OLDaily

Can AI learn to reason about the world like children?
Ben Dickson, TechTalks, 2021/07/26

There are two parts to the claim referenced in the title: first, do children actually learn as described here, and second, can an AI do the same thing? The answers to each are interesting. First up: how children learn. "Even before they speak their first words," we are told, "human babies develop mental models about objects and people." These models go beyond appearance and include "inferences about what other agents are doing or wish to accomplish." Next, can an AI do this? The paper being discussed proposes the Action, Goal, Efficiency, coNstraint, uTility (AGENT) test "to assess how well AI systems can mimic this basic skill." What's key here is that this is all pre-linguistic. What's interesting is whether we need traditional (and usually language-based) tools like models and whether we need cognitivist concepts like beliefs and intentions. I'm saying no.

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Connection and resilience in close-knit Kaikōura community
Education Gazette, 2021/07/26

This article is about the response to the 2016 earthquake at  Kaikōura High School in New Zealand. "We had a series of whānau hui and all this mamae (pain and hurt) came out because it needed to," reports principal John Tait. But what's significant to me are the changes in perspective about what's needed in schools as input and how we measure effectiveness as outputs. Regarding the former: "what the earthquake did for us as a school was to make it absolutely clear that the important goal was people’s wellbeing. I think it’s changed an aspect of our thinking about young people and education. It’s made us very clear that wellbeing is essential to successful learning." And success is measured not by grades but real outcomes: "Māori achievement isn’t just about NCEA levels. A huge achievement for Māori is the fact that we never had our young people go to Year 13. Now we’ve got huge numbers who go to Year 13."

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China bars for-profit tutoring in core school subjects -document
Samuel Shen, Tony Munroe, Julie Zhu, Tom Westbrook, Reuters, 2021/07/26

Not surprisingly, the business press is apoplectic over this announcement from the Chinese government banning for-profit tutoring tutoring and restricting foreign investment in the sector. But the new measures, intended to "to reduce burdens on students and family finances", have a reasonable justification: "schools should be responsible for student learning, rather than tutoring companies," said Chinese president Xi Jinping in June. "The out-of-school education industry has been 'severely hijacked by capital,' according to a separate article posted on the site of the Ministry of Education. 'That broke the nature of education as welfare.'" The newly non-profit companies are also prohibited from working children on weekends, holidays and vacation. The coverage I've seen in the media has focused almost exclusively on the loss of profits, with little analysis on the changes that will be felt by families and children. Image: Opera News.

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Mathematics Doesn’t Get a Pass on Racial Justice Reform
Jason To, 2021/07/26

The Ontario mathematics curriculum unsurprisingly "emphasizes the need to recognize and challenge systems of power and privilege, both inside and outside the classroom, in order to eliminate systemic barriers." At least, it did until National Post and Toronto Sun writers complained, after which is was quietly removed, along with a number of other statements addressing race, environment, social justice, inequity and discrimination. At a time when we should be working for meaningful change to address longstanding issues in our society, these changes represent a step backward, making it more likely we'll make the same mistakes over again. Via Doug Peterson.

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Now anyone can join Clubhouse, the pandemic's hottest new social media app
Sara Ashley O'Brien, CNN, 2021/07/26

If you suffer from fear of missing out (FOMO) then fear no more: you can now get onto Clubhouse. I won't be on Clubhouse because there's no desktop version; you have to use your phone. And that makes me deeply suspicious of its motives, because the phone is integrated into things like your phone number and contact lists and payment information much more deeply than your desktop. The first principle in the Clubhouse guidelines is "be yourself", which suggests to me they're focused on identification and tracking. Now to be clear: these are all suspicions, not facts.

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