OLDaily

2021 Open Societies Statement
G7, 2021/09/23

This is actually a pretty forward-looking document (2 page PDF) from the G7 conference in Cornwall, UK, and so I thought it relevant to share here. It expresses, I think, the aspiration of western democracies, if not always the reality. "Fundamental freedoms empower people and inspire the innovation and ingenuity needed to maximise opportunities, tackle shared challenges and drive progress for the world. Openness encourages collaboration that delivers better outcomes than any nation could achieve alone." As I have long said, we need to look for ways to extend these values beyond the sphere of government so they (at long last) become integral components of our lives at school and at work (neither of which environment is particularly free or open).

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A Content Model Is Not a Design System
Mike Wills, A List Apart, 2021/09/23

This post contrasts two ways of thinking about content. One way is to think of different types of content as defined by different parts of a page (like a web page, say). The other is to think of different types of content semantically, according to the meanings and intent of the content. To me, this reads a bit like the distinction between documents and data. And thinking semantically - thinking about data - requires changing the way we look at content. It can be hard to shift perspective. As one designer writes, "Our tendency to approach the content model with our familiar design-system thinking constantly led us to veer away from one of the primary purposes of a content model: delivering content to audiences on multiple marketing channels."

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Staying Online: a new book by Robert Ubell
Tony Bates, Online learning and distance education resources, 2021/09/23

Tony Bates says this book is "required reading for university and college administrators struggling to plan a route forward following the pandemic." The book argues that "digital learning will become an increasingly integral part of all higher education teaching, and institutions need to plan for this." Of course, this has been true for several decades, but it's only now being recognized in the boardroom. A huge challenge remains, though: "What senior managers need to know is how to get faculty onside."

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More about Octopus
Octopus, 2021/09/23

I have to say that I like what I see from Octopus thus far. The idea is to break down scientific research papers into their different components, publish them separately, and link them all. See the diagram. "The concept of "papers" is not a good way of disseminating scientific work in the 21st century. By forcing people to share their work only when they get to the end of what can be a very long research process, it slows down the spread of scientific knowledge, and encourages "questionable research practices" in order for researchers to produce seemingly easy, clear narratives that will get their work widely read." Moreover, it's free and open. As good science should be. Here's the blog. Source code is on GitHub.

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