Darren Draper

"Jim, You might very well be right. As I try to wrap my head around the implications of this Georgia Tech/Udacity deal, I keep bumping into the fact that they chose to offer a Master's Degree program first. Can you imagine what will happen when a comparable UNDERGRADUATE PROGRAM becomes available for this price and at this scale? It seems to me that the role of *public* K12 in preparing students for college would/will immediately shift - from helping students to acquire the SKILLS needed to succeed in college, to helping them acquire the SKILLS while also providing underprivileged students with ACCESS to *college*. We all know there exists a percentage of students who are academically prepared for college while in their early years of high school. When we were in high school, we had little choice but to wait out our high school years (possibly earning AP credits along the way). Today's students are able to take concurrent enrollment courses - or also AP - earning their way to an..." - Darren Draper

"How sure are we that 10,000 *paying* students will show up?" - Darren Draper

"Thanks for posting this transcript, Audrey. Sorry I'm late to the party. Can you list for me the MOOC-related developments that you think *should* be included in the Wikipedia article - but for whatever reason currently aren't?" - Darren Draper

"Wahoo, Carolyn. Congratulations! I agree completely with your apples/oranges assessment of charters. I also agree that these lists leave doubt in many minds, but worry about how much stock the general public places in them. My primary point in writing this post was to emphasize that IF making these lists is important to leaders and legislators in Utah, then it's time we take decreasing class size more seriously - because the deck's stacked against us if we don't. How was Fort Worth for you this week? I love the Stock Yards and the kind people there, in general!" - Darren Draper

"Hmmm, Deb. I'm not sure that student gain is what TpT is all about. Would TpT exist if they couldn't turn a profit? Part of the complexity of this issue lies in the understanding that there are times when TpT may be turning a profit at tax-payer expense." - Darren Draper

"Greetings, all (again). I've added my final update to the post." - Darren Draper

"Point well taken! Thanks for your comment." - Darren Draper

"Thank you for working so hard to help other teachers succeed! I'm glad TpT has provided a way for you to make a little extra money. Best of luck in your future endeavors!" - Darren Draper

"Do you really believe that NONE of the items on TpT were created with public funds? As for the "we" being ethical, how do you know I'm not a contributing member of TpT? As for trust, I'm one of the only people in this thread using my own name. I'd love to discuss this further with you in person. Feel free to stop by my office any time. My door is always open." - Darren Draper

"I never said (or meant to imply) that TpT should be banned. Like I just commented to jethrojones, I wish we could figure out a way to make OER equally successful." - Darren Draper

"Jethro, you've perfectly summarized the reason I posted this. Thank you! I know TpT is successful, and I'm happy that it is! I also wish there were equally powerful motivators that we could harness to help teachers want to contribute more to OER. I love your ideas and would love to discuss this with you further." - Darren Draper

"That's not what I think at all. In fact, I think the District and public benefit from teachers taking school laptops home. I also think there's a genuine problem with our system." - Darren Draper

"Hello, all! Thank you for your passionate comments {ducks to avoid rotten tomatoes}. I've updated the post to reflect progress in our discussion." - Darren Draper

"Hello Stephen, I guess one of the things that frustrates me most about much of the discussion around MOOCs is the tendency most have had to assume that their creation was spawned entirely by those in higher ed. Even in your comment here you take a university-centric perspective. As a public educator in 2007, my purpose had nothing to do with undermining university structure. Instead, I was focused on teachers - not university students - and felt that it was in our public's best interest to find free (or at the very least, inexpensive) ways to experience MOOC-like learning environments. My purpose was to share, and hopefully in return, learn a thing or two about the kinds of benefits open sharing might bring. If you recall, OpenPD is the concept that resulted from this initial Social Software in the Classroom PD course. Scan through the 2008 posts in this category, you'll remember - http://drapestakes.blogspot.co.... OpenPD: designed by teachers for teachers, completely independent..." - Darren Draper

"That's a nice way to do it, Doug. I think transparency is a good thing, and like these blogs, think that most people don't even pay attention to what we put out there. My thoughts were also that maybe requiring folks to publicly ask for purchases might cause them to think twice about what they're really asking for. You know, maybe fewer wants get turned into desperate needs... Just thinking out loud again. Thanks for the comment. I hope you're having - or gearing up - for a relaxing vacation!" - Darren Draper

"That's a nice way to do it, Doug. I think transparency is a good thing, and like these blogs, think that most people don't even pay attention to what we put out there. My thoughts were also that maybe requiring folks to publicly ask for purchases might cause them to think twice about what they're really asking for. You know, maybe fewer wants get turned into desperate needs... Just thinking out loud again. Thanks for the comment. I hope you're having - or gearing up - for a relaxing vacation!" - Darren Draper