We never really know. It just happens. I lost my sister this past week. Well, I guess people would call her my sister-in-law, but really she was like both my second sister and a brother I never had. 41 years. That's a long time. We take it for granted. It seems like our most loved … Continue reading What We Never Know
Month: October 2018
Shelter in the Open
This is the second of my two reflections on last week's OpenEd18 conference. This one is personal. I'm stepping outside my normal economist persona and sharing my personal experience. Actually, it's less a reflection on the conference than reflection on what I learned about myself at the conference. Open conferences like OpenEd, OER, and OEGlobal … Continue reading Shelter in the Open
Reflection on OpenEd18: Becoming Open Education
Last week I participated in OpenEd18. This was my fourth OpenEd which, given the growth in the conference, makes me one of the "old hands" in the kind words of David Wiley. This is the first of two reflections I'll post about the conference. In this one, I'll give some broad impressions of the topics … Continue reading Reflection on OpenEd18: Becoming Open Education
Big Ag, Big Food, and the Commons -revisited
Today I'm reprising a talk I did last year with Professor Elizabeth Robison's Sociology class. We'll be discussing a brief history of agriculture and food production in the U.S. Key points are how the capital requirements, political dynamics, and technology developments have combined to make food production anything but the success story free market advocates … Continue reading Big Ag, Big Food, and the Commons -revisited
OER, Higher Ed, and the Commons
After spending the past year studying both the economics of a commons, as well as the history and evolution of higher education, it's long past time to say something about what I've figured out. This is the first post along those lines and I hope it's not the last. What follows here is a light … Continue reading OER, Higher Ed, and the Commons