Autism, ADHD, and Giftedness among Students

Another brilliant diagram that caught my attention today is a Venn diagram created by Katy Higgins Lee, a psychotherapist and counselor. Depicting the characteristics of three overlapping conditions, autism, giftedness, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, the diagram should be relevant to anyone interested in general psychology, not merely that of students. Still, I would like to discuss it in relation to my students, most of whom are Engineering and Architecture majors, and a substantial portion of whom show signs of giftedness. While few of these students appear autistic or hyperactive, some do require special accommodations for ADHD, such as a quiet environment for writing, along with extra time on exams; we regularly receive communications from the university administration regarding these special cases.

To begin with autistic traits, yes some students indicate that they prefer to work alone, not in teams as required for the Technical English project, but that does not necessarily mean they are autistic! Additionally, some show a need for very explicit instructions (“order… and clear expectations”); if something is not written on the course website, they think it does not matter although I may repeat it verbally in class. For a more inclusive course, it is better if the teacher spells out all expectations in writing. Additionally, many students show preference for interconnection through interests, so I encourage the entire class to socialize on a special forum early in the semester. That way, individuals may choose their team members, rather than feeling forced into a team for the sake of the course project. One other common trait is hypersensitivity at one extreme or lowered sensory awareness, as in not picking up on nonverbal cues from the teacher, for example to be quiet or to stop a side-conversation.

Concerning ADHD, many students are easily bored, but that does not necessarily mean they suffer from a disorder. Those that fidget, cannot stop moving or talking, and show little impulse control are more likely to be afflicted. Their memories are affected due to inattention, requiring repetition and clearly written detailed instructions and feedback. On the other hand, these same pupils display heightened enthusiasm regarding topics of interest; with obvious surges of energy, they can occasionally be more productive than the calmer students. Fortunately, a substantial proportion of my Engineering and Architecture students show signs of giftedness. They understand new concepts and processes quickly, are fast to notice details, and value precision. They can think outside the box, as in creative problem-solving, and while fascinated with theory, they learn to appreciate the need for practical, down-to-earth ideas (“existential issues”). They expect constant intellectual stimulation though some simultaneously complain that the course is too busy.

As Higgins Lee rightly warns, the overlapping areas are NOT listing traits that are restricted to multiply neurodivergent individuals. Matters are more complicated, yet the diagram is simple and educational. I hope you find it useful!

Privilege vs Marginalization

As part of a lesson on integrating visuals in technical communication, I recently shared with my students a brilliant diagram I had come across online: The “Academic Wheel of Privilege” attributed by the UKRIO (UK Research Integrity Office) to El Sherif et. al. (2022) . The idea for this wheel had apparently been popularized by Sylvia Duckworth, an award-winning Canadian teacher, after originating in a 2008 book by Sisnero et. al. entitled Critical Multicultural Social Work, as explained in this video by FORRT (Framework for Open and Reproducible Research Training).

What intrigues me about this chart is how organized and information-rich it is, with its concentric circles. It raises awareness about marginalized people, those at the periphery of the circle, and rather than merely showing binary opposition (privileged vs underprivileged), it shows a spectrum of three levels in each case. Here are a few examples:

•         Mental health: vulnerable, mostly stable, and robust
•         Disability: multiply disabled, some disability, able-bodied
•         Neuro-diversity; multiply neuro-divergent, some neuro-divergence, and neuro-typical
•         Funding sources: None/ very low, medium, and high

The wheel has been adapted by various authors. Sylvia Duckworth’s “Wheel of Power/ Privilege” appears to have been based on that of the Canadian Council for Refugees who used it as a “Power Wheel” on their website, under “Anti-oppression”. Theirs includes age, language, indigenous status and level of education among other criteria. The further away you are from the centre of the wheel, the less privileged you are, in the sense that you suffer in society when you should not. Interestingly in Canada, while the elderly are the least privileged in terms of age, the most privileged are the middle-aged rather than the youth. Differences by first language are also interesting; those whose main language is neither English nor French are marginalized while English speakers are the most privileged.

By referring my students to the “Academic Wheel of Privilege”, I killed two birds with one stone: raising awareness regarding citing sources while tracing ideas further back where applicable; and, of course, showing that a picture can be worth a thousand words. The wheel is clearly relevant not only to students and academics but to members of society at large: immigrants, as in Canada, and employees in the workplace would be clear examples.  

Reflections on Greek in the English Language

In the past year, I published a few blog posts on Noam Chomsky, the father of modern linguistics, whose ingenious theory of Universal Grammar resonates decades later despite opposition. He had postulated that all human languages follow similar grammatical rules, no matter how superficially different the languages may appear; that word formation and sentence structure abide by analogous logical patterns. On the other hand, one may wonder about vocabulary across languages, seeing so much in common.

The Greek language, once ranked by the Guiness Book of World Records as the richest language, with five million words, comes to mind. It is well known that many English words are of modern Greek origin; and even more English words that were incorporated indirectly through other languages, such as Latin, originated from Ancient Greek. Although English is considered a Germanic language, the list of English words of Greek origin is long, as can be seen from this Oakton College resource: List of Greek and Latin Roots in English. Here are some examples:

·       The root “acr” means height/ summit/ tip, which explains, for example, English acrophobia, fear of heights, acrobatics, acromegaly, and so on.

·       The root “aesthe” relates to feelings or perceptions, hence English aesthetics.

