Stephen Downes

This article points to what they call a 'report' (it's not a report, it's a web presentation) from an organization called Basta that offers (what it says is) "a free program for first-generation college students and recent graduates to land their first job" (keep in mind "Basta... had $3.9 million in annual revenue"). Mostly, though, it seems to be a recruitment network through it's Seekr program. And the article is basically one big advertisement for them. But. This is true: "social capital — or who you know — is key for first-generation college graduates searching for their first job." Actually, it's key for everyone. It's just that less wealthy students are less likely to have a network of friends and contacts. The trick for the rest of us (who are not funded by The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Carnegie Corporation of New York, Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Philanthropies and Heckscher Foundation for Children) is how to make networking opportunities to everyone, that is, to render quaint the social networking opportunities of the (elite) university system.

Today: 108 Total: 108 Lauren Wagner, The 74, 2024/05/09 [Direct Link]

Glenda Morgan desscribes 'casino capitalism' in in EdTech as "when universities try to act quickly and end up investing large amounts of money on risky ventures without engaging in appropriate levels of due diligence." Examples mentioned include Purdue acquiring Kaplan University and the University of Arizona buying Ashford University. Or when universities ("usually a Dean, hence the term 'Deans Gone Wild') signing a deal with an online program manager (OPM). Why does this keep happening? There's the need to raise revenue, suggests Morgan. Also: new money, fear of missing out (FOMO), and secrecy. I'd say the rate of these risks by universities (especially public universities) is much lower than in the private sector generally.

Today: 156 Total: 156 Glenda Morgan, On EdTech Newsletter, 2024/05/08 [Direct Link]

I'm more familiar with the term 'pink slime' but 'slop' is a good name for it too I think. It evokes the same sort of response. "I'm increasingly of the opinion that sharing unreviewed content that has been artificially generated with other people is rude," says Simon Willison. "Slop is the ideal name for this anti-pattern. Not all promotional content is spam, and not all AI-generated content is slop." It's worth noting that the original use of the term referenced the first few links that came up in a Google search (a service that is rapidly becoming irrelevant, sadly). Image generated by AI, naturally.

Today: 154 Total: 154 Simon Willison, 2024/05/08 [Direct Link]

This paper (38 page PDF) proclaims itself as "the largest survey of its kind" and reports on a survey of "2,778 researchers who had published in top-tier artificial intelligence (AI) venues, asking for their predictions on the pace of AI progress and the nature and impacts of advanced AI systems." If I had to characterize them, the answers are, I would say, 'rapid', 'advanced' and 'mixed'. Also, "respondents were asked when four specific occupations would become fully automatable: 'Truck driver,' 'Surgeon,' 'Retail salesperson,' and 'AI researcher'." The answer? Not long. Have we changed the way we educate people for a world in which this takes less than 40 years? Nope.

Today: 174 Total: 174 Katja Grace, Harlan Stewart, Julia Fabienne Sandkühler, Stephen Thomas, Ben Weinstein-Raun, Jan Brauner, arXiv, 2024/05/08 [Direct Link]

I think the main thing here is the Javascript library called three.js, which allows developers to create three-dimensional websites. Well, sort of three dimensional websites. Create advanced animations and immersive experiences with the best Three.js online courses. If you want to get a feel for what's possible, try out some of the many examples offered on website. Meanwhile, this link from Class Central suggests that "while the official Three.js documentation is comprehensive, it can be overwhelming for beginners" and offers links to some courses. With the impending closure of Mozilla Hubs, this may be the future go-to for open VR as an alternative to Unity and Unreal.

Today: 188 Total: 188 Kinjal Vora, Fabio Dantas, The Report by Class Central, 2024/05/08 [Direct Link]

Some of the examples in this article are interesting (including especially the recasting of the movie Alien into the 1950s). Bryan Alexander concludes, "we are culturally responding to generative AI with a great deal of creativity, even when we oppose it. Some of us are using AI to make art, while others fear that very thing. Again, as I've been saying, we are deeply divided about generative AI, and that division will play out across all kinds of human domains including, and also beyond culture." I think the most problematic uses of AI in culture are when the real and artificial are blended - as, for example, the live video superimposes advertisements onto the field, ice or background of the sporting event.

Today: 204 Total: 204 Bryan Alexander, Bryan's Substack, 2024/05/08 [Direct Link]