OLDaily

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

Zen of Teaching: Interview with Stephen Downes
Antonio Vantaggiato, Skate of the Web, 2023/02/13

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Antonio Vantaggiato writes, "November 2022 I had an opportunity to interview Stephen Downes at Online Educa Berlin, where I was participating. He was so kind to accept the interview and we soon found ourselves in the foyer of a stylish bar on the upper floor of the hotel, where I arranged my usually low-key equipment."

Web: [Direct Link] [This Post]

About GameChanger Girls
Bronwyn Stuckey, GameChanger Girls, 2023/02/13

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I found out about this initiative through a LinkedIn post from Bronwyn Stuckey. The idea is that the girls, aged 10-15, design and develop the games and then, after trying them all out, vote and stage a competition among themselves on the winning game. This is an idea that works on numerous levels, from participation to design to collaboration to decision-making. In the LinkedIn post, however, Stuckey describes one teacher who "disagreed with the outcome and the process, believing her student team and game should have received awards/recognition for designing a more complex game design." Teachers, felt the teacher, should be the ones deciding on the best game. I cannot emphasize how much I disagree with this. I'm happy to say that most of the comments support the original design.

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World Economic Forum
Genesis Elhussein, Till Leopold, Andrew Silva, Saadia Zahidi, World Economic Forum, 2023/02/13

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Sometimes it seems there's nothing education experts love more than a taxonomy. This offering (28 page PDF) from the World Economic Forum (WEF) seeks to identify "a comprehensive set of skills, attitudes, and values to prepare young learners for well-being in the economies of the future" where 'well-being' is measured in increases in GDP and skills required by employers. The real work is done by the second level, which include as 'aptitudes' cognitive, social and physical skills along with self-regulatory and societal aptitudes. The aptitudes especially reflect the values of a very particular perspectives and include such things as 'grit' and 'growth mindset'. It's not all bad, though; the most useful bit describes how "an abstract aptitude, such as problem solving, in practice should not be simply taught on its own, but rather through developing a particular competency, such as solving a particular real-world challenge or problem." This sort of work, if studied by researchers, might reveal an actual set of common skills and aptitudes, not merely those gleaned from a WEF consultants' workbook.

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How AI could change admissions
Emil Chuck, Student Doctor Network, 2023/02/13

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This reminds me of AI-based systems employers will use for proactive recruitment based not on job applications but on an individual's online presence. So here's an article from a few days ago the subject, but the focus is on evaluating applications. That seems inefficient. A better model might be this proposal from Rustamdjan Hakimov and Dorothea Kübler but it's hard to imagine a centralized system working. I assume the Chronicle is talking about something along these lines with an article today titled "Congrats! You Didn't Apply, but We Admitted You Anyway." It's behind a paywall, so I can't read it and won't link to it. But you know, getting an admissions offer in the mail isn't the same as getting a job offer. The latter is an opportunity, the former an advertisement. Spam.

Web: [Direct Link] [This Post]

A Minimum Viable Ecosystem for collective intelligence
Mathew Lowry, Medium, 2023/02/13

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As time goes by, I think, our learning tools will focus more on how we can participate in a networked world. This is a case in point. "As I explored collective intelligence," writes Mathew Lowry, "I realised that my focus should be less on Hubs as a product, and more on the decentralised, open-source and self-sustaining ecosystem for collective intelligence within Hubs and many other products could thrive and evolve together." You'll get a lot just from reviewing the diagram, but the article is useful too. The article is on Medium, but doesn't appear to be paywalled.

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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