Wednesday, June 30, 2021

Puritan tiger beetle (and Northeastern tiger beetle): On @WorldUnivAndSch's #WIKI side planned in all 7139 known living languages for open teaching & learning - where YOU can NOW TEACH- #WUaS seeks to hire teachers to grow communities in each language & to teach how further: https://wiki.worlduniversityandschool.org/wiki/Subjects https://wiki.worlduniversityandschool.org/wiki/Languages #WUaSwiki ~ * * * Some pics from my trip, SF Bay Area to Cuttyhunk, - Fort Fred Steele in Wyoming, to Mitchellville, Iowa, to Pittsburgh, & State College, Pennsylvania, to Hartford, Connecticut ...

 


On @WorldUnivAndSch's #WIKI side planned in all 7139 known living languages for open teaching & learning - where YOU can NOW TEACH- #WUaS seeks to hire teachers to grow communities in each language & to teach how further: https://wiki.worlduniversityandschool.org/wiki/Subjects https://wiki.worlduniversityandschool.org/wiki/Languages #WUaSwiki~ 










* * * 

Some pics from my trip, SF Bay Area to Cuttyhunk, - Fort Fred Steele in Wyoming, to Mitchellville, Iowa, to Pittsburgh, & State College, Pennsylvania, to Hartford, Connecticut ...

https://photos.app.goo.gl/mewnNzkP4rS7gb5z8 


... 

Love, Scott 



* * * 

Ma, Sandy, 

Hmmm, brown swimming trunks and the 3-cornered hat (from the US revolutionary period) seem to have found appreciators, and walked  ... since they appear not to be here (are they here?, by any chance do you know, -and because I'm blind:) ... May head to go rowing (pre-sailing, since I may not go in the water yet at Church's beach, without swim trunks ... :)
< div dir="auto" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
Pretty day here from inside, and now that it's cooling, I may head for a walk soon. DT is coming over tomorrow afternoon around 2:30 and we could possibly walk out the inner road (which is a public access road I think) to the West End and find some warm water in the West End ponds to soak in :)

Just emailed Elinor Karlsson (and George Church, genetics' professor at Harvard Medical School and MIT) ... to inquire if Elinor might like to meet for a coffee before or after 7/16 and Sa 7/12 when I'm heading to see Henry and Victoria in NH ... 

Dear Elinor, 

Greetings from Cuttyhunk island, Massachusetts, south of New Bedford. I'm writing to follow up on my email from April to inquire whether you might like to meet for a coffee or similar sometime around the weekend of F 7/16 & Sa 7/17 when I'm planning to head off island to visit friends in New Hampshire, one from high school. As you know, am developing CC-4 MIT OCW-centric wiki World Univ & Sch, and it would be great to meet as acquaintances and colleagues to chat about this and your Genetics' work. 

I realize you study vertebrates genetically, but I think you'd have much knowledge genetically which could be applied to invertebrates such as Drosophila. I wonder too how the possible doubling of the lifespan of a single Drosophila fly to say 180 days - and virtually with A G C Ts (say in a realistic virtual earth for genetics, with machine learning) - could be applied to dogs, and also digitally.

http://karlssonlab.org/author/karlssonlab/




What is a realistic virtual earth, - and for genetics especially? Here's a start - http://scott-macleod.blogspot.com/2020/10/google-earth-what-is-realistic-virtual.html - and here's a related #HashTag - 
https://twitter.com/HarbinBook/status/1383620373690810374?s=19 - with other #RealisticVirtualEarthForGenetics' Tweets throughout Twitter and my blog. 


If you might be in the Boston or Worcester areas before or after this weekend and would like to meet for a coffee and to talk, please let's get together. 

Best wishes, Scott


-- 
- Scott GK MacLeod  
Founder, President, CEO & Professor
World Univ & Sch (WUaS) - PO Box 442, Canyon, CA 94516 
1) non-profit World University and School - http://worlduniversityandschool.org  
2) for profit general stock company WUaS Corporation in CA - http://worlduniversityandschool.org/AcademicPress.html

(m) 412 478 0116 - sgkmacleod@gmail.com 

World Univ & Sch Innovation Research -  scottmacleod.com 

- CC World University and School - like CC Wikipedia with best STEM-centric CC OpenCourseWare - incorporated as a nonprofit university and school in California, and is a U.S. 501 (c) (3) tax-exempt educational organization. 

Will see if she gets back to me. I heard her in a video presentation in January, and was impressed, and appreciate the potential here for a new colleague. She's a Director at the Broad Institute of Genetics and which is part of Harvard and MIT ... and which could be relevant too for building out a realistic virtual earth for genetics. Good to be in communication too with George Church I think (who seems to be extraordinary in a variety of ways regarding what he knows and how he applies it:).

Am exploring the idea of installing a Google Nest Yale Lock (combination and internet-connected) on the back door, brainstorming-wise, where we 3 would each have the password - https://store.google.com/us/config/nest_x_yale_lock - but it could involve other parts, and am not sure whether it would be worth it at this stage. But if there's illegal entering, and activity in the off season, and in the house, I think it might lower our risks (and even regarding federal authorities possibly :) ... will explore further with time a bit. What do you think? 

