OLDaily

Presentation
Data Literacy
Stephen Downes, May 11, 2022, In-house, Ottawa

Video slide presentation to accompany my data literacy report (79 page PDF). It's a comprehensive analysis opf the concept of data literacy, descrivbing the overall competencies involved, methods for assessing data literacy, and methods for enhancing data literacy.

[Link] [Slides] [Audio] [Video]

Feature Article
Data Literacy
Stephen Downes, Stephen's Web, 2022/05/11

This is a preprint version of the report (79 page PDF) I have been working on over the last number of months for the Assistant Deputy Minister (Data, Innovation and Analytics) (ADM(DIA)) for the Department of National Defence (DND) and the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF). It's similar to other reports I've done for various departments in the past, but I've been able to obtain approval to make this work public (changing times and all that). It's a comprehensive analysis of the concept of data literacy, describing the overall competencies involved, methods for assessing data literacy, and methods for enhancing data literacy. I am sensitive to all the flaws in this report, but hope nonetheless that it will help people well beyond its original intended audience. I expect the citable version of the report to be added to NRC's publications archive (NPARC) beginning what I hope will be the regular publication of such reports by NRC staff, where applicable.

[Link] [Comment]

Research Harms Student Learning?
Tom Worthington, Higher Education Whisperer, 2022/05/11

Here we have a good argument for conducting research beyond the traditional British-American nexus of survey subjects. "Researchers (the paper is closed access) looked at test results of about 5,000 third-year computer science and electrical engineering undergraduates in China, India, and Russia" and found "a causal relationship, not just a correlation: more papers, poorer student results." Now of course, more study is needed. But it does suggest that in many environments, teaching and research are not complimentary, but rather, compete for limited time and resources. Image: Resilient Educator.

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The good old days
Doug Peterson, The good old days, 2022/05/11

Doug Peterson points to a resource I've long wished I had - a search service that finds the oldest result. The website, OldestSearch.com, is essentially a front-end to Google, and as a result the dates are no more reliable than Google's, which isn't that reliable. For example, I did a search on 'MOOC' and got four false positives before seeing the genuine first web reference, Dave Cormier's article from October, 2008. The first listing for "e-learning" is Heather Kanuka's chapter in Theory and Practice of Online Learning, second edition (2011) which is ironic because the term is used earlier in the first edition of that book, from 2004, in an article by Rory McGreal, though of course there are numerous references prior to even that date. So I think we're still wishing for such a search, though this version is interesting in its own right.

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An Entangled Pedagogy: Looking Beyond the Pedagogy—Technology Dichotomy
Tim Fawns, Postdigital Science and Education, 2022/05/11

Definitely an argument worth making. We often hear that online learning should focus on pedagogy first, and not be driven by technology. But according to Tim Fawns, "being 'pedagogically driven' offers reassurance that 'nothing is changing in a context in which rather a lot is changing'" and "attempting to put technology last leaves educators susceptible to an inadequate appreciation of complexity relating to how it is entangled in educational activity." Instead, he proposes an "entangled model" where "methods and technology are just part of the constituent components of any situated enactment of education." Which, of course, is what actual observation would force us to conclude.

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