@HerrSchwindenh_ @james858499 Issues in health care suggest overreaching AI creates problems for privacy https://t.co/cvhLsX1Jge #mscedc
— C (@c4miller) March 17, 2017
From Twitter
@learntechstu @fleurhills You can learn principles of coding without knowing code. Like, biology, without knowing DNA programming #mscedc
— C (@c4miller) March 17, 2017
From Twitter
My favourite algorithm ever. If all others ceased to exist and just one remained it would be https://t.co/Tp5uGxVfsA #dwarffortress #mscedc
— C (@c4miller) March 17, 2017
From Twitter
@nigelchpainting Looks as complicated as an algorithm production – have you checked in with Tyrell Corp recently 😉 #mscedc
— C (@c4miller) March 16, 2017
From Twitter
@philip_downey @Eli_App_D @j_k_knox I'm looking for a quote that shows lecturers paid per-head at lectures as was once the case #mscedc
— C (@c4miller) March 16, 2017
From Twitter
@helenwalker7 @Cheneehey @rennhann @philip_downey Wow. Not so dissimilar to badges we were looking at in IDEL #mscedc
— C (@c4miller) March 16, 2017
From Twitter
@Cheneehey @helenwalker7 @rennhann @philip_downey Good points. Attendance points for Printer Credit? I can see it happening already. #mscedc
— C (@c4miller) March 16, 2017
From Twitter
More successful algorithmic advertisement placement. Perhaps this is part of the future of education too? #mscedc pic.twitter.com/yQRNw3jeoU
— C (@c4miller) March 16, 2017
From Twitter
@j_k_knox lessons learned when people remove their critical appraisal of advice from IT #mscedc https://t.co/CLBNmUI2Bq pic.twitter.com/bc1CUlZi8o
— C (@c4miller) March 16, 2017
From Twitter
@j_k_knox Class sizes grow and humans delegate and defer more to the machine #mscedc
— C (@c4miller) March 16, 2017
From Twitter
@rennhann @j_k_knox We could end up with only a single platform to engage with our course to satisfy the LA! How would #mscedc cope?!
— C (@c4miller) March 16, 2017
From Twitter
Even Google cannot rely on its own algorithms exclusively. The hidden human group adjusting results #mscedc
— C (@c4miller) March 16, 2017
From Twitter
@dabjacksonyang @Eli_App_D >35%! Too easy for students who need help or sanctions to slip under such a blanket figure. #mscedc
— C (@c4miller) March 13, 2017
From Twitter
@Eli_App_D @dabjacksonyang setting such figures leads to flawed systems Delegation is more widespread than I would ever countenance #mscedc
— C (@c4miller) March 13, 2017
Week 8 – Round Up
Algorithms are awesome. From procedural generated computer games, to making recommendations on what music I might like, I’m very much a fan of what they do having been exposed to them from a young age. I checked out Reddit which is an interesting algortihm to consider here because the algorithm works in tandem with human input to identify content which is “relevant”. In theory Reddit should provide the level of agency that Gillespie doesn’t think we can achieve. In reality, it usually just ends up with a very american view of the world.
I also wondered why, given the importance of search engines, Google can escape the same levels of ire that media moguls receive. Not that I suggest the Murdoch empire is unfairly criticised. On reflection, perhaps Google has watched and learned the issues faced by print and broadcast media.
I spend a fair bit of my time at work dealing with issues around Turnitin, so I was surprised to see it mentioned so prominently as an algorithm used extensively in Higher Education in one of the core readings. This now vies for my attention on my essay portion of this course’s assessment.
I’ve created my artefact for this week. I tried very hard to “break” the algorithm on Steam, but I think without actually buying and playing a game that I would never normally countenance, there is not much chance of that happening. I found the process of re-running the “queue” to be quite enjoyable. There’s a message of over-consumption in there too which I haven’t addressed in my video.
I also found time to begin the process of tidying up my blog, I’m sticking with this theme now, as it seems to do everything asked of it by IFTTT. I also looked at my earliest posts and started to add the meta information required.
Week 8 – Artefact
This is my artefact for the Algorithmic experiment.
From twitter – Turnitin as a plagiarism “detection” system?
