Given the way AI’s have been trained (using, let’s be honest- terabytes of stolen data), is it even possible to use one ethically?
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19 posts17 participants4 posts today
I also worry that OER is kinda like “the cloud” in that “the cloud” is just “somebody else’s computer” and OER is just “somebody else’s resource.”
And I’m always wondering who made the OER?
With whose money?
With what bias/purpose/goal was the OER made?
So I have to vet the OER for all that stuff, then use AI to do a bunch of UDL or accessibility or whatever and then vet all that output too- and maybe I could have just made the thing myself at that point?
Critical Thinking: The Other National Deficit
My wife bought me this t-shirt for my birthday several years ago, perhaps just before I retired from a career leading a team of researchers who conducted administrative policy studies at a large public university. Toward the end of my career, the university participated in a national test of college learning outcomes called the Collegiate Learning Assessment (CLA). Ideally, the CLA assesses the knowledge and skills of entering freshmen and then reassessed their knowledge and skills four years later to measure the educational value added in a true pre-post test. But, because we were in a hurry for results that could be published on a public dashboard to be used in a re-accreditation visit, we instead tested samples of entering freshmen and graduating seniors who had similar high school percentile ranks and SAT scores. Results showed the critical thinking skills of our graduating seniors, compared to entering freshmen, showed slightly less improvement than the national average for graduating seniors at other universities. University leaders were concerned about this finding and were discussing ways to improve at the time I retired. (1/8)
#CriticalThinking #Education #HigherEducation #Academia #Information
#Misinformation #Disinformation #News #Journalism #SocialMedia #Internet #AprilFoolsDay
Here’s a though: know how people say that budgets express priorities?
The way you use LLM/AI shows what you value.
FOREIGN AGENT TAKES COLUMBIA U
Claire Shipman has been appointed Acting President of Columbia. She previously moderated an AIPAC conference with Marco Rubio, who is currently assisting the Israeli controlled lobby in deporting college students who criticize Israel.
Continued thread
From #LawrenceBritt's #CharacteristicsOfFascism
11. Disdain for #Intellectuals and the #Arts
"Fascist nations tend to promote and tolerate open hostility to #HigherEducation and academia. It is not uncommon for professors and other #academics to be censored or even arrested. Free expression in the arts is openly attacked, and governments often refuse to fund the arts."
https://kolektiva.social/@DoomsdaysCW/110832318168556366
kolektiva.socialDoomsdaysCW (@DoomsdaysCW@kolektiva.social)Attached: 1 image
Lawrence W. Britt: 14 Characteristics of #Fascism
"#Historian #LawrenceBritt studied the fascist regimes of #Hitler (Germany), #Mussolini (Italy), #Franco (Spain), #Suharto (Indonesia), and #Pinochet (Chile) and found they had 14 elements in common. He calls these the identifying characteristics of fascism.
1. Powerful and Continuing #Nationalism
Fascist regimes tend to make constant use of #patriotic mottos, slogans, symbols, songs, and other paraphernalia. #Flags are seen everywhere, as are flag symbols on clothing and in public displays.
2. Disdain for the Recognition of #HumanRights
Because of fear of enemies and the need for security, the people in fascist regimes are persuaded that human rights can be ignored in certain cases because of “need.” The people tend to look the other way or even approve of torture, summary executions, assassinations, and long incarcerations of prisoners.
3. Identification of #Enemies / #Scapegoats as a Unifying Cause
The people are rallied into a unifying patriotic frenzy over the need to eliminate a perceived common threat or foe: #racial, #ethnic or #religious #minorities; #liberals; #communists; #socialists, #terrorists…
4. Supremacy of the #Military
Even when there are widespread #domestic problems, the military is given a disproportionate amount of government funding, and the domestic agenda is neglected. Soldiers and military service are glamorized.
5. Rampant #Sexism
The governments of fascist nations tend to be almost exclusively male-dominated. Under fascist regimes, traditional #gender roles are made more rigid. Opposition to #abortion is high, as is #homophobia and anti-#gay legislation.
6. Controlled #MassMedia
Sometimes the media is directly controlled by the government, but in other cases, the media is indirectly controlled by government regulation or by sympathetic media spokespeople and executives. Government #censorship and #secrecy especially in war time, are very common.
7. Obsession with #NationalSecurity
Fear of hostile foreign powers is used as a motivational tool by the government over the masses.
8. #Religion and Government are Intertwined
Governments in fascist nations tend to use the most common religion in the nation as a tool to manipulate public opinion. Religious rhetoric and terminology is common from government leaders, even when the major tenets of the religion are diametrically opposed to the government’s policies or actions.
9. Protection of #Corporate Power
The #industrial and business #aristocracy of a fascist nation often are the ones who put the government leaders into power, creating a mutually beneficial business/government relationship and power elite.
10. Suppression of #Labor Power
Because the organizing power of labor is the only real threat to a fascist government, labor #unions are either eliminated entirely, or are severely suppressed.
