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OLWeekly ~ by Stephen Downes ((56901))[Home] [Top] [Archives] [About] [Options]
by Stephen Downes
Dec 29, 2017
Feature Article
The Downes Prize 2017
Stephen Downes, 2017/12/29
Every year at this time I award the Downes Prize to the most-read post of those I've posted some time in the previous 365 days. This year that means any one of 1246 total posts from hundreds of authors around the world. The award is intended to be an objective measure, not based on popularity contests, campaigns, or any other such thing, but reflective of actual interest in the item on the part of OLDaily readers..
Without further ado,
This year's Downes Prize is awarded to:
Peter B. Kaufman, Intelligent Television, Feb 09, 2017.
Two major stories dominated the interests of OLDaily readers in 2017: the impact of fake news, and the continuing ascendancy of the MOOC. While last year's winner looked at the former, this year's winner looks at the latter. Peter Kaufman covers two major areas on MOOC production: first of all, how to create MOOC videos, and secondly, open licensing for MOOC contents. This practical guide spoke to people interested in how to make open online education work for the betterment of humanity, which makes 2017's choice a fitting winner.
Honourable Mentions:
Tracking innovations in online learning in Canada - Tony Bates, online learning and distance education resources, Feb 14, 2017
Faculty Perceptions about Teaching Online: Exploring the Literature Using the Technology Acceptance Model as an Organizing Framework - Nancy Pope Wingo, Nataliya V. Ivankova, Jacqueline A. Moss, online learning, Mar 30, 2017
MOOCs Started Out Completely Free. Where Are They Now? - Dhawal Shah, EdSurge, Apr 21, 2017
Instructional Quality, Student Outcomes, and Institutional Finances - Martin Kurzweil, Jessie Brown, American Council on Education, July 24, 2017.
Open Badges: A Low-Cost Toolkit for Measuring Team Communication and Dynamics - Oren Lederman, Dan Calacci, Angus MacMullen, Daniel C. Fehder, Fiona E. Murray, Alex “Sandy” Pentland , arXiv, October 14, 2017.
How to Engage in Pseudoscience With Real Data: A Criticism of John Hattie's Arguments in Visible Learning from the Perspective of a Statistician - Pierre-Jérôme Bergeron, McGill Journal of Education, Aug 20, 2017
A Field Guide to 'jobs that don't exist yet' - Benjamin Doxtdator, A Long View on Education, Dec 20, 2017
The World's Best Film School is Free on YouTube - David Pierce, Wired, Dec 22, 2017
A repository platform for OERs - Panagiotis Stasinakis, Open Education Platform, Dec 11, 2017
A gallery of interesting Jupyter Notebooks - GitHub, Nov 24, 2017
Previous Winners
In 2016, the Downes Prize was awarded to Michael Caulfield, for New Directions in Open Education published in Hapgood, Oct 10, 2016.
In 2015, the Downes Prize was awarded to Alaa A. AlDahdouh, António J. Osório and Susana Caires for Understanding knowledge network, learning and connectivism published in theInternational Journal of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning.
In 2014, the Downes Prize was awarded to Matt Bower, Gregor Kennedy, Barney Dalgarno, Mark J. W. Lee, Jacqueline Kenney for Blended Synchronous Learning Handbook
In 2013, the Downes Prize was awarded to Tony Bates for Discussing design models for hybrid/blended learning and the impact on the campus
In 2012, the prize was awarded to Clayton R. Wright, for his series of posts annotating educational technology conferences.
In 2011, the prize was awarded to the Consortium for School Networking for Acceptable Use Policies in Web 2.0 & Mobile Era.
In 2010, the prize was awarded to JISC for Effective Assessment in a Digital Age.
[Comment]
eLearning Program with Natural Language Processing
IBM, 2017/12/28
This is the sort of thing that's coming (though I'm not sure I would trust IBM with a major infrastructure project). According to this website, "Artificial Intelligence allows us to develop advanced learning products that can analyze the learners’ actions and make intelligent choices in order to help you meet your training goals." The site points to a business use case where the AI grades or responds to freeform text input. There's also a lin k to The eLearning Company (the marketing department was on vacation when they picked a name for the company I guess).
