OLDaily

Online learning during COVID-19: 8 ways universities can improve equity and access
Nadia Naffi, Ann-Louise Davidson, Azeneth Patino, Brian Beatty, Edem Gbetoglo, Nathalie Duponsel, Academic Matters, 2020/10/16

This is a useful document and a worthwhile initiative, though I would want to make some significant changes. It's based to a large degree on the OECD report on Equity and Quality in Education, which for the most part stresses addressing inequitable outcomes in schools with better quality teachers and instruction (rather than, say, addressing social and economic inequality). What caught my eye in this report was its working of equity in higher education. It consists of three statements all beginning "All students are..." and I would want to change the word 'students' to the word 'people'. Because equity and access begin with the people who are outside the system, not within it.

I appreciate the authors' very necessary focus on systemic racism and the impact of Covid on disadvantaged students, and I don't want to be overly critical, but I feel the recommendations as a whole could be less prescriptive and more empowering, and should include redress of economic inequality. For example, the definition of "accessible materials" should include free and open access resources, the recommendation to "use university and institutional IT department-supported digital technologies" should change 'use' to 'provide' and be refactored to provide choice and ownership, and "a flexible approach to student participation" should again enable choice (some people (like me) like three hour sessions (that's still how I sometimes learn today)).

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How Can Linking to an Article be Immoral When the Media Source Itself Does the Posting?
Michael Geist, 2020/10/16

In recent weeks there have been increasing calls for websites (and especially Google and Facebook) to pay news organizations for links to their news content. Recent laws (and actual agreements) in France and Australia have underscored this. Now we have news that "Canadian Heritage Minister Steven Guilbeault has called the practice of linking to news articles on social media sites such as Facebook 'immoral' and indicated that he plans to establish a new mandated licensing requirement." But as Michael Geist points out, note only do news publishers "actively encourage their users to post links", they actually post the links themselves. I'm not surprised; I get numerous requests myself, which I review (except for the 'guest articles', which are never going to appear on my site) and post as appropriate. I like getting suggestions, but not if I have to pay for them. I will never pay to quote and comment on a link, and would point out to the Minister that such a law if enforced broadly would destroy teaching and scholarship.

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Check Out The Re-Launch Of OpenLMS E-Learn Magazine
Cristian T. Duque, LMS Pulse, 2020/10/16

As the title suggests, E-Learn Magazine is relaunching. The short and uninformative article (but with a 47 minute video by Stephen Ladek) restates points from the E-Learn press release issued by Open LMS. According to the article, "E-Learn magazine will be completely free, with new articles coming up quarterly." The press release states, "the content is authored by Open LMS experts, as well as its partners and clients. In addition to community-driven content, Open LMS is leveraging expertise drawn from across its parent company, Learning Technologies Group."

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Fake news and critical thinking in ELT
Philip Kerr, Adaptive Learning in ELT, 2020/10/16

I think this is a good post about critical thinking even though I am by no means in agreement with all of it. In particular, I wish Philip Kerr hadn't defaulted so quickly to an account of critical thinking as ' media information literacy'. Far from being a 'weasel word' (as Kerr suggests) the term 'critical thinking' has a wider and more precise meaning (as I have previously argued). Still, I agree with both he and danah boyd in the observation that we can't "fact check and moderate our way out of this conundrum" of fake news and misinformation. Critical thinking doesn't work unless people have the power to use it, and students don't currently have that power. "Children... are enjoined to be critical thinkers, but only about certain things and only up to a certain point." And that's the problem.

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Useful Google Resources to Make The Best of EdTech in Your Instruction
Med Kharbach, Educational Technology and Mobile Learning, 2020/10/16

In this short post Med Kharbach introduces us to Google's Tech Toolkit for Families and Guardians, "a resource from Google for Education to help educators and parents make the best of Google technology in the education of their students and kids." he writes, "Materials in this resource cover four main sections: Google for Education video series, Google terms glossary, best practices for family engagement, and Tech FAQ."

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Good Intentions, Bad Inventions: The Four Myths of Healthy Tech
Amanda Lenhart, Kellie Owens, Data & Society, 2020/10/16

Rather that restate the four myths, which doesn't really tell us anything, I'll restate the four counterpoints (quoted):

1. The concept of addiction does not encompass the full range of pleasures, risks, and uses that people create with technology;
2. Some technology cannot be fixed by more design, and some technology should not be  built at all;
3. Many of the most important parts of digital well-being cannot be captured by quantitative metrics; and
4. Health and well-being cannot be reduced to the single variable of screen time.

I think a good case could be made for all four of these points.

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