How were your days, and what are you up to for the rest of the week. Am enjoying the beautiful island of Cuttyhunk in a myriad of ways ... heading out for a row, and a wade perhaps up to my knees near Church's beach, and then back for a shower, and Scottish small piping for the 2nd time today :)

Sending love, Scott

Explored the abolition idea (abolition of slavery further, in a sense) yesterday in my blog - http://scott-macleod.blogspot.com/search/label/Cuttyhunk?m=0 - http://scott-macleod.blogspot.com/2021/06/piping-plover-san-francisco-5-yrs-ago.html?m=0 - and possibly even regarding our place, if it might be illegally entered for illegal commerce of buying and selling people, atrocity-wise even! :( ... Hoping psychiatry at WUaS can come to play a real role in protecting people from becoming victims in such regards too even, and post the non-SARS Cov2 non-epidemic of the past many months ... which may have been helpful for getting data useful for reversing global warming even ... and to 1970's temperatures on Cuttyhunk even! :)

Looking forward to seeing you at the end of the month, - and if not before, Sandy, around the 7/16/7/17 weekend .... I might even explore heading up to Machias Maine, where we're supposed to have some ancestors :)



* * * 

Scott MacLeod sgkmacleod@worlduniversityandschool.org

4:40 PM (5 hours ago)
to Elinor.Karlsson, gchurch
Dear Elinor, 

Greetings from Cuttyhunk island, Massachusetts, south of New Bedford. I'm writing to follow up on my email from April to inquire whether you might like to meet for a coffee or similar sometime around the weekend of F 7/16 & Sa 7/17 when I'm planning to head off island to visit friends in New Hampshire, one from high school. As you know, am developing CC-4 MIT OCW-centric wiki World Univ & Sch, and it would be great to meet as acquaintances and colleagues to chat about this and your Genetics' work. 

I realize you study vertebrates genetically, but I think you'd have much knowledge genetically which could be applied to invertebrates such as Drosophila. I wonder too how the possible doubling of the lifespan of a single Drosophila fly to say 180 days - and virtually with A G C Ts (say in a realistic virtual earth for genetics, with machine learning) - could be applied to dogs, and also digitally.

http://karlssonlab.org/author/karlssonlab/




What is a realistic virtual earth, - and for genetics especially? Here's a start - http://scott-macleod.blogspot.com/2020/10/google-earth-what-is-realistic-virtual.html - and here's a related #HashTag - https://twitter.com/HarbinBook/status/1383620373690810374?s=19 - with other #RealisticVirtualEarthForGenetics' Tweets throughout Twitter and my blog. 


If you might be in the Boston or Worcester areas before or after this weekend and would like to meet for a coffee and to talk, please let's get together. 

Best wishes, Scott


-- 
- Scott GK MacLeod  
Founder, President, CEO & Professor
World Univ & Sch (WUaS) - PO Box 442, Canyon, CA 94516 
1) non-profit World University and School - http://worlduniversityandschool.org  
2) for profit general stock company WUaS Corporation in CA - http://worlduniversityandschool.org/AcademicPress.html

(m) 412 478 0116 - sgkmacleod@gmail.com 

World Univ & Sch Innovation Research -  scottmacleod.com 

- CC World University and School - like CC Wikipedia with best STEM-centric CC OpenCourseWare - incorporated as a nonprofit university and school in California, and is a U.S. 501 (c) (3) tax-exempt educational organization. 


*




Scott MacLeod <sgkmacleod@worlduniversityandschool.org>

Sun, Apr 18, 7:03 PM

to Elinor.Karlsson


Dear Elinor, 


I just filled out this survey, and also have some questions about a Drosophila genetics' project I'm interested in. I'm interested in this particular project with regards to developing CC-4 MIT OCW-centric wiki World University and School and also regarding an Actual-Virtual realistic virtual earth for genetics (see below) - and for longevity, and aging reversal, questions especially. I think your knowledge could help shape this further in great and fascinating ways. 


Below are the questions I asked in your January talk, as well as my responses to the survey questions I just finished. 


Am exploring the idea of heading back to Cuttyhunk island, Massachusetts (where my family has a home), from the SF Bay Area, from around June 28th until August 4th or 5th or so, and wonder if you might like to meet for a cup of coffee sometime? I'd like to see the Worcester Art Museum as well as the Ecotarium (if they will be open during the coronavirus pandemic), and wonder if one of these places could even be good to meet at?


Thank you for your interesting Broad Institute talk in January - https://youtu.be/YKjYFydrje0. 


Sincerely, Scott



PS This is the idea in the big picture -


Where to begin with Vast #Wiki #WUaSData project of 1 #RealisticVirtualEarth for EVERYTHING since 4.6 billion yrs ago & at cell & atomic levels too & as #RealisticVirtualEarthForGenetics? #BeginAtTheBeginning? https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/6305-begin-at-the-beginning-the-king-said-very-gravely-and Is this #StreetView #TimeSlider #TensorFlowAI?


https://twitter.com/scottmacleod/status/1383620176629751816?s=19

https://twitter.com/WorldUnivAndSch/status/1383619885171761158?s=19

https://twitter.com/WUaSPress/status/1383620420025257991?s=20

https://twitter.com/scottmacleod/status/1383620176629751816?s=20

https://twitter.com/HarbinBook/status/1383620373690810374?s=20

https://twitter.com/TheOpenBand/status/1383620317059244037?s=19






Written responses to survey:


1

World University and School's President, Founder, CEO, a Professor here (where WUaS is like CC-4 MIT OCW in 4 languages with Wikipedia in 300 languages))



5

Interested in Genetics at MIT OCW-centric WIKI World University and School, and potentially regarding planning for genetics for all 7.8 billion people (eg in collaborating with WikiTree), and for other species, and individuals too, for ex., in a single #RealisticVirtualEarthForGenetics - https://twitter.com/hashtag/RealisticVirtualEarthForGenetics?src=hashtag_click - and also regarding questions of Actual-Virtual (#ActualVirtual) developments, and for Digital Species, and regarding longevity and aging reversal questions too, eg see - https://twitter.com/WorldUnivAndSch/status/1376645462556438529?s=20 ~



9

Broad question: How could we best explore these phenotype questions about genomics and adaptations (hibernation) in a realistic virtual earth (think Google Street View with time slider, Maps, Earth, TensorFlow AI and Samsung Neons' artificial humans and artificial species' individuals - even with a film-to-3D App) at the cellular and molecular levels too? I'm thinking in terms of a  RealisticVirtualEarthForEvolution and RealisticVirtualEarthForGenetics in particular (see below). Thank you.



https://twitter.com/hashtag/RealisticVirtualEarthForEvolution?src=hashtag_click


https://twitter.com/hashtag/RealisticVirtualEarthForGenetics?src=hashtag_click


Scott (sgkmacleod@worlduniversityandschool.org)


10

Longevity, aging reversal with genetic therapies, Actual-Virtual Drosophila melanogaster research in these regards, new tools for genetic virtual research, perhaps emerging from a realistic virtual earth for CRISPR - https://twitter.com/hashtag/RealisticVirtualEarthForCRISPR?src=hashtag_click - into a single realistic virtual earth for evolutionary biology - https://twitter.com/hashtag/RealisticVirtualEarthForEvolutionaryBiology?src=hashtag_click - eg - https://twitter.com/HarbinBook/status/1370926854257876995?s=20 (where Actual-Virtual Harbin Hot Springs is also my long term ethnographic field site, and at the cellular and molecular levels too). Thank you.


