OLDaily

Misusing affordances?
Clark Quinn, Learnlets, 2022/10/11

It's interesting how the use of a term can reveal how one thinks about the world. Here Clark Quinn describes how he has used the term 'affordances'. The definition  of the term is this: "the quality or property of an object that defines its possible uses or makes clear how it can or should be used." This is how I use it (and I use it quite a bit). Quinn, though, contrasts this meaning with his use of something called 'core affordances', which I would loosely describe as the use of the object intended by its creators or developers. It reflects a type of essentialism in his perspective, and so he speaks of what we can (say) do 'naturally' with an LMS or some other technology. But does a technology have an essential nature? I don't think so. Image: UX Collective.

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What Is Hyperautomation?
Mike Loukides, O'Reilly, 2022/10/11

This article starts from a questionable premise - Gartner's coining of the term 'hyperautomation' to designate a new trend - and turns it into a valuable discussion of what automation actually means in a business context. Using an example of 'renewing a prescription' it convincingly describes the complexity of the process and especially the difficulties that arise addressing data interoperability. This is one of those never-to-be solved 'boil the ocean' type problems. This, in turn, leads to a discussion of what needs to be in place before any such system is deployed, including especially humans in the loop. It's a good argument, but as with previous discussions, I don't think it addresses the case where humans are for whatever reason less reliable than the AI. Image: Automation Anywhere.

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You're learning a lot, but is it valuable?
Oliver Quinlan, Substack, 2022/10/11

My first reaction to this post was to say "but everything is valuable". Oliver Quinlan says, "The more you focus on learning that is transferable and valuable, the better off you will be." By contrast, if you learn how to deal with a specific context, like, say, a dysfunctional work environment, "what you are learning is of limited value beyond the current situation." Now, I don't think learning is so tightly constrained by context. It's not like we accumulate the wrong type of information. But still, on reflection, we can learn the wrong things, like learning to hate, learning to prejudge, learning to cause harm and be a bad actor. These, though, are reflective of a broader social and learning environment, and not the result of choosing 'valuable' things to learn. In my view, at least.

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Historical Evolution of the HigherEd SIS Market Share: September 2022 Update
ListEdTech, 2022/10/11

At the same time we were developing web sites and services for Assiniboine Community College, the administration was weighing an equally important question: whether to deploy Banner or Colleague as a student information system (SIS). It turned out to be moot, as the two companies merged years later and became Ellucian. This short article and graphic illustrates the evolution of SIS systems over the last 22 years. It's a technology that has become a commodity, but it's still at the heart of pretty much every educational institution.

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