Saide Current Awareness
26 February 2024

 

 

Distance Education

  • Bridging the Distance in Learning: AI's Role in Enhancing Remote Education Source: LinkedIn The shift towards remote education has been one of the most significant transformations in the global education sector, accelerated by the necessity for distance learning during the COVID-19 pandemic. As educators and students navigate the challenges of remote learning, Artificial Intelligence (AI) emerges as a pivotal tool in enriching the educational experience beyond the physical classroom.
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  • Empowering Tomorrow's Workforce: The Crucial Role of Technology and Data Literacy Education in Distance Learning Programs Source: LinkedIn In an era dominated by technological advancements, and artificial intelligence (AI) appears to be mentioned in every news cycle, the demand for a digitally literate workforce is more pressing than ever. As traditional education models evolve to meet the needs of a changing world, there is a compelling case for incorporating data literacy and software education into distance learning degree programs. 

 

 Education: South Africa

  • 2024 Budget disappoints advocates for early childhood services Source: IOL Despite President Cyril Ramaphosa’s signalling of early childhood development (ECD) as a key priority in his State of the Nation Address, the 2024 Budget failed to allocate the funds necessary to fulfil all children’s rights to quality ECD services. This is according to the Campaign for Real Reform for ECD which noted the ECD subsidy remains pegged at R17 per child per day for the sixth year in a row.
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  • More money for teachers, but severe cutbacks in for Basic Education and tertiary sector in tough-luck Budget Source: Inside Education In a boost for public school teachers throughout South Africa, the Minister of Finance Enoch Godongwana has announced an additional R25.7 billion in the Budget for the education sector for the carry-through costs of the wage increase over the medium term. But the tertiary sector is facing severe cutbacks amounting to close to R5 billion, which will lead to delays in infrastructure development.
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  • Parental participation in school governance is a must, says GDE MEC Chiloane Source: Inside Education MEC of Education in Gauteng Matome Chiloane officially launched the 2024 School Governing Body (SGB) Elections on Wednesday, at Raymond Mhlaba Maths, Science & ICT School of Specialisation in Tshepisong, Roodepoort and urged the SGB members to appreciate the importance of parental participation in school governance
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  • Revolutionising education in SA to ensure prosperity for all Source: Sowetan EFF outlines a bold vision for the future of SA
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  • Local non-profit developed app for early development centres Source: Citizen The organisation developed a version of the app for early childhood development centre owners, one for teachers who work in the centres and another version specifically for the parents of children at the centres.

 

Language, Literacies and Research Writing

  • The Myth of the AI First Draft Source: LeonFurze.Com A blog post by the consultant, author and PhD candidate Leon Furze who shares his ambivalence about relying on AI for the "first draft" and offers a few ideas about what we can do instead.
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  • Writing Services in the Online Learning Era: A Critical Resource Source: Newsbreak Rick Beaver " unravel(s) the significance of writing services as a critical resource in supporting students' academic endeavors in the digital landscape."
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  • How to Write AI-Powered Literature Reviews: Balancing Speed, Depth, and Breadth in Academic Research Source: AcademicInsightLab Conducting comprehensive literature reviews often poses challenges for graduate students, requiring extensive reading and synthesis of existing works while advancing original insights. With the rise of academic AI tools, numerous AI-powered literature search engines have emerged. These tools aim to ease difficulties but it can be overwhelming to learn how to use them. This blog cuts through the noise, explaining how these technologies can augment literature reviews and highlighting the unique value different tools provide.

 

Open Access, Open Education and Open Educational Resources

  • Open Future’s Alignment Assembly on AI and the Commons Source: OpenFuture The purpose of this online Alignment Assembly with the open movement activists, creators, and organizations building and stewarding the digital commons is to explore principles and considerations for regulating generative AI. The assembly is being hosted by Open Future, Fundacion Karisma, and Creative Commons.
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  • SOURCES OF OPEN EDUCATION RESOURCES Source: ACDE A list of resources in Africa and internationally as well as an evaluation tool to assess OERS.

