How to become a Bayesian in eight easy steps: An annotated reading list
Alexander Etz, Quentin Gronau, Fabian Dablander, Peter Edelsbrunner, Beth Baribault, arXiv, 2017/08/18
I learned about Bayes Theorem while studying probability in the 1980s, but I never imagined it would have the influence it has today. It's a mechanism for calculating the probability of X given Y. More...

Asleep at the Switch: Schoolhouse Commercialism, Student Privacy, and the Failure of Policymaking
Faith Boninger, Alex Molnar, Kevin Murray, National Education Policy Center, 2017/08/18
A new report from the National Education Policy Center (55 page PDF) argues that schools should be prohibited from collecting student data unless rigorous safeguards are put into place, that algorithms used in personalized learning should be openly available for examination, and that the use of such technology shoulds require thirs-party assessments for validity and utility, including examinations of the technology (including, presumably, data sets) for bias and error. More...

If I Ran a Newspaper….
Jeff Jarvis, Medium, 2017/08/14
Universities and news media face the same challenges from digital media, and if the news media house is on fire - to use the analogy Jeff Jarvis uses in this detailed post - then universities occupy the house next door, to which the flames have spread. More...

Algorithmic Accountability: Applying the concept to different country contexts
World Wide Web Foundation, 2017/08/11
I've been thinking recently about how we validate AI algorithms, this in light of over-enthusiastic press reports and questionable outcomes. More...

Sony wants to digitize education records using the blockchain
Jon Russell, TechCrunch, 2017/08/11
TechCrunch reports that "Sony said today that it has finished developing a digital system for storing and managing educational records on the blockchain." It's now looking to commercialize the technology. More...

Knowledge, Education, and the Role of Teachers.
Stephen Downes, Aug 11, 2017.

Responses to questions ahead of my upcoming presentation in Warsaw. More...

On Ditching the (Dangerous) Dichotomy Between Content Knowledge and Creativity
Amy Burvall, AmusED, 2017/08/07
The core of this post is based on the slogan, attributed to Picasso, "Learn the rules like a pro so you can break them like an artist." But what are the rules? Do they tell you what to paint? Of course not. More...

The sea was never blue
Maria Michela Sassi, Aeon, 2017/08/07
I saw this in Doug Belshaw's email and I wish he had commented rather than just listing it. The idea of this article is that the list of co,lours used by the ancient Greeks was very different from what we use today. "Goethe was right. In trying to see the world through Greek eyes, the Newtonian view is only somewhat useful. More...

Cognitive bias cheat sheet
Buster Benson, Better Humans, 2017/08/09
This is from last fall, though I was prompted to link by this post with related flash cards to help you remember the 168 cognitive biases reported by Buster Benson (maybe we could use them to train AIs). More...