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

Dynamic Equilibrium Theory for Ethical AI: Balancing Epistemic Uncertainty, Human Autonomy, and Social Equity in High-Stakes Fluctuational Decision Systems
Kwan Hong Tan, PhilPapers, 2025/10/20

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There's a ton of good thinking in this paper (173 page PDF), a thesis proposed by Kwan Hong Tan at the Singapore University of Social Sciences. Most of the heavy lifting is done in the first 30 pages or so, and especially in chapter three, where the Dynamic Equilibrium Theory (DET) is introduced to describe the concept of fluctuational ethics - "the idea that ethical AI systems must be designed to handle not just uncertainty in data or predictions, but uncertainty in the ethical landscape itself." This is a position I also advocate, though it's a hard sell. "Traditional regulatory frameworks assume that compliance can be achieved through adherence to fixed rules and standards. However, Dynamic Equilibrium Theory demonstrates that ethical requirements in AI systems are inherently dynamic and contextual, requiring regulatory approaches that can accommodate continuous adaptation." There's much much more in this as Tan analyzes fluctuational ethics through case studies, describes the mechanics in prototype computer code, and traces in exhaustive detail the implications of this finding in policy and methodology.

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Write Code That Runs in the Browser, or Write Code the Browser Runs
Jim Nielsen, Jim's Blog, 2025/10/20

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Jim Nielsen channels some comments from Alex Russell to the effect that it makes sense to call built-in browser functions rather than to write the same function in Javascript. For example, you could write an audio player in Javascript, or just call the browser's built-in 'audio' tag and have it build the player for you. It makes sense, and it means you're keeping up with browser improvements rather than lagging behind them. I'm wondering, though, how far this goes, as browsers are building more and more AI into their functionality. 

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After the Gold Rush: What Degrowth Can Teach Us About Micro‑Credentials
David Porter, LinkedIn, 2025/10/20

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David Porter asks, "what if 'more' is no longer the primary driver for educational program development, especially with micro-credentials?" He explains, "Baldacchino and Sæverot (2024) argue that education has been captured by the language of capitalism, where students are treated as 'human capital,' and lifelong learning becomes endless self‑optimization. In their view, education grounded in degrowth is not anti‑learning. It's about learning to live differently." Not more learning, but better learning. This article reminds me of Kalle Lasn's oft-cited observation that economic growth is ruining the planet. I think there's an argument to be made here, but it's not some sort of nostalgic 'slow food' movement. Learning the serves communities, provides tools for care, develops the commons - all suggested by Porter - is not some sort of 'learning of yore', but rather the educational equivalent of renewable energy: bad for GDP, but better for society.

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Open education principles: Resisting the metrics of AI black boxes
Tel Amiel, Glenda Cox, Colin de la Higuera, UNESCO, 2025/10/20

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The main point of this article is that "AI is not simply a tool to make existing educational approaches more efficient. Instead, we should ask how open principles might enable entirely new forms of open learning and community based on the common good." It takes a bit of work to get to this point as the authors focus on "three aspects of openness can contribute to better futures": open technologies, open practices and resources, and open, participatory governance of education. "We suggest a strategy of 'non-stupid optimism' in relation to educational technology. This approach acknowledges technology's potential benefits while remaining critically aware of how techno-solutionist attitudes often serve economic growth and capital accumulation rather than genuine educational needs."

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On the essay in a time of GenAI
Thomas Corbin, Jack Walton, Peter Banister, Jean-Philippe Deranty, Educational Philosophy and Theory, 2025/10/20

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"While other assessment forms can effectively measure what students already know," write the authors, "the essay understood along the above lines develops their capacity to generate new understanding." Today, however, "essays are standardised, product-focused, and evaluated against pre-specified criteria." This defeats the original purpose, and is easily emulated by AI. Instead, write the authors, the evaluation of essays should be holistic and "embedded in pedagogical structures that support processual ways of working, exposure to ambiguity, and opportunities for students to cultivate their own judgment." Well, ok, but does it need to be an essay any more? 

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The Original Sin of Digital Media Was the Belief That Digital Journalists Were Part of the Tech Business
Josh Marshall, TPM – Talking Points Memo, 2025/10/20

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If you read about tech investments you are likely to read about things like lock-in and moats. These describe the competitive advantage a company can create to prevent competitors from occupying the same market. Josh Marshall's argument in this post is that there was nothing similar to a lock-in or moat in online journalism. Probably the same is true of online learning (except, perhaps, the lock-in that having a monopoly over certification provides). As a result, investments in online journalism (and online learning) wouldn't have the same shape. "You're never going to invest in the right news start up and it totally explodes and suddenly it owns news like Google owns search or Stripe owns credit card payments." Related: What made blogging different?

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Big Tech is paying millions to train teachers on AI, in a push to bring chatbots into classrooms
Jocelyn Gecker, AP, 2025/10/20

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This article describes initiatives with both the American Federation of Teachers and the National Education Association. The amounts described are relatively small given the number of teachers in the two associations, but there's the promise of more as the tech companies are looking at investing billions to support adoption of AI in schools. "Both unions set similar terms: Educators, not the private funders, would design and lead trainings that include AI tools from multiple companies. The unions own the intellectual property for the trainings, which cover safety and privacy concerns alongside AI skills." Via Miguel Guhlin.

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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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