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by Stephen Downes
Jul 14, 2017
Presentation
Leading Into Our Futures
Stephen Downes, Jul 08, 2017, CICan Leadership Institute for Presidents and Directors General, Mont Tremblant, Quebec
In this presentation we engaged in a design exercise considering how we would develop the post-secondary education system from scratch if we were starting today. This discussion was set in a context of participant-selected stakeholders and benefits along with a background discussion of emerging technologies and trends. Presentation Slides in Google Docs
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Anchor Offers the Easiest Way to Publish Podcasts
Richard Byrne, Free Technology for Teachers, 2017/07/14
This post introduces us to Anchor, a podcast application that allows you to record and mix podcasts using your phone, then publish the result to audio subscription services. "This month Anchor moved into direct competition with other full-fledged podcasting platforms by automating the process of submission and distribution to Apple Podcasts and Google Play," writes Richard Bryne. The disadvantage, from my perspective, is that it only runs on iOS and Android (so I can't use it on my desktop or laptop, which is where I really prefer to dso stuff like this).
How We Are Ruining America
David Brooks, New York Times, 2017/07/14
I don't think I belong to the 'we' in this column, but it is nonetheless telling, not only for the message, but also the source: "Status rules are partly about collusion, about attracting educated people to your circle, tightening the bonds between you and erecting shields against everybody else. We in the educated class have created barriers to mobility that are more devastating for being invisible. The rest of America can’t name them, can’t understand them. They just know they’re there." Robert Pondiscio interprets this as an argument for explicitly teaching these to everyone (instead of, say, "a child’s home language, culture, and dialect."). "There is a language of power. It is the language of privileged parents, affluent communities, and elite universities. It’s the language of David Brooks. But he’d do well to recognize that you don’t learn that language in those places. They don’t let you in until or unless you demonstrate command of it." The problem is, if we teach 'the right language' to everyone, the elite simply moves on to something new. You can't standardize on the language of power; you have to make the language of power irrelevant.
Will to Power: Project-Based Learning in Post-WWII Japanese School Curriculum
Kazuyuki Nomura, British Educational Research Association, 2017/07/14
The translation to English in this post is a bit rough, but ther story it tells is interesting. The starting point is a 1998 curriculum reform in Japan (44 years after the end of the war, but who's counting?) which reduces the emphasis on content and "promoted activities focusing on the individual relevance of each child along with alleviating excessive pressure in learning [including] a new subject called Integrated Study (sogoteki na gakushu no jikan) was introduced with great fanfare to promote project-based learning beyond prescribed subject boundaries." The gist of the article is that through two successive reforms (2008 and 2017) central authorities exercised inclreading control over the curriculum. "Integrative Study in the 2017 curriculum guidelines is closely tied up with skills ‘fundamental to all learning’ such as use of language, logical thinking, and IT literacy."
The Ed-Fi Alliance Releases Evolutionary Data Standard v2.1
Eric Jansson, Ed-Fi Alliance, 2017/07/14
Ed-Fi 2.1 has been released. "The Ed-Fi Data Standard serves as the foundation for enabling interoperability among secure data systems and contains a Unifying Data Model designed to capture the meaning and inherent structure in the most important information in the K–12 education enterprise." Of significance: "A fresh, simpler organization anchored on the Unifying Data Model (UDM) that reflects our move away from Bulk and toward API/JSON as the primary method of interacting with concrete implementations of the data model" Also worth noting: "this is also the first release of the data standard where the technical artifacts (and a significant portion of the documentation) have been managed by MetaEd, a tool that supports implementers who are extending Ed-Fi technology."
Why Business Leaders Need to Read More Science Fiction
Eliot Peper, Harvard Business Review, 2017/07/14
I think everybody should read more science fiction, not just business leaders. I can certianly attest to its value, having read hundreds, indeed probably thousands, of science fictionm books. "Science fiction isn’t useful because it’s predictive. It’s useful because it reframes our perspective on the world. Like international travel or meditation, it creates space for us to question our assumptions.... Exploring fictional futures frees our thinking from false constraints. It challenges us to wonder whether we’re even asking the right questions." But. You don't get this effect just by reading a few science fiction novels; you have to read a lot. And more, we're in a science fiction slowdown, with few quality titles being released.