12

Into a realistic virtual earth - thinking Google Street View with TIME SLIDER (re seasons' word), Maps, Earth, TensorFlowAI, Translate - and even realistic avatar bots like Samsung Neons, and even group buildable like Google Monster Mash - https://twitter.com/hashtag/RealisticVirtualEarthForSTEM?src=hashtag_click ? DataPools? How best to plan for #WUaSDataPools FOR #DigitalSpecies like #ActualVirtual #Drosophila flies -  https://twitter.com/DrPinarUstaoglu/status/1374328288894664705 &vav "place," & coding (javascript, #TensorFlowAI?) in #GoogleStreetView with #TIMESLIDER / Maps / Earth & even #AvatarBotElectronicMedicalRecords?

https://twitter.com/sgkmacleod/status/1379228262249852935?s=20



~ #GrabTheAIcode #GoogleMonsterMash

to co-create your own #ActualVirtual #AvatarBotElectronicMedicalRecords for 7.8 B Peops with #StanfordDukeProjectBaseline #RealisticVirtualEarthForLegoRobotics in #GoogleStreetViewMaps #NextKillerApp like #EmailForBusiness? #MosaicGUIbrowser?

https://twitter.com/WorldUnivAndSch/status/1380909570944462855?s=19


https://scott-macleod.blogspot.com/2021/04/sapphire-lake-evolution-basin-high.html




Questions and text chat from your talk:


Thank you!  


Sophia Wolfe (she/her)       02:16 PM

Is the human reference genome at the human genome project a single genome or an 'average' from all samples collected?


This question has been answered live


Anonymous Attendee       02:21 PM

How much of the genome is conserved across the 240 mammals?


This question has been answered live


Stephanie Lam       02:25 PM

when comparing across diverse mammals, what % of human coding genes are conserved compared to completely new genes of unknown function?


This question has been answered live


Scott GK MacLeod (You)       02:28 PM

How do breeds (the labs) & ‘outbreeds’ (or what you called the cats)) - and humans’ genomes - retain fertility but donkeys mules and donkeys don’t  even in terms of the genetic characterizations, Elinor, that you’re making for Zoonomia? Thank you. Scott (sgkmacleod@worlduniversityandschool.org)


Ms.Borrelli (she/her)       02:31 PM

This presentation is so awesome. I begin teaching my next high school Zoology class on Monday and would love to show the students this presentation. Will the recording be available?


Tom Ulrich       02:45 PM

Thank you so much! Yes, we will post a recording of the talk on our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/broadinstitute


Family Healthy Choices       02:31 PM

Is the Powerpoint presentation available to access and download?  Thank you.


Tom Ulrich       02:46 PM

I will ask Elinor and Diane if they’d like to make the slides available. If they do, we’ll post them on our website. Thanks!


Heather Remoff       02:33 PM

Might it be possible for the natural world to shape a gene drive that could be inserted into our genomes via pandemic viral infections?


Tom Ulrich       02:43 PM

Great question! In a sense, the natural world already did that, millions of years ago. Researchers think that somewhere between 5 and 8% of our genome came from ancient viruses.


Anonymous Attendee       02:44 PM

Will this seminar be available online? I find it very inspiring and would love to revisit some of the concepts.


Tom Ulrich       02:47 PM

Thank you so much! Yes, we will post a recording of the talk on our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/broadinstitute


Hamid Gaikani       02:46 PM

Hi. Is there any position in the genome that is 100% conserved? I mean, any mutation would cause death.


Scott GK MacLeod (You)       02:51 PM

Broad question: How could we best explore these phenotype questions about genomics and adaptations (hibernation) in a realistic virtual earth (think Google Street View with time slider, Maps, Earth, TensorFlow AI and Samsung Neons' artificial humans and artificial species' individuals - even with a film-to-3D App) at the cellular and molecular levels too? I'm thinking in terms of a  RealisticVirtualEarthForEvolution and RealisticVirtualEarthForGenetics in particular (see below). Thank you.



https://twitter.com/hashtag/RealisticVirtualEarthForEvolution?src=hashtag_click


https://twitter.com/hashtag/RealisticVirtualEarthForGenetics?src=hashtag_click


Scott (sgkmacleod@worlduniversityandschool.org)




Mammals & genomics. Diane Genereux and I distill it to (comparative) essentials in

@broadinstitute

 public lecture “Clarity from comparison: How other animals' genomes illuminate our own.” Sadly, few

@ZoonomiaProject

 species survived the #2021MMM #carnage https://youtu.be/YKjYFydrje0


https://twitter.com/eenork/status/1374216872384724993?s=20



Thank you, Elinor, 


All the best, Scott





 University of Massachusetts Medical School

368 Plantation Street, Sherman Center, AS4.1065

Worcester MA 01605

Email Elinor.Karlsson@umassmed.edu

https://profiles.umassmed.edu/display/11661398



*



Scott MacLeod <sgkmacleod@worlduniversityandschool.org>

Sun, Apr 18, 8:04 PM

to gchurch, Elinor.Karlsson


Elinor, (and George), 


Greetings again, and I hope this finds you both very well.


