OLDaily

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

Work Shirts to the Opera
Jeremy Bendik-Keymer, Blog of the APA, 2025/06/27

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I was half way through reading this article when I picked up on Clint Lalonde's post referencing a Scott Leslie article from 2008 that resonated perfectly. Jeremy Bendik-Keymer writes, "There is a nouveau riche of academia, an academic bourgeoisie: they love their distinctions, and they display them first prominently, then subtly (for the initiated)." Leslie writes, "We grow our network by sharing, they start their network by setting up initial agreements." He probably also wears metaphorical work shirts to the opera. Bendik-Keymer writes, "must live a resolutely open life where knowledge is for all, especially those farthest from the academic game by dint of poverty, oppression, alienation, stigmatization, and shame. They must face the psychological and practical difficulties of those finding it untenable, although desirable, to pursue the mind's original joy in seeking to make sense of the world." Begin with sharing, not with privilege.

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Finding Peter Putnam
Amanda Gefter, Nautilus, 2025/06/27

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This is a terrific article, the story of Peter Putnam, a theorist who tried to understand the workings of mind and consciousness, a rich kid who rejected his wealth, and a janitor who was killed on his bicycle by a drunk driver at the age of 60. Via Harold Jarche.

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Canadian Artists Are Thriving on Spotify - And the World Is Listening
Lauren Peterson, Spotify, 2025/06/27

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The link to this ran as an ad on Politico today and it serves as a good example of logical fallacies in action. The key line is: "Spotify alone paid more in royalties to the Canadian music sector in 2023 than the entire Canadian commercial radio industry combined." It added, "92% of the royalties earned by Canadian artists on Spotify in 2024 came from outside of Canada." Can you spot the fallacy? The radio royalties were from Canada only, but the Spotify royalties were from worldwide. Two very different things. How does Spotify compare with worldwide radio royalties to Canadian artists. Yeah, that's what I thought. And this (again!) is why I say that advertising is the original fake news.

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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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