Making friends in MOOCs: It is No Fluke!
Curt Bonk, TravelinEdMan, 2017/07/14
Curt Bonk summarizes some of the work from a journal article on the subject (unfortunately he doesn't offer a link or even a title for the article) about whether people make friends in MOOCs. He seems to focus on whether instructors make friends, which seems to me to be totally beside the point - I would be looking for MOOC participants to make friends with each other. Anyhow, here is the line of thinking: "Giving away one's writing is one way to generate new friendships. Giving course design feedback is another. So is offering a free massive course. In terms of MOOCs, I think that the number of friendships made relate to the type or form of MOOC that you design. Is it an xMOOC (more traditional instructor led) or a cMOOC (more community and participant driven) or pMOOC (more project or product based) or some other type?"
10 apps to use for the 2017-2018 term
Meris Stansbury, eCampus News, 2017/07/14
One of the things I do when I read a 'top 10 tech tools' article like this is to ponder which of the tools the list was designed to promote. In this case I'm guessing it's EdCast, self-styled as "the Netflix of Knowledge". We read, "EdCast’s app allows users to discover their most relevant learning opportunities, including those from co-workers, internal experts, formal and informal courses, external experts, MOOCs, and the internet." So, like Google then. Except you can't actually use it on the web; you need the iOS or Android app. The other items on the list are actually useful, including CamScanner, which captures textbooks using OCR, Due, a deadline reminder app, GradeProof, which proofreads your writing. The list also includes a number of well-known apps.
Academic publishing at a crossroads
Marc Couture, University Affairs, 2017/07/13
"The shift towards open access is an opportunity to reform academic publishing to better serve the public interest," says Marc Couture. But the indifference of academics and institutions continues to allow publishers to extract millions from the system. "In theory, researchers have the upper hand in academic publishing," wrutes Couture. "They already do most of the work involved." But "the majority of researchers, the role of publishing is not so much to ensure the widest possible dissemination of their findings at the lowest cost, but to build up their standing and their professional portfolio." This entices them into a reputation system controlled by the publishers. Image: Paula Callan and Sarah Brown.
On Public Distrust, Colleges Could Learn From Journalism’s Mistakes
Clara Turnage, Chronicle of Higher Education, 2017/07/13
The headline of this article makes a great point but unfortunately the article doesn't follow up, choosing instead to blame distrust on misunderstandings on the part of the public. For example: "When people talk about their confidence about higher education or the media, they don’t pause and think, ‘What would happen if we didn’t have them?’" OK, fine, but that's not what causes distrust. Yes, people focus on "their indiscretions and controversies," but in the case of news media there were just so many of them, ranging from a concentration of corporate ownership, a focus on the trivial, stage and altered images, abetting the misleading of the public, all the way to outright sexism and racism. We didn't need apologists for the rich and powerful, which is why we began to distrust the press, and to believe we could live without them.
What can academia learn from this? The lesson would seem to be obvious, but the article doesn't touch it. The media was prompted into dishonesty by its owners and sponsors; could the same happen to universities? It doesn't help that universities allow the manipulation of research results. Or using research to influence public opinion. Abetting academic dishonesty. Excluding the poor. All the way to outright sexism and racism. So long as universities are seen as taking the side of the rich and powerful, to the detriment of the rest of us, they will be increasingly distrusted. It's a clear message. But what will it take for universities to hear it?
First Object Teleported from Earth to Orbit
2017/07/13
This article uses the term 'object' and 'teleported' in a very specialized sense, so don't think of this as Star Trek. Still. When two photons are created at the same time and place, they become 'quantum entangled', so that any change to one photon also happens to the other, no matter how far apart they are (it's like hitting one twin in New York and having the other twin in Paris feeling the pain). The Chinese have succeeded (16 page PDF) in sending some of these photons in space and demonstrating entanglement effects at distances of up to 1400 kilometers, creating the possibility of instantaneous communications over long distances, "an essential step toward global-scale quantum internet."
As an aside, the philosopher Mo Di (also known as Mo-Tzu, and called Micius in this article) flourished in China around the same time Socrates lived in Greece, in the 4th century BCE. Mo Di was a follower of Confucius, but felt he was too formal and aristocratic; Mo Di "was drawn to the common people and looked much farther back to a life of primitive simplicity and straightforwardness in human relations."
