OLDaily

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

Review of Some Popular Higher Educational Mathematics Course and Homework Platforms
Patricia Anderson, Scot Anderson, Issues and Trends in Learning Technologies, 2024/01/16

---

This article reviews five course platforms for mathematics, "one traditional course platform, two mastery-based learning platforms, and two just-in-time learning platforms." It also provides an overview of seven homework platforms in the same subject. Four of the five course platforms contain an ebook, while the last one is linked to a stand-alone book. By contrast, only one of the homework platforms (zyBooks) is tied to a book. "The usage data shows that these homework-only platforms, though newer than the textbook publisher platforms, are starting to gain popularity on many collegiate campuses." The reviews are comprehensive and cover a lot of ground; readers may want to translate them into a big chart on a whiteboard (one wonders if this is how the article was originally constructed).

Web: [Direct Link] [This Post]

A Primer for Design and Systems Thinkers: A First-Year Engineering Course for Mindset Development
Jac Ka Lok Leung, Davy Tsz Kit Ng, Chi-Ying Tsui, Education Sciences, 2024/01/16

---

"Teaching students to think in complex systems and design is presumably intricate, creative, and nonlinear," write the authors. True enough. But as I have followed Doug Belshaw's course notes in systems thinking I've had this thought as well: "due to the overwhelming number of standardized tools and frameworks, the process sometimes ends up being procedural and deductive. Conformity to rigid procedures loses the intention of creative problem-solving towards tackling wicked problems." Quite so. But how to teach systems thinking in a way that doesn't just replicate the teaching of any other logic or deductive framework. This paper (17 page PDF) describes a partially successful  project-based approach with integration for real-world applications. But the workload! I don't think you can just do it in a single course; it's an approach that needs to inform the whole of learning. (P.S. one of my earliest experiences of self-directed learning was my disassembly of a Christmas present, specifically the Big Bruiser, to see how it worked.)

Web: [Direct Link] [This Post]

Evaluating the Impact: Regulatory Changes on OPMs and Graduate Enrollment
Chris Gardiner, Encoura, 2024/01/16

---

This post looks at the future of the Online Program Management (OPM) market in the wake of U.S. Department of Education regulations to come in 2024 including a potential end to its exemption from the incentive compensation ban. The bottom has already pretty much fallen out from under the industry with major players being acquired, taken private, or pivoting. Even sp, analyst Chris Gardiner manages to put an optimistic face on his outlook, saying "the revenue-share model is attractive to institutions lacking the funds, capacity, and expertise to launch online programs independently" and "we also expect increased demand for online program enablement–where institutions pay for specific services, either bundled or unbundled, as competitive pressures increase."

Web: [Direct Link] [This Post]

Your 2024 guide to Google and Yahoo's new requirements for email senders
Anna Ward, Portmark, 2024/01/16

---

Long gone are the days when you can just set up an email server and start sending messages. Because of the proliferation of spam, it has become harder and harder to send mail with any assurance it will be received (that's why I switched over to Mailchimp, and then later to Mailgun, to send out OLDaily). This article is from Postmark, which I may or may not use in the future. Anyhow, to successfully send an email today, you must authenticate yourself as sender in three ways (DKIM, SPF, and DMARC), keep your spam complaint rate below 3%, support 1-click unsubscribe, support RFC 5322 compliance, PTR records, and rDNS, make sure your server IP addresses have reverse DNS records, and use a TLS connection to send email. Even using Mailgun, I've had to learn how to do most of this. But you can see why people flocked to a platform like Substack to send their newsletters (unfortunately).

Web: [Direct Link] [This Post]

Three steps to unearth the hidden curriculum of networking - Christensen Institute
Julia Freeland Fisher, Christensen Institute, 2024/01/16

---

I'm not sure I would agree with the recommendations, but Julia Freeland Fisher has nailed the issue: "The data is clear: students want networks... The data is also clear that access to networks is not equally distributed: first-generation students and students of colour are much less likely than their peers to participate in networking with alumni or to talk to faculty about their career interests." If you want to see this in action, watch how graduates from elite universities support each other. This is a key advantage they have over graduates from other institutions who do not have access to the same network. I don't think the answer is to "make network-building credit-bearing", nor is it to "elevate social capital in your campus-wide strategy." If it were me, I would focus much less on content knowledge, and much more on the learning experience.

Web: [Direct Link] [This Post]

I Actually Chatted with ChatGPT
Philip Guo, O'Reilly Media, 2024/01/16

---

Yesterday I described my less than ideal experience using chatGPT audio. Today we read here a description of what it might be like, as Philip Guo, using the official Apple chatGPT app, spoke to the AI and received audio responses over his earbuds. He did this while driving (note: I do not recommend using earbuds while driving) and while the experience wasn't perfect (there were unpredictable wait times for responses, he couldn't interrupt chatGPT) it was still a positive experience. "Chatting with ChatGPT on my phone felt like using a walkie-talkie over a noisy channel to talk to an overly-agreeable but socially-unaware customer service agent who has extensive knowledge about the contents of the public internet."

Web: [Direct Link] [This Post]

Institutional conditions for equitable access to higher education in Ecuador
Magali Ramos Jarrin, World Education Blog, 2024/01/16

---

Some of this report may now be out of date following the election of a new government last fall, but here's what we learn about the system as it stood up to this point: "Universities of the highest quality have the largest budgets but lag behind in terms of equitable access (understood as accepting students from ethnic minorities, with disabilities and females). Overall, budget per capita and quality decrease as universities are more inclusive. This trend, however, is challenged by some institutions that manage to keep mid- to high-level quality and inclusivity."

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