Today: 65 Total: 212 From Good Intentions to Real Shortcomings: An Edtech Reckoning
Mimi Ito, EdSurge, 2017/12/28
"In 2017," writes Mimi Ito, "reality took a massive swipe at the wobbly optimism of technology progressives." How so? Well, despite things like MOOCs and YouTube we still see digital inequality and gender discrimination. Schools continue to be unequal, open access doesn't seem to promote equity, etc. But instead of the four lessons Ito draws (unite around shared purpose, focus on minorities) I think we need to look at the wider picture. Open and progressive education are necessary, but by no means sufficient, factors in equity. Take away people's livelihood and health care and equity suffers, no matter what else you do. Defund government programs and equity suffers, no matter what else you do. You can't vote for policies that result in inequity - which Americans (and others) continue to do - and expect education and openness to fill the gap. Won't. Happen.
Today: 68 Total: 203 The New Media Consortium: updates and next steps
Bryan Alexander, 2017/12/28
It's a few days old, but readers may be interested in the process of the dissolution of the New Media Consortium. I still find it somewhat odd that it could go from business-as-usual to bankruptcy proceedings in just a few days. I also find it odd that "a community-driven, grassroots effort to complete the 2018 Higher Ed Hz work could inhibit an orderly shutdown of @NMCorg business."
Today: 73 Total: 222 Blockchain – don’t ask how, ask why
David Kernohan, Wonkhe, 2017/12/27
Why Blockchain? That's the key question. "In this case," writes David Kernohan, "the problem is trust." For example, what do you do if you don't trust your bank? "Cryptographic encryption (hiding information using the power of really difficult maths) lends anonymity and security, but the openly visible nature of transactions lends reliability." Except - it doesn't. In the cases where the currency fluctuates wildly, or where millions are stolen from user accounts, or where falso contracts are executed, you find quickly that there is no more reason to trust the digital currency ecosystem than there is to trust banks or governments. And maybe a lot less reason. "You don’t need Wonkhe to tell you that investing in a hugely volatile financial product with no reliable – or even regulated – way to withdraw your money is probably a bad idea." Yeah.
Today: 50 Total: 281 Top 3 tips for journalists wanting to get started in data journalism
Paul Bradshaw, Online Journalism Blog, 2017/12/27
These aren't just tips for journalists, they're tips for learners as well. Consider the first tip: "Don’t start by learning a technique for the sake of it – there are 101 different things you could learn – instead pick a problem that you face regularly, or a story idea that you have, and let that dictate the sorts of data journalism skills that you learn first." Doesn't that make so much sense as an approach to learning? It's certainly the approach I take. Or consider the three technical skills: speadsheet skills, data visualization, and computational thinking. If we think of 'spreadsheek skills' as data management in general, we have a pretty core skill.
Today: 49 Total: 292 No boundaries for user identities: Web trackers exploit browser login managers
Gunes Acar, Freedom to Tinker, 2017/12/27
The first item in this series, describing how websites record your sessions by tracking keyboard clicks and mouse movements - was an eye-opener. This article talks about how your browser betrays you. "Third-party scripts exploit browsers’ built-in login managers (also called password managers) to retrieve and exfiltrate user identifiers without user awareness." I tested it myself on their live demo page and it certainly appears to work. There's a list of sites that use this technique for grabbing email addresses and using them for tracking. Using ad blockers can help prevent this. But the best defense is to disable browser auto-fill options and use a third party password manager like 1password instead. Via Ben Werdmuller.
Today: 28 Total: 242 Ten years in, nobody has come up with a use for blockchain
Kai Stinchcombe, HackerNoon, 2017/12/27
This is a pretty thorough debunking of the idea that blockchain technology will disrupt industry. Kai Stinchcombe looks at several putative use cases - payment and banking, anonymous transactions, micropayments, bank-to-bank transfers, smart contracts, distributed ledgers and storage, stock transfers, authentication - and in each case shows that the hard parts are not addressed by blockchain. For example, blockchain is no more efficient than the existing system of payments and banking, but with none of the protections. Meanwhile, it turns out that anonymous banking helps criminals and terrorists a lot more than it helps society in general. And so on and on. "Blockchain enthusiasts often act as if the hard part is getting money from A to B or keeping a record of what happened. In each case, moving money and recording the transaction is actually the cheap, easy, highly-automated part of a much more complex system."