What to Put in Your Makerspace (and How to Pay for It)
Teri Bauerly, EdSurge, 2017/07/13
The 'how to pay for it' part is 'apply for foundation grants'. This obviously won't work for everyone (especially outside the United States). The better part of the article is the description of activities and tools used to create a digital makerspace, ranging from Ozobot to Makey Makey to Polar 3D, a cloud based 3D printer.
Transforming university students from consumers to developers of online content
Rebecca Quintana, Coursera Blog, 2017/07/12
This is presented as a "gee whiz isn't it amazing" sort of way. "What would it look like for university students to be the content creators for a Coursera social impact campaign course?" the author asks. My question is more like "why can't sudents create all their own courses (given some support and materials)?" And of course, they could. It would be a lot more work than an ordinary course, though, and students would need to be motivated by actually wanting to take the course. Anyhow, here's the course (page on UMichigan site). Note that you have to sign up and "financial Aid is available for learners who cannot afford the fee" because, you know, in the brave new world of open educational resources, everybody pays.
The Mechanical Universe
David Goodstein, James F. Blinn, CalTech, YouTube, 2017/07/12
O'Reilly summarizes this as follows: " a critically acclaimed series of 52 30-minute videos covering the basic topics of an introductory university physics course. So, like a MOOC or Khan Academy, but from 1985." So, yes, except now it's on the internet so everyone can view it for free. And there are no subscription fees (unline some MOOCs). The animations are lovely and there are snippets old old films and whatever. So 1985, but so good.
YouTube Deja:View
Google, YouTube, 2017/07/12
This is very clever. It pits you against some other opponent (of roughly equal skill) in a quiz about recent popular videos posted to YouTube. You use your Google ID to keep track of your points across games. An excerpt of the video plays as an animation in the background; no sound. You are awarded points for correct answers and speed. There are various levels you can achieve, which matches you with stronger opponents. That's it. But that's plenty. The applications to learning are clear.
How Losing SoundCloud Would Change Music
Micah Peters, The Ringer, 2017/07/12
If SoundCloud didn't exist, we would need to invent it. "Apple Music is filtered through artist curation; Spotify’s playlists are guided by label interests. Compared to the two, SoundCloud is something of a free-for-all — everyone and anyone can hear and be heard." That's what I have always loved about the internet and that's what is endangered by the increasing consolidation of online content into the giant silos we all know. We are in a golden age of music at the moment, most of it powered by indy artists, and it would be a shame to lose that.
Mont Tremblant
Stephen Downes, Flickr, 2017/07/11
Please enjoy my most recent photos, a set from the Quebec resort town of Mont Tremblant, taken while we visited for my workshop on Satuday. It's Andrea's new favourite place and I would also return any time. Click on the photo, headline, or here to see the set.
OpenStax Launches Learning Platform
Carl Straumsheim, Inside Higher Ed, 2017/07/11
Rice University's OpenStax, which once upon a time was known as a free textbook site called Connexions, has launched Tutor Beta, an online learning platform that will make three courses -- biology, physics and sociology -- available this fall. I'm thinking that the textbook project felt it was missing out on the MOOC phenomenon (MOOCS: still not dead). "Tutor Beta breaks OpenStax’s textbooks into smaller chunks, testing students with short answer and multiple-choice questions. The platform also feeds information about how students are learning to instructors." They want to integrate with a "major learning management system" as well. And there's another commercial MOOC trend they have been missing out on: revenue. "Tutor Beta also represents a new revenue stream -- $10 per student per course." Because in the brave new world of open educational resources, nothing says "free" like a subscription charge.
What We Learned from Improving Diversity Rates at Pinterest
Candice Morgan, Harvard Business Review, 2017/07/11
This is an interesting article. It shows you can't just set goals for diversity, you have to work at it, and constantly reinforce the reasons why you're doing it. It also shows that the steps taken to ensure diversity also help ensure a proper hiring process overall - for example, casting a wide net instead of relying mainly on referrals (because people tend to refer people who are like themselves - something I've seen firsthand). It also underlines the value of clear evaluation criteria, and not simply a vague concept of 'cultural fit'. The effectiveness of diversity movements will impact the value proposition for collges and universities, and especially elite institutions. Though they advertise 'great content and great professors' what they're really selling is access to the old boys' network, and though the dysfunction is there for all to see, they won't surrender their poisitions (or their entitlement) without a fight.
