Tag Archives: algorithms
Automated austerity schooling
The Department for Education for England has announced a £4 million plan to create a “content store” for education companies to train generative AI models. The project is intended to help reduce teacher workload by enabling edtech companies to build … Continue reading
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Tagged algorithms, artificial intelligence, Department for education, edtech, educational technology, government
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AI in education is a public problem
Over the past year or so, a narrative that AI will inevitably transform education has become widespread. You can find it in the pronouncements of investors, tech industry figures, educational entrepreneurs, and academic thought leaders. If you are looking for … Continue reading
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Tagged ai, AIed, algorithms, artificial intelligence, data, edtech, education, learning, learning analytics, schools, technology
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The social life of Artificial Intelligence in education
Ben Williamson Artificial Intelligence (AI) has become the subject of both hype and horror in education. During the 2020 Covid-19 pandemic, AI in education (AIed) attracted serious investor interest, market speculation, and enthusiastic technofuturist predictions. At the same time, algorithms … Continue reading
Datafication and automation in higher education during and after the Covid-19 crisis
Ben Williamson Notes for a talk at the online webinar ‘Going Online During and After the Pandemic’ on 6 May 2020. Thanks to Mariya Ivancheva and Brian Garvey for the invitation. Over the last five years or so, data analytics … Continue reading
Automating mistrust
Ben Williamson Turnitin can now analyse students’ individual writing styles to tackle ‘contract cheating’. Image by Xavi The acquisition of plagiarism detection company Turnitin for US$1.75 billion, due to be completed later this year, demonstrates how higher education has become … Continue reading
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Tagged algorithmic governance, algorithms, ed-tech, educational technology, higher education, software, Turnitin, universities
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Learning lessons from data controversies
Ben Williamson This is a talk delivered at OEB2018 in Berlin on 7 December 2018, with links to key sources. A video recording is also available (from about 51mins mark) Ten years ago ‘big data’ was going to change everything … Continue reading
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Tagged algorithms, data, data ethics, ed-tech, education, software
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10 definitions of datafication (in education)
Ben Williamson What is datafication? And how does it affect education? These questions were put to me ahead of conference discussion panel recently. While writing a few notes, it quickly became apparent I needed some categories to sort out my thinking. … Continue reading
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Tagged algorithms, big data, data, data analytics, data science, datafication
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The Nudge Unit, data science and experimental education
Ben Williamson The UK government’s Behavioural Insights Team has announced it has been experimenting with data science methods in school inspections. In partnership with the Office for Standards in Education (Ofsted), it has designed machine learning algorithms to predict and rate … Continue reading
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Tagged algorithms, behavioural science, data science, government, machine learning, nudge unit
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Learning machines
Ben Williamson When educators talk about theories of learning they are normally referring to psychological conceptions of human cognition and thinking. Current trends in machine learning, data analytics, deep learning, and artificial intelligence, however, complicate human-centred psychological accounts about learning. Today’s … Continue reading
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Tagged algorithms, artificial intelligence, big data, data analytics, machine learning, personalized learning
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Imaginaries and materialities of education data science
Image: The .edu Ocunet, by Tim Beckhardt Ben Williamson This is a talk I presented at the Nordic Educational Research Association conference at Aalborg University, Copenhagen, on 23 March 2017. Education is currently being reimagined for the future. In 2016, the online … Continue reading
code acts in education 