Wednesday, July 31, 2024
Research to Product
ANU Multimedia Studios
Greetings from the new ANU Multimedia Studios at the Australian National University. These are a collaborative effort between the Centre for Learning and Teaching (CLT), and the College of Arts & Social Science. With Canvas replacing Moodle as the ANU learning management system there is the opportunity to add more Multimedia.
Thursday, July 25, 2024
Future History of AI
Wednesday, July 24, 2024
Magic of Cybersecurity
The panel has:
Dr Hin Chan, Manager – Australian Certification Authority (ACA), Australian Cyber Security Centre, ASD
Erin Glenn, Director of Product Management, Belkin International, US
Patrick Campbell-Dunn, Securus Consulting Group
Folding LED Screens for Temporary Classrooms
Greetings from Tech in Government 2024 in Canberra. The most interesting product on the exhibition floor is a folding LED screen on wheels being demonstrated by Mark Lazare from Viewsonic. This is designed to fit through an ordinary doorway and then he unfolded. The joins don't show at all when unfolded.
Monday, July 22, 2024
Welcome to the Next War: the AI Triple Black Box and Accountability
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Professor Ashley Deeks |
At a practical level it is not that difficult to test if an AI weapon is at least as reliable as a human operator. This could improve procedures by making explicit the decision making processes. There will be pressure to use advanced automated systems, just as there are for current simple ones, such as mines.
Saturday, July 20, 2024
Commenting on the Great Computer Outage of 2024
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Stop Error on a Screen at Coles Leichardt, 26 July 2024. Photo by Tom Worthington CC-BY |
At this stage the indication was it wasn't a cyber attack, and was not at the network level (my mobile phone still worked). It was the operating system. So I made a general comment to go out from SciMex to the media. At this stage the ABC had a report suggesting it was from the Crowdstrike security software.
My phone then starting ringing. Sky new wanted to interview me, but their Zoom and phone interview facilities were not working (due to the it outage?), and it was not feasible to get to the studio. I talked to ABC Radio Queensland, who said they had one microphone and a CD player working. A little known fact is that if all the fancy automation fails in an ABC studio, one microphone is connected to the transmitter for emergency broadcasts. At the end of the interview I asked them to play "A Walk in the Black Forest" (the only track Radio Goodies had), but the joke went flat.
One 24 hour TV news network wanted me to come to their studio across town because they could not do a Zoom or phone interview (presumably because the equipment for that used Microsoft Windows). I was tempted to suggest they hold the phone up to the camera.
I made the right call to say it was not a cyber attack, & resisted the temptation to criticize Microsoft Windows. Something I found surprising was the range of devices apparently running Microsoft Windows. Why would you use it for an airline or supermarket machine, rather than an operating system designed for real time embedded applications (such as one of the Linux variants)?
See also (updates):
- Can we avoid a repeat of Friday's CrowdStrike crash chaos?, By Allan Lee, Biwa Kwan, Presented by Allan Lee, SBS News, 22 July 2024 11:49 am.
- Hot Takes from the CrowdStrike Global Tech Outage, Professor Johanna Weaver, Director Tech Policy Design Centre, Australian National University
Friday, July 19, 2024
Chatbots for More Rounded Employable Graduates?
Greetings from the weekly ASCILITE MLSIG webinar. One of the members had a positive report on using Cogniti (developed at University of Sydney), to build chatbots to help students. With this, the software simulates a patient in conversation with the student acting as a therapist. The chat-bot then switches to tutor more and provides feedback and advice to the student. It occurred to me the same would be useful for students "soft" skills.
Many STEM students have difficulty with the part of the job where they have to talk to people, especially non-technical clients. This also creates problems when talking to potential employers. It may seem odd to suggest the students talk to a machine to imp[rove personal communication skills. However, this way students can get a lot of practice with an infinitely patient tutor. Also client and work communication is increasingly using digital technology. In a way reality s becoming more like the simulation: you apply for a job not by writing a letter but via a web form, do online tests & get interviewed via Zoom. The graduate will likely communicate with their client, and perhaps colleagues, mostly online. So talking to a chat-bot online will be a more realistic simulation of the workplace, than talking face to face in a classroom.
