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Welcome to Online Learning Daily, your best source for news and commentary about learning technology, new media, and related topics.

Models in Science
Roman Frigg, Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2025/04/08

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Thge questions raised in this article are the sorts of questions that go through my mind when, say, someone nonchalantly talks about using a theory as a 'lens' through which to view some phenomenon. Do they mean the theory is a model (as opposed to a law of nature)? If so, what sort of model? Do they mean it in the sense of a system? Do they have an epistemology for that model? Etc. "Models raise questions in semantics (how, if at all, do models represent?), ontology (what kind of things are models?), epistemology (how do we learn and explain with models?), and, of course, in other domains within philosophy of science." Anyhow, this is a great article, a clear and well-developed account of our development and use of models, from physical objects, to metaphors, to abstractions. Image: Britannica.

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Looking North: A uniquely Canadian path for education in an AI-rich world
Chris Kennedy, Culture of Yes, 2025/04/08

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"A coordinated Canadian approach to AI education could become our international differentiator—setting us apart from the fractured approaches seen in the United States and elsewhere," writes Chris Kennedy. "Imagine a national commitment to AI literacy and digital citizenship that becomes our educational signature globally. A collaborative approach to  education that honours Indigenous knowledge alongside scientific understanding. A shared investment in modernizing curriculum and assessment—not to standardize, but to reimagine and humanize." I'm not going to say the idea is a bad one, though it is understandably vague. But I'm not sure what a national consensus would look like. I don't think AI - or AI literacy, for that matter - is just another subject you can teach the way you currently teach math or physics. AI becomes implicated ion the teaching from the outset, and rapidly enables people to begin learning on their own. A consensus among teachers might be as dedicated to stopping that as to supporting it. If there's a Canadian approach here, it's going to be something like ensuring nobody is left out, so we all share in the benefits from AI. But, again, that's a little vague.

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First Person Identity
Phil Windley
, Technometria, 2025/04/08

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Short little article that hearkens back to the days when we spoke of a personal cloud and argues that "first person" is a more powerful descriptor than "self-sovereign". Specifically, "First person describes exactly the kind of thinking that will allow people create their own oneline relationships without an intermediating administrator like a social network." The post references a talk by Drummond Reed that I couldn't find, but you can get the gist at this post where Doc Searls discusses "how individuals, acting as first parties, can proffer their privacy requirements as contractual terms," which is the subject of a new IEEE PAR, IEEE P7012, nicknamed MyTerms (VRM, by the way, stands for Vendor Relationship Management and is meant to serve as the customer-side counterpart of Customer Relationship Management, according to Searls).

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The recipient test: a simple test for ethical and responsible AI use in education
George Veletsianos, 2025/04/08

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It's kind of like the Golder Rule but for AI. "Two questions I've started asking myself are these," writes George Veletsianos. "Would I be comfortable being on the receiving end of this? Would I want this for my loved ones, like my niece and nephew?" Call this, he says, the "Recipient Test." He then runs through a few examples. Unfortunately, his imagination is perhaps not so broad as mine. AI-generated income tax returns, for example, would make my day. Privacy? Hah! I grew up in a small town; privacy is for other people (usually rich people hiding their wrondoings). Automated assessment of skills and capabilities that doesn't take into account whether or not I went to Yale? Yes, that's for me. The only real place I wouldn't want AI is the same place I don't want any technology: when it's used by some money-grubbing corporation to take advantage of me. But they don't need AI for that. Image: Kerr.

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Open Universities:  Reinventing, repurposing and reimagining innovative futures | Journal of Open, Distance, and Digital Education
Don Olcott, Jr., 2025/04/08

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Honestly, this article (17 page PDF) could have come from 2005. The case for mega open universities hasn't really changed (even if the world has). But that case is still relevant today. Don Olcott summarizes the game-changers on the post-secondary system as "1) leadership, 2) expanding mega-universities, 3) repositioning open universities within the mainstream HE ecosystem, 4) open universities smaller in size, fewer students, niche research, and a mix of niche-focused degrees, certificates and micro-credentials, 5) a focused national mission and renewed partnerships,and 6) monitoring AI and digital technology developments."

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We publish six to eight or so short posts every weekday linking to the best, most interesting and most important pieces of content in the field. Read more about what we cover. We also list papers and articles by Stephen Downes and his presentations from around the world.

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