Shakespearean writing on postsecondary education, academic freedom, and anything else I find important. Feel free to claim opinions expressed here as your own.
Edmonton, Canada
Joined January 2012
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“Democracy at its finest” rejects the division that the UCP will continue to stoke.
Albertans need clear-eyed perspective on our political problems, which do not arise from immigrants or Ottawa but from conservative governments that abuse Albertans and Alberta’s promise.
#ableg
Albertans picked up a pencil yesterday and answered ten hard questions about our future.
That is democracy at its finest and tonight we talk about what comes next.
Join me live on CTV, Global, CityNews, Facebook, X or YouTube at 6:45pm— as we go through the referendum results, what they mean for this province, and what comes next.
I cannot wait until we have the results of this referendum.
For stoking division amongst Albertans in support of foreign interests and wasting our money for her political career, Danielle Smith should promptly resign as leader.
@ABDanielleSmith
@LukaszukAB
@nenshi
#ableg
Carolyn Sale retweeted
JON STEWART: “So in the FUTURE we WILL use A.I. to cure diseases… but right now it’s mostly murder, surveillance, and surge pricing for the McRib — What a trade! I’m getting the sense you guys might be full of shit.”
BTW, the university whose size somehow precludes its report on AI and Education having relevance for us is ranked #1 for teaching in the latest @timeshighered rankings:
Score of 99.1
#ualberta’s score is 50.2
But sure, let’s not care how we might benefit from @MIT’s expertise.
This claim put the spotlight on *size* and the goal of the current #ualberta administration to increase UG enrolment by tens of thousands students.
So we outsource aspects of teaching-and-learning to chatbots to achieve that goal? Is that why the admin wants to use LearnWise?
At GFC the VP Digital Learning Initiatives claimed #ualberta’s Committee on the Learning Environment has no authority to approve AI tools. Just one of the reasons why the question of whether the LearnWise pilot project could proceed needed to be brought to GFC.
@The_Gateway
Just one of the shocking things said at GFC yesterday. He also completely misrepresented the @MIT report “AI and Education.” Thankfully he was corrected by a member of the academic staff. The phrase “Be Bold” is not licence for abuse of collegial governance at #UAlberta.
#abpse
"Mundel declined to share the cost of the pilot."
This pilot project shows the admin's lack of interest in collegial governance, but is financial transparency off the table too? #UAlberta
Who would like to put together a list of Ms. Smith’s bosses?
I’ll start us off.
Preston Manning
Stephen Harper
David Parker
Donald Trump
#ableg
🚨BREAKING
The federal NDP and Avi Lewis @avilewis just released a statement opposing the new pacific link pipeline and demanding it be halted. They oppose Alberta's Pacific Link pipeline and they will do everything in their power to kill it.
Understand what this means... This would kill 140,000 jobs. Stop tens of billions in new wealth for Albertans to build things like hospitals and schools. Lost jobs and lower paycheques for Alberta families.
Today I am calling on Naheed Nenshi @nenshi to do what he should have done a long time ago. Cut ties with his boss, Avi Lewis and the federal NDP. Officially, formally, in writing today. A clean break, right down to the name of their party.
Not doing so tells Albertans all they need to know about where the NDP stands on Alberta energy… which is “leave it in the ground”.
Carolyn Sale retweeted
In this era of artificial intelligence, it is becoming urgent to distinguish human art from what machines produce. There is an ontological difference, even before an aesthetic one, between art and what a machine can generate through statistical calculation based on millions of images created by others. Algorithms lack the spark of humanity. For this reason, the Church wishes to renew an alliance with artists and cultural institutions to safeguard our humanity.
“Our people are at the heart of what we do,” declares a subheading in today’s edition of the #ualberta Quad.
This is from the senior administration that made sure that “our people” knew nothing about — and did not approve — the #LearnWise pilot project.
@TheAASUA
@UnionNASA
Anyone else notice the #ualberta “Teaching” score in @timeshighered rankings yesterday?
The huge number of contract academic staff plays a role?
And surely future rankings won’t favour universities who use chatbots in any aspect of teaching?
#LearnWise
artssquared.wordpress.com/20…
Carolyn Sale retweeted
This is a critical next step: A global citizens' assembly on AI.
noemamag.com/let-the-people-…
Are students at #UAlberta going to fight this?
And are they going to fight what is happening to the learning experience with LearnWise?
Would like to see them getting help from faculty reps on the General Faculties Council.
@UASUualberta
@The_Gateway
Thanks, @CAUT_ACPPU.
LearnWise has not been approved for use through collegial governance processes at #UAlberta.
Will GFC and/or the @TheAASUA take action?
@AASUAPresident
#abpse
#cdnpse
Just one more way in which the UCP government would destroy the futures of Alberta and Albertans:
by differentially determining the tuition dollars that students pay according to “labour market demands” and “government priorities.”
Can you say #braindrain?
#UAlberta
#abpse
Full story here:
thegauntlet.ca/documents-sho…
You know where we teach these skills at #ualberta? In Humanities and Social Sciences classrooms.
Cornell just produced a massive new report on higher education noting that companies have a “jarring” skepticism of higher ed thanks to a new generation of degree holders who lack key skills like handling uncertainty, compromising, and absorbing feedback.
Faculty also report that incoming students, despite four years of undergraduate education, are “underdeveloped” in these relational or interpersonal skills.
This is a serious crises in higher education and the report calls for a greater need for conflict-resolution training. We need to do a better job training our students to deal with these issues.
These are traditionally the skills students developed in higher education. I loved college because it challenged me, sparked debate, and required me to grapple with complexity. This should be an essential part of college--inside and outside the classroom.
chronicle.com/article/compan…
Carolyn Sale retweeted
My prediction is that humanities and social sciences PhDs will become increasingly valuable. You cannot automate primary source interviews and deep archival research (ie, knowledge and data creation). You also cannot automate critical and original thought. You cannot mass replicate social status and elite human networks (half the utilitarian value of an elite PhD).
You can automate the function of most STEM folks, perhaps with the exception of the cutting edge doing original biochemical/ medical research.
