Monday 14 January 2019

EU report on the impact of AI on Learning Teaching and Education #AI #education #EU #policy

The resently published report on the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on learning, teaching and education gives a great outline on the realities of AI, the state of the art, and the challenges as well as opportunities for those of us with an expertise in learning in general, or learning in terms of learning theory. The report is part of the JRC Science for Policy documents, and it is very well written by Ilkka Tuomi (who is renowned for his expertise in Internet, data, AI and computer science). Ilkka recorded a brief overview of the report, which can be seen below. In the report-related video, he refers to current machine learning systems as datavors, he defines (and right fully so) the term of machine learning as an oxymoron and he puts current AI in very accessible parallel, namely the Artificial Instict (as current AI is mainly about behaviourist approaches and patterns).

A very interesting perspective is that Ilkka and the report stress the importance of having someone on board of AI for learning/teaching/education on board, who has expertise in learning and learning theory.

The policy challenges mentioned at the end of the report are:

  • A continuous dialogue on the appropriate and responsible uses of AI in education is therefore needed.
  • In the domain of educational policy, it is important for educators and policymakers to understand AI in the broader context of the future of learning. As AI will be used to automate productive processes, we may need to reinvent current educational institutions.
  • In general, the balance may thus shift from the instrumental role of education towards its more developmental role.
  • A general policy challenge, thus, is to increase among educators and policymakers awareness of AI technologies and their potential impact.
  • Learning sciences could have much to offer to research on AI, and such mutual interaction would enable better understanding about how to use AI for learning and in educational settings, as well as in other domains of application.
  • As there may be fundamental theoretical and practical limits in designing AI systems that can explain their behaviour and decisions, it is important to keep humans in the decision-making loop.
  • The ethics of AI is a generic challenge, but it has specific relevance for educational policies.
  • Human agency means that we can make choices about future acts, and thus become responsible for them.  AI can also limit the domain where humans can express their agency.
  • An important policy challenge is how such large datasets that are needed for the development and use of AI-based systems could be made more widely available.


This 47 page report offers the following topics:

Introduction ...................................................................................................... 5
2 What is Artificial Intelligence? ............................................................................. 7
2.1 A three-level model of action for analysing AI and its impact ............................. 7
2.2 Three types of AI ....................................................................................... 10
2.2.1 Data-based neural AI ......................................................................... 10
2.2.2 Logic- and knowledge-based AI ........................................................... 12
2.3 Recent and future developments in AI .......................................................... 13
2.3.1 Models of learning in data-based AI ..................................................... 15
2.3.2 Towards the future............................................................................. 16
2.4 AI impact on skill and competence demand ................................................... 17
2.4.1 Skills in economic studies of AI impact ................................................. 18
2.4.2 Skill-biased and task-biased models of technology impact ....................... 20
2.4.3 AI capabilities and task substitution in the three-level model ................... 21
2.4.4 Trends and transitions ........................................................................ 22
2.4.5 Neural AI as data-biased technological change ...................................... 23
2.4.6 Education as a creator of capability platforms ........................................ 23
2.4.7 Direct AI impact on advanced digital skills demand ................................ 25
3 Impact on learning, teaching, and education ....................................................... 27
3.1 Current developments ................................................................................ 27
3.1.1 “No AI without UI” ............................................................................. 28
3.2 The impact of AI on learning ....................................................................... 28
3.2.1 Impact on cognitive development ........................................................ 30
3.3 The impact of AI on teaching ....................................................................... 31
3.3.1 AI-generated student models and new pedagogical opportunities............. 31
3.3.2 The need for future-oriented vision regarding AI .................................... 32
3.4 Re-thinking the role of education in society ................................................... 32
4 Policy challenges ............................................................................................. 34

Below is the 20 minute video of Ilkka Tuomi which explains the report in easy terms.




Friday 4 January 2019

Call for Papers #CfP #AI #mLearning #MOOC in conferences #UNESCO @FedericaUniNa

January has started and three important calls for papers are coming up, all related to conferences. The three conferences are: eMOOCs2019 (on MOOCs), Mobile Learning week at UNESCO (focus on AI for development and mobile learning, and eLearning Africa (this year in Cote d'Ivoir), listed per deadline of the CfP.

