Geoff Cain
geoffcain@mastodon.social

@Downes I like this a lot. I think this is good work, but to be a true futurist article it needs more monetizable breathless hyperbole - maybe ChatGPT could help with that. 😃

January 05, 2024
Geoff Cain
geoffcain@mastodon.social

I haven't seen much in the way of education predictions for 2024 except for the all too predictable corporate sales pitches. I think COVID and AI may have something to do with that: https://geoffcain.com/blog/edu-predictions-where-is-my-conveyor-belt-sidewalk/

January 05, 2024
Geoff Cain
geoffcain@mastodon.social

One of the problems with asking companies "Can that data be connected back to the students themselves?" is that the algorithms that can correlate large, seemingly unrelated data are now so complex that the companies can always say "no" and still mean "yes." Beware "data analytics partners"! #AI #privacy #FERPA

https://www.edsurge.com/news/2023-11-08-how-to-navigate-the-nuances-of-anonymous-and-de-identified-data-in-ai-driven-classrooms

November 09, 2023
Geoff Cain
geoffcain@mastodon.social

Some of the most intelligent writing on #ethics and #AI are from Abeba Birhane (@abebab) of the Mozilla Foundation. She was interviewed on France24 this morning. Her work is here: https://abebabirhane.com/

October 02, 2023
Geoff Cain
geoffcain@mastodon.social

The real danger is not that computers will begin to think like men, but that men will begin to think like computers. 
- Sydney J. Harris

September 22, 2023
Geoff Cain
geoffcain@mastodon.social

@Downes 3/
I am also frustrated as a teacher (not afraid) that removing the work of thinking seems to be the answer (to what I am not sure). The work of reasoning out an argument does not need to be off-loaded.

September 13, 2023
Geoff Cain
geoffcain@mastodon.social

@Downes 2/
And we have "thought leaders" and "futurists" who are talking about what we should be doing in education about climate change one week and then pushing technologies from OpenAI the next when OpenAI's carbon footprint is horrendous. I understand that there are worse industries but I am expecting more from educators. We have been doing a lot of work around DEI issues and OpenAI's ChatGPT does not seem like a solution. The answer to systemic racism isn't more of the same.

September 13, 2023
Geoff Cain
geoffcain@mastodon.social

@Downes /1
I essentially agree with you - n.b: I also know that you are capable of some formidably reasonable arguments - I used your logical fallacies work in my Eng. 101 classes back in the day :-) I shouldn't paint all of AI with the same brush. I am most disappointed in the edu sector's non-critical embrace of the company OpenAI. I work in the community/tech colleges and it seems like all of the work we have been doing in DEI and accessibility just goes out the window for the latest thing.

September 13, 2023
Geoff Cain
geoffcain@mastodon.social

@Downes I appreciate that but wouldn’t it be great if we had some systematic, analytical way to evaluate technology in education beyond how we felt? Something that measured its handling of student data and privacy, its accessibility, its carbon footprint, its accuracy, its propensity towards racism, or basically any metric at all besides our gut telling us that we are going to miss out on the latest thing?

September 13, 2023
Geoff Cain
geoffcain@mastodon.social

Open Pedagogy and Teaching with Zines - I spent Labor Day in SF and went to the Zine Fest. I met a lot of great people there including teachers teaching with zines - very inspirational. Would love to hear from more teachers doing this! https://geoffcain.com/blog/open-pedagogy-and-teaching-with-zines/ #OER #zines #openpedagogy

September 12, 2023
Geoff Cain
geoffcain@mastodon.social

@chrisaldrich I was trying to get an Art History book club to use Hypothes.is or any other social annotation software. They wouldn’t bite but I think it is a great opportunity for book clubs.

September 09, 2023
Geoff Cain
geoffcain@mastodon.social

There is a lot of pressure to use AI in education because “it’s the latest thing” and “we will be behind” - but not every technological change is an “advance” or a good thing. This feels very Hindenburgish… There are some advances it’s okay to miss out on.

September 09, 2023