OLDaily

Presentation
Ethics, Analytics and the Duty of Care
Stephen Downes, Nov 29, 2019, ESUD-CIESUD 2019, Teresina, Brazil

Through the last few decades we have been subject to increasingly complex definitions of ethical behaviour with respect to learning, data, and analytics. But there ought to be more than rules. There ought to be humanity, life. This talk is about a way to redefine ethics, drawing from the moral intuitions of philosophers, feminists, practitioners and teachers. It embraces the idea that morality and ethics are not requirements, not ways in which we judge each other, but opportunities, ways of letting us know how we can do good in this world, and a little bit about why.

[Slides]

Presentation
Active Methodologies and Adaptive Learning
Stephen Downes, Nov 29, 2019, ESUD-CIESUD 2019, Teresina, Brazil

Short presentation for a panel looking at the intersection between active learning methodologies and learning analytics. I argue that insofar as active learning requires individually managed learning, an adaptive learning does not, there is a disconnect between the two.

[Slides]

Toddle
2019/11/29

Toddle is a product aimed at K-12 International Baccalaureate (IB) Primary Years Programme (PYP) teachers. It's website advertises that it is "your all-in-one platform for PYP planning, student portfolios, reports, and family communication!" It is worth noting that the playtform "works seamlessly" with Google Drive and Microsoft OneDrive. Toddle has also recently launched a 'planathon' to create a librtary of resources, lesson plans and ideas. It would be nice were these to become open educational resources (OER) but I see no sign of that.

Web: [Direct Link] [This Post]

Examining the New Phenomenon of Teachers as Brand Ambassadors
Christopher M. Saldaña, Kevin G. Welner, Susan Malcolm, Eleanore Tisch, National Education Policy Center, 2019/11/29

This is a report (23 page PDF) from last January from the NEPC that casts a light on the relatively recent phenomenon of teachers acting as influencers to promote brand awareness for things like software companies and even fast food joints ("McTeacher’s Nights are a school fundraiser whereby teachers serve McDonald’s meals to parents and students in exchange for a percentage of the profits raised"). This shouldn't be necessary, argue the report authors. "Schools  should  be  adequately  funded  so  that  every  student  receives  the  necessary  resources  to  learn  and teachers receive appropriate compensation for their work without relying upon corporate sponsorships or funding." Via Clint Lalonde.

Web: [Direct Link] [This Post]

Empowering Students Through Choice, Voice and Action
Kristen Thorson, Getting Smart, 2019/11/29

I am (very) supportive of the idea of empowering children. This is more controversial than it seems. Every once in a while we'll see school children protesting and the reaction seems always to be "they should be in heir classrooms learning" as though the classroom were a sort of prison, or as if they were being irresponsible by using their voice. But if my own experience is any guide, they probably learn more though these self-motivated actions than in any class they could be attending over the same period of time. My only criticism of this article: 'choice' is not a valid proxy for empowerment. When you present students choices, you've already determined the outcome and the context. Look at the examples in the article (complete a task, present information, eat vegitables) and you can easily see what I mean.

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3 ways that people are digitally evil
Dave Truss, Daily-Ink by David Truss, 2019/11/29

This is a nice post, and I like the THINK diagram. However I would add an 'S' to the end of 'THINK' to make it 'THINKS': S = Is it Selfless (ie., is it not merely Self-Serving). Why? Because I was 100% with this post all the way to the THINK image that has the author's self-branding all over it. Much better IMO would have been a simple name or URL and a Creative Commons logo, so people could share it (which presumably was the intent). I don't mean to sound so critical (I know that's how it may sound) because I do value this contribution. It would have been just a small thing to have made it so much better.

Web: [Direct Link] [This Post]