OLDaily

Czech publishers are preparing for the cookieless future the Swiss way, introducing a single sign-on system
David Tvrdon, The Fix, 2022/05/09

We would all love to eliminate multiple online accounts, and we'd also like to eliminate logins that depend on Google, Facebook and Twitter. We'd also like to eliminate tracking cookies. But we need to be careful that the solution isn't worse than the problem. That's what I fear is the case with the national single sign-on system adopted first by Switzerland and now by Czechia, according to this article. "Users will get a Facebook- or Google-like button with the Czech Ad ID sign-on, all connected to a website that they could use to log in... all connected websites will have information about the browsing history of the anonymous ID which they can use to serve better-targeted ads." It's a short step from single sign-on to closed commercial access, which is why (I believe) that for open online learning we need distributed identity (DID) of some sort.

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The visual performance of online identity: Instructor presence and persona across tools and settings
Vanessa P. Dennen, Ömer Arslan, Studies in Technology Enhanced Learning, 2022/05/09

"This article uses instructor identity and presence as a proxy for exploring how visual elements are used to convey identity in online settings," write Vanessa P. Dennen and Ömer Arslan. What does that mean? We can think of the ways we project ourselves visually, not just by physical appearance, but also through visual elements as varied as typology, photographs, design and multimedia. "To communicate one's identity in an online course, whether through text or visuals, is to have social presence," they write, and students want this, "the psychological importance of sensing a 'real' instructor." The bulk of this paper surveys and discusses the many ways visual elements convey identity in online cousres.

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Thinking About Alternative Credentials
Michael Feldstein, eLiterate, 2022/05/09

Both web3 and alternative credentials are motivated by a desire for decentralization. But "while decentralization can be facilitated by technology up to a point, it is also limited by the nature of humans as social animals," writes Michael Feldstein. Working toward this idea, he outlines four types of alternative credentials: as a skills inventory used by human resources, as an affordable alternative credential, as a way to skip MIT and go straight into a job at Google, or as a technological solution like a digital badge platform. But none of these is really new, he argues; the idea has precedents in ideas as old as guild membership and new as automated resume scanners. And in the future we'll see more of the same: alternatives developed at human speed and being created by already established organizations.

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How to Write Instructional Design Case Studies for Your Portfolio
The eLearning Coach, 2022/05/09

This is a very basic article but if you don't know how to write instructional design case studies you have to start somewhere. "In design fields, it's typical for practitioners to supplement the visual examples of their work with summary descriptions. A portfolio case study refers to this supplemental description. The case study adds background and depth to your work. It reflects the process and thinking you use to design a solution."

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Learning resource aggregators can give open educational resources a new lease of life
David Kernohan, WonkHe, 2022/05/09

Far be it for me to criticize a venerable British institution, but this article in WonkHE "published in association with Kortext" not only champions a commercial model for OER aggregation but also promotes a definition of 'open' that to all appearances means 'open to Jisc members only', which to my mind is the exact opposite of 'open'. I mean, maybe it's just me, but this page touting 'open' resources requiring me to "visit the Jisc website to log in using your institution log in details" seems to me to be the epitome of 'closed access'. This isn't a "new lease on life" for OERs, it's a phenomenon I've previously called 'enclosure', and in this instance, using Jisc to accomplish the task.

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Concrete Details Emerge on edX’s Role After 2U Acquisition
Dhawal Shah, Class Central, 2022/05/09

Good article offering an overview of 2U's plans for EdX after the acquisition. So far, writes Dhawal Shah, the acquisition hasn't impacted EdX's operations a lot yet. What 2U seems to have in mind for it is lead generation. "2U has plans to 'unify registration across the entire 2U system.' This probably means that, eventually, each 2U degree, Trilogy Bootcamp, and GetSmarter Executive Education course will have a dedicated page on edX.org — 'lead acquisition and/or conversion' will happen right on edX."

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