·       The root “agr” means field or country, hence agronomy and agriculture.

·       “Auto”, meaning self, generates English autonomy and autism.

·       “Bell”, relating to war, explains English belligerent and bellicose.

·       “Cac”, meaning bad, generates English cacophony.

·       “Eu”, meaning well or good, explains euphoria and euthanasia.

·       “Hom”, referring to same, produces homophone.

Most English words that begin with “ph”, such as photo, phrase, and philosophy, are of Greek origin, as suggested by Martha Peraki of the Women Writers’ Committee of Greece in a British Council article entitled “How Has Greek Influenced the English Language?” Peraki adds that English idioms of Greek origin include “crocodile tears” referring to faked sorrow and “the Midas touch”, a surprising ability to succeed whatever one undertakes.

To end my blog post, I’d like to emphasize that the word blog (from web log) is linked to Greek logos, meaning word or message. I hope my message is clear.

Word of the Year 2024

This year’s word of the year for Lebanon should be "resilience" in my view. People stayed put while huge explosions went off a few buildings away. The airport did not close but rather kept going while travelers watched the loud fireworks in the distance. Villagers returned to their land as soon as the war calmed down, rather than fleeing the country. Yet my annual blog entry on the “Word of the Year” is not meant to be about Lebanon or the Middle East, but rather words ranked by prominent English language dictionaries as worthy of the label, whether due to their statistical significance in frequency of lookups, due to the importance of their meaning in the year’s context, or through an interesting linguistic change or feature.

The Cambridge Dictionary’s word of the year is the word “manifest”, which is now being used in a positive sense rather than always carrying negative connotations as in “the illness became manifest” or “their madness manifested itself”. Rather, the dictionary refers to  “a host of manifesting influencers [that] popped up on social media, giving tips on how to manifest money, career success, or more generally, abundance”. This new sense of the word that was added to the dictionary in 2023 is defined as “to use methods such as visualization and affirmation to help you imagine achieving something you want, in the belief that doing so will make it more likely to happen”.

The Oxford Dictionary’s word of the year is “brain rot”: “Supposed deterioration of a person’s mental or intellectual state, especially viewed as a result of overconsumption of material (now particularly online content) considered to be trivial or unchallenging. Also: something characterized as likely to lead to such deterioration.” The dictionary authors justify the choice by referring to its increase in usage by 230% in one year though it was first spotted in 1854 in Henry David Thoreau’s book Walden: “While England endeavours to cure the potato rot, will not any endeavour to cure the brain-rot – which prevails so much more widely and fatally?” Casper Grathwohl, President of Oxford Languages, has noted that the language is reflecting society’s concern with people’s virtual lives as part of online culture, along with its distractions and dangers.

While “brain rot” was shortlisted by the Collins Dictionary, their word of the year is the adjective “brat”, as in “a brat summer”: characterized by a confident, independent, and hedonistic attitude. As for Webster’s favourite word this year, it is “polarization”, defined as “division into two sharply distinct opposites; especially, a state in which the opinions, beliefs, or interests of a group or society no longer range along a continuum but become concentrated at opposing extremes.” The grounds for their choice are its frequency in the media, especially with regard to US politics, including the elections and tensions over immigration.

Back to “resilience”, it actually scored even higher than “manifest” did for total searches on Cambridge Dictionary’s website: "It’s a powerful word, reflecting the strength and adaptability needed in challenging times," Cambridge said. 

In these difficult times globally, I wish my readers more resilience and a new year with less brain rot, less polarization, and calmer, more peaceful manifestation.

Resilience in Education

 

During Covid times, with the pandemic impacting education, I blogged about the need for teaching resilience after UNESCO had recognised the importance of resilience as a component of learning, resilience being the ability to succeed despite serious threats or to endure difficulty and recover after stress. At the time, I commented that resilience may be added to UNESCO’s four pillars of learning as one of the 21st Century Skills. Back then, the students were the main concern, academically as well as in terms of social and emotional wellbeing. Internal and external factors have been identified as contributors to student resilience. The internal factors include emotional competence, social competence, and future orientation. The external factors, on the other hand, refer to positive environmental support structures including the home, school, peers, and community. When educators help students “cultivate an approach to life that views obstacles as a critical part of success, we help them develop resilience,” writes Marilyn Price-Mitchell, a highly regarded psychologist. Among the methods of encouraging resilience among students, researchers cite encouraging reflection, modeling learning from mistakes, writing and talking about setbacks and human resilience, and establishing supportive relations with students. Research has recently focused not only on resilience in obvious adversity but also on how students and teachers overcome everyday challenges to learn and succeed.

Lately it has become clear that the resilience of teachers, institutions, and entire communities is just as important as student resilience. According to Elena Aguilar, a prominent teacher trainer, resilient teachers are ones who reflect, set limits to maintain their energy, and set clear priorities. Research is ongoing on the importance of cultivating teacher resilience in both pre-service and practicing teachers. Additionally some studies have been conducted on teaching in war zones; for example, community resilience and education access in Afghanistan, the resilience of teachers in Syria, and the resilience of Ukranian education. Other studies have focused on refugees, such as Syrian refugees in Lebanon. With Lebanon facing one war after another, however, there should be more studies on the resilience of students and teachers based in the country, not just refugees. At the institutional level, the private schools seem to be faring better than their public counterparts in the current situation. For example, the Catholic schools of Lebanon have recently made their resilience public as announced by the Catholic News Agency, stressing – from their point of view -the need to spread faith and hope as a religious duty (“Catholic Schools Stand Resilient Amid War”). A resilience program was already in place in Lebanese public schools, involving refugees and vulnerable Lebanese: The Education Cannot Wait Multi-Year Resilience Program, initiated jointly by Lebanese Authorities and external NGOs. Now that more of the population is vulnerable, new resilience measures may need to be set on a broader scale.

