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

Assessment reform for the age of artificial intelligence
Jason M Lodge, Sarah Howard, Margaret Bearman, TEQSA, 2023/11/23

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This paper (12 page PDF) published by the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency (TEQSA) in Australia draws on "expertise, based on evidence, theory and practice, about how to design assessment for a digital world, which includes artificial intelligence" in order to "provide guidance for the sector on ways assessment practices can take advantage of the opportunities, and manage the risks, of AI." It is based on two principles: "to equip students to ;participate ethically and actively in a society where AI is ubiquitous," and "multiple, inclusive and contextualised approaches to assessment." From these, it forms five propositions, with examples, to advise institutions. I don't see the document as particularly groundbreaking, but it's nonetheless useful as a touchpoint.

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Move Over Google: Social media is also a search engine
ICEF Monitor, 2023/11/23

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This article reports on a shift in search trends, suggesting that people under 34 are now more likely to turn to visually oriented social media (such as Tiktok, YouTibe or Instagram) to find things that match their interests. It also provides advice to institutions looking to increase their visibility to this demographic. "Often Gen Zers don't even "query." For example, when they open their TikTok app, their For You Page (FYP) serves them a delightful banquet of things they will probably love.... TikTok is mostly known for the buzzy, candy-like short video experience it provides. But underneath that is what is arguably one of the most sophisticated recommendation engines ever created."

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The Necessity of Book Reviews
Jill O'Neill, The Scholarly Kitchen, 2023/11/23

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Traditional media loves books and book reviews. The CBC has entire programs devoted to them. Look at any academic profiled by media or invited to comment and they have just published a book. The same sentiment is expressed in this article. "Book reviews, whether of trade or scholarly publications, serve a necessary function of assessment in the marketplace." But do they, though? They ignore most people and focus only on those who have signed deals with publishers. I'm always challenging people who do podcasts or host radio shows or whatever to do some digging on their own rather than waiting for the next press release. But if there's anything these shows and interviews and reviews have in common, it's this: free advertising for commercial publishers. I'm sure no small number of them are thinking to themselves that a commercial book is the only route to the sort of publicity publishers generate for their product. I see no sign of this changing. Which is too bad.

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AI comes to my web site - meet Tonybots
Tony Bates, Online learning and distance education resources, 2023/11/23

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Thanks to the generosity of Ron Owston, Tony Bates now has a chatbot on his website trained on (unsurprisingly) the writings of Tony Bates. He gives it a quick test run and Tonybots feeds us a listicle for each of the two questions - this is a form that chatGPT excels in, to my observation.

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An AI playbook for improving college completion
Lauren Coffey, Inside Higher Ed, 2023/11/23

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This article might require registration to view, but you can ignore it and go straight to the AI Playbook (78 page PDF) and Discussion Paper (17 page PDF) distributed by CompleteCollege.org on the subject of attainment with artificial intelligence. It's a topic aligned with my own interests: how can we employ technology to help people access and succeed in further education, keeping in mind especially individuals and demographics that have traditionally been overlooked. The playbook identifies three broad areas in which AI can play a role: organizational effectiveness, student experience, and teaching and learning. Each of these is organized in a three-stage process: do it now, do it soon, or work toward. Yes, there are risks to working with AI, but there are benefits as well, and this work is addressed squarely toward realizing those benefits.

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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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