Daily Links: Sandel is a rock star; Support your local professor scene.

First, go watch the amazing–I’m going to call it a trailer–for Harvard prof Michael Sandel’s mooc version of his famous course on “Justice.” (Part of me is so glad to see that ye olde pop lecture is still alive, and that edX hired some decent if somewhat dorky shooting and editing to make learning look cool. Another part of me is creeped out). Next, read this cogent yet passionate open letter to Sandel from the philosophy faculty of San Jose State, explaining why it would be unjust for them to submit their students to his online course. Third, read Sandel’s response. It’s not much, but I’m assuming his hands were somewhat tied.
This is really aimed at k-12 educators, but some compelling ideas here on using Pinterest for teaching, learning, and organizing projects.
apropos of nothing, here’s a good entry from Confessions of a Community College Dean, on how privilege means assuming your opinion matters. One of the things that makes Brown undergrads such a pleasure to work with is their precociousness, and this sheds light on where that may come from.