As a follow up (having filled out the Broad Institute's survey form today with questions per your edifying January Broad talk), and regarding a Drosophila fly longevity conversation: 


In what ways could we double the lifespans of actual individual Drosophila flies in the jar - 



https://twitter.com/DrPinarUstaoglu/status/1374328288894664705?s=19

(https://twitter.com/WorldUnivAndSch/status/1377070127976312838?s=19) ?


Could we double their lifespans via a spray or food into this jar (of a genetic drug researchers might develop) even?

 

In what ways could we map an individual fly's genome at a certain point in time - to A G C Ts ? And with machine learning, in what ways could we map this genome out in new AGCTs as an extended lifespan, say to 180 days (if 40-50 days or 90 days is the outer limit of a Drosophila fly's life span) - so virtually and digitally? (These Actual-Virtual developments as conversation, I'm particularly interested in). 


And if gene function declines as an organism ages - per Harvard MIT Professor of Genetics' George Church - https://youtu.be/bnCEIPQFNnk - what does this look like in A G C & Ts at different time points?



Further, if one could develop a film-to-3D App for 'everything,' and here for Drosophila flies, in what ways could one transpose these flies in this jar into 3D Drosophila flies - think Google Poly, a library of virtual objects (which is closing soon) - and in a realistic virtual earth for species https://twitter.com/TheOpenBand/status/1367587550274015232?s=19 (and at the cellular and molecular levels too)? 



Is it possible to tag Drosophila flies individually, like in this jar, and sequence their genomes at different time points? 


Thank you,

Scott

'genes' label in daily blog - https://scott-macleod.blogspot.com/search/label/genes?m=0

(See 'longevity' label too)


 PS

In what ways WOULD it be possible to build a realistic virtual earth for species as new genetic tools that would allow us to make hybrid organisms like this genetically engineered Axolotl-Bird hybrid -

https://scott-macleod.blogspot.com/2021/02/chamaenerion-angustifolium.html?m=0 ? 


Thanks,

Scott

- CC-4 MIT OCW-centric wiki worlduniversityandschool.org







*






https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ellipsoptera_puritana

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cicindela_puritana

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Cicindela_puritana

https://no.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ellipsoptera

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Ellipsoptera_puritana


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Habroscelimorpha_dorsalis_dorsalis



https://www.ctpost.com/news/slideshow/Connecticut-s-endangered-species-96203.php


...







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Tuesday, June 29, 2021

Piping plover: San Francisco 5 yrs ago today @WorldUnivAndSch #WUaSHiveMeetimgSpace at #AFSC #AFSCSF above #SFQuakerMeeting * * * Fw: A new future for edX * * * 15 yrs ago today?, Greece, Eftalou on isle of Lesvos, Yoga, Victor & Angela's Yoga Hall ... & Cuttyhunk island * In the 1970s here, I recall much less humidity, and mist from humidity in air - and recall non-humid clear blue skies in afternoon with 12 knot SW winds perfect for sailing, so without humidity present in late June now (and I was here a couple of times then from late June- early September ... -:and even having to wear a jacket in the evening because it was cool. Ocean waters still do not seem to have risen relative to the stone dikes and jetties I'm glad to report (due to melting icecaps .. and threshold effect, where temperature in air/ocean gets so warm to melt ice caps precipitously fast) * 15 yrs ago today?, Greece, Eftalou, Yoga, Victor & Angela's Yoga Hall

 

San Francisco 5 yrs ago today 

@WorldUnivAndSch

 #WUaSHiveMeetimgSpace at #AFSC #AFSCSF above #SFQuakerMeeting on 9th St, BART, UN building, #SFCityHall - https://scott-macleod.blogspot.com/2014/10/antirrhinum-subbaeticum-wuas-hive-meets.html -https://scott-macleod.blogspot.com/2014/10/honey-bee-hives-world-university-and.html -https://scott-macleod.blogspot.com/2014/09/indochinese-tiger-panthera-tigris.html -https://scott-macleod.blogspot.com/2014/10/antirrhinum-subbaeticum-wuas-hive-meets.html #NontheistFriends #Quakers ~

https://twitter.com/scottmacleod/status/1409895761194725377

https://twitter.com/WorldUnivAndSch/status/1409896185855369221?s=20



* * * 

Fw: A new future for edX

Dear Larry, 

Thanks, interesting, and also to see sociologically some of the players, and process involved, in this 'follow the money' approach to online education from Harvard and MIT too ($800 million!), where edX is now part of a for-profit company, in a completely unplanned way. Are they taking a for-profit middling universities' approach to online education?

Here's a Tweet and online article which is informative too, from Anant Agarwal - 

As @edXOnline looks to its next phase of growth and impact, joining forces with @2UInc

 marks a major milestone in our evolution. https://press.edx.org/2u-inc.-and-edx-to-join-together-in-industry-redefining-combination

https://twitter.com/agarwaledu/status/1409840804957409285?s=20


excerpts - 

"2U to acquire substantially all edX assets, including edX brand, website, and marketplace"

"edX offers over 3,000 online programs, including a substantial majority of courses with a free/audit track, Masters and doctorate degrees, Professional Certificates, and MicroBachelors® programs and MicroMasters® programs."

Interesting that the purchasing company, 2U, is able to use the MIT and Harvard names as founders ... who's 2U - a listed entity on one of 13 or 14 stock exchanges in the US?

Can WUaS pursue a top-tier or major online universities' approach, by contrast, AND emerging from CC-4 MIT OCW, and CC-3 Yale OYC too, and for online PhDs, Law, MD, 4-year Bachelor, and IB or sim high school degrees, in each of all ~200 countries and in their main and official languages.

By engaging some of this language, and legal language, and legal processes too, could our for-profit wing the WUaS Corporation list on the Silicon Valley long term stock exchange, and PROTECT data for all 7.8 billion people (You at WUaS - https://wiki.worlduniversityandschool.org/wiki/You_at_World_University), and in collaboration with Stanford Law CodeX? Quaker-informed too - and would abolition be part of this too, in all ~200 countries even - 

https://twitter.com/HarbinBook/status/1404205233723510784?s=20 (where this Guyana freed slaves' painting is significant 

French Guyana celebrates #Abolition Day on 10 June, marking the end of #slavery in 1848.

https://twitter.com/worldwidedays/status/1402991452095848449?s=20


- and re Agenda item 7 

https://worlduniversityandschool.blogspot.com/2021/06/sat-61921-wuas-agenda-and-news-for-both.html

?)


