OLDaily

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

Open EdTech
Open EdTech, 2023/07/26

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I joined an Open EdTech meeting this morning - I've been following the online discussions on Matrix for a while now and am liking what I'm seeing. Here's the vision: "We believe that a comprehensive infrastructure of Open Educational Technology is the only way to enable every single person on Earth to have real access to the best quality educational experiences available." I would probably have worded it differently, but the general sentiment is laudable. One of the projects is EduBot, an AI that joins the chat and offers useful summarizations and help. Today's meeting centered around a draft presentation deck which, while it could use a good edit, is again laudable. You can get involved by joining the discussion on Matrix (which unfortunately means you have to figure out how to join a discussion on Matrix).

Web: [Direct Link] [This Post]

Stellungnahme zur Verwendung von Cloud-Software in Schulen
Unsere digitale Schule, 2023/07/26

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This is in German, but you can get the context from the Google English translation. The document is titled "Thesis paper on IT infrastructure for schools" and consists of four theses (and I'm paraphrasing here): that the government has the resources and know-how to set up a learning infrastructure; that free software and state-owned infrastructure are the best way to maintain sovereignty over such a system; that without sovereignty, representative democracy is in danger; and people expect a say over such technology decisions. What was key to the success of this initiative was the presentation of an alternative plan that could reasonably and securely provide the same services for schools being provided currently by proprietary software, as illustrated.

Web: [Direct Link] [This Post]

Vision for W3C
Chris Wilson, W3C, 2023/07/26

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Among other things, the W3C says, "Our vision is for a World Wide Web that is more inclusive, and more respectful of its users: a Web that supports truth over falsehood, people over profits, humanity over hate." Ben Werdmuller comments on this item: "I like this sentiment a lot but it also has the potential to cause accidental harms. Who defines truth? W3C members? Someone else?" I want to just say "nobody defines it, truth is just truth," but of course it's not that simple. Nobody has a handle on truth, and there are many points of view. But you can define truth as (minimally) the 'absence of deception' and work toward that by working on (say) on standards of provenance from original sources. Not perfect, not even close, but better than just abandoning the field.

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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