11. Disdain for #Intellectuals and the #Arts
Fascist nations tend to promote and tolerate open hostility to #HigherEducation and academia. It is not uncommon for professors and other #academics to be censored or even arrested. Free expression in the arts is openly attacked, and governments often refuse to fund the arts.
12. Obsession with #Crime and #Punishment
Under fascist regimes, the #police are given almost limitless power to enforce laws. The people are often willing to overlook police abuses and even forego #CivilLiberties in the name of patriotism. There is often a national police force with virtually unlimited power in fascist nations.
13. Rampant #Cronyism and #Corruption
Fascist regimes almost always are governed by groups of friends and associates who appoint each other to government positions and use governmental power and authority to protect their friends from accountability. It is not uncommon in fascist regimes for national resources and even treasures to be appropriated or even outright stolen by government leaders.
14. #FraudulentElections
Sometimes elections in fascist nations are a complete sham. Other times elections are manipulated by #SmearCampaigns against or even assassination of opposition candidates, use of legislation to control #voting numbers or political district boundaries, and manipulation of the media. Fascist nations also typically use their judiciaries to manipulate or control elections.
This post is a summary of Fascism, Anyone? by Lawrence W. Britt published in 2003 by Free Inquiry magazine."
https://voxpopulisphere.com/2017/08/23/lawrence-britt-14-characteristics-of-fascism/
#History #Histodon #RabidRight #Antifa #Antifascism #FarRight #Trump #Putin #Russia #MAGA #Project2025 #CharacteristicsOfFascism
#LawrenceBritt #CharacteristicsOfFascism Numbers 1 and 11...
1. Powerful and Continuing #Nationalism
Fascist regimes tend to make constant use of #patriotic mottos, slogans, symbols, songs, and other paraphernalia. #Flags are seen everywhere, as are flag symbols on clothing and in public displays.
11. Disdain for #Intellectuals and the #Arts
Fascist nations tend to promote and tolerate open hostility to #HigherEducation and academia. It is not uncommon for professors and other #academics to be censored or even arrested. Free expression in the arts is openly attacked, and governments often refuse to fund the arts.
Trump targets 'anti-American ideology' at Smithsonian museums
by Max Matza, 3/27/2025
"US President Donald Trump has signed an executive order targeting the Smithsonian Institution, which operates more than 20 museums and research centres visited by millions yearly in Washington DC and New York City.
"The order directs the vice-president to 'eliminate improper, divisive, or anti-American ideology' from the institute's museums, centres and the National Zoo in Washington.
"It also directs the interior secretary to restore federal properties, including parks, memorials and statues, which 'have been improperly removed or changed in the last five years to perpetuate a false revision of history'.
"The move is part of Trump's effort to shape American culture, in addition to politics."
Read more:
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cdjy1jmvvwzo
#ChristoFascism #ChristianRight #USPol #Fascism #Authoritarianism #Fascists #TurdReich
www.bbc.comTrump targets 'anti-American ideology' at Smithsonian museumsThe order says that "divisive narratives" must be purged from the US museums and research centres.
#SanFrancisco #California #HigherEducation #BudgetCuts
'San Francisco State University, Cal State East Bay and Sonoma State University would combine certain operational services under the proposed “San Francisco Bay Region Network,” Chancellor Mildred García announced at Tuesday’s board of trustees meeting in Long Beach. These services include finance, administration, human resources, IT, security and construction.'
https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/3-bay-area-universities-to-merge-services-20243873.php
I haven’t had a journal article accepted for publication in six years. Until today, by Studies in Graduate and Postdoctoral Education…
Celbis, O.; van de Laar, M.; Windsor, W. L.; Papatsiba, V.; Ofosu-Ampong, K.; Kurawa, G.; Sadat Bole, A.; Ani-Ampsonah, Mary; Xu, Linlin
Towards an ecological systems approach to doctoral student resilience: qualitative evidence from the Covid-19 pandemic.
I’ll share the open access version when it’s ready, but here’s the abstract:
Purpose
This study contributes to the growing body of literature documenting responses to short- and long-term impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on doctoral students. We examine support practices at different levels of the system in which doctoral students are embedded, drawing on Bronfenbrenner's ecological systems model to better understand how these contribute to doctoral students’ degree of resilience under stress.
Design
Using paired online interviews, we explore the experiences of 21 doctoral students from 7 universities across Europe, Africa and Asia.
Findings
We find that support of supervisors at the microsystem level was a pivotal mediating factor in explaining to what extent the negative impacts of the pandemic were experienced by the doctoral students in our sample. At the same time, factors at the systemic level, such as weak infrastructure for online education, and limited incentives for supervisors to engage in additional mentoring beyond supervision, affected the repertoire of actions available to students at lower levels of the support system. In less resourced settings where systemic constraints were felt particularly strongly, students had to self-facilitate sources of resilience, resorting to peer and external mentors’ support at the mesosystem level of their environment.