Branding-wise, did edX just dilute its brand? Are they responding to their now established user base for courses, and for tuition? How is 2U going to control for abolition of the illegal sex industry in all 200 countries world wide I wonder too?

Could World Univ & Sch successfully begin to get remuneration from departments of education in all ~200 countries eventually along the lines of what it costs to matriculate at MIT or Stanford, due to the CC-4 licensing of MIT OCW, and similarly for Yale - and create 2.2 million good academic jobs too?

Sincerely, 

Scott


PS

Had just re-Tweeted this morning, then have NOW  un-reTweeted the following edX-WUaS related tweet to - https://twitter.com/WorldUnivAndSch


! #WUaSFreeToStudents' Via edX to begin 9/1/21>Both online 4-year #WUaSBachelordegrees & #WUaSPhDdegrees > http://worlduniversityandschool.org!

@WorldUnivAndSch

 is #NtFriendly 'leading' (#QuakerLeading), & open #WUaSMonthlyBusinessMeeting is in #Quaker #NontheistFriends' #MannerOfFriends ~

https://twitter.com/WorldUnivAndSch/status/1376237773342924800?s=20

https://twitter.com/TheOpenBand/status/1376238144408805376?s=20

https://twitter.com/scottmacleod/status/1376236763367104516?s=20

https://twitter.com/HarbinBook/status/1376237916364500992?s=20



PPS

And these pics popped up in Google Photo from 5 years' ago today this morning, which I Tweeted, perhaps in a related vein, and interesting perhaps regarding the UN Plaza - which was in the original set of Google Photos but now I see the main SF Public Library, and the AFSC room on 9th street aren't included in these 4 pictures either ...  - 


San Francisco 5 yrs ago today

@WorldUnivAndSch

 #WUaSHiveMeetimgSpace at #AFSC #AFSCSF above #SFQuakerMeeting on 9th St, BART, UN building, #SFCityHall - https://scott-macleod.blogspot.com/2014/10/antirrhinum-subbaeticum-wuas-hive-meets.html -https://scott-macleod.blogspot.com/2014/10/honey-bee-hives-world-university-and.html -https://scott-macleod.blogspot.com/2014/09/indochinese-tiger-panthera-tigris.html -https://scott-macleod.blogspot.com/2014/10/antirrhinum-subbaeticum-wuas-hive-meets.html #NontheistFriends #Quakers ~

https://twitter.com/WorldUnivAndSch/status/1409896185855369221?s=20


PPPS

Slavery continues to be abolished in all countries in the world as an institution and set of practices too, isn't it? I think so ... 



-- 

- Scott GK MacLeod  

Founder, President, CEO & Professor

World Univ & Sch (WUaS) - PO Box 442, Canyon, CA 94516 

1) non-profit World University and School - http://worlduniversityandschool.org  

2) for profit general stock company WUaS Corporation in CA - http://worlduniversityandschool.org/AcademicPress.html


(o) 415 480 4577 - sgkmacleod@worlduniversiryandschool.org 

(m) 412 478 0116 - sgkmacleod@gmail.com 


World Univ & Sch Innovation Research -  scottmacleod.com 



*

http://mit.imodules.com/controls/email_marketing/view_in_browser.aspx?sid=1314&gid=13&sendId=2596356&ecatid=1433&puid=54c4f0da-647e-4ee6-a583-92c1e764e9b7

Fw: A new future for edX

Inbox

Larry Viehland

12:01 PM (3 hours ago)
to me


From: President L. Rafael Reif <leadershipnews@mit.edu>
Sent: Tuesday, June 29, 2021 11:04 AM
To: Larry Viehland <Viehland@Chatham.edu>
Subject: A new future for edX
 

To the members of the MIT community,

 

I write to share important news about the future of edX, the nonprofit that MIT and Harvard launched together in 2012 to offer the world an open-source online learning platform for university-level courses.

 

I will begin with the news and then offer some context and detail.

 

The news

 

After a thorough and thoughtful process, and with the support of the senior leadership of MIT and Harvard, the edX board has agreed to sell the assets of edX to 2U, Inc., a publicly traded company that provides a platform for lifelong learning.

 

Through this acquisition, edX will become a 2U subsidiary as a “public benefit company,” which will allow edX’s long-standing commitment to the public good to be embedded in its new charter. The overall agreement actively sustains the mission of edX through a series of provisions that protect learner data, ensure free and low-cost access to courses, preserve choice for partner universities and faculty, and continue the open-source platform Open edX.

 

The proceeds of the transaction – $800 million – will flow into a nonprofit entity with a refreshed educational mission and a new name. Governed by MIT and Harvard, this nonprofit will steward and enhance the Open edX platform and explore promising new ideas for making online learning more effective, engaging and personalized.

 

Why this move now?

 

In broad strokes, Covid drove an explosion in remote learning, which spurred huge investments into edX’s commercial competitors. This put edX, as a nonprofit, at a financial disadvantage. This new path recognizes this reality and offers a solution that allows edX to continue to support and maintain the key aspects of its mission.

 

I know this news is a surprise and will take some time to absorb. So I would like to provide some background and share the process behind this decision.

 

How edX began and grew

 

Nine years ago, when massive open online courses (MOOCs) were just becoming popular, we joined forces with Harvard to seize the opportunity to launch edX. Building on the spirit of MIT OpenCourseWare, we set out together to provide a clear public good: an open-source, nonprofit platform that we and other institutions could use to teach our own students and to provide free, interactive college-level course content for learners around the world.

 

Since then, with leadership from edX CEO and MIT professor Anant Agarwal and his team, edX has engaged 160 partner institutions, reached more than 39 million learners across nearly every nation, exceeded 110 million course enrollments and pioneered new online credentials including the MicroMasters.