Wednesday, July 17, 2024
Thinking assessment in the large as an answer to AI
Greetings from the CRADLE Seminar "Assessment beyond the individual unit/module and AI". Associate Professor Jason Lodge is talking about how to see how students progress over time, rather than assessing in small packets of instruction. While he did not explicitly say it, I assume he envisions this makes it harder for the student to cheat, using AI, or otherwise, as they would not be showing consistent progress.
Mentioned by someone was "Assessment reform for the age of artificial intelligence" (TEQSA, 2023).
Margaret Bearman took us through the logic of current unit based assessment and asks about "big picture" outcomes. My reaction was "Inst that what capstones are for?". You have the student do a big project at the end of their study, where they have to demonstrate the skills needed.
Surprisingly, there was little mention of AI, which is refreshing. The approach is to get the assessment right and cheating will be harder, however it is done.
I asked the panel:
'Will technology help? Could we give the AI each student's CV and have it suggest what degree requirements they have already met? I help out with applications for course credit and there is a lot of stuff students have done they really don't have to do again. More than once I have thought we should have the student teach the course. ;-)
The next seminar is: "Second Handbook of Academic Integrity (2024) launch".
Wednesday, July 10, 2024
CIT Timber High-rise Campus Going Up
Digital Technologies education in Australian schools
Ensuring there are accessible ready-to-use teaching resources
1. Expand support for, and increase visibility of, the online Digital Technologies Hub to ensure teachers have access to best practice exemplar teaching modules for the DTC.2. Improve schools’ internal information management processes regarding digital teaching resources to ensure they reach teachers who need them in the classroom.3. Support cross-fertilisation amongst professional associations and communities of practice for the DTC.Embedding digital-readiness training in Initial Teacher Education (ITE)
4. The Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership (AITSL) should incorporate into ITE accreditation a requirement that ITE programs demonstrate their capacity to prepare our future teachers to:
• teach with digital technologies (as expected by AITSL standards)• use digital technologies within all learning areas (including Digital Literacy development)• teach the F–10 Digital Technologies subject and/or senior secondary computer education courses.This could be supported through the Australian Technologies Teacher Educators Network (ATTEN) to provide end-user input from Digital Technologies teachers based in each state and territory.Supporting ongoing professional development and training for teachers
5. Ensure that training courses suitable for teachers are available and accessible across all essential areas of digital technologies knowledge and skills.6. Identify and promote existing recommended courses that provide training in software tools and core principles of digital technologies for teachers of all year levels.7. Invest in initiatives that support teachers to attend suitable training for digital technologies skills and in turn this will increase the number of skilled teachers at each school.Elevating awareness of the Digital Technologies Curriculum in the community
8. Empower parents with the tools and capabilities to understand and communicate at home the value of digital technologies, including the types of technology careers that can be pursued and how the skills can be applied to solve problems in a range of industries.9. Ensure that tools and capabilities that empower parents are inclusive and increase visibility of underrepresented groups in STEM fields, such as women and girls and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples.10. Establish a national coordinated data collection of DTC learning outcomes, and communicate these outcomes to the community to build better understanding and awareness of learning and career outcomes.11. Recognise and reward excellence in digital technologies education to increase visibility to parents and the education community and promote best practice-teaching in Australian schools.
Thursday, July 4, 2024
The Cafe and the Education Revolution
Already I have scheduled a meeting on exemptions and credit for recognition prior learning and experience, in the cafe. Granting students credit for what they did somewhere else is something academics are reluctant to do. This is partly out of a concern for standards, but also because it is not something part of academic training. Some of this is relatively simple: a course in discrete mathematics is much the same in Sydney or Shenzhen. However, soft skills are another matter: a course where students work in a team is not the same as one where they just read books about working in a team. Is work experience at a computer company in another country equivalent to Australia?
Wednesday, July 3, 2024
Innovation in Canberra
Greetings from the foyer of ACT Government HQ where they are hosting the 109th First Wednesday of Canberra Innovation Network. The ACT Chief Minister is doing the honours before the pitches.
ps: Interesting building.