Professional Networking for Undergraduates

Mentioning LinkedIn to my first-year undergraduate students often elicits blank looks, as if they have not heard of the site. While highly active on social networking sites such as Facebook and Instagram, few are active on LinkedIn. Encouraging university students to start a presence on a professional networking site such as LinkedIn early in their higher education is important. The content of a LinkedIn profile, for example, reflects what the average employer or recruiter seeks in a potential job applicant. In that sense, the site is very educational. For those serious about job hunting or successful future careers, LinkedIn should not be left till after graduation. The site demonstrates what is important beyond academic qualifications and work experience: skills of different types – professional, technical, and interpersonal; volunteering; memberships and interest in companies, groups, publications, and schools; and causes, such as education and the environment. LinkedIn also allows users to endorse each other on skills as well as to solicit recommendations from those who can attest to their work. After learning how to manage their profile settings, users may also receive job ad notifications and apply for jobs through the site, indicating preferences for in-person, online, or blended jobs, and full-time versus part-time work.

By allowing students to network with others, including their teachers, LinkedIn can be a solid launch pad for students’ job hunting. On the other hand, it may be wise for people early in their careers not to limit their networking efforts to LinkedIn. There are online alternatives, including niche focused ones; it may be advisable for certain categories of students, particularly highly specialized ones, to consider simultaneous professional presence on at least one other such site. Here is a brief list:

·       AngelList, for startups

·       Behance, for creative people such as artists and designers to show their work

·       GitHub, for developers

·       Glassdoor, where workers may leave anonymous reviews about their companies, helping others gain a better picture of what they could be in for

·       Goodwall, for young job seekers to showcase their skills and find internships, jobs, volunteer opportunities and courses

·       Indeed, which is less social than LinkedIn and connects employers with applicants by video

·       Jobcase, for jobseekers in technology

·       Meetup, which allows people to find and join groups of interest based on location. It encourages in-person meetings while also allowing for online ones.

·       Network After Work, for after-office events in various cities

·       ResearchGate, for academics and researchers to connect and engage in scientific conversation

Ultimately, it is useful for students to be dexterous in establishing and enhancing their online presence, whether for job searching or career networking. However, apparently, some networking sites such as Shapr blend the social aspect so much with the professional that they may even be mistaken for dating apps. User beware!

Noam Chomsky on Artificial Intelligence

Noam Chomsky was one of the pioneers of computational linguistics in the 1950s. According to the IEEE Computer Society History Committee, he was the “father of formal languages”. While not a programmer or computer scientist himself, he contributed to the advancement of computer science, positing that the language faculty consists of a computational device that generates syntactic structures.

Chomsky’s early research at MIT was funded by the US military as it revolved around providing commands to computers using natural language. Being anti-militarist, especially anti-Vietnam war, he thought of resigning from MIT but, having been promoted, he stayed on while making it clear that he was against US foreign policy in many parts of the world. Chris Knight, a professor at University College London, summarizes this: “Had he resigned in disgust in the mid-1960s, when he was thinking of doing so, he might never have gained the platform he needed to signal his dissidence across the world. There are times when all of us have to make compromises, some more costly than others.” Knight authored the book, published in 2018, entitled Decoding Chomsky: Science and Revolutionary Politics.

More recently, Chomsky has commented on the language models used in artificial intelligence, referring to their applications as “sophisticated, high-tech plagiarism” and “a threatening, dangerous development” (See this 2023 interview: “Noam Chomsky on Artificial Intelligence” ). The better it gets, the worse it gets, Chomsky comments in this other interview, referring to how plagiarism affects educational policies (“Noam Chomsky on Artificial Intelligence, Language and Cognition”). For example, some teachers have gone back to requiring handwritten essays; others have had to re-devise essay projects to ensure individual student effort. The plagiarism involved is, in his opinion, an impediment. Instead of students thinking for themselves on a topic, AI can do the thinking for them, which in Chomsky’s view defeats the purpose of a proper education. In fact, he refers to ChatGPT as "a toy used to mislead people", and "a game you can play with".

Finally, in an interview published in Common Dreams in May 2023, Chomsky fears that AI cannot be controlled: “I can easily sympathize with efforts to try to control the threats posed by advanced technology, including this case. I am, however, skeptical about the possibility of doing so. I suspect that the genie is out of the bottle. Malicious actors–institutional or individual–can probably find ways to evade safeguards. Such suspicions are of course no reason not to try, and to exercise vigilance.”