 

Key aspects of edX’s founding vision have also become signature features of the educational landscape. By its very existence, edX established the expectation that online learning should include free access to rigorous college course content. edX also helped pioneer the idea of aggregating courses from many institutions.

 

All of us can take pride in what edX has accomplished, including – and perhaps most significant – edX’s role in helping create a thriving market for online learning.

 

A changing landscape

 

In recent years, as global demand for online learning rose sharply, the field was already drawing intense interest from investors. When Covid hit, and remote learning became the dominant avenue for delivering education everywhere, the commercial platform companies became magnets for outside investment on a startling scale.

 

This infusion of funds is fueling an arms race, in which competitors strive to out-do each other in improving their online platforms, in marketing to learners and in providing financial packages to recruit partner universities to supply course content.

 

Observing this trend almost a year ago, the members of the edX board – including senior leaders from both MIT and Harvard – came to see that the scale of the dollars had radically tipped the playing field. As a nonprofit, edX could no longer keep up. So the board began a systematic review of alternative ways to try to sustain edX’s mission in the future.

 

In the midst of this review last fall, edX received a confidential inquiry from 2U, a well-established publicly traded platform company. (2U already works with MIT: The School of Architecture and Planning, the Sloan School of Management, the Media Lab and CSAIL all offer courses on 2U’s platform.) 2U was interested in a deal with edX.

 

A new pathway

 

The offer crystallized the board’s understanding that it was time to stop straining to keep up with supercharged commercial course-aggregation platforms and instead reembrace edX’s role as a channel for influential innovation in online learning.

 

Seeing the 2U proposal as a promising opening but not yet a finished solution, the board members shared their initial thinking with me and other senior leaders at MIT and Harvard.

 

I now understand that this path is very much in the best interests of MIT – but the idea took some getting used to. We had never set out to have edX become part of a commercial enterprise. We worked together with the board through a process of due diligence to assess alternatives, including philanthropy or a partnership.

 

A key concern was how to preserve the privacy of learner data. edX has long set a standard for protecting learner data; giving up those protections would be unacceptable. We knew it was also crucial to make sure faculty could choose the platform their courses would run on.

 

At the same time, the transformation of the landscape was undeniable. Finding a new path forward was a must – and focusing on educational innovation felt obviously right.

 

It took several months of reflection and negotiation to work through our questions and confirm that the board had indeed arrived at the best option. A great frustration through this period was that because 2U is a publicly traded company and therefore subject to securities regulations, we were legally prohibited from consulting our communities broadly. Given that, we were especially grateful to tap the wisdom of a small group of faculty leaders and experts on digital learning and data privacy.

 

Through this process, we were pleased to find a path agreeable to both founding universities, to edX and to 2U: a future for edX as a public benefit company that will pair the resources of a for-profit player with a formal mission to serve the public good.

 

Late last week, Provost Marty Schmidt and I met with a number of faculty leaders to share the high-level details and hear their thoughts.

 

Which brings us back to today’s announcement.

 

The transaction we announce today

 

Pending approval by the Office of the Massachusetts Attorney General and other government regulators, the transaction will have two major outcomes:

1.

As a subsidiary of 2U, edX will become a “public benefit company.” The public benefit designation emerged about a decade ago as a way for a for-profit company to commit, in its charter, to focus on achieving one or more public benefits in addition to serving its shareholders. Familiar examples of public benefit corporations include Patagonia, Kickstarter, Ben and Jerry’s and, close to home, The Engine.

 

In this new incarnation, edX will operate under a set of guidelines that will preserve its mission to make rigorous university-level courses accessible and free for learners everywhere, and that also reflect MIT and Harvard’s standards and values around learner data.

 

Joining 2U will allow edX to offer learners a broad new array of benefits and services and to provide faculty members and universities with much greater reach and more options for how to share their classes, without restricting them to any one platform.

2.

2U will provide $800 million to fund a nonprofit governed by MIT and Harvard that will focus on reinventing digital learning. Except for funds edX will use to repay loans from MIT and Harvard, the proceeds from this transaction will flow directly to the nonprofit – not to Harvard and not to MIT.

 

Freed from competing in the course-aggregation race and equipped with these significant new resources, the nonprofit will have the power to do what edX could not: invest at the necessary scale to sustain Open edX as a fresh, vital, open-source learning platform for the world, and help tackle the next great research challenges in online learning.

 

It could, for example, invest in the potential of AI and other tools to make online learning more responsive and personalized to the individual learner; I believe this is a critical path to meet the needs of people that online learning often leaves behind, including students and workers of any age seeking the skills to keep pace with a shifting economy. We also expect the nonprofit to collaborate with and learn from organizations that have a direct, hands-on understanding of the learning needs of various communities.

 

The nonprofit’s detailed mission, name, research and activities will be developed following consultation with the faculty of both universities and edX partner institutions. I will work together with the chair of the faculty to develop a plan for engaging faculty on these important matters.

 

We also hope that it will be possible for faculty and other stakeholders to help shape the nonprofit’s agenda by applying to it for research grants. Its overall mandate, however, is already clear: to create a new public good commensurate with the legacy of edX.

 

As soon as we can, we will share more about how faculty will be engaged in contributing to the nonprofit’s focus and aspirations.

Learning more

 

Given the scale of these changes, I expect you will have many questions.

 

As a starting point, I urge you to read the complete story on MIT News, which summarizes the commitments at the heart of the arrangement that preserve the edX mission. There is also an FAQ that offers more detail.

 

As we begin this exciting new chapter, I would like to express my deep appreciation to edX CEO Anant Agarwal and the entire edX team for nearly a decade of creativity, perseverance and accomplishment against the odds, and to share my great admiration and gratitude for all the MIT faculty, instructors and staff who have built so many compelling courses on MITx.

 

I also want to recognize the exceptional efforts of everyone who helped define and improve this new path, including the MIT members of the edX board and their Harvard counterparts. Their thoughtful stewardship and creative thinking have been indispensable.

