OLDaily

A New Phase
Will Richardson, 2020/02/03

It is increasingly difficult to find support for effective change inside schools, says Will Richardson. "That’s why most of the “success” stories I’ve seen have come about outside of the traditional public and private systems." But these changes aren't scaling. "Those things we do which are increasingly irrelevant for the world we live in today. Everyone nods in agreement when I point them out. Few actually have the commitment to find a path to change them." And so... well, it's off to greener paths for Richardson.

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Workflow Automation for Higher Ed: The 2020 Guide
Ashish Deshpande, Frevvo, 2020/02/03

I sometimes wonder whether we'd be a lot happer about technology has we focused first on things like workflow automation, in other words, had we focused on how technology could make our lives easier and our jobs more pleasant. I know I would be a lot happier if I had fewer, rather than more, forms to fill out. Of if the government simply said "we have all your data; here's what we think you owe in taxes and why" instead of having me fill out long complex tax forms. Anyhow. I'm still of the beliefe that most of this stuff can be automated, and so I'll always celebrate articles like this that explain how.

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Taking science outside the classroom brings success
Education Gazette, 2020/02/03

One of my most memorable science projects was the 'closed ecosystem report' where we went out to the creek, took a sample, sealed it in a jar, and recorded the results. What I never got to do, though, was anything that actually interacted with the community the way the projects described here do. "Year 13 students Breanna and Jessica began investigating how New Plymouth Girls’ High School could generate its own sustainable energy for use in electric vehicles (EVs). The students won several science fair prizes and awards for the project, which involved monitoring the energy generation of solar panels and two types of wind turbines." I love stuff like this. It should be available for everyone. See also citizen science in action in te ao Māori.

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How to talk someone out of bigotry
Brian Resnick, Vox, 2020/02/03

Here's David Broockman: “Twitter is obviously full of the notion that what we should do is condemn those who disagree with us. What we can now say experimentally, the key to the success of these conversations is doing the exact opposite of that.” Described in this article is a method called 'deep canvassing'. We can think quite easily of an analogous 'deep teaching'. See for example Elliott Seif or Bryan M. Dewsbury. "Giving grace. Listening to a political opponent’s concerns. Finding common humanity. In 2020, these seem like radical propositions. But when it comes to changing minds, they work."

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