Celebrating Noam Chomsky: A Prodigy in Linguistics and Anti-Imperialism

News of Noam Chomsky’s recent ill health has caused quite a stir lately. Writing a short blog post about the father of modern linguistics will not do justice to this retired Professor, rightly referred to by Jacobin magazine as an “intellectual and moral giant”. While other academics distanced themselves from politics, he insisted on the role of intellectuals in the public sphere, as in, for instance, his 1967 essay on “The Responsibility of Intellectuals” - a reflective essay initially given as a Harvard speech - that was so impactful it maintained attention for decades. In fact, he was interviewed about it as recently as 2021. He is noted as one of the most cited writers in history. In 1992, MIT News reported that "Professor Chomsky is in illustrious company. The top ten cited sources during the period were: Marx, Lenin, Shakespeare, Aristotle, the Bible, Plato, Freud, Chomsky, Hegel and Cicero."

Chomsky was interested in Semitic linguistics at a very young age. He studied both Hebrew and Arabic early on and taught Hebrew to fund his university studies. Being multi-lingual, he was especially interested in general linguistics. His contributions include the idea of “Universal Grammar”, positing that though languages may appear different on the surface, deep down, their structures are similar, as well as the idea that the capacity for language is mostly innate rather than learnt, challenging the behaviourist theories prevalent at the time. My linguistics professors in Cambridge admired him and even wrote books about him though they did not all agree with his theories on psycholinguistics or the biology of language. John Lyons published his book Chomsky in 1970, and Peter Matthews authored numerous publications referring to Chomsky, including Grammatical Theory in the United States: From Bloomfield to Chomsky published in 1993 and Generative Grammar and Linguistic Competence, published in 1979, to name only a few.

After Chomsky’s work in linguistics impacted the philosophy of language and contributed to cognitive science, his writings on politics also generated a huge following. Though he no longer writes or speaks, he is profoundly disturbed by the injustice he perceives around him. Following last year’s stroke, which numbed the right side of his body and affected his speech, Chomsky has been watching the news of Gaza and raising his left arm in “lament and anger”, as reported by his wife recently. The false rumours about his death this week were distressing, especially since he himself had warned about misinformation, being a longstanding critic of news media. The irony!

To be continued.

What is Scholasticide?

The term scholasticide has recently gained currency in the media though it is not new. Apparently, it was coined in 2009 by Oxford Professor Karma Nabulsi, a Palestinian affairs scholar, in reaction to events in Gaza back then. The term has been used widely once again since January of this year on online platforms such as The Conversation (“The War in Gaza is Wiping out Palestine’s Education and Knowledge Systems”), The Star (“How Israel’s Scholasticide Denies Palestinians their Past, Present, and Future”), and McGill Daily (“Scholasticide in Gaza”). More than one Turkish news source has used it (“‘Scholasticide’: How Israel is Systematically Destroying Palestinian Education in Gaza”), and a university student from Toronto, Magdalee Brunache, writing about the current situation in Haiti, borrowed the term in “A “Scholasticide” has been Happening in Haiti”.

There have been international calls against the phenomenon as in Scholars for Palestine UK and Scholars Against the War in Palestine: “International Call to Action Against Scholasticide”. The UN has expressed concern over it as seen on the website of the Human Rights Office of the High Commissioner: “UN Experts Deeply Concerned over ‘Scholasticide’ in Gaza”. Most recently, Al Jazeera published an open letter about it by Palestinian academics and administrators: “Open Letter by Gaza Academics and University Administrators to the World”.

Wikipedia has no entry for scholasticide though it mentions it under the entry “Attacks on Schools during the Israeli Invasion of Gaza” . Contrarily, one would expect to see such a term on the list of Words of the Year for 2024, if not as a winner, at least as a runner up. Interestingly though, as the BBC’s Bitesize section rightly comments, dictionaries don’t write themselves. Lexicographers identify the new words for the dictionaries after reflecting on popular terms and using software for statistics and analysis. They then select the words of the year based on their perceptions. For example, Oxford identifies a word of the year if it is “…judged to reflect the ethos, mood, or preoccupations of that particular year and to have lasting potential as a word of cultural significance.” Strangely, the term has not entered any known dictionary yet - not Webster, Oxford, or Cambridge - not even Urban Dictionary. Will lexicographers ever recognize scholasticide? Only time will tell.

Blogging in 2024: Alive and Kicking

 

When micro-blogging, typified by Twitter, went viral, for many of us that sounded like a death knell for traditional blogging. The spread of social media, podcasts and video platforms added to the impression that ordinary blogging was no longer viable in the face of these highly accessible newer digital formats. However, bolstered by AI and search engine optimization, long-form blogging has adapted, and it is still alive and kicking, feeding people’s growing hunger for detailed information and analysis.

Blogging is still going strong for several reasons. Firstly, well-established bloggers and thought leaders attract readers due to their credibility in a world awash with misinformation. Rather than copying from AI, the better bloggers use it to brainstorm for ideas and headlines. Niche bloggers are highly relevant to readers seeking specialized information, including details. Businesses use blogs to attract potential clients as high quality long-form text tends to rank high on search engines, driving traffic to websites. This helps businesses build their brand identity, establishing them as authorities in their fields and promoting thought leadership. Additionally, AI helps with personalization of content as machine learning algorithms can track reader preferences and needs, tailoring experiences and providing relevant content recommendations. Traditional blog posts also outsmart social media posts and videos in their longevity as they do not easily disappear in the feed.

Blogging is changing to adapt to the contemporary online landscape. For example, modern blogs integrate multi-media, such as images and videos; blogs have also become mobile-friendly, appearing in relevant formats; they can be integrated with social media as many bloggers share their posts on social media platforms to drive readers to their blogs; and blogs can be used interactively for community building facilitated by comments and forums that help maintain reader engagement. User generated content as in guest posts is also empowering readers and enhancing engagement, and blogging partnerships and collaborations are still popular.

