OLDaily

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

Learning management systems and social media: a case for their integration in higher education institutions
Darren Turnbull, Ritesh Chugh, Jo Luck, Research in Learning Technology, 2023/05/30

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This paper (16 page PDF) suggests that "leveraging the power of SM platforms such as Facebook and Twitter in conjunction with LMSs could enhance learner experiences and improve the reputations of institutions as quality providers of educational services." It arrives at this conclusion after looking at three dozen studies from around the world and identifying positive and negative aspects of integrating the social network service with the institutional LMS. I found the disadvantages to be very institutionally focused (citing the need for support, the concern about distractions, and technical issues such as student login). One wonders how many students there are who (like me) simply refuse to use Facebook and Twitter. There's also the question of how personal messaging among students can be reliably surfaced despite the algorithm deprioritizing them (a similar problem exists for LinkedIn). Finally - doesn't this feel like a paper that should have been written in 2010, not 2023?

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A placebo effect?
Clark Quinn, Learnlets, 2023/05/30

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This is a but of a puzzler, at least to my mind. There's good reason to believe that the usual content dump and knowledge test isn't effective, writes Clark Quinn. The belief that information presentation will lead to behavior change feels like a superstition, he writes. It's like a placebo - no useful learning has occurred, but the learner is expected to change nonetheless. I can see the reasoning; you can't just tell people what to do, you have to show them, and ideally, give them hands-on practice doing it. Still, a lot of the time, information presentation does lead to behaviour change. If it didn't, no advertising would work. Maps would be useless. We wouldn't be able to follow recipes. Contracts would be unenforceable. There would be no point running a traffic report on the radio. Etc., etc. So it seems to me that simply saying "information presentation doesn't work" contradicts the obvious evidence to the contrary. We need a more nuanced understanding, so we know why demonstration  and practice are sometimes needed, and sometimes aren't.

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Exploratory preferences explain the human fascination for imaginary worlds in fictional stories
Edgar Dubourg, Valentin Thouzeau, Charles de Dampierre, Andrei Mogoutov, Nicolas Baumard, Nature Scientific Reports, 2023/05/30

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This paper was recommended, but I have to say, I read this paper and unfortunately can't get that time back. Basically, it says people who like to explore are that way because they like exploring; people who like imaginary worlds are that way because they like imaginary worlds, and the underlying factors are that they are "younger individuals, males, and individuals living in more affluent environments." In related news: objects are solid because they embody solidity.

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LiaScript
André Dietrich, GitHub, 2023/05/30

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I found this item following the announcements from elearning Africa (sadly I couldn't go; maybe next year). "Create free and interactive online courses, based on an extended Markdown notation and share them on github... No platform no, no login, just #oer and publish immediately (works offline too)". Basically, the editor works with a version of Markdown, which is easy to learn, to allow anyone to create courses in their browser, and the courses are stored on GitHub, where they may be freely shared, adapted, whatever. The page and documentation are good, though a bit overwhelming and not intuitive - it could really use a step-by-step into to get people creating their own courses. But the concept is great. Here's the online editor if you want to see for yourself.

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Changing Up, 'Decripting' My Podcast Methods, Eh, Ai? Eh?
Alan Levine, CogDogBlog, 2023/05/30

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After taking us through a trip down memory lane (ah, the memories) Alan Levine links to a post from Matt Haughey about an audio and video application called Descript. Don't miss this one. Give yourself half an hour and go through the intro tutorial. There's a lot to love here (except the price tag, which is $30 per month for the pro version). For me, it's being able to edit the audio or video by editing the text transcript. There's a ton more. There's some discussion of whether there's AI magic behind the curtains, but it doesn't really matter.

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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