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Presentation
It’s time to redefine how we connect
Stephen Downes, Jan 26, 2025,

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CList Announcement and Demo. No this is not an AI thing (though some AI is involved). No, this is not a MOOC thing (though the first FediMOOC is involved)

[Slides] [Video]

Cards Against Pedagogy
Donna Carroll, Damian Chmielewski, 2025/01/27

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This is a "card game is designed as a fun and interactive way of getting teaching staff to know each other while reflecting on different elements of their teaching." I'm not a fan of the proposed method - print the PDF on heavy stock paperboard (use once, then throw away, I guess). But I do like the idea of combining typical expressions (for example, "my students still cannot grasp the concept of ____________") and typical concepts (for example, "Active listening"). I think it would be a fun online idea where there is even more of a need to stimulate engagement. Via Alan Levine.

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LLM Visualization
Brendan Bycroft, 2025/01/27

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This is an outstanding demonstration on several levels. First, it's probably the most insightful visualization of how a large language model works that I've seen. As George Siemens says, spend some time with it. That leads to the second level, which is its strength of pedagogical design. Viewers can actually learn how LLMs work, even if they don't understand the mathematics involved, because they can see visually the processes enabled by the calculations. 

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Global Skills Taxonomy Adoption Toolkit
Neil Allison, Ximena Játiva, Aarushi Singhania, World Economic Forum, 2025/01/27

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So, the idea here is that you define a job or employment classification according to the skills it requires, and then relate these skills to the education or training needed to master them, to which you then match learning resources or training opportunities as well as to learning assessment. I'm not going to criticize that approach a priori - I mean, jobs do demand skills (as do other things, like hobbies and democracy and raising children; let's not lose these in the shuffle) and how else are we going to support this need? But are skills definitions and taxonomies the way to go? As I read through this analysis, I see all the same sort of issues arise as we say back in the days of learning object metadata (LOM): governance, competing standards, granularity, crosswalking, implementation. The risk here is in developing a complicated static framework for a domain that is dynamic and complex. Via George Siemens.

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Canadians need better skills training and recognition to tackle 21st century challenges
Noel Baldwin, Policy Options, 2025/01/27

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This article builds on a mixed metaphor to ask, "in the arena of work, are we putting on a superstar performance? And if not, why not?" It's mixed because it compares, on the one hand, average performance, as demonstrated in international skills testing, and superstar performance, as demonstrated in... what? There's no analogy for a Stanley Cup in this article for individual or small team performance, which is (typically) where you find excellence. From where I sit, Canada has no shortage of excellence. As always, though, is in supporting everyone else where you find the strength in a nation (or a workforce, whatever). And while "the gap between high and low performers was shown to be smaller and more consistent than in many OECD countries," it remains concerning that "the proportion of people performing at the lowest levels in these three critical areas also remains higher than desired." Or to put it in the language of educators: lifting a person from a D to a C makes a lot more difference than lifting a person from a B to an A.

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MGpt: Skeptical Thinker
Miguel Guhlin, mg links, 2025/01/27

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This is the latest installment of Miguel Guhlin's work creating ChatGPT Custom GPTs to help engage with ideas and content. "The Challenge," he writes, that that "trying to sift through all the 'fake' news, propaganda, false claims, and lies is even MORE important today." So this tool blends number of different sceptical methodologies - Melanie Trecek-King's FLOATER, The Orwell Test, Wayne R. Bartz' CRITIC, the SIFT approach - all into one tool. I haven't played with it - I have a lot going on at the moment - but it looks interesting.

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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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