OLDaily

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

Technology is transforming the production of education data
World Education Blog, UNESCO, 2024/02/14

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This is a pretty good summary, though I find it hard to believe the people on the panel (government ministers or directors) are really the authorities on data and the best use of technology. The lede, buried in the last paragraph, is that "the UNESCO Institute for Statistics announce(d) the development of a new Education Databot, an AI-enhanced data visualization tool that works purely from the UIS SDG 4 database." The gist of the discussion: technology can help address challenges of scale, help with speed, and improve the measurement of inclusion. Data can be integrated and displayed in different ways. "Few countries lack the capacity to produce and manipulate data effectively," but where there is a capacity issue, the digital divide is the problem.

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Working Out Loud: an intervention study to test an agile learning method
Tabea Augner, Carsten C. Schermuly, Franziska Jungmann, Journal of Workplace Learning, 2024/02/14

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The authors characterize agile learning in four dimensions: self-direction, iteration, collaboration and technology, and operationalize the concept using a model of working out loud developed by Stepper. The idea of 'working out loud' has been around for a while (the authors incorrectly attribute it to Bryce Williams, though it has been around in the community for much longer). The authors evaluated the method against three learning outcomes: vigor, work-out-loud behaviour, and psychological empowerment. "The results indicated that WOL significantly increased participants' WOL behavior and psychological empowerment at work," they write.Overall, though, I would say the results appear mixed; they report an actual drop in vigor, for example, over the long term. But this may be due more to Stepper's formalized method than to the idea itself. The original paper is paywalled; this link it to a copy on ResearchGate (17 page PDF). Via Mike Taylor, who calls it "the first scientific paper on the effectiveness of Working Out Loud (WOL)."

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Global Sentiment Survey 2024
Donald H. Taylor, 2024/02/14

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Donald Taylor has released the results of his 2024 survey of 3,000+ L&D practitioners worldwide. The results, he says "are unlike anything in its 11-year history. The key take aways: AI dominates. It's not just #1 on the table, it's #1 by an unprecedented amount, in every region, and across every work group. The scale of the vote is insane." I guess we shouldn't be surprised. The only other things showing an increase in the face of the AI wave are learning analytics and personalized learning (which is funny, because after the connectivism wave, George Siemens took the first of these and I took the second).There's a download link behind a spamwall, or you can download from his LinkedIn post without filling in a form.

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14 ideas to build and grow a podcast network today
Josh Withers, the group chat, 2024/02/14

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Every once in a while we see a really good post chock full of ideas to make something we're all familiar with - in this case, podcasting - to the next level. If I were running a podcast, and had the time or staff and maybe a little budget, this is how I'd do it. But most of these suggestions don't just apply to podcasting - they apply to almost any form of online media. Via Kate Bowles, who shouts out actual podcaster Martin Feld, which is where I got the image.

Web: [Direct Link] [This Post]

SAT administrator College Board settles New York claims it sold student data
Jonathan Stempel, Reuters, 2024/02/14

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The full story is in the first paragrapgh: "The College Board agreed to pay $750,000 to settle claims by New York attorney general that it violated high school students' privacy by selling personal information it collected when they took the SAT and other exams, the state said on Tuesday." Insert comment about not being able to trust even the most trusted organizations when there's money on the table. More from Newsday, Inside Higher Ed.

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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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