By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. OER Commons Intros Authoring Tool
Dian Schaffhauser, Campus Technology, 2020/01/07
According to this short article, the OER Commons has launched a new authoring tool, Open Author. It "consolidates the functions of three other utilities from OER Commons: the Resource Builder, Lesson Builder and Module Builder," says the article. You have to log in to use it (or sign in with Clever, a single-signon for schools - a bit of marketing there, I think). I created a test resource on how to create a resource using the tool to see how it worked - it's very basic (the metada submission is the most complex piece). Watch out for licensing, which defaults to CC-by. Also, there's a non-standard 'educational use permitted' licensing option (whatever that means). What was missing. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. N.Y. District Will Use Facial Recognition Software, Despite Big Privacy Concerns
Alyson Klein, Education Week, 2020/01/06
I wouldn't exactly call this educational technology, but it's worth noting as no doubt it will eventually be used to serve an educational function. "A New York school district has announced it will begin using controversial facial recognition software for school safety purposes, over the strenuous objections of civil liberties advocates." The district is using an application called AEGIS, developed by SN Technologies a Canadian-based company that sells similar systems for hospitals, retail, banks and casinos. So, um, yay Canada? Secutiry software is big business; the AEGIS system cost the district $3.8 million, and a similar product, the Raptor Visitor Management System, is installed in 32,000 schools across the U.S. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Insights From Instructure Preliminary Proxy Statement
Phil Hill, Phil on Ed Tech, 2020/01/06
I don't want to linger too much on the Instructure sale, but on the other hand, the revelations can't be ignored. As Phil Hill writes, the Board has already decided to make it "a “Rule of 40” software company with a combined growth rate and profit margin of at least 40%." Additionally, "there is no view to show whether Bridge is dead or alive." And of course, "he size of payouts for the executive team seems remarkable, especially as most of that team was hired in the past year or two to improve the Bridge corporate learning market more than the Canvas academic market". More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Instructure’s Proposed Acquisition is a Bad Risk for Everyone
Michael Feldstein, e-Literate, 2020/01/06
"I have become increasingly worried," writes Michael Feldstein, "that, by going through with this particular sale at this particular time, there is a very high risk of destroying the company's value to customers and shareholders alike." Instructure doesn't have any viable products apart from its core LMS, and it seems to be stalled, writes Feldstein. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Who Is Competing to Own Researcher Identity?
Roger C. Schonfeld, The Scholarly Kitchen, 2020/01/06
This overview of researcher identity systems not surprisingly focuses on commercial publishing solutions, including ResearchGate, Clarivate and Elsevier. A couple of paragraphs are allocated to ORCID, which arguably has more long-term potential than any of the commercial systems. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Further Defining Digital Literacies: The Ethics of Information Creation
Kevin Hodgson, Kevin's Meandering Mind, 2019/12/31
This post reflects on a revision of definition of Literacy in a Digital Age by the National Council of Teachers of English. In particular, it considers the act of "hitting 'send' or 'post' without thinking twice about what they are sending forward, and to whom, doing it on a whim." In short, writes Kevin, "this strand could be an entire semester course on ethical writing in an online world." The move from the one subject to the other is as seamless as any I have seen - but I have to ask, is ethics the same as literacy? Is being ethical part of being literate. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. I Don’t Think I’m an EdTech Guy Anymore
Dean Shareski, Ideas and Thoughts, 2019/12/31
Dean Shareski question the nature of the discipline to which he has devoted most of a career. I confess to having said in recent years that I don't think ed tech is a discipline any more, so I can identify with where Shareski is coming from. It has splintered, with the 'pure' ed tech focusing on, as Shareski notes, things like augmented and virtual reality, 3D printing, coding, esports and blockchain. But there's also professional learning, global learning and digital citizenships, and I would add things like digital identity and open pedagogy. My focus has always been a bit different - my interest has always been 'online learning and new media'. But in the end, it doesnt matter how the communities form and reform. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. The End Of Education Reform, Or A New Beginning?
Natalie Wexler, Forbes, 2019/12/31
I have to confess that my main question on reading this Forbes article was to wonder who is funding all those articles that say the cure to all the nation's educational problems is direct instruction. This is Yet Another Article where direct instruction is offered as the solution to sagging test scores (this time placed in the context of explaining why a decade of 'reform' has failed). And it's deceptive - it begins by arguing that things like rock star teachers, charter schools, 'back to basics' and endless testing have all failed, but then shifts gears, blaming the failure on critical thinking and constructivism, offering direct instruction as the cure. The only consistent explanation for test schools that I've seen is that they measure for social equity. Countries with wide divisions between rich and poor have lower scores, and poorer countries fare less well overall. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. My Best Photos of 2019
Stephen Downes, Flickr, 2019/12/31

These photos are my best of 2019. Please enjoy. Meanwhile, I'm pleased to be included in this list by George Siemens, and not to be included in this list by Audrey Watters.

Web: [Direct Link]. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. The Invention of “Ethical AI”: How Big Tech Manipulates Academia to Avoid Regulation
Rodrigo Ochigame, The Intercept, 2019/12/30
According to this article, "Silicon Valley’s vigorous promotion of 'ethical AI' has constituted a strategic lobbying effort, one that has enrolled academia to legitimize itself." Playing a key role in this was Joi Ito and the MIT Media Lab. "The corporate, academic, and military proponents of 'ethical AI' have collaborated closely for mutual benefit," writes Rodrigo Ochigame. "For example, Ito told me that he informally advised Schmidt on which academic AI ethicists Schmidt’s private foundation should fund." I'm sure a lot of that happens all the time, and not just in the field of ethics. More...