Content-type: text/html Downes.ca ~ Stephen's Web ~ The Only Person Who Behaves Sensibly Is My Tailor

Stephen Downes

Knowledge, Learning, Community

I'm not sure I agree completely with this article but it's a good read and worth the time invested in it. Charles Jenning begins with a quote from George Bernard Shaw: "The only person who behaves sensibly is my tailor. He takes new measurements every time he sees me. All the rest go on with their old measurements." This is fair enough and makes a good point. But what should be measures? Jennings argues that the focus should be on outcomes, not process. "Activity data provides few if any insight into the effectiveness of learning and provides only limited insight into the efficiency of learning activities," he writes. Maybe so, but not everybody is seeking the same outcomes, nor should they be expected to achieve the same outcomes. Jennings writes, "It is clear that the annual performance review, a metrics approach based on ling cycle times and relatively stability, will give way new, more nuanced approaches. A parallel path to learning metrics." (p.s. the fish image is from the NSW government. Why a fish? It is a tailor - a type of fish that showed up in my image search for tailor, and a good example of a good, but unexpected, outcome).

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Stephen Downes Stephen Downes, Casselman, Canada
stephen@downes.ca

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Last Updated: Apr 25, 2024 03:32 a.m.

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