OLDaily

(The Very Last) Hack Education Weekly News
Audrey Watters, Hack Education, 2018/12/19

As someone who creates my own news summary I have a pretty good idea of the effort that goes into it. So I know what it has taken for Audrey Watters to produce her listing over the last eight years, and yes, I can understand why she's calling an end to it. It think, though, there's a difference in what we did over the years. While it's true that I do keep an eye on mainstream sources (NPR, Washington Post, EdSurge, Inside Higher ed, etc., ie, every source in her newsletter today) I would find a steady diet of it demoralizing and depressing, especially since most of it is marketing, not news. Where I still find my excitement and raison d'être is in the blogs and discussion boards, in the journals and research reports, in the words of the people actually doing the work and not the flacks paid to promote some commercial abbreviation of it. I hope she finds that excitement again, and curse those who drained it from her.

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The Authoring of School Mathematics: Whose Story is it Anyways?
Alayne Armstrong, in education, 2018/12/19

This is a great article challenging what Lakoff and Nuñez call the “standard folk theory of what mathematics is for our culture,” specifically, the idea "of mathematics as authorless, as an eternal absolute." In fact, argues Alayne Armstrong, the development of mathematics is "a process, an evolving aspect of culture." It's something we create, not discover. That's why the embedding of this discussion in a work of fiction (warning: there's a spoiler in the first line of the article) works so well. "Framing doing mathematics as storytelling would help to privilege the process of doing mathematics over the product that results from it (the answer), something that might make school mathematics more satisfying, more human, for our students." Yeah. Related: Byrne's Euclid.

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A Rubric to Identify Online Course Plans for a Community of Inquiry
Sandra Rogers, AACE Review, 2018/12/19

A common pattern for publications like this one is to take something that looks legitimate and research-based and to use it to support what amounts to a description of what teachers are actually doing now. That way, they can feel progressive without having to change a bit! The legitimate and research-based concept in this case is the community of inquiry. Based on the work of Theagenes of Rhegium (-529) along with Garrison, Anderson, and Archer (2000) (but not Wenger-Trayner!) it is presented here as the (trademarked!) Online Community of Inquiry Syllabus Rubric ©. Common feedback based on the "analysis" include "provide a rubric for discussions to make the criteria clear", "add the College’s accommodation statement", "provide links to academic tutoring services", and "describe direct instruction." Because without the rubric people would never thought of doing these things they already do!

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The Greatest Enemy of Creativity in Schools Isn’t Testing. It’s Time.
Stephen Noonoo, EdSurge, 2018/12/19

After having just written a draft article on experience and creativity saying such uplifting things as "It is the history, process and provenance of the creation that gives it meaning, relevance, and ultimately, truth" it is a disappointment to read this item on the same topic from EdSurge that depicts "assessment as the key to everyday creativity in the classroom” and that " there will be the layer of assessment that relates directly to the content." Be as creative as you want, the message seems to be, but don't create the think wrong. I can just imagine Katie White going to schools across the country draining the life out of art class.

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2-Factor Authentication with Security Keys – now available for Boxcryptor
Jonathan Zimmermann, Boxcryptor, 2018/12/19

By itself this announcement is no big deal, but it is an indicator of a wider trend whereby we will eventually all be using an encrypted USB key to access our online services. Boxcryptor is an application I use to encrypt content before storing it into cloud services like DropBox. The announcement is that it now supports the WebAuthN protocol released by the W3C this past August that "defines an API enabling the creation and use of strong, attested, scoped, public key-based credentials by web applications, for the purpose of strongly authenticating users." So, for example, a Boxcryptor user could now use a YubiKey to access their encrypted cloud data.

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LRNG + Badgr: Unlocking Opportunity Through a Shared Digital Backpack
Connie Yowell, Wayne Skipper, LRNG, 2018/12/19

This announcement portends a developing ecosystem outside the traditional LMS infrastructure. LRNG - which recently merged with Southern New Hampshire University (SNHU) - allows cities to create an openly accessible network of learning and employment opportunities accessible to schools and youth (see here). It has announced a partnership with Badgr to support awarding badges and displaying badges. "This partnership will allow LRNG users to curate badges from various sources, then share them out selectively." Additionally, "we’re working with Classcraft on an API that has allowed their educators and classrooms to access LRNG’s playlists." Classcraft allows teachers to  "create self-paced, personalized learning adventures for students out of existing lessons."

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