Mobile learning week UNESCO (Paris, France): focus on AI for sustainable development
Call for proposals deadline: 11 January 2019
UNESCO Global AI Conference: Monday 4 March 2019
Policy Forum and Workshops: Tuesday 5 March 2019
Symposium: Wednesday 6 & Thursday 7 March 2019
Strategy labs & International Women’s Day: Friday 8 March 2019
Exhibits: Monday 4 to Friday 8 March 2019
More information: https://en.unesco.org/mlw/2019
UNESCO, in partnership with its confirmed partners – the International Telecommunication Union and the Profuturo Foundation – will convene a special edition of Mobile Learning Week (MLW) from 4 to 8 March 2019, at the UNESCO Headquarters building in Paris (France). The five-day event, under the theme ‘Artificial Intelligence for Sustainable development’ will start with the ‘Global Conference - Principles for AI: Towards a humanistic approach?’, followed by a one-day Policy Forum and Workshops, a two-day International Symposium and a half-day of Strategy Labs. On 8 March, towards the close of MLW, participants will be invited to join the celebration of International Women’s Day, particularly a debate on Women in AI to be held in UNESCO Headquarters. During the entire week, exhibitions and demonstrations of innovative AI applications for education and more than 20 workshops will be organized by international partners and all programme sectors of UNESCO.
eMOOCs 2019 in Napels, Italy
Deadline CfP: 14 January 2019.
Conference date:  May 20 – 22, 2019
More informationhttps://emoocs2019.eu/call-for-papers/overview/
Description
The Higher Education landscape is changing. As the information economy progresses, demand for a more highly, and differently, qualified workforce and citizens increases, and HE Institutions face the challenge of training, reskilling and upskilling people throughout their lives, rather than providing a one-time in-depth education. The corporate and NGO sectors are themselves exploring the benefits of a more qualified online approach to training, and are entering the education market in collaboration with HE Institutions, but also autonomously or via new certifying agencies. Technology is the other significant player in this fast-changing scenario. It allows for new, data-driven ways of measuring learning outcomes, new forms of curriculum definition and compilation, and alternative forms of recruitment strategy via people analytics.

At the MOOC crossroads where the three converge, we ask ourselves whether university degrees are still the major currency in the job market, or whether a broader portfolio of qualifications and micro-credentials may be emerging as an alternative. What implications does this have for educational practice? What policy decisions are required? And as online access eliminates geographical barriers to learning, but the growing MOOC market is increasingly dominated by the big American platforms, what strategic policy do European HE Institutions wish to adopt in terms of branding, language and culture?

The EMOOCs 2019 MOOC stakeholders summit comprises the consolidated format of Research and Experience, Policy and Business tracks, as well as interactive workshops. Original contributions that share knowledge and carry forward the debate around MOOCs are very welcome.

eLearning AFrica - Abidjan - Cote d'Ivoir
Deadline CfP: February 22, 2019.
Conference date: October 23 - 25, 2019
More informationhttps://www.elearning-africa.com/programme_cfp.php
Description
The 14th edition of eLearning Africa, the International Conference & Exhibition on ICT for Education, Training & Skills Development, which will take place in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire from October 23 - 25, 2019 and is co-hosted by the Government of Côte d'Ivoire. 

A unique event, Africa’s largest conference and exhibition on technology supported learning, training and skills development, eLearning Africa is a network of leading experts, professionals and investors, committed to the future of education & training in Africa.

Read more about the eLearning Africa 2019 themeThe Keys to the Future: Learnability and Employability, and become involved in shaping the conference agenda by proposing a topic, talk or session here.
Register today to profit from our Early Bird Rate

About eLearning Africa
Founded in 2005, eLearning Africa is the leading pan-African conference and exhibition on ICT for Education, Training & Skills Development. The three day event offers participants the opportunity to develop multinational and cross-industry contacts and partnerships, as well as to enhance their knowledge and skills.
Over 13 consecutive years, eLearning Africa has hosted 17,278 participants from 100+ different countries around the world, with over 80% coming from the African continent. More than 3,530 speakers have addressed the conference about every aspect of technology supported learning, training and skills development.

Tuesday 1 January 2019

Planning for what might prove to be impossible #OPNLearn

After days if not weeks of contemplation - and reading Eleanor Roosevelt's "You Learn by Living", I have decided to go for it, no matter what this new frontier will bring me. This idea of Old Philosophers and New learning will no doubt need more time to develop and mature, but from here onward it will be a project and I will develop it as openly as possible. 

The thought of starting and being able to bring a new project to fruition is daunting. I am over 50, I have been a diabetic type 1 for seven years, and I have had breast cancer. Looking at these three facts makes me doubt whether any new project will be successful. And with success I mean being able to lean on this activity to feel confident, provide new ideas by combining old ones, and have money to support all of this happening, even growing. On the other hand ... I have been working on new technologies and innovation with success (= international awards), I was able to grow from my early years as a cleaning lady/waitress into a person with a PhD (rough road), and all along I have gathered some wonderful, intelligent, interesting and magnificent friends living across this beautiful globe. In Dutch I would say that the odds of any new project that I would start would result in ... "het kan vriezen, het kan dooien", it can go either way, but it will at least result in something. 

So here it goes. As anxiety is present and I must admit I do not like to fail at something, I need to do this. It feels as though this is the last thing I can do to attain something that might possible add to a thoughtfull, respectful world. Here goes nothing...