OLDaily

A review of Stephen Downes’ latest contribution to the theory of connectivism
Tony Bates, Online learning and distance education resources, 2022/02/28

Tony Bates offers a response to my paper on connectivism. Unsurprisingly, he does not agree with the position I outline. He argues that "any theory of learning... needs to go beyond the mechanics of physiology" and to explain "consciousness and thinking, rather than wondering what neurological reactions are happening." He also argues that "there are serious questions about his explanation of how networks learn." For example, he asks, "what do the nodes actually contribute to the network other than sending signals?" He is also dissatisfied with my treatment of pedagogy and argues "to ignore the social and economic factors that influence teaching, learning and the construction and use of knowledge." (p.s. and for the record: I was not "home tutored". I spent 13 years in the Ontario public school system, another year in community college, and then an additional nine years as a university student at the Universities of Calgary and Alberta. I have since then built on that base, but I am no more of an "auto-didact" than Bates is). Anyhow, I offer a reply to the first part of the review, with (probably) more to come.

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Reimagining the future of education with web3
Anya Singh, Geek Culture, Medium, 2022/02/28

I thought that this was a relatively good article in that it explores a number of features of web3 that go unmentioned by others (and critics especially). But I think we need to be clear that we can talk about web3 without talking about crypto-currencies (like bitcoin or ethereum), just as we could talk about web2 without talking about PayPal or advertising. 'Play to earn' models and NFTs are the web3 equivalents of affiliate marketing and commercial e-textbooks. The web2 or web3 model makes them possible, but it doesn't make them necessary. But it is true that while "web2 is about communication and sharing (like Instagram and Facebook), web3 is about creation and ownership where users can retain control."

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iHeartRadio modernizes the radio call-in with launch of ‘Talk Back,’ a tool for sending voice messages to show hosts
Sarah Perez, TechCrunch, 2022/02/28

There have been various attempts over the years to make asynchronous interactive audio a thing, but this effort has the feel of something more substantial than previous attempts. By pushing a button in the iHeartRadio app, listeners record a 30-second voice message. This message then becomes available on the app's CMS "so the voice recordings are available to use, live on air, within about 10 seconds after sending." I'm not sure I'd broadcast them live without listening to them first so it seems to me that iHeart's next step will probably be to offer an audio transcription 'preview' so broadcasters can read what the message says before deciding to use it.

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Web3 in Education Isn’t Very Interesting
Michael Feldstein, e-Literate, 2022/02/28

Michael Feldstein writes a long post saying he doesn't know very much about web3 but that it probably won't help education very much. Now having offered a MOOC on web3 as it was back in 2019, I think I can say that I do have a pretty good understanding of it, both at a technical level and at a social level. Now Feldstein's article is valuable in that it raises many of the questions and confusions people have (for example, he should know self-sovereign identity tokens not only allow people to manage their own logins, they also enable zero-knowledge proofs, which means people can validate credentials without giving out personal information). But I will say that this probably isn't the time for a Economy 2.0 statup - not in a world of content-addressible decentralized resources.

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A Dozen Neat NASA Resources for Students and Teachers
Richard Byrne, Free Technology for Teachers, 2022/02/28

What I like about NASA (aside from the obvious thing about space exploration) is how well it does outreach and learning resources online. I consider it a model of what other scientific agencies (including the one where I work) could do to advance interest and engagement in the field. This page points to a number of free NASA resources that illustrate what I mean here.

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