OLDaily

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

Review of Higher Education for Good: Teaching and Learning Futures
Helen Beetham, Postdigital Science and Education, 2024/10/11

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Though ostensibly a review of the book edited by Laura Czerniewicz and Catherine Cronin, this article stands as a manifesto on its own, defining what constitutes a 'good' university, identifying the relation to 'open', and arguing for a basis in social justice, broadly construed. Now I am not at all a supporter of the neo-Liberal vision of higher education that is cast as the antagonist in this review, and I am even in support of pretty much each of the causes listed, but there's one important difference between my vision of open education and theirs: my version of open education is not tied explicitly to a particular progressive world view. Education - like democracy - must be for everyone. If someone wants to learn how to be a neo-liberal techno-capitalist, there should be an opportunity in the system for them to do so. I am concerned about things like data and evidence, accuracy, relevance and impact. An open learning resource may be valuable even if it does not adhere to a particular conception of social justice. I fear that for many readers this may place me squarely on 'the other side' - but the very idea that there would be 'sides' in open education is antithetical to me.

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Bluesky pitches new features at disgruntled Threads users
Jess Weatherbed, The Verge, 2024/10/11

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It's Threads versus Bluesky, or in my view, a battle between a billionaire and people hoping to be billionaires. "Bluesky is hoping to lure Threads users over to the platform with new features that let you pin posts, apply language filters, and customize fonts and text sizes." Bluesky proclaimed "we're not owned by a billionaire" to increasingly frustrated users of its Meta rival who just endured "a flood of engagement bait posts being promoted to people's feeds." If you don't control the algorithm, you don't control the product, and ultimately, you are the product (as always). Via George Station, who proclaims, "At the end of the day, I just want a Personal Learning Network that works."

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AI affects everyone - including Indigenous people. It's time we have a say in how it’s built
Tamika Worrell, The Conversation, 2024/10/11

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There's a good argument to the effect that AI impacts Indigenous peoples, and if we accept the premise "nothing about me without me" then as this article states, "unless AI developers start involving Indigenous people, their claims about the technology benefiting all of humanity will continue to ring hollow." What would that entail, exactly? The article references "centering indigenous knowledge", "misinformation about Indigenous people" and "theft of cultural intellectual property". But beyond simply shutting AI, how best to address these considerations? Via Frederik Glaver.

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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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