Blurts

Apple has released a patch that addresses some of the CPU exploits making most tech devices vulnerable to data theft.

One of the most recent security flaws takes advantage of a CPU vulnerability. This means pretty much anything with a chip is potentially at risk. The vulnerabilities include the potential that passwords and other personal information can be stolen. Various hardware companies are working to push out patches and you may or may not have had the opportunity to make your equipment more secure as of this date. My impression is that most fixes have yet to appear.

Here is an explanation of the exploit provided by Google. I became aware of this problem when reading an expert explain that he felt compelled to block all ads even though he disagreed with the process of ad blocking because of the threat from this exploit.

You become vulnerable when using a browser online so modifications to browser software will likely be an initial response. Apple promises a patch to Safari that will soon be available (and may already be released). I am particularly concerned about chrome and the machines I use that run on the Chrome OS (see link to Google’s explanation above). My understanding is that this fix will be released in a week or so.

I did find an immediate adjustment you can make as a chrome browser user. I do not think it deals with all exploit related problems, but Google claims it deals with some. I have made this modification and I have noticed to problems (it is described as experimental). Note that the modification may seem unusual – you copy a line of code into the site address text window to execute, but it does work.

Older chrome devices may not be protected by the most immediate fixes that will be available and this may be an issue in settings (e.g. education) that keep equipment around for as long as possible.

This post generated by the Minnetonka Public School proposes that iPads offer a cost advantage in comparison to Chromebooks.

As of his most recent calculation, the total cost of deploying a five-year-old iPad 2 ends up being $0.38/day! Lower than their Chromebook counterparts.

….discovered that Chromebook’s lack of longevity and essential education tools makes them more expensive than iPad for their school district in the long run.

I must admit that I find this hard to believe having spent considerable time with both iPads and a quality Chromebook (first generation Google Chromebook). I like both devices, but for different reasons. The author claims that the lack of a keyboard was not an issue for students. This has not been my experience, but I write a lot. I purchased the iPad Pro with the keyboard which no longer works so my experience with a couple of machines has been very different.

The article does not break down the costs, but my guess is that cost issues have a great deal to do with how a district expects to use the devices.

only to find major limitations for the school district in the areas of educational apps, multimedia creation and editing tools, and even storage.

As a heavy Google user, I have never found storage an issue. I admit that multimedia creation is more challenging with a Chromebook. My personal preference for multimedia creation (with the exception of Explain Anything) is a conventional laptop. The price here for a Macbook Air would be comparable to my iPad Pro, but I guess the software would be a bit more expensive.

This post is an interesting cost analysis and it would be informative to have data from other districts with different instructional priorities.

The Internet comes with both dangers and opportunities. A major problem is the opportunity to align with a group taking a particular position supporting and strengthening erroneous personal biases. A personal bias is difficult to challenge, but a personal bias supported by a support group is particularly problematic.

I worry about this issue with educators. There are things about what some educators even describe as “finding their tribe” that I find particularly disturbing. The tribal mentality is a perfect environment for the type of bias sustaining environment I describe above. A component of some of the teacher tribes I observe is a kind of “teachers know best because teachers teach”. This perspective is sometimes encouraged by some ex-teachers who make their living writing, speaking, and providing in-service experiences. These folks tout their previous backgrounds as a source of credibility. I do recognize that educators may have insights focused on tactics they have found to be successful and that follow practitioners may not have considered. My concern is that personal experience can lead to what is called “naive science” when theories of how the world works are derived from personal experience. This term originated from the study of how learners understand scientific processes based on encountering these processes in daily life rather than through formal training. Just because you have a personal theory of how some aspect of the world works does not mean that this theory is valid.

What learning is and how learning happens are topics that people like me study for a living. These are not issues I try to understand as an individual, but as part of a community that investigates these phenomena from a research-based perspective. So, like climate change which can be associated with several perspectives, I can suggest that the preponderance of the evidence seems focused on specific conclusions. Getting from these models of learning to classroom implementation can be challenging, but some applications are simply inconsistent with what is suggested by the preponderance of the evidence. This does not mean that applications inconsistent with these findings will not work. Humans can processes pretty much any life experience to their benefit. What it means is that some applications will be far more successful than others.

So, depending on your tribe, you may be reluctant to hear that many project-based or problem-based learning experiences are relatively ineffective, but careful analyses indicates that this is the case. Perhaps some students will be motivated and benefit as a consequence, but some others will likely find many such experiences as busy work. When committed to a given personal theory, it is common to focus on the cases that suit this theory. Careful research commits to rigorous design methods to avoid such problems.

So, this is a suggestion that individuals recognize that their tribalism may encourage bias and promote the current shiny thing. In my opinion, researchers tend to police each other and demand that claims made be associated with data generated. This constant questioning may frustrate some who want simple answers, but over time, the demand for proof does reduce the biases that can creep in.

I follow the survey data from the PEW research center because the organization collects data on many issues I believe are important. PEW has just released a summary of the findings they thought were most striking from the surveys they conducted in 2017.

For example, they found that political party was far more influential in determining “political values” than other demographic variables (sex, income, education).

The surveys also indicated that Republicans felt that the news media was much less important as a political watch dog and that higher education was much less important in determining the success of the country.

I find these attitudes bizarre, but I suppose that is because I have more progressive political views.