OLDaily

How reinforcement learning chooses the ads you see
Ben Dickson, TechTalks, 2021/02/22

I actually do whatever I can to avoid viewing advertisements, so I can't really speak to the effectiveness of ad optimization. But the term 'multi-armed bandit' has been appearing in literature on recommendation systems recently (which probably explains why it's also in this article) and so with similar technologies being used to support digital learning platforms this article offers some useful insight. The multi-armed bandit problem has been around since the 1950s, and describes the scenario in which a gambler has to choose which machine to play, where one machine has the highest payout percentage, but where the player doesn't know which one. A multi-armed bandit algorithm must choose between staying with the best-known option ('exploitation') or searching for a better one ('exploration'). Researchers might think of it as a sophistacted alternative to simple A-B testing. Image: Academic Gamer (good YouTube explainer).

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Virtual Reality in Education: Achievements and Challenges
Arslan Hassan, EmergingEdTech, 2021/02/22

This is a brief article about virtual reality (VR) that won't really increase your knowledge if you're already in the field, but since I'm actually working on a VR project, I felt I should keep the subject alive in the newsletter. I still think VR is useful in learning mostly for nice subjects where full immersion is beneficial, and these will be environments where being able to recognize and respond to specific cues is essential - for example, being a pilot, being a surgeon, police, military and fire training, and similar positions. There are also some cases where motor skills can be developed in VR, but this depends on the tools and haptic feedback being reasonably similar to the actual environment (so, not VR alone). Cost is certainly an issue, both for content development and for headsets.

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A message about learning from the C-suite
Patricia A. McLagan, Chief Learning Officer, 2021/02/22

Although I thought the advice was reasonable on the whole, I really didn't like the tone of the piece, which was something like "you had better be learning all the time to keep up," but "we, your management, will mostly not help you at all," and "don't expect any rewards, like promotion or even job security". The post was also filled with a lot of jargon and language from the business press. I can't imagine anyone wanting to work for that author's company. So anyhow, I write a response called A message about learning from the shop floor by way of reply.

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Most brain activity is "background noise" — and that's upending our understanding of consciousness
Thomas Nail, Salon, 2021/02/22

If you ever wonder why I get frustrated by cognitive psychologists and their theories about education, it's because what I understand to be true about brains is much more along the lines of what is described in this article. For example, "a 'computational' input-output model of consciousness" where "so-called 'information' transfers from our senses to our brains" is "deeply wrong." Or for example, "In most theories, consciousness is 'mission control'... but consciousness functions more like an eddy in a river in this new model." It "works more like a jazz trio or a babbling stream than a computer." Viewed from this perspective, things like 'executive function' and 'cognitive load' are literally nonsense, and that's how I view them.

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42 admissions
Ben Werdmüller, 2021/02/22

This is the best piece of writing I've read all year. It captures the essence of a lot of what I believe and work toward, even while it's a very personal piece of writing from Ben Werdmüller, and even if I have none of the desire to create startups that he has. The overall theme is of connection: "All that you touch, you change. All that you change, changes you. Every contact leaves a trace." This is the basic premise for the internet, and what makes it work so well. And a lot can be derived from that. And this works best when everybody can have a voice. "I'm not willing to let go of its promise. I don't want to let go of open communities... I want those voices to be heard, and I think if equity is shared and those voices really are heard, the entire world is better off for it." Image: Twin Valley Zoo in Brantford, which was offering 42% off admissions, as posted on WagJag.

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7 Reasons Your E-Learning Website Needs a Blog
Laura Lynch, LearnDash, 2021/02/22

Though this post comes from a marketing perspective, and is fairly basic to those already convinced of the merits of blogging in e-learning, it may be useful to help convince the many people who feel that social media is sufficient. This, especially, is a goof reason: "Blogging forces you to be accountable. You’re too public to be uninformed about the latest news. More than that, once you fall into the blogging mindset, you’re constantly looking for new ideas to write about.

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