The future of blogging seems promising, especially in terms of more interactive storytelling. Virtual and augmented reality could be integrated into blogs for better visualization as in travel, product reviews, and architecture. Also, voice search and voice enabled platforms may become more widespread, prompting existing bloggers to adapt their content strategies. For some bloggers, monetization and revenue generation are strong motivators while traditional advertising revenue is being replaced by sponsored content focusing on specific brands. Bloggers with a large following are being encouraged to promote brands as a marketing strategy, demonstrating their experience with the brands.

While some bloggers (and other writers) may wish to use AI to generate their content, creativity and authenticity will remain of paramount importance for those wishing to sustain connections with their audience. With the higher speed of 5G technology, the tentacles of long-form text and multimedia rich blogs will reach wider audiences faster, keeping the blogosphere alive for the foreseeable future.

Famous Sayings on Education

The American musician Riley King has been quoted as saying, “The beautiful thing about education is that no one can take it away from you.” This reminds me of a Palestinian school teacher who once recounted to our class the story of how he and others left Palestine in 1948. Those with property but without education were left with nothing and ended up desperate wherever they fled while those like him carried their education, securing jobs that earned them a decent living. The moral of the story was that property can be taken away, and money can run out, but education stays with you. A related saying by Malcolm X is, “Education is the passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs to those who prepare for it today.”

In terms of promoting critical thinking, George Carlin, a comedian, author, and social critic, has urged, “Don’t just teach your children to read, teach them to question what they read. Teach them to question everything!” Especially with “groupthink” permeating societies like cancer in some parts of the world, individual questioning is of paramount importance. In a similar vein, Eric Jensen, a speaker and writer on student poverty and brain-based learning has pointed out, “Strong teachers don’t teach content: Google has content. Strong teaching connects learning in ways that inspire kids to learn more and strive for greatness.” The practical side of learning, as in learning from mistakes, must not be overlooked. In this regard, the writer Richard Bach has described mistakes as “unexpected learning experiences.”

As for proverbs on teaching, these two well-known ones stand out:

• The old English proverb meaning you can provide opportunities for learning, but you cannot force it: “You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink.”
• The old Chinese proverb implying that teaching skills is more important than imparting content: “Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish, and you feed him for a lifetime.”

There have been humorous sayings (and stories) about teachers as well, of course. Here are just a few:

•  The actress Lily Tomlin once said, “I like a teacher who gives you something to take home to think about besides homework.” It’s hard to disagree.
• Heidi McDonald, writer and editor of comic books, recounted, “A policeman pulled me over and asked me for my papers.  I gladly gave him all of my students’ essays to grade and drove off.” She is also known for this observation: “Sunday is a teacher’s day of rest: the rest of the laundry, the rest of the housework, and grade the rest of the papers.”

No doubt, teachers themselves can learn while teaching, as Phil Collins rightly points out in his song “Son of Man”: “In learning you will teach, and in teaching you will learn.”

Soft Skills and Multi-Literacies in Demand

Studying the emerging trends in higher education, the salient ones include the rise of blended and hybrid models, along with better integration of learning management systems; greater emphasis on diversity and inclusion, as in student mental health, including accommodations and personalized learning; a shift towards competency-based learning, focusing on skill mastery rather than old-fashioned classroom learning; more simulations; learning from anywhere; more formative assessment replacing high stakes testing; and greater emphasis on life-long learning and upskilling. With the fast rate of technological advancement, along with the disruption it is causing in most jobs, upskilling and life-long learning are playing a more central role in higher education; they are no longer marginal matters, and universities are paying more attention to continuing education. The offerings beyond the regular degree programs are expanding; many are designed to develop the knowledge and skills needed by individuals and firms to remain competitive in a rapidly changing economy. Alumni are being invited back to their institutions to upgrade their qualifications. A teacher, for example, may take courses on emerging applications of artificial intelligence in education. Short, specialized courses are likely to multiply, as are certificate programs. Micro-learning will become more popular with busy professionals, including possibilities for micro-credentials that certify the learning outcomes of short courses or training.

While digital and technical skills will be in greater demand, so will soft skills. Critical thinking, communication, collaboration, and adaptability will become part and parcel of curricula across the disciplines. Educational programs will seek to develop well-rounded individuals ready with the interpersonal skills required for success in the fast-evolving job market. High school transcripts are being re-defined in preparation for higher education and a rapidly changing world. The International School of Geneva has been particularly creative with its “Learner Passport”. Its website states that its new transcripts give a better idea to universities on applicants’ strengths as traditional transcripts, personal statements, and recommendations do not recognize “creativity, thinking across subjects, developing responsibility and citizenship that has been a core part of every child’s education ….” It emphasizes that universities need a broader picture that portrays the breadth and depth of a high-quality education. Its learner passport provides credit for both curricular and extra-curricular activities, reflecting global competence. Working with UNESCO, this school identified seven global competencies including “knowledge, skills, and attitudes” empowering global citizens to contribute to a better world: life-long learning; self-agency; interactively using diverse tools and resources; interacting with others; interacting with the world; multi-literateness; and trans-disciplinarity. Among those competencies, the definition of multi-literacies is striking. Students take note: reading, writing, and numeracy are not enough. Here is the complete list of literacies as indicated by the school:

·       Reading

·       Writing

·       Numeracy

·       Digital literacy

·       Data literacy

·       Technological literacy

·       Coding

·       Media literacy

·       Financial literacy

·       Cultural literacy

    ·       Health literacy

 The future of quality higher education appears to be one of blended learning, capitalizing on the physical presence of institutions while imparting engaging, personalized online learning, possibly enhanced by AI. In parallel, and with a fast-changing labour market, short courses and micro-credentials will proliferate, along with continuing education courses for an ageing population. Soft skills and multi-literacies will be in demand.

