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Feature Article
Those Takeaways
Stephen Downes, Half an Hour, 2026/03/27

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I'd like to offer a rejoinder to Junhong Xiao and David CL Lim's paper Is AI the solution to the problems that make higher education "ill" in the first place? Towards a technology-agnostic, future-proof approach. Near the end of the paper is a section titled "Key takeaways for policymakers and institutional leaders". This post addresses those takeaways specifically.

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The Old Internet is Still Here
Tyler Gaw, 2026/03/27

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I've seen this referenced in a few placed. Tyler Gaw argues, "Those things we're missing aren't gone. They're still right here. They never went anywhere, they just got layered over by time... I don't consider myself an outlier here. I would wager (without any data) that most people who had a personal site and/or blog 20 years ago, still have one today. And there's a high likelihood they've maintained it throughout those years... But Good Internet is still here. We're still making stuff we care about and sharing that stuff on our websites. We're making it for ourselves first, but we're also making it for you." Yup. That would be me. :)

 

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The Five Biggest Pitfalls of Collaborative Grouping (And How to Avoid Them)
John Spencer, Spencer Education, 2026/03/27

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I used to hate groupwork, but that was usually because one of the five problems with collaborative work described by John Spencer in this reasonably detailed article. The problems are: one student does all the work (usually me, heh); one student takes creative control (also me); groupthink (except for me); conflict (usually with me); and project management (not needed, because of me). OK, I jest a bit, but Spencer identifies some good approaches to address these issues (without once mentioning the jigsaw method, though properly speaking that's a cooperative work approach).

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Values-led Generative AI in Design Education: A Toolkit for Confident, Critical Practice
#ALTC Blog, 2026/03/27

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I always ask "whose values" when I see stuff titled like this. But anyhow: "The case studies and scenarios in the toolkit are intended as a starting point rather than a prescription. Every teaching context is different, and the activities can be adapted for a wide range of disciplines and levels. By grounding AI integration in design values and pedagogic reflection, we hope the toolkit empowers educators to build confidence, spark debate, and support students in navigating an evolving creative landscape."

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AEGIS-OA launches to advance sustainable Diamond Open Access publishing in Europe
2026/03/27

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"The initiative brings together a consortium of 24 partners from 16 European countries, including 14 beneficiary partners and 10 associated partners...  to reinforce community-led publishing models and improve coordination across disciplines, institutions, and national contexts." Obviously this is a welcome development, especially right after reading about the Canadian initiative. Maybe we're finally releasing the stranglehold of commercial publishers over academic discourse. In case you're curious, the orginaztion is called Activate European Guidance and Incentives for Sustainable Open Access publishing (AEGIS-OA).

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The birth of the bio-edu-data-sciences
Ben Williamson, Code Acts in Education, 2026/03/27

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This is a long post that is very much worth reading. "In summer 2025, a startup technology company from Silicon Valley announced the launch of a genetic IQ test for embryos," reports Ben Williamson. "Now we could just respond to this by saying it's modern eugenics and snake oil, as other critics have." But we shouldn't. For one thing, despite the questionable ethics, what we've seen is people would if they could. So it could become a thing. And as Williamson makes the case, the necessary infrastructure is already being set up, and it doesn't really matter whether it's a 'real' science or not. "Educational genomics needs to be understood as an inventive science," he writes. It doesn't just unveil what's there, it fabricates or invents "new genomic facts about learning."

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The Fallacy Fallacy
Maarten Boudry, Persuasion, 2026/03/27

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According to Maarten Boudry, the problem with teaching students how to spot fallacies is that they start seeing them everywhere. "They hurled labels and considered the job done. Worse, most of the "fallacies" they identified did not survive closer scrutiny." And the gist of the article as a whole is that "human reasoning is far more sophisticated and subtle than the theory of 'fallacies' suggests." As someone who has taught and written about fallacies, I am inclined to agree with both parts of this. But I never abandoned the teaching of fallacies, though I did adapt my method. Identifying fallacies is a three step process, I said. First, you can learn to recognize the 'signs' that a fallacy is present. But signs are often misleading; you need to reconstruct the reasoning to confirm that there is, indeed, a fallacy present. Finally, you need to show not simply that the fallacy is present, but to use your understanding of the fallacy to show that the reasoning is incorrect. If you name the fallacy in your response, I would say, you're doing it wrong.

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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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