Today: 32 Total: 297 ADL Initiative Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) Requirements
Advanced Distributed Learning, 2017/12/27
Advanced Distributed Learning (ADL) has announced its goals for Total Learning Architecture (TLA) for 2018. There are four major components:
TLA Data Visualization and Associated Learning Analytics TLA Content and Pedagogical (Andragogical) Model TLA Learning Experience System Incorporation Pervasive Learning System (PERLS)ADL is seeking proposals to address these needs, generally looking at development at Technology Readiness Level (TRL) 4 to 6. Interestingly, "The ADL Initiative has developed a prototype, smartphone-based personal assistance for learning. The system, called “PERLS,” employs a complex and novel self-regulated learning model, developed through prior research into adaptive distributed learning theory."
Today: 31 Total: 236
Alice
Carnegie Mellon University, 2017/12/26
Doug Peterson pointed me to the innovative programming language called 'Alice'. The software has a long history, intertwined with Randy Pausch's work in VR, and moved to Carnegoie Mellon a couple of years ago. What is it? Peterson explains: "Alice offers it all. 2 and 3 D story telling, building, programming in an easy format, an easy to navigate environment, and more including resources for teaching at the Alice website and all over the internet from fans." What it doesn't have, unfortunately, is a web interface. Maybe next year. Note: the website markets Alice as "a free gidft from Carnegie Mellon University," but it would be wise to look at the list of sponsors and especially the series of NSF grants showing who actually paid for this "free gift".
Today: 26 Total: 304 The next-generation operating model for the digital world
Albert Bollard, Elixabete Larrea, Alex Singla, Rohit Sood, McKinsey, 2017/12/26
I can see this trend being reflected in the origanizations I deal with. There are two major aspects: first, "a shift from running uncoordinated efforts within siloes to launching an integrated operational-improvement program organized around customer journeys", and second, "a shift from using individual technologies, operations capabilities, and approaches in a piecemeal manner inside siloes to applying them to journeys in combination." This all sounds good in theory but it's a lot more difficult to apply in practice. Each silo and each individual tech choice exists for a reason, and forcing them into an integrated whole can result in enterprise-wide disruption. Like this. Like this. Like this. Like this. You have to build resiliance into enterprise planning, which requires enabling parts of the enterprise to decouple when a central system goes south.
Today: 20 Total: 304 Students & The Cost of Higher Education
Tim Klapdor, Heart | Soul | Machine, 2017/12/26
Tim Klapdor writes about the reasons for "the end of demand driven education" in the UK. This is the idea that the system would be prepared to educate those students who wanted to learn. One reason, he writes, is government policy, which is intended to favour the rich, and is therefore opposed to the idea of education for all. Another reason is the cost, as universities made to attempt to leverage the economies of scale as their enrollments increased. Lost in the whole discussion, he says, are the students. "No one seems willing to discuss the fact that students are being forced to prop up the higher education system as the government slowly defunds it."
Today: 28 Total: 343 Build Pedagogy Before Technology
Rod Berger, edCircuit, 2017/12/26
This is a video discussion between education consultant Steven Anderson and interviewer Rod Berger, along with a summary article. A lot of the conversation revolves around Anderson's experiences at conferences, and how he thinks people should approach the conference experience. There's also an undertone of tech criticism. Anderson suggests that the motivation for the use of tech in schools is the money that was spent on the tech. And he suggests that people try to "cram" the pedagogy into the technology that they have. "Technology comes and goes," he says. "What we need to be focused on are pedagogy and processes." But focusing on these creates the risk of being blind to what new things can be done with the tech.