Knox (2015) writes:
“It is notable that algorithms, assumed to provide objectivity and exactitude, are frequently used in areas of high risk and security, and this is precisely where the most prominent example can be found in education: the use of the Turnitin plagiarism detection service at the point of assessment. ”
This is at odds with my own experience of using Turnitin. It is not a “plagiarism detection service”. It is at best able to suggest where plagiarism may have occurred, through its similarity indexing algorithm, but the ultimate call as to whether or not plagiarism has occurred is (still) made by humans. The similarity score of Turnitin is used as part of the evidence gathered in suspected academic misconduct cases. I have never heard of a student being penalised automatically. Perhaps it happens elsewhere.
Moreover, there should be push to flip the  focus of Turnitin’s reporting to  enable students to improve their scholarship.
ref: Knox, J. 2015. Algorithmic Cultures. Excerpt from Critical Education and Digital Cultures. In Encyclopedia of Educational Philosophy and Theory. M. A. Peters (ed.). DOI 10.1007/978-981-287-532-7_124-1
@james858499 a focus on detection needs to be switched around to focus on good scholarship if we are work in tandem with the tools provided
— C (@c4miller) March 13, 2017
From Twitter
A very interesting exchange with James via Twitter off the back of my comment regarding Turnitin as a “plagiarism detection tool”. I argue that it’s not such a thing, but there are those who take the opposing view point. I could see this discussion taking shape in to a larger piece of work.
@james858499 interesting indeed. Which institution bypasses discipline committees "delegates" its authority to a computer? #mscedc
— C (@c4miller) March 13, 2017
From Twitter
In my professional experience, Turnitin detects similarity. Plagiarism is then determined by humans. The software is no arbiter #mscedc
— C (@c4miller) March 12, 2017
Credible knowledge sources
Fox attempts to knock back the argument that the Murdochs, or more correctly the Murdoch Family Trust, will have under their control several of the leading news providers in the UK after the deal. It notes the separation between broadcast and print businesses, while pointing out that both companies have their own boards and independent shareholders.
The UK is currently looking at the division of labor in news production and circulation being even tighter. This apparently concerns a lot of people, including the UK Government.
Gillespie says that the production of information can only be handled by proxies in the division of labour. To do so otherwise would be too mammoth a task given the size of our country
“some produce and select information, and the rest of us, at least in that moment, can only take it for what it’s worth”. Â (Gillespie, 2012 p 25)
And yet, when considering the fundamental importance of a single search engine’s algorithm in putting news and content in front of the information consumer, Google’s market share is not prominent in the headlines, despite it account for 88% of UK search engine activity in January 2017 according to Statista.com
(source)
This comes down to a number of reasons, but one which I’d be interested in exploring is that the technology is not understood by law makers. Unlike traditional media who have actively sought to lobby and influence and gain power in the UK political arena, tech companies give the appearance at least, of enjoying staying out of the limelight and just getting on with what they do. I suspect the latter part of that is naive, I’m sure they do plenty lobbying too, but I don’t see a google doodle appearing any time soon stating “It was google what won it” in reference to a general election result.
Pinned to Alogrithms on Pinterest
This was supposed to be an image that showed how people will claim to have a superior understanding of Google’s algorithm to such a degree that they can offer “1st page placement”. Something has happened to the image which I’ll need to rectify, but the context was Gillespie’s “Evaluation of Relevance” section of the secondary reading this week.
Just Pinned to Alogrithms: 43 Penguin Friendly SEO Tips for Page One Google Rankings: http://ift.tt/2mWDgEN
Pinned to Alogrithms on Pinterest
I included this image of a book cover because it exemplified the element of fear that people hold about algorithmic culture, the invasive, pervasive and prominent role algorithms have taken in our every day life. It also looks like a book I might yet read.
Pinned to Algorithms on Pinterest
“So in many ways, algorithms remain outside our grasp, and they are designed to be. ……”
“……This is not to say that we should not aspire to illuminate their workings and impact.”
From Twitter
Is it OK to record eye tracking in VR? Advertisers will love this but what about social community spaces? https://t.co/oRunaOzHDu #mscedc
— C (@c4miller) March 12, 2017
From Twitter
@HerrSchwindenh_ @nigelchpainting @j_k_knox I have found a lot of new music through LastFM, Google Play etc. Different genres even #mscedc
— C (@c4miller) March 10, 2017
My first memory of algorithms
(image source:Â http://8bs.com/beebugmags.htm)
It was a programme that my dad and I typed, line-by-line in BBC Basic. The BBC micro combined with hours of painstaking debugging from the lines of code printed in the Bebug Magazine pictured above, resulted in a programme that would create trees on-screen based on your inputs. I guess in today’s money such programming would be referred to as “procedural generation”, but it’s still an algorithm. Procedural generated games are among the most fascinating experiences gaming has to offer today. At least, I think they are. The controlled randomness of it all is fascinating to watch unfurl as it moves through its magical creative powers.
