OLDaily

Another perspective on AI in higher education
Tony Bates, Online learning and distance education resources, 2018/12/03

Summary of Klutka, J. et al. (2018) Artificial Intelligence in Higher Education: Current Uses and Future Applications. What strikes me about this report is how most of the applications of AI in higher education are really to things that have little to do with the education itself, such as admissions, student services, and so-called institutional efficiency. Even in applications focused on learning, the uses seem peripheral at best: feedback in some STEM classes, feedback on writing, and sentiment analysis. Compared to what AI could be doing, I think this is very tame stuff.

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Framing Self-Directed Learning
Dennis Sale, SoftChalk Talk Blog, 2018/12/03

This is the first of a series of five posts (1, 2, 3, 4, 5 (forthcoming)) on self-directed learning. While I don't agree with everything in it (references to Hattie and to cognitive load leave me cold) I nonetheless found it a well-reserach and considered treatment of the subject. I especially appreciated the distinctuion between self-directed learning and the concept of self-regulated learning (that has been in vogue recently). "SDL involves the learner more in the design of the learning environment and its trajectory; whereas in SRL, outcomes and tasks are usually set by the teacher."

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Avoid ‘uncritical use’ of PISA scores, researchers warn ministers
Freddie Whittaker, SchoolsWeek, 2018/12/03

No real surprise, but it's nice to see someone actually come out and say it. According to this article, "A new report for Cambridge Assessment by Dr Matthew Carroll and Dr Tom Benton found the focus on essay-writing skills in the GCSE English curriculum is not mirrored in PISA tests, meaning that the international study ignores 'some of the key skills that schools are trying to teach'." PISA, of course, has always had its own definition of what it thinks constitute language, mathematics and science skills, and these are often not represented in actual curriculum, because school boards worldwide design for a wider set of needs than those envisaged by OECD.

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I quit Instagram and Facebook and it made me a lot happier — and that's a big problem for social media companies
Christina Farr, CNBC, 2018/12/03

This is yet another example of a genre called "quit lit". It's the post someone writes when they've quit something. These days, what they're mostly likely quitting is social media like Facebook and Twitter. Both have become toxic, serving a bottomless bowl of trivial content, abuse, and advertising. And yet, until the day they quit, people keep going back. But this trend is accelerating - when I quit Facebook more than two years ago, it was unthinkable, but now it's a phenomenon that threatens the company's bottom line. How can they fix it? I'm not sure they can.

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Multi-Cloud & Kubernetes: Cloud Academy November 2018 Data Report
Alex Brower, Cloud Academy, 2018/12/03

The main story here is that we are in a 'multi-cloud universe'. However, by 'multi-cloud' we mean mostly AWS (Amazon) and Azure (Microsoft), with Google Cloud trailing in a distance third. The author also suggests that the multi-cloud phenomenon is enabled by Kubernetes, which is a container management service. The survey was based on an analysis of job descriptions seeking employees in cloud technologies.

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The Academic Market in China: An Overview
Tao Tao, The Scholarly Kitchen, 2018/12/03

This post is directed toward people trying to sell academic journal subscriptions in China, and thus has limited appeal on that front, but also in so doing offers a pretty good summary of the structure of China's higher education system, describing different types of institutions, and providing statistics on each, including the primary teaching and research focus overall. The take-away? Chinese research appears to be almost entirely dedicated toward science and engineering (78%), with humanities and medicine taking second and third spots respectively.

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How to Be an Artist
Jerry Saltz, Vulture, 2018/12/03

Good advice that could be applied not only to art but to anything (substitute 'research scientist' for 'artist' and you get the same useful tips): "How do you get from there to making real art, great art? There’s no special way; everyone has their own path. Yet, over the years, I’ve found myself giving the same bits of advice. Most of them were simply gleaned from looking at art, then looking some more. Others from listening to artists talk about their work and their struggles. (Everyone’s a narcissist.) I’ve even stolen a couple from my wife."

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