Student Voice in Writing

My first-year composition students recently wrote essays  on their former experiences with “voice” in writing. Most of them, except a very small minority of scientifically oriented ones, value voice in writing and wish to express their voices themselves. One of them admitted that she had never thought of the concept of “voice” before joining my class; another asserted that though he is not passionate about writing, when he does write, he likes his writing to be an authentic reflection of his personality. He sees writing as a chance to express himself whatever the subject, including science. Most of the students cherished the few opportunities in high school when they were given a chance to express their personal opinions on literature or movies they were exposed to then. Many did not realize the importance of having a unique voice in writing till they reached university; they now see a strong voice as aiding in the establishment of firm bonds with readers. One student likened voice in writing to a stamp that makes one’s work unique and recognizable, emphasizing that a clear strong voice is important for standing out and expressing ideas without being a follower. Another referred to his voice as a power he possesses that he would like to develop further.

Some of my pupils complained that at school they were not taught to express themselves in writing, but rather to use an objective tone, stating facts and statistics along with others’ opinions to prove a point; one of them went as far as blaming it on the style of teaching in Lebanon. While they appreciated being taught to write in a scientific way, they would have preferred to write more freely, with more thought, as they put it. One student explained how writing helped him come out of his shell after having been shy; it helped change him from an introvert into a more expressive person while another said that he enjoyed expressing his voice even when texting. One girl said she kept a journal at home as her academic writing did not give her enough room to express her personality. A Palestinian refugee seemed happy that writing was helping him to proudly express his identity after having felt dehumanized, like an object. Many admitted that keeping their voice out of their writing was difficult, but they were sensitive to the audience, for example avoiding “hostility”, and trying not to sound sarcastic in disagreement, depending on the context. A pre-medical student regrets that her specialization does not require much voice in writing. Overall, most of my students believe that voice in writing is a powerful tool that should be developed, and that writing does not always have to be serious; it may even be a form of escape. All this, except for perhaps one pupil who believes that “an empty can is the loudest.” I wonder what my readers here think!

Lowbrow Language

 

The internet has made dictionaries more accessible to all globally. However, the online dictionaries clearly vary in credibility. Rather than classifying them merely as credible versus doubtful, highbrow and lowbrow, it might be better to place them on a fluid spectrum, with Urban Dictionary, one of the crowd-sourced ones, being apparently the least edited (if not completely unedited), at the bottom of the heap. This dictionary seems to use “moderators” who vote on whether to include a suggested entry, rather than availing itself of lexicographers or proper editors. The moderators do not correct spelling, grammar, or wording. In an article entitled “How Linguists Are Using Urban Dictionary”, Christine Ro of JSTOR Daily has in fact described Urban Dictionary as “a linguistic sewer” since it allows audacious contributors to coin and add terms in a way one would not normally do in a formal context. The writer states that “Urban Dictionary continues a long history of recording low-brow language. It’s also a repository of a specific kind of internet immaturity.” It seems that anyone can add to it, with little resistance or quality control, unlike other crowd-sourced dictionaries such as Wiktionary, which employs lexicographers. Urban Dictionary’s style is somewhat vulgar in places, with new expressions, and new senses to existing expressions, constantly being coined. Grammar errors abound. Though Urban Dictionary was started by a Computer Science student in 1999 to parody Dictionary.com, it has grown to attract tens of millions of visitors per month according to Ro. Would one recommend Urban Dictionary to most students? Not really, though they should know that it exists. Exceptions as to whom it may concern would be, for example, students of linguistics.

Slang dictionaries are not new to the English language, having for centuries clued readers on the language of marginalized people such as criminals. Still, Urban Dictionary appears to be an extreme case, prompting language purists to consider the site as a major source of corruption of the English language, with a “bias toward obnoxiousness” as Ro put it. In fact, the writer wonders whether the contributors are not “just pranking would-be scholars” using the site for entertainment. In the end she admits that linguists are carefully studying Urban Dictionary to “track, date, and analyze” language regardless of how vulgar or audience-specific it may be. She cites internet linguist Gretchen McCulloch’s book Because Internet: Understanding the New Rules of Language: “IBM experimented with adding Urban Dictionary data to its artificial intelligence system Watson, only to scrub it all out again when the computer started swearing at them.” Trash in, trash out! That was around a decade ago. More recently, researchers have capitalized on the sarcasm of the dictionary for training AI in sarcasm detection, as cited by Wilson et. al. in “Urban Dictionary Embeddings for Slang NLP Applications.”