 

   Post Schooling

  • Organised academia urged to come out stronger on Gaza crisis Source: University World News Organised academia in South Africa is coming under fire from members of the country’s broader higher education community for not taking a firm enough stand on the ongoing crisis in Gaza. The continuing “silence” of Universities South Africa (USAf), the Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf) – as well as most of country’s 26 public universities and their vice-chancellors – about the unfolding “Palestinian genocide and scholasticide” is “shameful”, the drafters of an open letter late last year say in their feedback to signatories this week.
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  • Higher education and the fantasy economy Source: Youtube  What are the economic limits and causes of higher education reform? This week the Forum hosted by Bryan Alexander iis in discussion with University of Wisconsin - River Falls political science professor Neil Kraus, author of the provocative and important new book The Fantasy Economy: Neoliberalism, Inequality, and the Education Reform Movement .View details about the book here  
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  • Research expenditure in South Africa goes up after COVID-19 Source: University World News The gross domestic expenditure on research and development (GERD) in South Africa has gone up in real terms for the first time in four years, driven strongly by an increase in expenditure by the business sector, according to the National Survey of Research and Experimental Development by the country’s Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC). Despite the upswing, it is still short of the government’s target.
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  • Ethics codes for researching indigenous people could fail Source: University World News There is a long and often complicated history of researchers studying indigenous people. In 1999, the education scholar Linda Tuhiwai Smith, in her book Decolonizing Methodologies: Research and Indigenous Peoples, emphasised the colonial character of much research. She warned that it “brings with it a new wave of exploration, discovery, exploitation, and appropriation.”
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  • Does a university undergraduate degree lead to a ‘good job?’ It depends what you mean Source: The Conversation Universities are central to Canada’s economic growth. As a result, governments (which partially fund them), employers (who hire graduates) and students (who pay tuition fees) have come to view universities as a tool to achieve their own goals: economic growth, a productive workforce and good jobs after graduation. Yet, the increasing focus on training undergraduates for specific jobs or as economic entrepreneurs — not only in traditional professional degrees in STEM, such as engineering but across all university programs — shortchanges all parties involved.

 

Skills and Employment 

  • South Africa: Embracing Digital Nomads For Economic Growth Source: Forbes South Africa joins other African nations like Cape Verde, Seychelles, Mauritius, and Namibia in attracting ‘digital nomads’. South Africa is positioning itself as a beacon for global professionals through its latest visa regulation amendments, including the introduction of the ‘digital nomad’ visa. Announcing these changes via his newsletter on Monday, President Cyril Ramaphosa underscored the urgency of attracting skilled individuals to propel the country’s competitiveness and economic growth. “To succeed in an ever-changing global economy, our country needs far more people with the right skills,” Ramaphosa articulated, emphasizing the initiative’s role in fostering employment and innovation.
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  • Colleges are using AI to prepare hospitality workers of the future Source: The Conversation If you’re planning to go into the hospitality industry, the pathway is increasingly going to involve some sort of familiarity with AI. That’s one of the key messages in “Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, and Robot Applications in Hospitality Businesses,” a new book by hospitality professor Rachel J.C. Fu. In the following Q&A, Fu discusses how the hospitality jobs of the future will rely more and more on technology to provide a pleasant guest experience.