 

For me – and perhaps for many of you and our Harvard colleagues who envisioned, shaped and nurtured edX along with us – turning this corner is naturally bittersweet.

 

Yet at the same time, I am extraordinarily proud of edX and the impact it has had on learning, I am convinced that this decision represents the best path for MIT and I am extremely enthusiastic about what the future holds, for MIT, for online learning and for education as a whole.

 

With high hopes for how our community can continue to help advance the frontiers of online learning,

 

L. Rafael Reif

 

 

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

77 Massachusetts Avenue  |  Cambridge, MA 02139

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* * * 

15 yrs ago today?, Greece, Eftalou on isle of Lesvos, Yoga, Victor & Angela's Yoga Hall ... & Cuttyhunk island 


Scott MacLeod sgkmacleod@worlduniversityandschool.org

Attachments2:08 PM (1 hour ago)
to Janie, Sandy, Edward, Lynn, Larry, Alden, Catherine, Ann, MacLeod, Marc, Sid, Tym, Susan, Peter, Barbara, Henry, Joan, John, Nick, Heather, Jillian, Marianne, Mark, M.E., Kate, Scott, Scott, Kenneth, Craig, Nancy, Gerd, Anita, Patti, David, Mike, Nancy, hannfamily, Hank, Grant, Gantt, Adam, Info, Jim, lillianbthomas, Thomas, Hugh, Lydia, Scott, Peter, Prasanth, stuart, Roland, Cate, Matt, Peggy, mazumdarp, Mainak, Sri, Rohit, Iulian
Ma, Sandy, Ed, Lynn, Kate, Alden, Joan, John, All,





Greetings from humid Cuttyhunk Island Massachusetts. Arrived yesterday and great to be here! In the 1970s here, I recall much less humidity, and mist from humidity in air - and recall non-humid clear blue skies in afternoon with 12 knot SW winds perfect for sailing, so without humidity present in late June now (and I was here a couple of times then from late June- early September ... -:and even having to wear a jacket in the evening because it was cool. Ocean waters still do not seem to have risen relative to the stone dikes and jetties I'm glad to report (due to melting icecaps .. and threshold effect, where temperature in air/ocean gets so warm to melt ice caps precipitously fast).


15 yrs ago today?, Greece, Eftalou, Yoga, Victor & Angela's Yoga Hall 

Nice to see these Yoga & Greece pics, but Angela & Victor may need psychiatric help to avoid harming people (women, & children too???) ... Am wondering whether the Google Photos' June 29, 2006 date is also accurate, 15 yrs ago today - since I don't think I was in Greece then, rather in California, before returning to Pgh in 2006 & 2007 for 2 years, while my father had a brain injury and who died around Nov 25 2007 whereupon I travelled back to California and did Harbin Hot Springs' field work in 2008, one month there one month away - so for 6 months - before moving into Canyon 94516 in Nov/Dec 2008 ...

I've dropped out of A&V's Yoga circles, and am not sure why these Google pics popped up today ... Who at Google might be selecting these pics to pop up (a bit scarily if A &V are harming people, and internationally) 

A recent WUaS Tweet -
WUaS's first PhD Indonesian student sent in his best STEM CC-4 OCW courses he plans to study from 9/1/21 & his college & high school transcripts! Want a free PhD online, choose your courses from: 
https://ocw.mit.edu/ & email them to info@WorldUniversityAndSchool.org Bach. too!

Fondly, Scott


Cuttyhunk label - 

See too - 

A&V Yoga label

Virtual Harbin label

Harbin Hot Springs' label

Global climate change



PS
Thanks again Kate for your wonderful hospitality in NW Connecticut the night before last ...


Hi Kate, (Janie, Alden, Marianne, Alex, Heather, Jillian, All), 

Thanks so much, Kate, for the lovely dinner, and for your kind hospitality just now in Lakeville, Connecticut. Nice to visit your beautiful home here as well. Looking forward to seeing you on Cuttyhunk if it works out sometime in July. (Hoping your move with Christian, if you decide to go ahead with it, to the SF Bay Area goes well ahead - and what a big change too!) Nice to learn more about a favorite first cousin once removed, your husband of 28 years, John Briscoe, esp! Thanks for sharing. 

See you in the morning, and thank you so much again, Kate!

(Looking forward to staying in touch about MIT OCW-centric wiki World Univ & Sch and journalism, for example - https://wiki.worlduniversityandschool.org/wiki/Journalism ( https://wiki.worlduniversityandschool.org/wiki/Subjects )

(Ma, thanks for your call too, which I got on my laptop. While I appear not to have telephone access here, I do have laptop computer access, thanks to Kate and Christian's wifi signal; I am departing around 9am, and hope to make ferry reservations on a landline). 

Best regards, Scott


*

Greetings from humid Cuttyhunk Island, Massachusetts. Arrived yesterday and great to be here! In the 1970s here, I recall much less humidity, and mist from humidity in air - and recall non-humid clear blue skies in afternoon with 12 knot SW winds perfect for sailing, so without humidity present in late June now (and I was here a couple of times then from late June- early September ... -:and even having to wear a jacket in the evening because it was cool. Ocean waters still do not seem to have risen relative to the stone dikes and jetties I'm glad to report (due to melting icecaps .. and threshold effect, where temperature in air/ocean gets so warm to melt ice caps precipitously fast).


15 yrs ago today?, Greece, Eftalou, Yoga, Victor & Angela's Yoga Hall 


Nice to see these Yoga & Greece pics, but Angela & Victor may need psychiatric help to avoid harming people (women, & children too???) ... Am wondering whether the Google Photos' June 29, 2006 date is also accurate, 15 yrs ago today - since I don't think I was in Greece then, rather in California, before returning to Pgh in 2006 & 2007 for 2 years, while my father had a brain injury and who died around Nov 25 2007 whereupon I travelled back to California and did Harbin Hot Springs' field work in 2008, one month there one month away - so for 6 months - before moving into Canyon 94516 in Nov/Dec 2008 ...

