The teleology of ed tech?
We do far too few book reviews on this site and I am afraid this isn’t going to be one either. Instead we are plugging an eagerly awaited (and very timely) book be ed-tech journalist Audrey Watters which was published…
technology
People and Machines
One of the results of the rapid deployment of Artificial Intelligence is an increased focus on the relation between humans and machines.
The Economist has published a podcast of an interview with Nobel prize-winning author asking about what his new book “Klara and the Sun” reveals about people's relationship with machines. They say "he argues that people's relationship to machines will eventually change the way they think of themselves as individuals."
And the University of Westminster Press have published a new book, Marx and Digital Machines: Alienation, Technology, Capitalism, by Mike Healy. This book explores the fundamental contradiction at the heart of the digital environment, they say, "technology offers all manner of promises, yet habitually fails to deliver. This failure often arises from numerous problems: the proficiency of the technology or end-user, policy failure at various levels, or a combination of these. Solutions such as better technology and more effective end-user education are often put into place to solve these failures."
Mike Healy argues that such approaches are inherently faulty drawing upon qualitative research informed by Marx’s theory of alienation.
The book which is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution + Noncommercial + NoDerivatives 4.0 license with copyright retained by the author(s) is available for sale in paperback format or for free download in a variety of digital formats.
People and Machines
One of the results of the rapid deployment of Artificial Intelligence is an increased focus on the relation between humans and machines.
The Economist has published a podcast of an interview with Nobel prize-winning author asking about what his new book “Klara and the Sun” reveals about people’s relationship with machines. They say “he argues that people’s relationship to machines will eventually change the way they think of themselves as individuals.”
And the University of Westminster Press have published a new book, Marx and Digital Machines: Alienation, Technology, Capitalism, by Mike Healy. This book explores the fundamental contradiction at the heart of the digital environment, they say, “technology offers all manner of promises, yet habitually fails to deliver. This failure often arises from numerous problems: the proficiency of the technology or end-user, policy failure at various levels, or a combination of these. Solutions such as better technology and more effective end-user education are often put into place to solve these failures.”
Mike Healy argues that such approaches are inherently faulty drawing upon qualitative research informed by Marx’s theory of alienation.
The book which is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution + Noncommercial + NoDerivatives 4.0 license with copyright retained by the author(s) is available for sale in paperback format or for free download in a variety of digital formats.
What is Machine Learning
I am copying this from Stephen Downes' ever informative OLDaily newsletter digest. It features an article entitled What is machine learning? – A beginner’s guide posted on the FutureLearn website.
This is quite a good introduction to machine learning. If you don't know what it is and would like a quick no-nonsense introduction, this is it. Machine learning is depicted "as the science of getting computers to learn automatically." It's a type of artificial intelligence, which means essentially that they are software systems that "operate in an intentional, intelligent, and adaptive manner." The third point is the most important, because it means they can change their programming based on experience and changing circumstances. The article talks about some types of machine learning systems and outlines some application in the field. It's FutureLearn, so at the end it recommends some course tracks for people interested in making this a career, and just to dangle a carrot, the web page lets you know the median base salary and number of job opening for the program in question.
What is Machine Learning
I am copying this from Stephen Downes’ ever informative OLDaily newsletter digest. It features an article entitled What is machine learning? – A beginner’s guide posted on the FutureLearn website.
This is quite a good introduction to machine learning. If you don’t know what it is and would like a quick no-nonsense introduction, this is it. Machine learning is depicted “as the science of getting computers to learn automatically.” It’s a type of artificial intelligence, which means essentially that they are software systems that “operate in an intentional, intelligent, and adaptive manner.” The third point is the most important, because it means they can change their programming based on experience and changing circumstances. The article talks about some types of machine learning systems and outlines some application in the field. It’s FutureLearn, so at the end it recommends some course tracks for people interested in making this a career, and just to dangle a carrot, the web page lets you know the median base salary and number of job opening for the program in question.