OLDaily

2019 eLearning Predictions – Hype Curve
Andy Hicken, Web Courseworks, 2019/01/02

I might have done this chart differently, but I like the way they've documented their process and made it harder to make a case against their hype cycle diagram. But where I disagree: they have blockchain right at the start, pre-hype, while I would have put it at peak hype a year ago. Learning analytics is still on the upslope, while I would have it on the downslope. VR is on the upslope and, again, I would have put it on the downslope. MOOCs are in the trough where they should be. AI might be peaking around now, or it might be on the downslope. This time next year people will realize they were getting giddy about applied statistics. Totally missing from the diagram: cloud, data, identity, open pedagogy, and agency.

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The Philosopher Redefining Equality
Nathan Heller, The New Yorker, 2019/01/02

The premise of this engaging long-read about philosopher Elizabeth Anderson is that her bringing together of the ideas of freedom and equality is just the sort of left-right merger needed today. The left-right frame being imposed on Anderson doesn't sit well, and I've known many left-wingers over the years who have advocated for both freedom and equality as two sides of the same coin (the idea that the left opposes freedom is a right-wing trope, and entirely inaccurate). Ah, but all this is distraction (as is Nathan Heller's description of how she dresses and crosses her legs). The main point is, "equality and freedom are mutually dependent, enmeshed in changing conditions through time... equality is the basis for a free society. Anderson... builds a democratic frame for a society in which people come from different places and are predisposed to disagree." I don't discuss these nearly as often as I should in OLDaily (because it's an education technology newsletter) but I'll be exploring them in my new blog, Leftish.

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If Not Venture Capital, Then What?
Ben Werdmuller, 2019/01/02

Ben Werdmuller, who is an unusually good position to comment, writes that "Venture capital has, inadvertently, created a template for what can be built on the internet. It's harmful, and it's a lie." The template dictates that internet companies scale rapidly and, therefore, depend on revenue models that scale rapidly, like advertising. So what else is there? "Rather than trying to build something that addresses a large portion of the internet, build something that addresses a highly niche group that has been thus far unsupported because of the industry's focus on growth," says Werdmuller.

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Netflix debuts interactive film, expects to usher in new era of active streaming
Nick Whigham, News.com.au, 2019/01/02

Netflix's Bandersnatch is an example of the branched scenario format that has been in use in e-learning for a number of years. They've done a very nice job of it, adding some new twists (such as remembering earlier chances to add variability (cereal choices, music choices) in later scenes. On the other hand, a lot of the choices felt forced, as the program kept directing me back to the main storyline. The article says there are five outcomes; maybe, but I would imagine we're all getting more or less the same experience. Anyhow, good article on an interesting experiment.

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96 edtech predictions for K12 in 2019
Ellen Ullman, eSchool News, 2019/01/02

People don't ask me for my Ed Tech predictions any more, probably because I don't join the usual crowd of predictions focusing on content delivery media (VR, XR, etc) or business focus (socft sckills, socio-emotional learning , etc). Or predictions describing stuff that happened last year. My predictions were basically encapsulated by E-Learning 3.0 and for the most part nobody in education technology is talkiong about any of that stuff. But if you like the usual type of predictions, this article is for you.

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Presence (2019)
Wendy Wickham, In the Middle of the Curve, 2019/01/02

There's an interesting conundrum here, and it bears drawing out. On the one hand he have 'presence' as described here - as something like Senge's description: paying attention to "What is happening right now? What biases and assumptions am I bringing to this observation? How do I choose to respond to this?" Sure. Fair enough. Good  questions. But performance-killers. The thing is, presence is also that idea of being fully immersed in the moment without all these meta-questions getting in the way. There's a time to ask the questions and make them a part of your background knowledge, and a time to put the questions aside and let the embodiment of your knowledge take over. Slow things down. Simplify. Focus.

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