPA findings of emissions-cheating software

VW Emissions Cheating Scandal Spreads to Sports Cars: Volkswagen denies new EPA findings of emissions-cheating software in luxury and sports car models
Source: ieee.org

Battle for open – latest skirmishes: (you should read this post in 1940s BBC voice) I did a post a while back on some

Battle for open – latest skirmishes: (you should read this post in 1940s BBC voice) I did a post a while back on some of the frontline reporting from the battle for open (I am being slightly tongue in cheek with this militaristic lang…
Source: edtechie.net

Seeking Rational Approaches to Fixing Hospital Readmissions: Spurred by federal policy makers, US hospitals have made substantial

Seeking Rational Approaches to Fixing Hospital Readmissions: Spurred by federal policy makers, US hospitals have made substantial efforts to address the problem of high rates of patients being readmitted to the hospital within 30 days of discharge. Underlying this policy focus is a straightforward idea:...
Source: jamanetwork.com