OLDaily

Nodes - Our Story
Nodes.io, 2020/05/29

Nodes is a new tool for 'visual' or node-based programming. Think of it as an integrated development environment (IDE) for softwrae that allows you to program complex functions using diagrams rather than text-based commands. "Visual tools generally tend to be rectangles wired up together representing data flows. This makes them very popular in areas like visual effects programming, real-time graphics, data-processing pipelines, procedural architecture and so on." This article describes Nodes in some detail. What it does for me, though is take me all the way back to the days of learning objects (or more accurately, the concept that was 'learning objects' before publishers wrecked it). Think for a moment - look at this article and ask, can you imagine using a tool like this for visual learning design? This takes th idea well beyond LAMS; you could create connectivist-style learning networks with it. "Neural networks is another area where computational graphs tend to be visualised with nodes and wires." Something to think about.

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What Is Confidential Computing?
Fahmida Y Rashid, IEEE Spectrum, 2020/05/29

I think it's likely we'll hear a lot more about confidential computing in the future (along with other privacy-preserving functions, like homomorphic encryption and zero-knowledge proofs). Basically, "Confidential computing uses hardware-based techniques to isolate data, specific functions, or an entire application from the operating system, hypervisor or virtual machine manager, and other privileged processes." This allows you to run an application in the cloud, say, with the expectation that there is no way the cloud provider could spy on your data while it's being processed.

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Why the USMCA Locks in the Internet Platform Liability System in the U.S., Canada and Mexico
Michael Geist, 2020/05/29

There have been reports that an Executive Order (EO) in the United States will force that government to reconsider the 'safe harbour' provisions in the Communications Decency Act, a provision known as section 230. Basically, it says that the carrier of a message is not responsible for the content of the message, not even if they take steps to ensure that their services are used legally and responsibly. It's the same provision that protects the post office, the telephone company and the cable provider: it's the sender of the message that is liable, not the communications channel. Right now, social media such as Twitter and Facebook (and pretty much anyone who operates an online discussion forum) is protected by this provision; the EO could reverse that. Except, as Michael Geist points out here, it can't reverse it, as the safe harbour provision is enshrined into the international trade agreement. There are many reasons to dislike these trade agreements, but this is a reason to like them.

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Technology Virtual reality and augmented reality: overhyped or new industry standard?
Celeste Martinell, Chief Learning Officer, 2020/05/29

One of the projects I'm working on for my day job involves the use of virtual reality. I still see VR and AR (collectively, XR) as niche applications, certainly for now, and probably for the forseeable future. This article mentions some augmented reality (AR) applications, such as "Opensight, a Microsoft AR-enhanced medical imaging product, which allows clinicians to overlay scans onto the patient and interact with the data in 3D. Similarly, Tradiebot developed an AR app for car mechanics that overlays the repair steps onto the physical car." Price is a factor in the limited adoption (I still cannot afford my own VR viewer), as are the limits on applications.

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The academy’s neoliberal response to COVID-19: Why faculty should be wary and how we can push back
Academic Matters, 2020/05/29

The argument here is that "remote teaching, as it is being implemented, is not the exceptional response that it has been made out to be, nor is it the only option available. Instead, it is the product of choices that reflect and advance the particular view of society that has underpinned the neoliberal restructuring of universities and other institutions over the past several decades." The authors highlight several characteristic assumptions of this neoliberal view, including (quoted):

• faculty are pre-trained, or able to train themselves without additional time and support
• citizens should interact as formal equals, without regard for the substantive inequalities between us (which) makes it difficult to articulate needs that arise from historical injustices
• the move away from the ideal of the university as a public sphere with collective goals of critical enquiry, equality, deliberation, and the pursuit of knowledge
• the ongoing reframing of postsecondary education as an instrumental mode of job training.
• the principle that enquiry and debate are public goods in and of themselves, regardless of their outcome or impact, is devalued
• people as commodities in competition with each other, it acknowledges that some people will simply be left behind and considers this the inevitable result of market competition functioning as it should.
• neoliberal ideals have long been justified—and opposition to them discredited—using Margaret Thatcher’s famous line that “there is no alternative."

This probably requires a longer treatment, along the lines of my discussion of the Learning, Media and Technology editorial earlier this week, but today has been all about getting work done for my day job.

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The Science of Sourdough Starters
Tim Chin, Serious Eats, 2020/05/29

You might think this has nothing to do with online learning, but you'd be wrong. This is online learning. Sure, it's not an online course or program, but regular readers will know I've long advocated for a much wider definition of online learning. This article, and the recent popularity of pandemic sourdough, is a case in point. It's clearly written, even though it throws some heavy scientific terms at the reader, and most people (myself included) will come away knowing more than they did before reading it. A few people will be inspired to investigate further and (like my wife) master the art. And many people will start reading the article, decide they're not interested, and not finish. That's how online learning works. See also: how to make sourdough starter. Next up: Neapolitan pizza dough.

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