Learning Ecosystems

“LEGO’s Hidden Side” shows why we need those AR smart glasses

On 02/16/2019, in augmented reality, platforms, play, wearables, XR - extended reality, youth, by Daniel Christian

DC: I agree that we neeed those smart glasses to free up our hands. For example, if #AR was a tool used by technical communicators to show us how to put a piece of furniture together, we need our hands free to do so.https://t.co/yKU0q7yUkv

— Daniel Christian (@dchristian5) February 16, 2019

Reflections on two articles involving the downsides of/warnings re: AI

On 02/16/2019, in 21st century, algorithms, Artificial Intelligence / Machine Learning / Deep Learning, Asia, bots, Daniel S. Christian, data mining, ethics, Google, Law Schools, legislatures / government / legal, Microsoft, morals/values, society, technology (general), the downsides of technology, tools, by Daniel Christian

Google and Microsoft warn that AI may do dumb things — from wired.com by Tom Simonite

Excerpt:

Alphabet likes to position itself as a leader in AI research, but it was six months behind rival Microsoft in warning investors about the technology’s ethical risks. The AI disclosure in Google’s latest filing reads like a trimmed down version of much fuller language Microsoft put in its most recent annual SEC report, filed last August:

“AI algorithms may be flawed. Datasets may be insufficient or contain biased information. Inappropriate or controversial data practices by Microsoft or others could impair the acceptance of AI solutions. These deficiencies could undermine the decisions, predictions, or analysis AI applications produce, subjecting us to competitive harm, legal liability, and brand or reputational harm.”

Chinese company leaves Muslim-tracking facial recognition database exposed online — from by Catalin Cimpanu
Researcher finds one of the databases used to track Uyghur Muslim population in Xinjiang.

Excerpt:

One of the facial recognition databases that the Chinese government is using to track the Uyghur Muslim population in the Xinjiang region has been left open on the internet for months, a Dutch security researcher told ZDNet.

The database belongs to a Chinese company named SenseNets, which according to its website provides video-based crowd analysis and facial recognition technology.
…
The user data wasn’t just benign usernames, but highly detailed and highly sensitive information that someone would usually find on an ID card, Gevers said. The researcher saw user profiles with information such as names, ID card numbers, ID card issue date, ID card expiration date, sex, nationality, home addresses, dates of birth, photos, and employer.
…
Some of the descriptive names associated with the “trackers” contained terms such as “mosque,” “hotel,” “police station,” “internet cafe,” “restaurant,” and other places where public cameras would normally be found.

From DSC:
Readers of this blog will know that I’m generally pro-technology. But especially focusing in on that last article, to me, privacy is key here. For which group of people from which nation is next? Will Country A next be tracking Christians? Will Country B be tracking people of a given sexual orientation? Will Country C be tracking people with some other characteristic?

Where does it end? Who gets to decide? What will be the costs of being tracked or being a person with whatever certain characteristic one’s government is tracking? What forums are there for combating technologies or features of technologies that we don’t like or want?

We need forums/channels for raising awareness and voting on these emerging technologies. We need informed legislators, senators, lawyers, citizens…we need new laws here…asap.

Law firms either keep up with tech or get left behind [Teninbaum] + another legal tech item

On 02/15/2019, in ideas, immersion, innovation, Law Schools, leadership, legislatures / government / legal, multimedia, teaching & learning, universities, by Daniel Christian

Law firms either keep up with tech or get left behind — from abajournal.com by Gabriel Teninbaum

Excerpts:

I spend a lot of time thinking about a version of that classic interview question where applicants are asked to envision their future. But, instead of thinking about my own future, I think of the legal profession’s future. If you haven’t done it, give it a try: What will legal work look like in 15 years?

There is a reason to think it’ll look very different from it does now. E-discovery software now does the work once handled by new associates. Legal process outsourcing (LPO) companies have pulled due diligence work, and much more, to offshore locations (and away from domestic midsize firms). LegalZoom—now valued at $2 billion—is drawing millions of consumers every year choosing to handle legal matters without local attorneys.

If your vision includes the idea that the biggest legal employers may someday not even be law firms, then you’re correct. It’s already happened: The largest private provider of legal services in the world today is no longer a multinational law firm. It’s Deloitte, the Big Four accounting firm. Looming super-technologies—like AI and blockchain—are somewhere on the horizon, with the potential to upend legal work in ways that some believe will be unprecedented.

Also see:

Students create immersive videos to enhance criminal justice courses — from news.psu.edu by Emma Gosalvez

Excerpt:

Immersive technologies such as 360-degree videos could revolutionize the future of forensic science, giving police and criminologists a tool to visualize different crime scenes and ultimately, become better investigators. Through a Berks Teaching & Learning Innovation Partnership Grant, Penn State Berks students in the course CRIMJ 210: Policing in America are learning to create 360-degree videos of crime-scene scenarios.

These videos are viewed by their peers in CRIMJ 100: Introduction to Criminal Justice to learn about topics such as self-defense, defense of others, and defense of property.

“The project transforms student learning on two levels: It allows students to engage in creative collaboration related to a course topic, and students get to ‘experience’ the scenarios presented by the 360-degree videos created by their peers,” said Mary Ann Mengel, an instructional multimedia designer for Penn State Berks’ Center for Learning & Teaching.