#covid19 #pandemic #research #HigherEducation #PhD #postgraduate #resilience #Bronfenbrenner
University of Michigan shutters its flagship diversity program https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/mar/28/university-michigan-ends-dei-program #Trumpadministration #Highereducation #USeducation #USpolitics #USnews #Race
The Guardian · University of Michigan shutters its flagship diversity program
Not a real #FASoS town hall meeting --- but still a topic related to real-world challenges in Dutch #highereducation: Students of our BA #DigitalSociety at Maastricht University presented an academic role-play on cryptocurrency donations as a means to back up university finances this morning and also created an invitation poster that participants could use to take notes.
"Three prominent critics of President #DonaldTrump are leaving #Yale’s faculty — and the #UnitedStates — amid attacks on #highereducation to take up positions at the #UniversityofToronto in fall 2025.
Yale Daily News · Three prominent Yale professors depart for Canadian university, citing Trump fearsHistory department power couple Timothy Snyder and Marci Shore and philosophy professor Jason Stanley will begin teaching at the University of Toronto’s renowned Munk School in fall 2025.
Yale professor who studies fascism fleeing US to work in Canada https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/mar/26/yale-professor-fascism-canada #Highereducation #USuniversities #YaleUniversity #USpolitics #Censorship #Education #Worldnews #Americas #Canada #USnews
The Guardian · Yale professor who studies fascism fleeing US to work in Canada
Yale professor who studies fascism fleeing US to work in Canada https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/mar/26/yale-professor-fascism-canada #Highereducation #USuniversities #YaleUniversity #USpolitics #Censorship #Education #Worldnews #Americas #Canada #USnews
The Guardian · Yale professor who studies fascism fleeing US to work in Canada
A Tufts international grad student was detained by ICE yesterday outside her apartment. Visa revoked. Her whereabouts are currently unknown.
Emergency Rally today Wednesday, March 26, 5:30pm, Powderhouse Square Park, Somerville
Greater Boston please come out! And spread the word
How can you effectively integrate #sustainability #education into #highereducation courses—without overloading faculty or relying on outdated approaches?
At #dghd2025 at the Frankfurt University of Applied Sciences, I presented our online course: 
Sustainability Education 101 (SE101): What You Need to Know to Foster Sustainability in Your Courses Now https://hdz.unisg.ch/de/weiterbildungskurse/nachhaltigkeit-professionell-foerdern-und-heterogenitaet-beruecksichtigen/sustainability-education-101-se101-selbstlernkurs/
SE101 is a research-based, practice-oriented course that has been tested across multiple universities.
HDZSustainability Education 101 | HDZ-HSG | Universität St.GallenHochschuldidaktisches Zentrum, Selbstlernkurs
Vandaag om 11:30 bij Omroep Delft (radio):
Gesprek met VSSD bestuurslid Eise de Boer over de TU Delft staking op 24 April. We protesteren tegen de aangekondigde bezuinigingen van 1.2 miljard euro op het hoger onderwijs.
Luister live mee op https://www.omroepdelft.nl/radio
Wil je actief mee helpen met de organisatie van deze staking? Meld je dan aan via https://www.fnv.nl/tu-delft
www.omroepdelft.nlRadio | Omroep Delft
American Association of University Professors [#AAUP] v. #Rubio
A case challenging the #Trump administration’s policy of ideological deportation.
"On March 25, 2025, the Knight Institute filed a lawsuit challenging the Trump administration’s policy of arresting, detaining, and deporting noncitizen students and faculty who participate in pro-Palestinian activism. The lawsuit, filed on behalf of the American Association of University Professors (AAUP), AAUP’s #Harvard, #NYU, and #Rutgers campus chapters, and the #MiddleEastStudies Association, argues that the policy chills noncitizens from speaking and, by extension, robs these organizations and their U.S. citizen members of noncitizens’ perspectives on a matter of significant public debate.
"The lawsuit responds to a climate of repression and fear on university campuses. Federal agencies are attempting to deport multiple individuals for their #ProPalestinian advocacy, including #MahmoudKhalil, a leader of protests at Columbia University. These actions have sent chills through the community of noncitizen students and faculty on campuses around the country, causing some to pull out of academic conferences, stay home from #protests, and withdraw from other forms of public advocacy and engagement.
"The lawsuit alleges that the administration’s policy of ideological deportation violates the First Amendment right of the plaintiffs to hear from and associate with noncitizen students and faculty, that it is unconstitutionally vague, and that it violates the Administrative Procedure Act. The suit seeks a court order declaring that the policy is unlawful and enjoining the federal government from enforcing it."
Status: Complaint filed on March 25, 2025.
Case Information: American Association of University Professors v. Rubio, No. 1:25-cv-10685 (D.Mass).
https://knightcolumbia.org/cases/aaup-v-rubio
#YunseoChung #RightToProtest #SilencingDissent #USPol #CharacteristicsOfFascism #law
#immigration #FreeSpeech #MarcoRubio #Trump #FreedomOfAssembly #Authoritarianism #Palestine #CriminalizingDissent #HigherEducation
Knight First Amendment InstituteAmerican Association of University Professors v. Rubio