OLDaily

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

Explanation Is Effective Because It Is Selective
Tania Lombrozo, Emily G. Liquin, Current Directions in Psychological Science, 2023/04/24

---

What is it to learn something, believe something and know something? Three articles have come out this week that look at the idea that these all involve representing the world in some way (and that we are very selective about what, and how, we represent). The first gives us a lot of background to the idea, tracing the idea that the brain is a representational organ from its roots in the nineteenth
century to the "muscles versus movements debate" of the 1970s and 1980s. The second considers the question of whether the concept of 'belief' plays a useful role in understanding cognition. They do, argue the authors, but only insofar as "to believe an idea is to process the relevant representations in certain ways—where the representations in question could be products of any of a variety of cognitive systems." And that brings us to the article about explanation: "explanation search and evaluation are effective mechanisms for learning by virtue of their selectivity. In other words, our proclivity to explain could support learning precisely because it effectively directs us to investigate certain aspects of the world over others and to evaluate the fruits of our investigation by particular criteria." It's enough to make you think!

Web: [Direct Link] [This Post]

The Complete Beginners Guide To Autonomous Agents
Matt Schlicht, Matt Schlicht's AI Newsletter, 2023/04/24

---

Yet another post catching us up with the latest in the AI revolution: the lead article introduces autonomous agents as "the fastest growing trend amongst AI developers, yet most people don't know about them." Also, Donald Clark is worried about seven words that anthropomorphize AI. Ben Williamson authors a chapter offering "a partial genealogy of education data science" that "reveals the contingency of claims to objective knowledge discovery through data analytics infrastructures," arguing that education data science is "imprinted with strong political imperatives regarding performance-based accountability, and in many cases with the market-making concern of commercial EdTech businesses." Bryan Alexander ponders the future of instructors after AI. UNESCO releases its chatGPT and AI in education quick start guide. Michael Feldstein observes that "AI seemed to be the only thing anybody talked about" at the recent ASU+GSV conference, noting that "and yet the discourse sounded a little bit like GPT-2 trying to explain the uses, strengths, and limitations of GPT-5." Finally, an OECD reports states that at the rate things are going, AI will outperform some 90 percent of adults in literacy and numeracy tests. "Even the best-ranking countries to date cannot supply more than a quarter of their workforce with the literacy and numeracy skills needed to outperform AI."

Web: [Direct Link] [This Post]

Time Scarcity and Student Performance: Instructional Strategies for Busy Adult Online Students
Melanie Holmes, Canadian Journal of Learning and Technology, 2023/04/24

---

According to this survey article (14 page PDF), "to reduce feelings of time scarcity" for adult online learners, "classrooms should have a predictable rhythm of regular assignments, a clear syllabus, meaningful assignments, and no busywork." Additionally, "Educators can help students build slack into their schedules so that they can better navigate disruptions." I think routine and predictability help a lot, but these need not follow the form and timelines of a traditional academic schedule. I liked the way a Coursera AI course allowed me to allocate 'study time' for myself and add it to my calendar.

Web: [Direct Link] [This Post]

Your Smart Devices Are Trying to Manipulate You With Dark Patterns
Kaveh Waddell, Consumer Reports, 2023/04/24

---

The concept of 'dark patterns' may be familiar to OLDaily readers but it's not exactly mainstream - yet. Articles like this one in Consumer Reports may change that. Dark patterns are "Tricky interfaces in smart speakers, internet TVs, and other devices (that) can nudge users into giving up privacy, security, and even their money." Regulators are becoming concerned about the barrage of dark patterns unleashed through devices and online. "When dark-pattern prompts are stacked on top of each other, the pull on consumers can be even stronger than when they appear individually, according to the Federal Trade Commission and the UK's Competition and Markets Authority."

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.

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