Learning Analytics: The Emergence of a Discipline
David T. Jones, The Weblog of (a) David Jones, September 4, 2013

David Jones wades through a recent paper from George Siemens on learning analytics (link - requires a subscription) (it's interesting how he over time Siemens has embraced the academic form and become much more traditional in his approach, while I on the other hand have more and more eschewed the form, and become much less traditional in my own approach (most would call my approach a 'career-limiting move' but I yam what I yam)). Anyhow I think that in the main I side more with Jones that Siemens here. First, as Jones writes, there is the "biggest niggle" that stems from trying to merge something complex like big data with "a very traditional teleological/enterprise conception of organisational implementation." And second, "Ellul’s argument that technique and technical processes strive for the 'mechanisation of everything it encounters'" versus "the need to keep human and social processes central."

[Link] [Comment]

Think Again AGAIN – Second Run of Popular Duke MOOC Underway
Seth Anderson, Duke Center for Instructional Technology, September 4, 2013

As a public service announcement: "The popular MOOC Think Again: How to Reason and Argue, co-taught by Walter Sinott-Armstrong, Chauncey Stillman Professor in Practical Ethics in Duke’s Department of Philosophy, and Ram Neta, Professor of Philosophy at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, is currently being offered for a second time.  The course aims to teach students how to understand and assess arguments made by other people, and how to construct good arguments of their own."

[Link] [Comment]

Another look at privacy
Doug Johnson, Blue Skunk Blog, September 4, 2013

Doug Johnson quite rightly points to the other side of the privacy debate - the good you get from giving up some privacy. For example:

• Maybe you shared your medical history with your doctor and that allowed him to treat you more effectively.
• Maybe you put your personal information on an online dating service and it helped you find the love of your life.
• Maybe you showed your past tax returns to your bank and it helped you secure a mortgage to your dream house.

The problem, he argues, happens when "the government has privacy and you don't. " And these are all fair points. And these are all good things. But what's missing in his discussion is the distinction between volunteering data in order to improve your life, and in government or companies taking data in order to discriminate against you. Thus, for example, consider:

• Maybe your insurer read your medical history without telling you and refused you because you once smoked
• Maybe your dating preferences were accessed by an employer who ruled you out because you were 'promiscuous'
• Maybe the bank secretly read your tax returns and denied you a loan because of it

More - what happens when these disclosures become common? What if you are required to give your full medical history to all medical professionals and insurers, or your dating information (and all social media passwords) to employers, or your tax returns to banks? It's not simply about whether or not they spy on you - it's about how much right you have to refuse to disclose, and what consequences you suffer for that.

[Link] [Comment]

First Day of School Ideas: What I Want My Students to Know
Jordan Catapano, TeachHUB Articles, September 4, 2013

When the best image a website can find is a one-dimensional clip-art shot like this one, they lose any credibility in my mind. Seriously. You look at their other articles and they're all like this. People need to call websites on this sort of thing.

[Link] [Comment]

If You Send Your Kid to Private School, You Are a Bad Person
September 4, 2013

Here we have point and counterpoint in the education sphere reflecting the debate around private schools. To be clear, I am firmly in the former camp, as expressed by Allison Benedikt in Slate: "You are a bad person if you send your children to private school... Everyone needs to be invested in our public schools in order for them to get better. Not just lip-service investment, or property tax investment, but real flesh-and-blood-offspring investment." But of course there's always a response, and here it is, courtesy Michael Petrilli in Education Next: "You are a bad person if you send your children to a failing school... Everyone needs to put pressure on our public schools in order for them to get better. Not just lip-service pressure, or I-might-pull-my-kid-out pressure, but real flesh-and-blood-offspring pressure." The problem with Petrilli's response (and this is crucial) is that not everyone can send their children to a private school. It's not a choice thing for many (most, even), no matter how much Petrilli depicts it as such. And when send your children to a private school; you're making education measurably worse for people who have no real choice.

[Link] [Comment]

Speaking truth to power
September 4, 2013

I first learned of the impact of Canada's residential schools program for aboriginals (known in Canada as First Nations peoples) while teaching in places like St. Paul and Grouard in Alberta. My logic classes were part literacy training, part critical thinking and part philosophy. They had to be; our failed attempts at education on Canadian reserves has left a scar across the fabric of the First Nations, and this experience showed me directly and personally what can happen when we get education wrong. Our friends south of the border should look at and learn from this same experience in order to avoid making the same mistakes, because I see this happening. Education is not (should not be) colonization. It isn't about molding the young of today into the citizens of tomorrow; thinking of it that way leads to a generation of damage and resentment. It should be about helping each of us find and follow our own path. This article is from last March, but was posted this week in Utne Reader, which is where I found it.

[Link] [Comment]

A revolutionary new marketing strategy: Write Email. Click Send.
September 4, 2013

I've been watching the videos on Derek Halpern's Social Triggers website, and I think he's put together a nice package and (it has to be said) an excellent model of online learning. There's a lot to learn for educators here - not just the content, but the packaging and presentation, the action triggers, and more. Take a look aty the site.

Anyhow, I want to comment on one presentation in particular, because it reminded me of Mike Bullard's advice for comedians (and speakers generally). Here it is: "find something in common with would audience, bring them around to your point of view, make them laugh at themselves." This works in education as well as comedy (but at the last step you make them learn something about themselves).

Now here's Halpern's advice for sending promotional emails: establish common ground with your target, demonstrate your expertise, then share your real motive. It's the same three steps! The first part establishes a link, the second part demonstrates value, and the third part is the action trigger. Which (if you observe) is how he structures his videos and posts generally. So I should end here by saying: share this post!

[Link] [Comment]