Looking and testing various algorithms this week, I happened upon Google’s contribution to the algorithm pool with their experiment workshop. Some of the projects are worth a try.
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#mscedc Should legislation push social media platforms to reveal their data gathering algorithms and control them? https://t.co/y0dTna1iUQ
The UK government’s advisory body on AI ethics believes that social media platforms should be regulated when it comes to the algorithms used to promote media on social networking. They are also proposing that the government should push social networks to allow independent researchers access to their data, thereby doing away with one of the main obstacles of researching into the way algorithms work as defined by Kitchin (2017), that of ‘black boxing’ .
Such legislation would control the display of ‘high-risk’ adverts such as political adverts but also adverts related to jobs and ‘age-restricted products’. This legislation aims to find a middle ground between two opposing poles, the liberal American view to online freedom and the strictly controlled extremes imposed by China.
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References:
Kitchin. R., (2017) Thinking critically about and researching algorithms,
Information, Communication & Society, 20:1, 14-29, DOI: 10.1080/1369118X.2016.1154087
How are MOOCs developing and which are the major MOOC players? Is the future of MOOCs into micro-credentials and degrees towards more employment? https://t.co/tn3rPgX6df #mscedc
The price of MOOCs or the accessibility to MOOCs for free was perhaps an ideal that cannot be sustained in the long term, or perhaps it was never the idea of having something that was free for all.
A number of MOOCs I visited this week did offer free content and material but certificates came at a price, If MOOCs are intended to generate workforce potential, especially in developing countries, then the concept of being free needs to be sustained even more.
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#mscedc…David Simpson’s view on the development of mankind is quite positive…https://t.co/9WwBZxuSfS. His connection between very intelligent humans and empathy is interesting.
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#mscedc. Can technology solve all of education’s problems? https://t.co/rYNVmc1P6N
This gives voice to a common occurrence when trying to bring technology and education together. The idea that technology can ‘fix’ education or ‘enhance’ education ‘ by the operations of an externally applied technology ‘solution’ (Bayne, 2015) is perhaps one of the most frustrating points of view that both educators and administrators of education have a risk of falling into, and which tends to separate technology from the social practice of learning as explained by Bayne (2015).
This instrumentalist view of technology tends to reduce the application of technology to a ‘fashion’ or ‘trend’ which encourages some of those involved in managing the education process to blindly invest and encourage educators to use technology for technology’s sake.
The recording does mention cliched ideas of technology use and the idea that technology is sometimes a ‘one size fits all’ idea and the universalist view that ‘all humans are essentially the same’ (Knox, 2015). This tends to clash with the more modern AI-driven idea that complex data systems can collect information and provide a more tailor-made solution to individuals. While good charismatic teachers are every department’s dream, this does not mean that technology is not required.
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References:
Bayne, S., (2015). What’s the matter with ‘technology-enhanced learning’? Learning, Media and Technology, 40(1), pp. 5-20, https://doi.org.ezproxy. is.ed.uk/10.1080/17439884.2014.915851
Knox, J., (2015). Critical Education and Digital Cultures. Encyclopedia of Educational Philosophy and Theory. Springer, pp. 1-6. Available at: https://doi.org/10.0.1007/978-981-287-532-7_124-1.
Sophgalvin (2019) Digital Media and Education – Why technology can’t fix education. 12th May 2019. Available at: https://soundcloud.com/user-948349027/digital-media-and-education-why-technology-cant-fix-education.
#mscedc..How soon before computer-generated checks start to detect who is human? https://t.co/FM1xm7GytR
#mscedc…Great session this morning deconstructing the films and finding common symbols and meanings. I need to spend some time watching (again) some of the most significant sci-fi films on cyborgs, robots and cyberworlds. Looking forward to the weekend.
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A strong attempt at defining some of the myths around cyborgs this morning with some very good thinking outside the box. The idea of the ’embedded human’ of extropianism (Miller, 2011) and technological embodiment through the eyes of the machine was an original way how the filmmakers brought to life the idea of a machine more human than a human counterpart.
Somehow I also remembered a short story by Raymond E. Banks called ‘The Ear Friend’. The tale is about a hearing aid used by people in a future world that created an illusion of living in a virtual world in which everything was perfect. Removing the ear friend (as the story goes) was considered an act of madness and defiance.
References:
Miller, V. (2011). The Body and Information Technology. Understanding Digital Culture. pp.207-223, London: Sage.