OLDaily

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

Passwords and their Discontents
Mike Loukides, O'Reilly Media, 2024/05/23

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There are two really important points in this short article. The first revolves around the need to fix online authentication. Passwords are awful, but everything else that's been tried is worse. We will eventually get there, but it will require companies to allow users to own their own logins. They won't do this - they're like the monkey with its paw stick in the peanut jar, too greedy to open their fist and let their prize go. The second reflects our frustration over the whole state of affairs. "What I choose to do is irrelevant, because I'm at the mercy of the people who create the sites I use. And their practices can be shockingly bad." We see the same pattern everywhere: we (as consumers) know what would be good for society, or the environment, or whatever, but we can't choose it because the option is just not available in the marketplace.

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Let's burst some bubbles (again)!
Alexandra Mihai, The Educationalist, 2024/05/23

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"these words are almost always used to defend traditionalist practices such as direct instruction and control-based interventions," writes Alexandra Mihai. By contrasts, getting to in-person conferences take a lot of planning and time. "It feels like these constraints make our experience poorer." You are also, I would suggest, seeing different people, specifically, those with means and motivation to travel. This shapes in a negative way what gets valued and what gets decided. "Today's newsletter is a call to try and bring that spirit back." We need to create conditions for genuine online interaction with or without in-person conferences. I mean - I get the appeal of in-person. Travel enbiggens the mind. But I also feel (as I have the last few years) the feeling of apartness one gets when the travel opportunities dry up.

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The Siren Song of "Evidence-Based" Instruction
Alfie Kohn, 2024/05/23

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I'm totally on board with what Alfie Kohn is saying here. The overview (quoted):

• some people take an extreme, reductionist view of what qualifies as data.
• what exactly is meant by "effective"?
• evidence of an "on-balance" effect for a given intervention doesn't allow us to claim that it's a sure bet for all kids.
• what's sold to us as "evidence based" can sometimes do more harm than good.
• the term evidence-based sometimes functions not as a meaningful modifier but just as a slogan
• these words are almost always used to defend traditionalist practices such as direct instruction and control-based interventions

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How I Survived Distraction Overload and Created the Ultimate Online Learning Blueprint
Helen Todd, Educational Enhancement, 2024/05/23

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Gain attention, create motivation, maximize engagement. That's the 'ultimate online learning blueprint' offered here.

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How I Survived Distraction Overload and Created the Ultimate Online Learning Blueprint - Educational Enhancement
Peng Zhang, Gemma Tur, European Journal of Education, 2024/05/23

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This paper (22 page PDF) offers a systematic review "to provide a comprehensive perspective on the current state of research and practice, and to offer insights on how ChatGPT might be effectively integrated into K-12 education." Specifically, it presents a Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats (SWOT) analysis of ChatGPT, as well as "recommendations concerning ChatGPT practices within the realm of K-12 education." The results are not even slightly surprising: "ChatGPT demonstrates a level of performance comparable to that of humans in a wide range of domains, establishing itself as a flexible tool for educational purposes. Nevertheless, the study also recognises some constraints of ChatGPT."

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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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