The information below is from Deb Molfetta, Outreach Coordinator at EdDPrograms.org

EdDPrograms.org helps educators and administrators research doctoral education opportunities. Their organization’s work in education began in 2008 with projects ranging from a new teacher survival guide to their own teacher education scholarship program. More recently they realized that there weren’t any websites dedicated to professional development through Doctor of Education (EdD) programs, which is why they created their own – EdDPrograms.org. It covers a lot of ground, but here are a few sections they think administrators will appreciate:

A detailed overview of the EdD, including what to expect and how to choose a program
https://www.eddprograms.org/schools/
.
Specialized guides to EdD programs for leadership positions
https://www.eddprograms.org/schools/educational-leadership/
https://www.eddprograms.org/schools/organizational-leadership/
.
A comprehensive directory of EdD programs organized by state and delivery format. For example:
https://www.eddprograms.org/schools/online/
https://www.eddprograms.org/schools/michigan/

EdDPrograms.org is owned and operated by a group that has been creating post-secondary education resources since 2008. According to Deb, they have a history of providing students with objective, fact-based resources.

Acts 10:34-35 (NIV)

On 02/15/2019, in Asia, Australia, Canada, Europe, faith, global / globalization, India, relationships, religion, society, UK, United States, by Daniel Christian

Acts 10:34-35 New International Version (NIV) — from biblegateway.com

³⁴Then Peter began to speak: “I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism ³⁵but accepts from every nation the one who fears him and does what is right.

Wearable, instant language translation on the go

On 02/15/2019, in Artificial Intelligence / Machine Learning / Deep Learning, global / globalization, human-computer interaction (HCI), intelligent systems, Languages and translation, Natural Language Processing (NLP), society, tools, vendors, voice recognition / voice enabled interfaces, wearables, by Daniel Christian

Instant translation on the go #AI #MachineLearning #voice
RT @helene_wpli @BrianRoemmele @jblefevre60 @akwyz @DimitriHommel @alvinfoo @floriansemle @dinisguarda @YuHelenYu @kashthefuturist @MarshaCollier @CurtisSChin @Xbond49 @guzmand @kalydeoo @Ym78200 @ArnaultChatel pic.twitter.com/XcUiX9oNdz

— Olivier Laborde ????? (@labordeolivier) February 13, 2019

Inspiring Leaders | Anthony G. Picciano — from virtuallyinspired.org
Co-founder of CUNY Online and founding member of the Online Learning Consortium, shares his insights on his new book, “Online Education: Foundations, Planning, and Pedagogy,” building a community in an online classroom, gaming and more.

Excerpts/items mentioned in this video:

Research Initiative for Teaching Effectiveness, University of Central Florida
Reports from the Babson Survey Research Group, Babson College
2010 U.S. Dept of Education meta-analysis — older now, but still a pivotal study
Tap into what students already know; have students bring their own experiences into the topics/discussions; bring their own materials and interests
Have students own the course as much as possible
Limit the amount of lecturing — introduce humor where possible; tap into students’ interests
Chunk lecturing up into 6-8 minute pieces — then introduce some activity that forces the students to do something
The River City — Chris Dede (mainly for high school students)
MIT elude — how to deal w/ depression
Fortnite
Elegance in simplicity — clean format, where things are, streamlined –6-7 clearly-labeled buttons, I understand what I have to do here; make it simple, not complex; use techs where makes good pedagogical sense
Future: AI, nanotechnology will lead to more quantum computing, cloud computing

Quantum computing is a whole of the level of digital circuitry design. That will allow much more power, much more speed, the likes of which we have not seen in digital technology. When that comes, that opens up lots of other possibilities in applications like artificial intelligence, like robotics, like cloud computing. All of these will be significantly enhanced as we move to a quantum computing type environment. When that happens, we will see a whole other level of digital activity not just in teaching and learning but everything we do.

Also see:

For the first time in its history, the Gerber spokesbaby is a child with Down syndrome [Diaz]

On 02/14/2019, in accessibility, Daniel S. Christian, hearts -- matters of the heart, society, special needs, youth, by Daniel Christian

For the first time in its history, the Gerber spokesbaby is a child with Down syndrome — from cnn.com by Andrea Diaz

Excerpt:

(CNN) This cutie with a contagious smile is 18-month-old Lucas Warren and on (2/7/18) he made history: He’s the first child with Down syndrome to become Gerber’s “Spokesbaby of the year” in its 91-year history.

Meet the first Gerber Baby with Down syndrome

From DSC:
I just saw this item from last February… and I love it!

Learning and Student Success: Presenting the Results of the 2019 Key Issues Survey — from er.educause.edu by Malcolm Brown

Excerpts:

Here are some results that caught (Malcolm’s) eye, with a few speculations tossed in:

The issue of faculty development reclaimed the top spot.
Academic transformation, previously a consistent top-three finisher, took a tumble in 2019 down to 10th.
After falling to 16th last year, the issue of competency-based education and new methods of learning assessment jumped up to 6th for 2019.
The issues of accessibility and universal design for learning (UDL) and of digital and information literacy held more or less steady.
Online and blended learning has rebounded significantly.

The real reason tech struggles with algorithmic bias — from wired.com by Yael Eisenstat

Excerpts:

ARE MACHINES RACIST? Are algorithms and artificial intelligence inherently prejudiced? Do Facebook, Google, and Twitter have political biases? Those answers are complicated.

But if the question is whether the tech industry doing enough to address these biases, the straightforward response is no.
…
Humans cannot wholly avoid bias, as countless studies and publications have shown. Insisting otherwise is an intellectually dishonest and lazy response to a very real problem.
…
In my six months at Facebook, where I was hired to be the head of global elections integrity ops in the company’s business integrity division, I participated in numerous discussions about the topic. I did not know anyone who intentionally wanted to incorporate bias into their work. But I also did not find anyone who actually knew what it meant to counter bias in any true and methodical way.

But the company has created its own sort of insular bubble in which its employees’ perception of the world is the product of a number of biases that are engrained within the Silicon Valley tech and innovation scene.