OLDaily

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

Open data ownership and sharing: Challenges and opportunities for application of FAIR principles and a checklist for data managers
Albert I. Ugochukwu, Peter W.B. Phillips, Journal of Agriculture and Food Research, 2024/04/15

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Without open data there is no open AI (and no open science generally). "However," the authors write (9 page PDF), "the challenge of producing and openly disseminating data that are easily discoverable, accessible, interoperable, and reusable (FAIR) has emerged as a significant concern for policymakers." This article attempts to explore the reasons for that. To make a long story short, even if the researcher intends to abide by FAIR principles, institutions and repositories often have policies and regulations that make compliance difficult. "While some institutional repositories enforce policies like restricted open access, which reduces the visibility and reusability of research outputs, others impose eligibility restrictions on deposits, raise copyright concerns, and require funding for maintenance." I've argued with people that the default should be 'open', while restrictions should be the exception that requires justification. But that's the opposite of most institutions today.

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Schools Were Just Supposed To Block Porn. Instead They Sabotaged Homework and Censored Suicide Prevention Sites
Tara García Mathewson, The Markup, 2024/04/15

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I wish I could say it was just Missouri that is blocking all these websites, but I'm quite sure it isn't. There are two aspects: first, the deliberate blocking of websites, which is a political issue, which I will leave to the particular societies concerned; and second, the accidental blocking of websites, which I'm sure is why a site like NASA would be blocked (as well as, for me, at the office, the Open Education Conference), which results from (a) bad categorization, and (b) category-based content filtering. This is an education technology issue, and it is having a widespread impact, not simply because it makes the sites more difficult to access (not impossible, unless you're poor; you can just use your own phone or home computer) but also because it undermines our respect for the institutions that are managing access to information in such a sloppy manner. Via Doug Levin.

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The 5 Percent Problem
Laurence Holt, Education Next, 2024/04/15

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According to this article, "online mathematics programs may benefit most the kids who need it least." It's a catchy way to introduce the main argument, which is to say, the program works "only if used as intended", however, only five percent of students use it as intended, and these are already likely to be high achievers. I think the point is well made, but what's the solution? Enforce proper use? Not practical. Return all math instruction to in-person instruction? Also not practical, and it's also not clear that this would solve the problem (how many teachers teach 'as intended')? Getting the research right would be a start.

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Details Emerge on Automated Grading of Texas' STAAR Tests
Kennedy Sessions, GovTech, 2024/04/15

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The scoring was applied to the State of Texas Assessment of Academic Readiness (STAAR) for Science, Social Studies, Reading, and Language Arts. As George Siemens reported, "the state hired around 2,000 human scorers this year, a small margin compared to the 6,000 employed in 2023."

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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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