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OLDaily - Text Edition by Stephen Downes Dec 27, 2016


Learning through life rather than exams
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Singapore, noted for its top 10 finish in the recently
released PISA test results, is shifting its focus away from
rote and testing. "The system is now embracing skills,
interests and a sense of curiosity. Above all, it hopes to
bring out a love for lifelong learning in Singaporeans,
from pupils to workers with decades of experience."
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Could online tutors and artificial intelligence be the
future of teaching?
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I think it would be surprising if these new technologies
did not play a significant role, particularly in
environments where teachers are too expensive or scarce to
provide the necessary learning support. We are already
looking at significant employment of tutors to support
learning. This article looks at initiatives such as "the
lessons, provided by a company called Third Space Learning
https://www.thirdspacelearning.com/" data-link-name="in
body link, (that) are targeted at pupils struggling with
maths – particularly those from disadvantaged
backgrounds." Researchers
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at University College London (UCL), have "analysed around
100,000 hours of audio and written data from its tutorials,
with the goal of identifying what makes a good teacher and
a successful lesson."
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Assessing Critical Thinking in Higher Education: Current
State and Directions for Next-Generation Assessment
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This is quite a good paper from a couple years ago on the
topic of assessing critical thinking. The authors look at a
variety of critical thinking definitions and assessment
methods, finding (not surprisingly) considerable variation
in the quality of the research in the field. They recommend
a new framework for assessment that is reasonably
comprehensive.
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Student Assessment of Quality of Access at the National
Open University of Nigeria (NOUN)
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The more interesting part of this article is in the opening
sections as we learn about the National Open University of
Nigeria (NOUN) and in particular how it is positioned to
meet government objectives of access and open education.
Still, the survey provides some helpful information,
suggesting that too few people in Nigeria are aware of the
university (and hence recommending radio and TV
advertisements), and the surprising result that people find
the university website easier to access than the printed
student handbook.
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Copyright 2016 Stephen Downes
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License
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