Today: 23 Total: 313 How the 'Slow Ed Tech Movement' Is Bringing a Sense of Purpose to Academic Technology
David Raths, Campus Technology, 2017/12/26
I can understand why people would want to slow ed tech work, but my fear is that the phenomenon of 'slow ed tech' is based on a chimera. After all, how do you measure the speed of ed tech? Is it how fast you type or text? Is it the number of words you read in an hour? Is the the quantity or pace of operations you perform? I see no inherent benefit in slowing any of these (indeed, typing quickly actually reduces a lot of the stress of working with tech). Meanwhile, I slow the pace of my ed tech work all the time, but my managers call it "not working" and "watching YouTube videos".
Today: 23 Total: 305 Inequality in nature and society
Marten Scheffer, Bas van Bavel, Ingrid A. van de Leemput, Egbert H. van Nes, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2017/12/25
Something to think about for the holidays. The authors identify "striking similarities between patterns of inequality between species abundances in nature and wealth in society." Then, in a kicker, they "demonstrate that in the absence of equalizing forces, such large inequality will arise from chance alone." The only way to respond to this is through some sort of regulation; in the forest, this might occur through natural factors, but in society, unless there is some sort of regulation, the inevitable result is massive inequality. The authors note, "this does not imply that wealth inequality is 'natural.' Indeed, in nature, the amount of resources held by individuals (e.g., territory size) is typically quite equal within a species." It's just that as society grows it becomes more difficult to scale regulations. And lest you think there's no real problem, note that "Excessive concentration of wealth is widely thought to hamper economic growth, concentrate power in the hands of a small elite, and increase the chance of social unrest and political instability."
Today: 4 Total: 329 Ruba Borno on Cisco's strategy in action
Ruba Borno, Cisco, 2017/12/25
This interesting look back on what Cisco was up to in 2017 is also a look forward for many of us. It's just a listicle, sadly; the short items just beg for links to longer articles. There's encrypted traffic analytics, whihc identifies malware in encrypted traffic without violating privacy, there's Cisco's cloud deal with Google, there's a hyperconvergence infrastructure, and more along the same lines.
Today: 2 Total: 358 Permits to teach not a long term solution
Grant Frost, frostededucation, 2017/12/25
In Nova Scotia an agreement has been reached that "would allow people without teaching degrees to work as substitute teachers in the region’s largest board." Obviously this is far from ideal, and it sounds like the measure was adopted very reluctantly. But it also points to the weakness of the traditional model of education in developing regions: it is expensive, and it requires qualified people. Sometimes, this is not possible. What then? Sadly, this column offers no real solution to the problem. But I can say that bitter contract disputes and legislated working conditions don't help. Not at all.
Today: 1 Total: 293 Dynamicland
Dynamicland, 2017/12/25
This is not a product but a vision of a product. In a nutshell: it's paper, but where every scrap of paper has the capabilities of a computer. The idea is to allow us to create large surfaces (like the surface of a table) where we collaborate using these scraps. The system also uses clay and tokens and toy cars, all interacting with the paper. The creators are describing it as a 50-year project. Here's the research agenda. It's neat idea and I like the concept, though the videos still seem a bit opaque to me. I hope it's successful. Via Tom Woodward.
Today: 1 Total: 325 Harmony and hope as pedagogies for 2018
Jenny Mackness, Jenny Connected, 2017/12/25
Jenny Mackness summarizes some of the recent discussion around the idea of a 'pedagogy of harmony'. She links to Kevin Hodgson's video of a 'found poem' from Laura Ritchie's post (definitely required viewing). Harmony doesn't seem to be enough, she suggests. "'Don’t we need dissonance to be able to recognise harmony?’ and in terms of pedagogy ‘Don’t we need dissonance to maintain interest and attention?'" And she also asks, ‘Can one person’s harmony be another person’s dissonance?’ All true, of course. But all - in my view - part of the concept of harmony. In a separate Google Plus post I explain some of my thinking behind the concept (why Google Plus? Too shot for a blog post, too long for Twitter/Mastodon).
Today: 0 Total: 319 Secure mail for everybody!
Tutanota, 2017/12/25
Tutanota is a fully encrypted email service. According to the website, "In the future Tutanota will be our replacement for Gmail with a calendar, notes, cloud storage - everything encrypted by default!" The service is free with one gigabyte of storage with plans for more. It's open source (GPL v3) and available on GitHub.
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Copyright 2017 Stephen Downes Contact: stephen@downes.ca
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