Linkblog - 2026-06-07

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Week of Jun 1 - Jun 7, 2026

Modes of Course Delivery: Definitions and Characteristics | Office of Teaching and Learning — otl.uoguelph.ca

In addition to in-person courses, the University of Guelph offers some courses and/or course components in alternative formats. The following definitions are offered to clarify the differences between in-person, blended, hyflex, online synchronous, and online asynchronous courses.

#UOGuelph #modalities #definitions


Queen’s Principles of Assessment — queensu.ca

The following principles were developed by a cross-University working group of the Senate

Committee on Academic Development and Procedures (SCADP):

  1. Assessment is a relational practice that supports learning and growth, grounded in Indigenous perspectives of knowledge sharing that emphasize respect, relevance, reciprocity, and shared responsibility.
  2. Assessments respect diverse ways of knowing.
  3. Assessments are intellectually challenging and support the progressive development of learning.
  4. Assessments generate trustworthy evidence of learning.
  5. Assessment expectations are clear, and learners are evaluated consistently, transparently, and fairly.
  6. Assessment feedback is actionable and supports student learning and recognition.
  7. Assessments are connected across courses and reflect professional, disciplinary, and civic contexts.

#Queen’sUniversity #via:GavanWatson #assessment


Stanford Online Launches Immersive Learning Studio – Campus Technology — campustechnology.com

Stanford Online recently marked its 30th anniversary with the announcement of a new immersive learning studio, according to a university news release. The studio takes advantage of AI-powered and immersive learning technologies to continue delivering personalized and faculty-led education.

(sounds like a magical place that combines VR, AR, AI, and maybe ponies?)

#Stanford #VR #AR #studio #AI


Stanford Online — online.stanford.edu

Credentialed online programs. Master’s degrees, graduate certificates, professional education, enterprise education (WTF is enterprise education, and how does it differ from professional education?)

#Stanford #onlinelearning


Charting a Path Forward for Ontario Universities in the Age of AI - Ontario’s Universities — ontariosuniversities.ca

As AI rapidly reshapes how we live, work, learn and innovate, it is creating both significant opportunities and complex challenges across our economy, labour market, education, research and governance.

Some recommendations for universities, starting at page 23.

#AI #Ontario #via:NipaChakravarti #highereducation


No, Artificial Intelligence Is Not Conscious - The Atlantic — theatlantic.com

Taken to its logical conclusion, this line of thinking is absurd—and damning.

Selected text

Being open to the possibility that LLMs are conscious is the same as being open to the possibility that Microsoft Word is conscious, or, more precisely, that multiple distinct consciousnesses are dormant in every Word document containing a conversational transcript, and that they are awakened every time the document is loaded. Should you consider the possibility that every time you open a Word document, you are bringing multiple conscious interlocutors into existence, and every time you close one, you snuff their existence out? No. Contemplating that scenario is not a good use of your time. Even if the Microsoft Office team employed a philosopher who said you shouldn’t be so certain, because consciousness is not well understood, that would not be sufficient reason for you to take this idea seriously. We don’t need to fully understand the nature of consciousness to definitively say that certain things are not conscious, and conversational transcripts fall in that category.

and

Faking the moon landing is a good step toward faking a Mars colony, but it’s not a good step toward actually putting astronauts on Mars.

#person:TedChiang #AI #AGI #via:JasonKottke


Road to WWDC 2026: What’s a developer? – Six Colors — sixcolors.com

Six Colors by Jason Snell, Dan Moren and friends

Selected text

Whatever you call it, whether it’s being a producer or product manager or something else that isn’t a programmer, creating good software in the AI era still requires the power of a human brain: being creative, solving problems, and making decisions. Some people will be better at it than others. It’s a skill, and a bit of an art. I’m excited that modern coding tools have given people with vision and desire the ability to make software.

#person:JasonSnell #vibecoding


Double Ender - Sync podcast files — theincomparable.com

Podcasts are frequently recorded over VOIP apps, with each participant using a local recording to ensure the highest quality. But nobody presses record at the same time, meaning you’ve got to spend time lining everyone up to a reference file (one containing all the voices together) before you can get to editing. What’s worse, different audio devices can record at slightly different speeds, causing audio to drift out of sync over time. Double Ender is a free utility that syncs local audio recordings to a reference file so they all start at the same moment and stay in sync, without drift.

#podcasting #audio #macOS #software #vibecoding #person:JasonSnell


Liberating Structures | 43 Methods to Include & Unleash Everyone — liberatingstructures.com

Liberating Structures is a collection of simple interaction methods that include and unleash everyone in shaping next steps, solving complex challenges, and generating practical innovations.

#person:NancyWhite #community #patterns


Redefining Educational Technology: A Critical Collaborative Inquiry | Open Praxis — openpraxis.org

we propose a new definition: Educational technology, as a field of inquiry and practice, encompasses the research, understanding, design, orchestration, and evaluation of entangled human-technological systems — spanning analog, digital, organizational, social, and agentic dimensions — through which learning and meaning-making are enabled, mediated, supported, and transformed. The field brings together researchers, practitioners, educators, communities, and institutions in ongoing efforts to study and improve educational experiences across formal, non-formal, and informal contexts. The field holds as a core commitment that its theory, research and practice should be ethically grounded and critically reflexive — attending to the societal implications of technological integration, with particular concern for equity and the distribution of agency among all participants in educational processes. These commitments describe what the field aspires to, not a guarantee of how all its practice is enacted. This definition is offered not as a resolution but as a basis for ongoing discussion, as it is best understood as a living definition. The field’s task is not to settle on a definition, but to keep it constantly evolving.

#person:JonDron #edtech #paper


How to Quickly Test Your DSLR for Autofocus Issues — photographylife.com

This test can be used to detect front or back focus issues with a particular lens or a camera body. Why would you want to test your camera for autofocus issues? Because if your camera or your lenses are defective or have a calibration problem, then you will not be able to obtain critically sharp images.

#camera #focus #photography