OLDaily

Deno: A Simple Guide
Martin McKeaveney, shogunpurple, 2020/05/25

Deno occupies the same niche in the developer world as Node.js - it is self-advertised as "a secure runtime for JavaScript and TypeScript." But it's not a replacement for Node.js - as Martin McKeaveney explains in this article, "eno is a fresh take and new ethos towards building, packaging and distributing scripts and applications in the JS ecosystem, built on modern technologies with a particular focus on providing a powerful scripting environment with the tooling you need built in." Some big changes include the elimination of the package manager (you just include Javascript from source directly with a URL) and explicit permission declarations for better security. Deno (probably pronounced 'Dino', if the logo is any guide) was created by Ryan Dahl, the original creator of NodeJS. More from the v1 announcement. Here's how to install (super simple!). Here's the manual.

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University of California to end use of SAT, ACT in admissions
Darryl Coote, UPI, 2020/05/25

From NPR comes this important detail: "Many critics see the scores as a reflection of wealth rather than academic readiness." They reflect both the ability to spend extra money on test prep before taking the test, and also the social and cultural background of the people taking the tests. It's nice to see the university taking this into account, and I'm sure the warning that they could be sued for using the SAT and ACT played no role in the decision.

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Advice for students about online learning for the fall semester
Tony Bates, Online learning and distance education resources, 2020/05/25

What caught my interest in this article was the set of needs described by Tony Bates's grandson - they tell us what universities are actually selling as benefits (as opposed to the popular conception):

• largely hands-on
• making new friends and possible connections
• value for that kind of money

I take the third point to be a reiteration of the first two - the value isn't the knowledge per se but rather the hands-on aspect in an authentic environment, and of course the social connections. All this is nice if you can afford it - but if you can't, is it appropriate to simply substitute some knowledge-based online curriculum, and forget about the value?

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China’s Largest MOOC Platforms Go International, Launch Courses in English
Rui Ma, Class Central, 2020/05/25

Here's the main story: "Chinese MOOC platforms XuetangX and iCourse (also called Chinese University MOOC) are releasing free online courses in English for global learners." This is an initiative that, if sustained, could have a significant impact on the world of online learning. Because if, say, your objective is to learn soil mechanics, why would you choose to pay Cornell $5000 for the privilege, when you could be taking it for free from iCourse, as I am (pictured). The big difference between the Chinese MOOC providers and those from the U.S. and the U.K. is that they don't have funder or venture capitalist earnings targets to meet, so they can continue to offer free courses indefinitely, if they choose.

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How to Make Your Own Sidewalk Chalk and Create an Obstacle Course
Sarah Krajewski, The Art of Education, 2020/05/25

You might think this has nothing to do with online learning, but you'd be wrong. The link in this post (click on the title, above, or 'Direct Link', below) takes you to a website. That's the online part. And the website suggests an activity that can be done with local materials outdoor in front of where you live. That's the learning part. There is this myth that pervades our field that 'online learning' means sitting in front of a screen doing stuff on the computer. But it isn't. The beauty of online learning is that it allows you to learn anywhere - outside the house, outside the classroom (on one of my recent bike rides I saw a sidewalk mosaic inspired by similar online learning).

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Communitarianism
Daniel Bell, Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2020/05/25

This article, a substantial revision of the version first published two decades ago, describes 'communitarianism' as a philosophical and ethical response to some of the principle tenets of liberalism as expressed, say, in Rawls's A Theory of Justice, disputing the idea that "the principal task of government is to secure and distribute fairly the liberties and economic resources individuals need to lead freely chosen lives." The article as a whole sets out three major responses to liberalism:

1. One ground of objection disputes the idea that there is a universal set of principles; societies may order the principles differently, justify them differently, or even identify principles unique to their culture.
2. Another set of objections is based on the argument that "liberalism rests on an overly individualistic conception of the self" and that "this view neglects the extent to which individuals are embodied agents in the world." In particular, this argument opposed the view that morality is the product of individual choice, and that there are wider social contexts to be considered, for example, a "communal attachment so constitutive of one’s identity that it cannot be revised and rejected."
3. The third argument states that liberalism has failed, pointing to the "negative social and psychological effects related to the atomistic tendencies of modern liberal societies," including poverty, inequality, greed, crime, and more. In contrast, "community is valuable—at least as valuable as the need for freedom, if not more so."

I think this article is valuable because it draws out the line distinguishing communitarian 'ethics of care' philosophies in open pedagogy and the prevailing neo-liberal and capitalist ethic of the marketplace. At the same time, it points to some of the ways the communitarian response actually borrows from liberal tradition, for example, by arguing for universalist conceptions of natural justice based in fairness or individual freedoms. But the article as a whole should be criticized; it functions mostly as an argument against communitarianism, frequently raising straw man objections (gated communities, karoshi (death from overwork), amputations) and ultimately defending "good forms of hierarchy that express morally defensible values." Image: Britannica, Chartism.

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