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Welcome to Online Learning Daily, your best source for news and commentary about learning technology, new media, and related topics.

Presentation
Navigating the AI Revolution
Stephen Downes, Feb 10, 2023,

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No audio on the video, come back next week, it will be available then.

[Link] [Slides] [Video]

Busting the attention span myth
Simon Maybin, BBC News, 2023/02/10

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This is one of those articles that tracks down the source of a popular conception only to find that it doesn't exist. Moreover, "the idea of an 'average attention span' is pretty meaningless. It's very much task-dependent. How much attention we apply to a task will vary depending on what the task demand is."

Web: [Direct Link] [This Post]

Understanding and Debugging Deep Learning Models: Exploring AI Interpretability Methods
Andrew Hoblitzell, InfoQ, 2023/02/10

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A lot of recent discussion of responsible or ethical artificial intelligence centres around whether it is 'explainable'. For various reasons(*), I think this is the wrong word, and much prefer the concept of 'interprebility'. As Andrew Hoblitzell writes, "This includes understanding the relationships between the input, the model, and the output. Interpretability increases confidence in the model, reduces bias, and ensures that the model is compliant and ethical." The article outlines six "methods of providing interpretability" and follows up with two case studies applying these methods. (* to 'explain ' is to answer a 'why' question; to interpret includes this but is broader, and refers to finding the 'meaning' of various aspects of the AI system.)

Web: [Direct Link] [This Post]

How do student governors perceive power?
Kevin McStravock, WonkHe, 2023/02/10

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I spent several years on boards of governors, first as a student representative, then later as a union rep. So this article speaks to me, and I can attest to the assertion that "the norms and behaviours expected of governors function like a 'hidden curriculum', which governors are expected to understand without having been taught." The article describes some practices for being an 'effective' representative, for example, getting to know and be mentored by influential members of the board. But my experience is that this only works if you align your politics to theirs. Boards are places where influence is peddled like currencies, and part of a wider network of relations among the well-connected. If you're planning to join that network, great, then follow the instructions in the article. If, like me, you are generally opposed, then instead I would recommend a close reading of Saul Alinsky. Because we can be 'effective' in different ways.

Web: [Direct Link] [This Post]

Guru-itis potentially fatal to good teachers
Grant Frost, frostededucation, 2023/02/10

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"Among professional fields of study," writes Grant Frost. "I am not sure any can quite match education when it comes to the prevalence of what I like to call 'Guruitis'," a term he uses to describe "the penchant that educational authorities have for adopting all manner of theories and practices based on the promotion of those ideas by certain 'gurus' in the field." It's a fair criticism, and the field should most properly be described by a body of science, not this or that 'theory' promoted by some leading light. The discussion turns to John Hattie's contributions as a case in point for both sides of this. Originally intended to apply rigorous method to the evaluation of instructional strategies (and more recently, related factors), it became a 'league table' used to evaluate instruction. "I find myself wondering how many young teachers faced criticism and perhaps even censure, due to an oversimplified and apparently erroneous interpretation of Hattie's research," writes Frost. "Education has never been simple, and teaching excellence can never be reduced to a checklist."

Web: [Direct Link] [This Post]

Project JASPER: a progress report
DOAJ News Service, 2023/02/10

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Project JASPER was launched in 2020 "to address the problem of open access journals disappearing from the web." To date, "Nine journals have completed the process and have either delivered content and metadata or have been archived via Internet Archive's automated web crawling." It's not a lot, and the project is focused on journals "published under a diamond Open Access model, meaning they are labours of love with no funding streams." So (no surprise) the project is looking "to find sustainable funding."

Web: [Direct Link] [This Post]

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.

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