A roundup of what the Jisc Digital Practice team have been doing and discovering over the last few weeks. This edition has been edited by Chris.
Digital tools and spaces
Impact of AI on learner engagement (LinkedIn) An interesting reflection on what impact automation in learning might have on interpersonal relationships and the informal opportunities for peer learning and role development.
An interview with Anne Trumbore who, in her new book, The Teacher in the Machine, calls for innovations that deliver greater benefits to learners rather than investors.
Responsible AI tool selection – a useful set of criteria from Birmingham University Libraries to help researchers make informed choices about what AI tools to use to support their work.
Skills and capabilities
A look at the forensics of identifying whether images are AI generated.
This bit hits hard…
“Please understand that social media is not a place to get news and information.
It is a place that Silicon Valley created to steal your time, your attention, by delivering you the equivalent of junk food.
And like any bad habit, you should quit.
And if you can’t quit, at least do not let this be your primary source of information”
Now you don’t even need code to be a programmer. But you do still need expertise From back in March, but a useful explainer and critique of “vibe coding” from the reliable John Naughton. It has some important comments about how the nature of programming is changing which will inevitably affect how the subject is learned and taught.
Wellbeing and online safety
AI tools downplaying women’s health issues A cautionary tale to be on the lookout for bias in the training data when using AI tools to inform decision-making in healthcare.
Are a few people ruining the internet for the rest of us? An interesting take on the divergence between online and real world discourse. Offers some thoughts about the nature of toxic behaviours online and how to avoid them. There’s also a modicum of hope in that the worst what we see on the web seems to come from a very limited number of sources. (And yes, Chris does like to read the Guardian quite a bit!)
Collaboration and cooperation
It’s better together – our colleague James Clay looks at ways of fostering collaboration with HE institutions.
Expanding our horizons
Should Europe wean itself off US tech?
It’s an interesting thought exercise to imagine what would happen in education if something really drastic happened to make US run technologies less easy to access. As the article says “Google, Microsoft and Amazon – provide 70%, external of Europe’s cloud-computing infrastructure, the scaffolding on which many online services depend.” Tensions with the US over online safety regulation across Europe may have far-reaching consequences.
Editor’s note
We post external links here that we have found interesting and thought provoking. Including a link here does not indicate an endorsement of the views expressed in the article.
Our next edition arrives early October
