A Model of Disunified Human Experience #oldaily https://www.downes.ca/post/79041 As background, you might want to first read Conscious Processing and the Global Neuronal Workspace Hypothesis (it's OK, I hadn't seen it either). This is a great article with an even better diagram articulating how (conscious) experience in a 'neuronal workspace' may be connected to and informed by (unconscious) more specialized 'workspaces'. It makes me think of 'communities of communities'.

In a 'Test', Google Is Automatically Rewriting News Headlines in Its Search Results #oldaily https://www.downes.ca/post/79040 Altering a title sounds really bad. And there's a reason why I keep the title of the article the same when I write a commentary on it - I want to be sure I'm not distorting the intent of the author by altering their title.

The Fallacy Fallacy #oldaily https://www.downes.ca/post/79039 According to Maarten Boudry, the problem with teaching students how to spot fallacies is that they start seeing them everywhere. "They hurled labels and considered the job done.

Why We Should Be Reading Paul Churchland Right Now #oldaily https://www.downes.ca/post/79038 I am at least partially influenced by the fact that I did read Paul Churchland when I was younger, and came to much this sort of belief: "It is very common to see confident assertions that LLMs mimic language use but do not really understand or use it the way that we do, that LLMs do not really reason or think, that they cannot know or understand things.

Who will get us there? #oldaily https://www.downes.ca/post/79037 This article starts by quoting in full a post of mine that has gotten some traction on LinkedIn describing "the impact of AI on higher education." It was preparation for an event I'll participate in later this year.

The Role of Higher Education Journal in Shaping Global Knowledge Networks #oldaily https://www.downes.ca/post/79036 I have long been fascinated by the observation that the fields I cover here are composed of what might be called 'communities of communities', that is, clusters of writers and practitioners that tend to coalesce into smaller cooperative networks while still being connected to the wider community.

The First Minutes: Designing Care-Based, Culturally Relevant Class Openings #oldaily https://www.downes.ca/post/79035 This article promises to help instructors "learn how care-based, culturally relevant class openings build belonging, strengthen faculty-student relationships, and increase student engagement from the first minutes." It struck me as I read it how the centre of focus and attention is on the instructor throughout.

Carving Linoleum Continues – Bionic Teaching #oldaily https://www.downes.ca/post/79034 This article fits into a category of articles I might call 'humans still doing things machines could probably do better'. Recently I saw an article ask, "why do we still have children run in gym class when an Uber could take them the same distance in a minute?" I reflected on my own experiences being taught (badly) gold, curling and dancing by a gym teacher.

New, free language learning tool in Google Translate #oldaily https://www.downes.ca/post/79033 You'll find this new tool in the mobile version of Translate, not the desktop version (I checked). For me the hardest part of language learning is understanding what speakers are speaking (my reading comprehension in a number of languages is way better). This tool is great for listening practice.

Toward a Critical Agentic Systems Design Practice #oldaily https://www.downes.ca/post/79032