OLDaily

Is De-Implementation the Best Way to Build Back Better?
Peter Dewitt, 2021/05/24

What's notable about this article is the vagueness. On the surface it seems clear enough: after talking about teacher and principle fatigue, it broaches the idea of simply not doing things that don't work. This leads to the concept of de-implementation, the process of “abandoning existing low value practices.” So I'm totally in favour, but what are those practices? The only clue we are given is that the recommendation is being made by John Hattie, who has produced a ranking of practices. Below the 'hinge point' of 4.0 are things like music programs, gaming and simulations, drama, chess, worked examples, and many more. But it's hard to see what sort of 'better result' dropping these things would produce. This suggests to me that the article hasn't really identified the cause of teacher and principle fatigue. It's not caused by doing ineffective things. It's caused (in my view) by the clash between teachers and administrators over what, exactly, constitutes a good education in the first place.

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Let’s Teach Computer Science Majors to Be Good Citizens. The Whole World Depends on It.
Anne-Marie Núñez, Matthew J. Mayhew, Musbah Shaheen, Laura S. Dahl  , EdSurge, 2021/05/24

I think the world might be better served teaching MBAs and Business graduates to be good citizens, but the problem remains the same in either case: how exactly do you teach them to be good citizens? You can't just tell students to "work to foster justice in the world" and expect great results. This article suggests incorporating more education about morality and ethics or drawing computer science back into the liberal arts. But you can't just plug some external discipline into the program and expect it to take. I mean, it's not like all the "ethics for MBA students" have had any impact. The values reflected by the students are the values of the discipline (and these values may well have been what attracted these students in the first place). You would have to change the discipline itself. And being a good citizen isn't exactly a value in computer sciences (or business).

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Open, Live, Online Philosophy Events
Daily Nous, 2021/05/24

I tried to set up something like this at the beginning of the pandemic for online learning events, judging that there would be a significant need for people new to the field. It was an utter failure and nobody contributed. Maybe it was me? Maybe it was the format? But the concept works: as you can see, this list of open online philosophy events is fairly active, with 49 activities listed. The list requires that events be free and open, be live, be accessible online, and be on topic. I don't see why we can't have this in online learning, so I've set up an exact duplicate of the philosophy list, open for people hosting events to add their own event. Here it is. You can even use Clayton R. Wright's complete list of conferences to help you get started.

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25 Edits That Define the Modern Internet Video And create the vocabulary for an absurd, ingenious art form
Rebecca Alter, et.al., Vulture, 2021/05/24

Having viewed thousands and thousands of TikTok, Imgur and YouTube videos I can attest to the veracity of the archetypes identified in this article. And I think a determined set of authors could have added another 25. From my perspective it has been fascinating to watch an entire language and style of discourse emerge from a community of shared video clips. True, some - like the reaction gif and the duet - are based in affordances created by the platform. But the bulk are forms created and shared by the videographers themselves. This - from my perspective - is the video version of the phenomenon I documented in Speaking in LOLcats.

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