Urban Dictionary’s blog provides updates on how the dictionary is evolving. For example, the moderators can no longer accept entries simply because they like them; their job is to check them against a set of guidelines that were introduced in 2021. The guidelines encourage linguistic creativity but clarify that while offensive entries are allowed (because they exist in society), such entries must not target individuals or encourage harassment, discrimination, or violence against others. The dictionary had been criticized in the past for allowing racism, homophobia, xenophobia, and sexism. For instance, Jason Parham, writing for Wired magazine in 2019 had commented that “The crowdsourced dictionary once felt like a pioneering tool of the early internet era. Now in its 20th year, it has become something much more inhospitable.”

Studying this form of slang is one thing, but using it would be a different ball game altogether.

Anthropomorphising AI

If you are a regular reader of my blog, you may be expecting a post from me about the Word of the Year 2023 around this time. Personally, I thought some dictionaries might include words of the year relating to the war in Palestine as it had come to my attention that the war had generated new terminology that was beginning to show up in dictionaries. However, the Gaza war came late in the year, and so far in 2023, artificial intelligence seems to be more prominent in dictionaries. The Collins Dictionary’s word of the year is AI, and the Cambridge Dictionary’s top word, not surprisingly, is “hallucinate”, in the new sense of AI hallucination – occasional fabrication of information as illustrated in a previous post of mine. Other new terms entering the Cambridge Dictionary include related expressions such as LLM (Large Language Model), Generative AI (GenAI), and GPT (Generative Pretrained Transformer, “a natural language system that can be used to answer questions, translate languages, and generate text in response to a prompt”). Still, computer hallucination remains the most intriguing concept to mull over.

Claiming that AI hallucinates – rather than, for example, referring to the problem as a bug or glitch – shows that we are anthropomorphising AI (viewing it as human, at least metaphorically). This is what Dr. Henry Shevlin, an AI ethicist and philosopher of science based at the University of Cambridge emphasizes in this video: “What Are ‘Hallucinations’ and What More Can We Expect from AI?”. The issue of anthropomorphising computers has sparked much debate lately. IBM researchers Schneiderman & Muller have defined anthropomorphism as “ the act of projecting human-like qualities or behavior onto non-human entities, such as when people give animals, objects, or natural phenomena human-like characteristics or emotions” (“On AI Anthropomorphism”). The researchers assert that such debates over computers began in the 1990s. However, the controversy has reached new heights with AI, especially after the spread of systems such as ChatGPT. Three of the concerns over anthropomorphising AI revolve around whether a human-like character should appear (e.g. on a screen); whether computers should imitate humans using voice or text, as in social settings; and whether computer prompts or responses should use the pronoun “I”.

Ben Garside, Learning Manager at the Raspberry Pi Foundation, has warned on “How Anthropomorphism Hinders AI in Education”. He urges that young people studying technology must not be misled into believing these systems possess sentience or intention. Rather, learners should take a more active role in designing better applications for the future: “Rather than telling young people that a smart speaker ‘listens’ and ‘understands’, it’s more accurate to say that the speaker receives input, processes the data, and produces an output. This language helps to distinguish how the device actually works from the illusion of a persona the speaker’s voice might conjure for learners.”

Whether we refer to the AI-generated errors as hallucinations or not, the errors are getting out of hand as large volumes of information are available online and being processed, for example in news summaries. The New York Times recently published a piece by technology reporter Cade Metz entitled “Chatbots May ‘Hallucinate’ More Often Than Many Realize”, warning that when summarizing news, ChatGPT fabricates 3% of the content, according to research by a new start-up, and that a Google system’s fabrication rate is currently 27%. Metz rightly points out that ironically AI is being used to assess the error rate, which itself is not highly reliable! A chicken and egg situation; user beware!

Even Jokes Are Copyrighted!

When I was young and naïve, I used to think that jokes were merely for putting smiles on people’s faces or satirizing people in power to expose corruption, for the benefit of society, and suchlike. It turns out that some people make money out of jokes, so one must be careful when repeating them. If they are not “in the public domain,” copyright permission may be needed.

I recently came across some light-hearted jokes on academia, university life, and professors that I wanted to share with my readers to lighten up my blog. Then it suddenly struck me that unless a joke was really old, worn, and part of “popular culture” such as the one below, rather than original or traceable to a specific source, it would be plagiarism to simply repeat it:

Q: Why did the teacher wear sunglasses during class?
A: Because her students were so bright!

As the screenwriter John August aptly put it, “If you can’t find a source for a joke, and you’ve heard it enough times and enough different ways that you feel it’s graduated to cultural meme status, you can probably get away with putting it in your script. Then the only question becomes, if you’ve heard it so many times, is it still original enough to be worthy of your script? Nothing is less funny than a joke that’s been played out.” Famous comedians can face lawsuits because of jokes as explained by Laurel Wamsley on National Public Radio (“Can You Copyright Your Dumb Joke? And How Can You Prove It's Yours?”). Comedy writer Alex Kaseberg apparently challenged the comedian Conan O’Brien in court once over a few jokes. Not all jokes can be copyrighted of course; copyright law requires that an item be original and fixed in a tangible form (such as writing, audio, or video) to be eligible for copyright protection. Jokes that are only communicated verbally are not eligible.

On another note, jokes can liven up language learning. Sean Tomas Fleming, a teacher of English as a Second Language, has created a useful site for this purpose, encouraging readers to share the link to his site, for which he receives no money, just to share some humour and learning: “Explain the Joke”. Here are a few of his jokes, each of which he explains in detail for second language learners:

“Classical Gas”
•        Q: Why did Beethoven get rid of all of his chickens?
•        A: All they ever said was, “Bach, Bach, Bach!”

