daily improvisation

The rise of the scinfluencers and the new narrative emerging from pseudo-scientific policy-making

The topic of science communication has gained a lot of attention in the last years and no higher educaton institution has not been involved in concepts related to “transfer” activities or the so called “third mission” of higher education institutions.

Exploring BlueSky as social network

I have started using Twitter on the 24th of November of 2007 and have stopped posting any content exactly 15 years after. From my perception, the network which is called “X” now has been converted into a right-wing propaganda machine and I cannot understand my colleagues who are still active there.

Don´t believe thy hype. 9 problems with the concept of future skills and 21st century skills

I have written at the end of the last semester a critical review of the concept of future-skills in German (preprint available here, still in review) In Germany, there is a plethora of activism around this concept and many higher education institutions feel the need to react to the hype around these skills.

Redefining my writing workflow

One of the things I have started recently is a book-project. For this purpose I have been working on a new writing workflow which combines reference management, reading, highlighting and note-taking, writing and publishing.

Positionality statements in research articles as biaswashing

During a recent review process I have requested from authors that they should address from which standpoint they have approached their qualitative study. While I was referring in this comment the ontological and theoretical levels as formulated by Twining, Heller, Nussbaum & Tsai (2017) in the guidelines for the journal Computers & Education, the authors have understood my request as a call for a „positionality statement“ in which the authors disclose some of their biographical details (white, cis, middle-age) as potentially influencing their research.

Why AI-based tools are never neutral

„ChatGPT itself is a neutral tool, and how it is used depends on the intentions of those who use it.“ (Cohen, 2023). This messages is commmunicated by the US-based Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD) to its 125 000 members (estimaton) regarding an AI-based tool which is currently pushing the discourse on AI in education.

The downgrading of knowledge by education hipsters

„This has become a fashionable platitude, which…would result in a…content-free curriculum […]. This downgrading of knowledge is, ironies of ironies, to be implemented in the interest of creating a knowledge-based economy.

This is not a post about ChatGPT but agenda setting

Since I am currently often asked about my opinion about ChatGPT I want to share why I do not write about ChatGPT. The discussion about ChatGPT (Generative Pretrained Transformer) is at least as annoying as the Wordle wave that has hit my social media channels some years ago.

Backup strategy for Knowledge-workers under MacOS

If your productice work is 100% happening in digital environments the secure and reliable backup of data becomes a necessity and data-loss can have serious implications for all kind of processes.

Restarting my personal knowledge management

The break and transition into the new year is always a time for me to optimise my workflows or to explore some changes in the way I handle information, tasks or communication.