Posted on

Blueprint for an AI Bill of Rights to Fill Possible Policy Gaps

Screenshot from the fact sheet of the Office of Science and Technology Policy.

Last October, the Biden-Harris administration released a Blueprint for an AI Bill of Rights in anticipation of the need to protect the civil rights of Americans against big technology intrusions. Although there are already many protections in place, the Blueprint was developed to “inform policy-making to fill those gaps” where there aren’t any clear or designated policies. It provides five basic protections:

  • Safe and Effective Systems: You should be protected from unsafe or ineffective systems.
  • Algorithmic Discrimination Protections: You should not face discrimination by algorithms and systems should be used and designed in an equitable way.
  • Data Privacy: You should be protected from abusive data practices via built-in protections and you should have agency over how data about you is used.
  • Notice and Explanation: You should know that an automated system is being used and understand how and why it contributes to outcomes that impact you.
  • Alternative Options: You should be able to opt out, where appropriate, and have access to a person who can quickly consider and remedy problems you encounter.

At that same time, the White House also announced actions to be taken within the government in support of the Blueprint that would immediately assist citizens across vocations in education, health care, technology and so forth. This is what the White House has in store in education for 2023:

Protecting students and supporting educators:

  • To guide schools in the use of AI, the Department of Education will release recommendations on the use of AI for teaching and learning by early 2023. These recommendations will: give educators, parents and caregivers, students, and communities tools to leverage AI to advance universal design for learning; define specifications for the safety, fairness, and efficacy of AI models used within education; and introduce guidelines and guardrails that build on existing education data privacy regulations as well as introduce new policies to support schools in protecting students when using AI.

I look forward to reading what the Department of Education will release this year.

Posted on

A Pledge, a Badge, a Convening

Office of Educational Technology – ISKME – Licensed CC-BY 4.0

This is another blog post about badges, namely one badge. Lately, I’ve seen quite a few examples of badges, places that give badges, and reasons why badges should be given. In our digital era we can show our support of causes by “earning” the right to display badges. Badges can also provide digital records of professional achievements and activities. The frequency in which I see information about badges could be because I’ve been made aware of badges through the study of OER…so now I see or hear about them nearly everywhere I turn.

Today I saw an announcement about a forthcoming OER badge that interested me. I want that badge! Here’s the skinny on how to get one for yourself.

In a joint effort to continue to build awareness and implementation of OER, the Institute for the Study of Knowledge Management in Education (ISKME) and the US. Department of Education (ED) announced a new #GoOpen pledge and a virtual convening surrounding OER. Upon taking the pledge, each person will be presented with a #GoOpen digital badge to display their support for OER and #GoOpen.

Here’s the details about the #GoOpen Pledge of Support from the #GoOpen website. There is one pledge for states or districts, and one for individual educators:

The Pledge for States or Districts

The pledge is intended for a State Educational Agency (SEA) or Local Educational Agency (LEA) and represents a public commitment to the principles inherent in open education, demonstrated through support for the use of open educational resources (OER) for their principals, teachers, learners, and other interested parties. The pledge is intended to endure beyond changes in personnel at the SEA or LEA, and organizations will have a chance to renew their commitment every 3 years.

The [SEA/LEA] commits to support the #GoOpen initiative, and as a member of the initiative, we pledge to support open education by:

  1. Sharing new opportunities for open education alongside knowledge and evidence about what works, in our communications to all interested parties;
  2. Emphasizing open education as a means for providing equitable access to high- quality, flexible, low- or no-cost teaching and learning materials in our policies;
  3. Supporting ways for educators to adopt and use OER and include students as beneficiaries, contributors, and co-creators of OER, in our practices; and
  4. Offering rigorous and engaging learning experiences that are inclusive, culturally responsive, and accessible to all learners, in our commitment to equity and continuous improvement in education.

The Pledge of Participation for Individuals

The Department of Education also offers the opportunities for individual educators to take a Pledge of Participation to demonstrate their commitment to grow open education as part of their own work. Educators, leaders, and interested parties will have a chance to renew their commitment every 3 years.

As a Participant in the #GoOpen initiative, I pledge to support open education by:

  1. Endorsing open education as a mechanism for providing equitable access to high- quality, adaptable, low- or no-cost teaching and learning materials;
  2. Adopting OER and open educational practice;
  3. Sharing knowledge and evidence about successes and challenges locally and nationally;
  4. Supporting others to adopt OER and open educational practice, including students; and,
  5. Supporting learning experiences that are inclusive, culturally responsive, and accessible to all learners, in my commitment to equity and continuous improvement in education.

Invitation to the #GoOpen Convening

When: December 10, 2021, 11-2:30 Eastern Time
Where: Virtual via Zoom, details and registration forthcoming
Cost: Free of charge

The convening is to support educators in collectively working to expand access to high-quality open educational resources, toward scaling continuous improvement in education locally and nationally.

This special one-day event will feature a keynote speaker, a participatory working group activity, and Q&A. The event will span important open education topics, including diversity, equity, inclusion, problem solving within the classroom, and OER implementation and scaling.

Office of Educational Technology – ISKME – Licensed CC-BY 4.0