“We’ll Always Have Paris”
•        Q: What do the Eiffel Tower and wood ticks have in common?
•        A: They are both Paris sites/parasites!

“Milk It”
•        Q: Why did the man go to the yogurt museum?
•        A: To get a little culture!

Disruptive Innovation in Education

 

The term “disruptive” always sounded entirely negative to me until the concept of disruptive technology gained currency.

When computers were first used in teaching and learning, no one described them as “disrupting” education; instead, they were seen as enhancing it. The same goes for the internet; rather than being seen as disruptive to education in the negative sense, it was viewed as a godsend. Controversy or debate surrounding the use of the internet in teaching and learning mostly revolved around reliability or recognition of completely online work. In fact, the term “disruptive technologies” was first used in a 1995 Harvard Business Review article, "Disruptive Technologies: Catching the Wave" by Clayton Christensen, who later expanded on the topic in the book The Innovator's Dilemma, published in 1997. He soon replaced the term “disruptive technology” with “disruptive innovation” as it is not the technology itself that destabilizes the status quo but rather the way it is used. The internet was in fact disruptive in the newer sense of the term when it spread, but the expression “disruptive technology” had not yet been coined in the early nineties.

Going a step further, today, artificial intelligence, a transformative power which is beginning to infiltrate teaching and learning, is viewed by some as “disruptive”; there is emphasis on the hassle, risks, and side-effects, not just the benefits. So, what are “disruptive technologies”? They are innovations that substantially alter processes and the way people operate. Examples are electronic commerce, which has partially replaced traditional shopping; online news sites, which have greatly affected traditional newspapers, causing many to close; and innovative transport services, affecting the taxi industry.

Speaking back in 2018, Anastasia Lauterbach, author of The AI Imperative, stated that the Internet had already disrupted about 20 percent of the global economy, and that AI would transform the rest. Interestingly, she also claimed that this was happening even though “AI is not, by some measures, all that intelligent yet…. Some compare the technology’s intelligence to that of a 4-year-old, while others compare it to that of a rat.”

Five years later, the 4-year-old has grown into a clever big magician – or monster, depending on your view. AI has succeeded so far in personalized learning solutions, improving test scores and general academic performance. It has also helped through virtual tutors and personalized learning assistants. Additionally, it can provide students with feedback on their homework, besides delivering more engaging content, as in interactive language learning. AI can simulate students in the training of new teachers; it can also provide metrics on lessons, including student speaking time, as well as providing educational updates for teachers. Furthermore, AI is showing promise in improving accessibility for students with disabilities and other special needs, making education more inclusive and accessible. Still, there are challenges and concerns regarding replacing teachers with this innovation. Many believe that, if allowed to be more than a mere tool or assistant in the hands of educators, it could become “disruptive” in the negative sense of the term. Other challenges include privacy and data protection, besides infrastructure and availability of training and support for educators.

The disruption in the workforce is a concern for many, including hard working students. Claire Chen has reported from Stanford University that a Computer Science faculty member was recently faced with a crying student in his office. The student was worried that ChatGPT would reduce job prospects in coding, after long years of learning how to code (Stanford University Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence – Education News). While it is true that AI will diminish some job opportunities, it will open new possibilities and leave humans to focus more on critical thinking, ethics, and the more creative side of work. No need to cry: hope remains for all!

A Ticket to Work

 

As a teacher of writing, I constantly emphasize to my students the importance of learning writing skills for the future. Having come across this report from the National Commission on Writing over a decade ago, I have been bringing it to my students’ attention ever since: “Writing: A Ticket to Work …Or a Ticket Out”. Although AI has lately facilitated writing, what this old report shows is still noteworthy. Based on a survey of 120 major American companies employing around 8 million people, the report concluded that in the modern workplace writing is a “threshold skill”. Here is a summary of the report’s main points:

         ·         Good writing is essential for both employment and promotion; half the responding companies reported that they factored in writing when hiring.

         ·         Job applicants who cannot write or communicate clearly are unlikely to be hired and may not last long even if they are.

         ·         The vast majority of salaried employees in large American companies have some writing responsibility.

         ·         Most companies in the service and finance, insurance, and real estate (FIRE) sectors consider writing as part of the hiring process. Those with poor job application letters are rejected.

         ·         Half of all companies factor in writing when making promotion decisions.

         ·         Most of the responding companies affirmed that they “frequently” or “almost always” generated technical and formal reports besides memos and other correspondence.

         ·         A substantial percentage of responding firms offer or require training for salaried employees with writing deficiencies.

The above report was published almost two decades ago, so some students might object, claiming that AI can write for them. However, AI can get its users into trouble if they are found out as we can see from a Forbes article entitled “I’ve Never Hired a Writer Better than ChatGPT”: “Clients on job marketplaces like Upwork and Fiverr are being flooded with nearly identical project proposals written by ChatGPT” (Shrivastava). Since AI detection software is becoming more accessible, readers such as potential employers will easily distinguish the lazy from the hard-working writers. When Google detects low-quality AI-generated content, it de-ranks it. Even without the detection software, AI-generated text appears to lack detail, depth and thoughtfulness. 

Students beware; take your writing skills seriously. It’s worth the time and effort.