 

Teaching and Learning- Local and Global

  • Learning Design Voices by Tasneem Jaffer, Shanali C. Govender, & Laura Czerniewicz. Source: EdTechBooks "...This book aims to create a space for learning designers whose voices are insufficiently heard, to share innovative designs within local constraints and, in so doing, reimagine learning design in a way that does not reproduce the binary power relations of centre and periphery."
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  • It's all about the process Source: The Educationalist In her latest newsletter  Alexandra  Mihai reflects on how we can put the *learning process* at the centre of our teaching and offers some ideas in terms of design and assessment. 
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  • Instructional Design 4.0 Source: Dr. PhillpaHardman Substack. Dr. Hardman's latest blog post deals with the "new flavour of instructional design role" that has emerged and the skills required regarding AI & Machine Learning and which include data literacy, agile project management and innovative design thinking amongst others.
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  • How Can Educators Design High-quality Distance Learning Experiences?  Source: CEDN Online learning can offer a variety of advantages to learners, especially non-traditional students, Assistant Professor of Learning, Design, and Technology Ela Castellanos-Reyes says educators using online learning platforms can enhance the experience by embracing available resources and create engaging learning environments for students to be successful.  She discusses resources, structure and free Tools. 
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  • How to foster a civic mindset in the era of AI Source: Times Higher Education Create spaces that allow small groups of people to see themselves in a broader context, encourage them to dream of what possibilities and opportunities could exist and then help them to take action
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  • Cut down your marking time by using whole-class feedback Source: Times Higher Education Whole-class feedback offers three advantages – it’s time saving, it encourages self-regulation and will help identify any weaknesses in the rubric. Paul Moss shows how it’s done

 

Technology-Enhanced Learning

  • EdTech Assessment Toolkit Source:Education Futures Studio A range of tools to explore and assess the challenges and opportunities  associated with emerging technologies in education. This is the first prototype for the tool which will be refined and tested over time with diverse stakeholders.
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  • 10 minute chats on Generative AI Source: Monash University A series of short conversations with guests with different kinds of expertise in generative AI and education, broadly conceived. Each chat is structured around 3 key messages or questions that the guest wants to put across to the educational community. The latest involves George Siemens who discusses the general lack of strong action by leadership in Higher Education in responding to the emergence of widely available and embedded AI technologies. 
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  • AI in education is a public problem Source: CodeActsinEducation In this post, a series of 21 arguments about AI in education is described. These started as notes for an interview the author was asked to do, and are based on the author working with the National Education Policy Center on a forthcoming report on AI and K-12 schools. "This post is more like an accessible, scrollable list of problems and issues from monitoring recent debates, media and scholarship on the topic, a kind of micro-primer on critiques of AI in education, though it will no doubt be incomplete".
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  • Deepfake pedagogy - And other more hopeful developments Source: Imperfect Offerings  Helen Beetham substack Helen Beethams latest blog on the new video generating AI release,Sora and her concerns on the outputs of this tool especially for open education. 
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  • OpenAI’s new generative tool Sora could revolutionize marketing and content creation Source: The Conversation  OpenAI’s new generative Sora tool has sparked lively technology discussions over the past week, generating both enthusiasm and concern among fans and critics.Sora is a text-to-video model that significantly advances the integration of deep learning, natural language processing and computer vision to transform textual prompts into detailed and coherent life-like video content. In contrast to previous text-to-video technologies, like Meta’s Make-A-Video, Sora is able to overcome limitations related to the type of visual data it can interpret, video length and resolution.
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  • 30+ WAYS TO USE GEMINI ACROSS THE CURRICULUM Source: TechNotes Google announced back in December that Gemini was coming, offering features that are comparable to, and even better than, OpenAI’s ChatGPT. As of February 8, Bard was replaced with Gemini. Let’s take a look at this AI tool and how it can support teaching and learning. 
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  • Your Students Are Already Using AI You've Never Heard Of Source: Mark Watkins.  Director of the Mississipi AI institute writes "Far too many people view the free version of ChatGPT as a measure of what generative AI is capable of, and it is providing many in education with a false sense of reality.
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  • ChatGPT in the Co-creation Process for Applied Research Projects  Source: Faculty Focus This article draws on the authors own experiences using ChatGPT 4.0 as a tool in research project supervision. She demonstrate how to prompt ChatGPT to give useful suggestions that can be used as actionable feedback and also discuss how to instruct students to include ChatGPT in their research methodology when using the tool to refine research questions. 

 


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