OLDaily

Welcome to Online Learning Daily, your best source for news and commentary about learning technology, new media, and related topics. We publish six to eight or so short posts every weekday linking to the best, most interesting and most important pieces of content in the field. Read more about what we cover. We also list papers and articles by Stephen Downes and his presentations from around the world.

There are many ways to read OLDaily; pick whatever works best for you:

• Read in your web browser on this web page, updated weekdays
• Receive a daily or weekly email newsletter by subscribing here
• Subscribe to the RSS feed using your favourite feed reader
• Follow @OLDaily@mastodon.social on Mastodon or elsewhere in the fediverse
• Follow @OLDaily on Twitter
• Integrate the open API using the JSON feed

Education Research Report: Misleading report argues that schools should no longer be positioned as a central education component
Jonathan Kantrowitz, Education Research Report, 2022/11/08

---

The focus of this short post is a report released earlier this year by Bellweather called ' Some Assembly Required: How a More Flexible Learning Ecosystem Can Better Serve All Kids and Unlock Innovation' (19 page PDF). The report describes what the authors call 'assembly-based education,' "a hypothetical ecosystem that removes schools as a central education component" and "proposes giving families the ability and funding to choose among varied learning opportunities." As summarized in an NEPC review (13 page PDF) of the report, "the approach is presented as helping to remove some barriers for lower-income families and to facilitate new communities based on shared interests rather than geography." All fair enough. But as the reviewers point out, the solutions proposed do not address the problems identified. "While educational disparities do exist, most negatively impacting marginalized and low-income students, the root causes of the problem largely lie far beyond schools." It is very unliklely that reliance on market-based solutions will address systemic issues of poverty, discrimination and in justice.

Web: [Direct Link] [This Post]

Come Join Me On Mastodon, Folks.
Clive Thompson, Medium, 2022/11/08

---

This is yet another guide to Mastodon for people leaving Twitter. I found it clear and useful. Indeed, it occurred to me as I read it that there is probably some interesting research to be done comparing how different people have introduced the concepts and technoilogy behind Mastodon to new users. It would be interesting to see what makes them different - different metaphors, different emphasis on features, etc. - and whether one type of description could be said to be more useful (or effective, or whatever) for readers. Did videos help? Graphics? There are still plenty of people unfamiliar with Mastodon to test this out on, but don't wait. I won't be doing this - I have nothing like the time - but it should be done.

Web: [Direct Link] [This Post]

EdTech Means Nothing
Tim Stahmer, Assorted Stuff, 2022/11/08

---

A lot of what is counted as EdTech, writes Tim Stahmer, is little more than business tools repurposed for education. "There should be a clear distinction between 'passive' applications, ones that students might interact with but over which they have no control, and 'active' tools, used and at least partially controlled by students to guide their own learning." Maybe that latter category could be called 'learning technology'. Stahmer calls it 'Active tech' and says it "would include many creative tools, including video and audio recording, where the kids work, alone or in collaboration with others, to create a product that expresses their ideas and knowledge." Maybe, I think, if we limited our focus to this, we would not be confused into thinking that 'learning' is the subject of 'management'.

Web: [Direct Link] [This Post]

"Please give me a chance": WeChat users are handwriting apologies to get their banned accounts back
Viola Zhou, RestofWorld, 2022/11/08

---

I would imagine Twitter ownership has been looking with envious eyes at the role WeChat plays in Chiense society, and thus the hold it has over its members. "WeChat is the dominant messaging app in China. Citizens depend on their WeChat accounts to not only communicate with each other, but also to order food deliveries, hail taxis, and pay for groceries."

Web: [Direct Link] [This Post]