Using algorithms to create learning pathways could be very similar to game design. I hope I can investigate this more fully in the Games Based Learning module coming up in the next academic year.
(image source:Â http://www.wired.co.uk/article/games-developed-by-algorithms)
From Twitter
"This House believes that robots will soon be a positive and defining feature of our daily lives" #HeriotwattMLD watch online #mscedc?
— C (@c4miller) March 10, 2017
From Twitter
@j_k_knox @dabjacksonyang "Search Engine Optimisation" was a field I was once involved in. Writing for the web requires training #mscedc
— C (@c4miller) March 10, 2017
From Twitter
Netflix algorithms:my wife prefers watching my profile suggestions than her profile #mscedc Until pawpatrol then you're in a whole new world
— C (@c4miller) March 10, 2017
From Twitter
Continuing with my VR themed tweets from online community cultures. VR and personal space #mscedc https://t.co/aNZjMM8plh
— C (@c4miller) March 9, 2017
Algorithms; community and eye tracking in VR
Given that we’ve moved on to algorithms and culture, I thought to check out some stuff from Reddit. Reddit is driven by an algorithm, though it also has elements of human interaction to drive content up or down a hierarchy. It’s from a day-gone-by pre web2.0, but the site holds in there with huge communities built up around the “sub-reddits” there. I found an interesting discussion opening up over on /r/vive, a section of Reddit which is dedicated to primarily HTC Vive, but also VR in general.
“With all the talk about eye tracking inside VR headsets, I wanted to ask and see how many people on here have had LASIK eye surgery. The reason I am asking is because I believe I have discovered a fatal flaw in eye tracking technology when it comes to people who have had LASIK eye surgery.”
The user suggests that after a form of eye surgery, eye tracking software ( which is increasingly likely to be bundled along with VR. I can hear Facebook salivating at the thought of tracking eyeballs and adverts…..).
I “upvoted” the discussion, as I feel it’s an interesting and well considered original post. However, the algorithm behind Reddit, combined with other user’s interactions with the story, will determine how long the post remains visible to other users, and its position on the page.
From Twitter
https://t.co/pX4rfN7ERP A VR MMORPG. Not Second Life, not WoW, not Star Citizen. Something to consider for Digital Education #mscedc
— C (@c4miller) March 6, 2017
From Twitter
"One of the most important parts of a VR experience must always be socialization." @OrbusVR community building in VR! #mscedc
— C (@c4miller) March 6, 2017
From Twitter
Second Life's third life… Linden Labs back for another bite of the pie https://t.co/SkkpnO9WGs … #mscedc
— C (@c4miller) March 6, 2017
From Twitter
@dabjacksonyang Kozinets' matrix talks about more than "makers" in a community. Is it just the creative categorisation drawing ire? #mscedc
— C (@c4miller) March 6, 2017
From Twitter
@dabjacksonyang Too simplistic? Not reliable? I suggest that the patterns appear too broad for a short-lived, small MOOC community. #mscedc
— C (@c4miller) March 6, 2017
From Twitter
#mscedc blogs are down…. I'll park this here for now: https://t.co/Nb1cqx6Rwe #vredtech virtual reality education technology
— C (@c4miller) March 6, 2017
From Twitter
Virtual worlds and Virtual Reality worlds. Does what we know about online community transfer realities? #mscedc https://t.co/4GD64FXz16
— C (@c4miller) March 6, 2017
From Twitter
Saturday morning, Scotland, out in the rain… "no where I'd rather be than making this video summary for you now" @james858499 😀 #mscedc
— C (@c4miller) March 6, 2017
From Twitter – AI with a nice name
The AI designer’s name is “Molly”. I wonder if she’d get on with Alexa https://t.co/pGC3OukIKi. #mscedc http://pic.twitter.com/J3CoFgxlkG
— C (@c4miller) March 6, 2017
from http://twitter.com/c4miller
via IFTTT