I've dropped out of A&V's Yoga circles, and am not sure why these Google pics popped up today ... Who at Google might be selecting these pics to pop up (a bit scarily if A &V are harming people, and internationally) 


A recent WUaS Tweet -

WUaS's first PhD Indonesian student sent in his best STEM CC-4 OCW courses he plans to study from 9/1/21 & his college & high school transcripts! Want a free PhD online, choose your courses from: 

https://ocw.mit.edu/ & email them to info@WorldUniversityAndSchool.org Bach. too!

https://twitter.com/WorldUnivAndSch/status/1396290249232240643?s=19


Fondly, Scott

 https://www.amazon.com/author/scottmacleodworlduniversity - 



Cuttyhunk label - 

http://scott-macleod.blogspot.com/search/label/Cuttyhunk?m=0


See too - 


A&V Yoga label


Virtual Harbin label


Harbin Hot Springs' label


Global climate change

http://scott-macleod.blogspot.com/search/label/global%20climate%20change?m=0



PS

Thanks again Kate for your wonderful hospitality in NW Connecticut the night before last ...


Hi Kate, (Janie, Alden, Marianne, Alex, Heather, Jillian, All), 

Thanks so much, Kate, for the lovely dinner, and for your kind hospitality just now in Lakeville, Connecticut. Nice to visit your beautiful home here as well. Looking forward to seeing you on Cuttyhunk if it works out sometime in July. (Hoping your move with Christian, if you decide to go ahead with it, to the SF Bay Area goes well ahead - and what a big change too!) Nice to learn more about a favorite first cousin once removed, your husband of 28 years, John Briscoe, esp! Thanks for sharing. 

See you in the morning, and thank you so much again, Kate!

(Looking forward to staying in touch about MIT OCW-centric wiki World Univ & Sch and journalism, for example - https://wiki.worlduniversityandschool.org/wiki/Journalism (https://wiki.worlduniversityandschool.org/wiki/Subjects)

(Ma, thanks for your call too, which I got on my laptop. While I appear not to have telephone access here, I do have laptop computer access, thanks to Kate and Christian's wifi signal; I am departing around 9am, and hope to make ferry reservations on a landline). 


Best regards, Scott

- https://www.amazon.com/author/scottmacleodworlduniversity - 




* * 

Hi Ma, Sandy, Cuttyhunkers, All, 


A related blog post from today, plus much more regarding a new development between 2U and edX (with which WUaS is no longer partnering) ... an opportunity for World Univ & Sch to become ~200 major online universities??? and even regarding abolition (of the international illegal sex industry, in all 200 countries), further? .... 

Piping plover: San Francisco 5 yrs ago today @WorldUnivAndSch #WUaSHiveMeetimgSpace at #AFSC #AFSCSF above #SFQuakerMeeting * * * Fw: A new future for edX * * * 15 yrs ago today?, Greece, Eftalou on isle of Lesvos, Yoga, Victor & Angela's Yoga Hall ... & Cuttyhunk island * In the 1970s here, I recall much less humidity, and mist from humidity in air - and recall non-humid clear blue skies in afternoon with 12 knot SW winds perfect for sailing, so without humidity present in late June now (and I was here a couple of times then from late June- early September ... -:and even having to wear a jacket in the evening because it was cool. Ocean waters still do not seem to have risen relative to the stone dikes and jetties I'm glad to report (due to melting icecaps .. and threshold effect, where temperature in air/ocean gets so warm to melt ice caps precipitously fast) * 15 yrs ago today?, Greece, Eftalou, Yoga, Victor & Angela's Yoga Hall

Warm regards, Scott



-- 
- Scott GK MacLeod  
Founder, President, CEO & Professor
World Univ & Sch (WUaS) - PO Box 442, Canyon, CA 94516 
1) non-profit World University and School - http://worlduniversityandschool.org  
2) for profit general stock company WUaS Corporation in CA - http://worlduniversityandschool.org/AcademicPress.html

(m) 412 478 0116 - sgkmacleod@gmail.com 

World Univ & Sch Innovation Research -  scottmacleod.com 

- CC World University and School - like CC Wikipedia with best STEM-centric CC OpenCourseWare - incorporated as a nonprofit university and school in California, and is a U.S. 501 (c) (3) tax-exempt educational organization. 


* * 

Ma, Sandy,


Am musing about DT's email ... And as a landlord, and re business prospects ... And how it could get in the way of our connecting as friends here on Cuttyhunk even and culturally somehow, even re a changed Cuttyhunk. .. curious world we live in, 

... and am glad to be on Cuttyhunk now too especially, and as an individual and connected with you too


... as family ...

Love, Scott



D-S email thread -

'Allman Bros'

Hi Scott,
Welcome. Thanks for the invite.  I've got myself overbooked with chores and visits for my last few days, so let's catch up on the beach, etc.
See you soon,
D


Hi David,

Nice to hear from you. Looking forward to seeing you ... Headed over toward you thru the CYC cove - eyes out for horseshoe crabs (but haven't seen any for years) - then across Church's beach, far end near you, with its pretty warm ocean water, and not much beach yet, then up to your place #2, but only saw some of your renters in place #1 ... See you ðŸ˜Š soon.

Scott


New rock and roll label (will be populating:) -




PS
Wondering how too law enforcement has successfully regulated the rental industry, at the federal level esp., and what developments in law are emerging re questions of abolishing the illegal sex industry (as a kind of slavery) in the information age, and even re all Countries and different identities too (eg law breakers, criminals, law abiders etc). ... Financial disincentives ? ... Impossibility of separating the 'hens' from the 'chicks' and even so close to the CYC possibly re off season in particular ? 


PPS
May see D soon however ... On the beach or on the road :)





* 








https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piping_plover

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Piping_Plover_%2821827564362%29.jpg

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Piping_Plover_(12776646935).jpg

https://www.ctpost.com/news/slideshow/Connecticut-s-endangered-species-96203.php

...



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