🙋♂️ NEOTech24, AI, growth mindset, and more – Of bits and bytes for March 18, 2024
Internet Travels
Of bits and bytes is my weekly round up of interesting links and ideas I discovered on the internet. It is published on Mondays for the previous week
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NEOTech 2024
NEOTech 2024 took place this past Tuesday and I had the honor of attending several very good sessions along with presenting! My notes for the conference, along with my presentation, are available on my presentation page.
Creating apps out of websites is coming to Chrome
Mac users already have this capability in Safari, but Google is going to be adding it to Chrome. Turning websites into apps isn’t a new idea, Firefox pioneered the idea of websites as apps back in 2010 with Prism. The idea was to create Single Site Browsers (SSB) for websites, providing a separation of shared data while also allowing some operating system capabilities to be used.
SSB is coming back with the rise of websites that are as capable as a native app. Bringing this into the present, on the Mac the web apps are able to show notification badges. We’ll have to see what capabilities the Chrome version will have.
You may be asking, “then why is Chrome asking me to install a site as an app now?”, and that’s a very good question! Sites can let Chrome know that it can be installed as an app. You can visit chat.google.com to see an example:
Google is adding it so EVERY site can be installed as an app.
Where will AI take us in schools?
The National Education Policy Center released a brief outlining issues with AI in school (H/T) calling for more oversight on bringing AI into schools, and I can’t say I disagree with them. When the scientists themselves can’t tell you how it works it sounds like a recipe for disaster. The latest is that AI chats can be intercepted and read without the user knowing even though they are encrypted. The fear is that we won’t know if it’s damaging or not until it’s too late. Despite these concerns, the potential for personalized learning and accessibility can’t be ignored. It’s about finding the right balance.
However, looking at what AI will or won’t do in education shows that we are still at the very beginning of AI in schools. The next 10 years will be very interesting.
My greatest fear from the AI revolution? A future foreseen in 1895 by H.G. Wells of the apathetic Eloi.
Making sense of the Growth Mindset
A growth mindset is one where a person believes that they can improve, they are flexible and can get better. There are many benefits of the growth mindset. However, it has a dark side. That article is very blunt and to the point, but the idea is that just having a growth mindset isn’t enough, you also have to have realistic views of your capabilities.
Dan McLaughlin set out to become a professional golfer, quitting his job and putting in the hours of deliberate practice. Halfway through he was able to bring his handicap down to a 2.6, a feat achieved by less than 6 percent of golfers. In the end, health issues ended his goal, but he doesn’t feel like a failure (and he shouldn’t).
Do not disturb
I already have almost all notifications turned off, including those for texts. For work I have my own personal rules. If it’s time sensitive, call, if not, email. I don’t know when we made the switch to “everything is an emergency and I need the answer now” but it is not healthy. When everything is a priority, nothing is.
Tips
Chromebooks have a charging sound that you can manually enable. I turned it on for our managed Chromebooks, but then found out it doesn’t make the sound if the lid is closed. That means the entire reason I turned it on, so kids know their Chromebook has started charging, is moot since they won’t hear it. Hopefully this is just a bug to be fixed!
So it won’t be marked as “seen” #notification #texting #memes #9gag | Instagram
More links
Pedagogy
- Consistency Will Take You Places Where Motivation Can’t – New Trader U – As someone who has ran 15 marathons, I can attest to the validity of consistency.
- Why Self-Confidence Is More Important Than You Think | Psychology Today – “Stronger sense of your authentic self”. What if your authentic self scares you?
Technology
- Florida teens arrested for creating ‘deepfake’ AI nude images of classmates – The Verge – They were only brought up on charges because Florida has a law against creating fake nude images. However, this isn’t the case in most states, and with the cat out of the bag, this could get very bad, very fast.
- The Meta outage was short. But for many that was no small thing | AP News – If you lose access to social media, what else do you lose?
- The Terrible Costs of a Phone-Based Childhood – I could see a decline in kids’ phone usage once the current generation of school kids become parents.
- FCC scraps old speed benchmark, says broadband should be at least 100Mbps | Ars Technica – About time.
Pop Culture
- Give America’s teens a break: Switch to permanent standard time – It’s more than just teens, but standard time is where its at. Too bad the politicians don’t see that.
- The Man Who Remembered Everything—and Thought It Was Normal ‹ Literary Hub – That would be maddening.
- How Many Of These 39 Now Outdated Things Have You Done – Number #1 is surprising
Potpourri
- What Is the Best Way To Memorize Stuff? Scientists Shed New Light
- Study investigates the best way to memorize details
- No, You Don’t Have All The Answers
- ADHD linked to unusual brain connectivity patterns in large-scale neuroimaging study
- BreakTime: Brick Breaker inside Google Calendar | eieio.games
Extra Credit
- Research Shows Coffee Can Make You Smarter, More Creative, and More Focused, but There’s 1 Problem-Solving Catch
- How parents can help their kids be more successful than most: experts
- Another Think Coming · Implications for PD Facilitators
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