Hyperledger Fabric 1.0 is Released
Chris Ferris, The Linux Foundation, 2017/07/11
According to the website, "Hyperledger Fabric is a platform for distributed ledger solutions, underpinned by a modular architecture delivering high degrees of confidentiality, resiliency, flexibility and scalability." Basically, it's a mechanism for implementing biusiness functions supported by blockchain for security and verifiability. "Hyperledger Fabric 1.0 offers a modular architecture allowing components, such as consensus and membership services, to be plug-and-play. It leverages container technology to host smart contracts called 'chaincode' that comprise the application logic of the system." Now of course it's years between the development of a cross-platform specification like this and widespread implementation, but at the same time, development work in learning technology that is beginning now will implement this approach (if not this specification exactly, then something very similar).
P1876 – Networked Smart Learning Objects for Online Laboratories
Various authors, Ieee, 2017/07/11
This is an IEEE working group that has receively been reinvigorated. It "defines methods for storing and retrieving learning objects for remote laboratories. The standard will also define methods for linking learning objects to design and implement smart learning environments for remote online laboratories." For example, it defines " interfaces for devices connected to user computers over computers networks and the devices themselves."
Making Room for Artificial Intelligence in the Classroom
Avron Barr, 2017/07/11
This presentation describes some of the work on the IEEE Learning Technology Standards Committee (LTSC). There's downloadable audio and video, and also an embed version that's too slow to try to put into the newsletter. The actual presentation starts at 3:50 of the video and the audio is good. The three major messages: AI is coming, data interoperability standards will be required, and we need to rethink school and learning ahead of the disruption. The video shows only the slides (which include a little bit of embedded video).
Just as an aside: at one point Barr described an algorithm that detects emotions based on facial recognition. Though it has been argued that there are universal expressions emotions across cultures (c.f. Ekman's Atlas of Emotions), other research is arguing that this is not the case. Indeed, it has been argues that people experience emoptions differently across cultures. So we need to exercise caution when we design AI to detect emotions, ensuring at a minimum that training data is cross-cultural and representative.
Google DeepMind AI learns to creatively move around obstacles
Swapna Krishna, Engadget, 2017/07/11
As the teaser says, "Come for the reinforcement learning, stay for the GIFs." Stay for the short video, actually, to watch a human-shaped robot figure navigate complex landscapes. This aerticle summarizes the outcomes of a reserach paper (14 page PDF), It wasn't given instructions on how to do this; it learned how to jump and climb via reinforcement learning. "It's clear that DeepMind is using creative solutions to get around the obstacles it's presented with; much of the time, the movement that provides the most efficient solution isn't exactly natural looking."
Technology-Enhanced Peer Review: Benefits and Implications of Providing Multiple Reviews
Pantelis M. Papadopoulos1, Thomas D. Lagkas, Stavros N. Demetriadis3, Educational Technology & Society, 2017/07/10
As the literature review makes clear, studies of online peer reviews are a dime a dozen. This one is a bit different, though. The proposition being tested here is whether students can improve their own self-assessment by participating in a peer review process. Not surprisingly, they can, even when no external reviewers review the student's work. Because the study is so small (n=36) the detailed statistical analysis of the results is purely an academic exercise. It would be interesting to see this work replicated with a significant population, but the mechanics of academic funding ensure we almost certainly never will.
Game On! Students’ Perceptions of Gamified Learning
Patrick Buckley1, Elaine Doyle1, Shane Doyle, Educational Technology
& Society, 2017/07/10
We should not draw any generalizations from such a narrow study (a large third year undergraduate class (n = 142) and a small group (n = 19) of graduate students). But there's much that could be said of it, beginning with the definition of 'game' as (1) rewards for achieving goals (2) rapid feedback cycles (3) governance by rules, and (4) competition. This is obviously too narrow a definition (and it's debatable whether 'game' can be defined at all) and yet the usage here is too broad, and the 'game' involved awarding 10% of the course grade based on economic predictions (for example: announcements of the corproate tax rate). Not surprisingly students found the grading far too random and the effort disproportionate to the reward.
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Copyright 2017 Stephen Downes Contact: [email protected]
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