Michael Brown

Enjoyed talking w/EdWeek:"It’s important for CTE programs to offer pathways that have clear connections to careers after high school," said Ecton. High-quality programs also have strong relationships w/local industry and employers...& evolve to stay aligned w/workforce needs as the economy changes.

Agentic AI and education - Education Technology Society Carlo Perrotta (University of Oxford) was researching GenAI in education long before it hit the headlines. We talk about the latest hype around ‘Agentic AI’ and whether this is genuinely a game-c...

Agentic AI in education is a "ruse" - its promises of efficiency and productivity will really lead to an intensification of educators' work. Great to have @carloper.bsky.social on here now, and this is a smart short conversation with @neilselwyn.bsky.social www.buzzsprout.com/1301377/epis...

An "AI Ambassador" for Adobe and other companies tweeting: “Make your own prompts” isn’t advice. It’s basic integrity. I’m honestly fed up. Changing a few words, renaming the prompt, or slightly rephrasing it doesn’t make it yours, the idea is still the same, the vibe is the same, and the results are obviously similar. And no, this isn’t about one or two people, and it didn't happen once!!!! I’m not mentioning names because I don’t want to hurt anyone, but please… stop. Creating your own prompts is actually easier than copying someone else’s work! Try it

As soon as ChatGPT came out, I knew this "you plagiarized my unique AI prompt!" thing would happen lol. Wrote a short story about it (section 3) even: countercraft.substack.com/p/algorithm-...

We're hiring! 👇

If you are focused on devel/application of learning technologies toward just & equitable opportunities/practices/policies/ systems, & have strong interdisc. & mixed-method collab record, we hope you'll apply! Position designed for collab. w/College of Engineering & Ctr for Innov.

People who aspire to be academics: I wish to live a life of the mind

Actual academics:

Michiganders, both of our senators voted for the trans athlete ban this week. Please please please call them and tell them they have to vote against the ban on gender affirming care for minors that just passed the house. This bill will kill children.

Slotkin: (202) 224-4822
Peters: (202) 224-6221

My PhD advisor met with me weekly for years. I think of that whenever my cup feels empty.

Maybe famous people don't mentor anybody... but I began this journey as as fifth grade teacher. A quote from The Crown pilot applies: "SHE *is* the assignment."

For educators, our students ARE the assignment.

This entire thread is a word and a half!

(and even within these elite institutional streets, a cool 20% of us are doing 80% of the internal advising work)

(one of my mentors used to always say "these famous folk don't mentor anybody")

Screenshot of a paper entry: Fictional Failures and Real-World Lessons: Ethical Speculation Through Design Fiction on Emotional Support Conversational AI Authors: Faye Kollig, Jessica Pater, Fayika Farhat Nova, Casey Fiesler (There are tabs with "abstract" and "summary" and "summary" is selected.)

The ACM Digital Library, where a LOT of computing-related research is published (I'd say at least 75% of my own publications), is now not only providing (without consent of the authors and without opt-in by readers) AI-generated summaries of papers, but they appear as the *default* over abstracts.

a man and a woman are sitting at a table with the words it does n't have to make sense Alt: A man and a woman are sitting at a table with the words "it doesn't have to make sense" printed on the bottom third of the screen.

I have three different survey projects that need me to do a little bit of data matching by hand, and so they will sit until the new year, while I work on much more time intensive network graphs because nothing is worse than hand coding.

Alongside Dr. Jill Hermann-Wilmarth, I am co-editing a special issue of The Reading Teacher. Our topic, LGBTQ+ Literacies: Affirming Identities, Advancing Justice w/ Pre-K-6 Learners, is sure to be of interest to many & is SO NEEDED in these times! Manuscripts are due January 15, 2026! #literacies

How many classes today were canceled because a whole suite of EdTech services are built atop AWS?

You know what platform never crashes?

Seems like an opportune moment to re-up our paper about AWS seeking infrastructural dominance in education through a range of operations that include platforming the edtech industry on its cloud services codeactsineducation.wordpress.com/2022/07/12/h...

@drsaguilarsmith.bsky.social and I have a new pub out in AERA Open. We analyzed 400 abstracts of community colleges who received grants under the Title V Developing HSI program. This manuscript was so much fun to work on, and SAS is a dream thought partner. #HSIs #HigherEd #AcademicBluesky

And as I near the end of Year 15 post-PhD, looking back, I think the academic race is not given to the swift nor to the strong...

...but to those who have HELP enduring until the end.

Mentoring matters. A good academic mentor is worth the world. Makes such a difference in our careers & our lives.

People and Places: Understanding the Longitudinal College-Going and Residential Pathways of U.S. Adults Who “Went Away” to College - Research in Higher Education While college access and choice processes are well documented, the post-college residential mobility of graduates has ramifications for the long-term benefits of state and local investments in educati...

New Pub at #RIHE: @stephaniesowl.bsky.social, @brownm.bsky.social, and #RachelSmith examine people and place factors related to college enrollment and post-college return migration. Social connectedness mattered for college going and high school engagement for returning home. doi.org/10.1007/s111...

Some key takeaways: 1-Social connectedness is related to increased odds of return 2-Workforce opportunities and educational attainment may shape students return decisions. Places that rely on agriculture & mining jobs were less likely to see returners & communities w > average bachelors attainment.

I have a new article in Resarch in Higher Education led by @stephaniesowl.bsky.social where we continue our work considering post-college migration behaviors. We examine what factors encourage enrollment, how communities change, and whether students return "home" or to places like home
rdcu.be/ebnS8

🚨 NEW PUB ALERT 🚨

I believe in the power of grants to transform orgs & the field in powerful ways.

Yet, competitive grantmaking can also recreate harm, regardless of funders’ good intentions.

Cynthia Villarreal & I show this in our latest pub. Check it out. It’s open access👇🏽

lnkd.in/gE38UJn2

I am excited to share our new pub “Because I’m from a Rural Background”: An Examination of Rural Students in Higher Ed Through a Critical Non-Deficit Framework! Shoutout to my amazing co-authors @sonjaardoin.bsky.social, Nicole D. Cooper, and Vanessa A. Sansone! Thank you so much to The Journal of

Donate to Help R. S. A. Garcia Pay for Cancer Expenses, organized by Arula Ratnakar Hi everyone, I'm Rhonda, also known as R. S. A. Garcia, a speculative … Arula Ratnakar needs your support for Help R. S. A. Garcia Pay for Cancer Expenses

Got confimed for 2 major surgeries this week. I will need funds & soon, but I was fired when I was diagnosed with cancer & my only income now is writing.

I hate to ask because I know we're all struggling, but I'd appreciate any donation.

Thank you & please share.

www.gofundme.com/f/help-r-s-a...

Screenshot of the article that reads: Shapiro explained that institutions’ self-reported data does not differentiate between first-year and dual-enrolled students, but lumps them together. The clearinghouse separates them out by making assumptions based on other data it has access to—namely students’ ages, inferring that any first-year students under 18 are dually enrolled. The research team then augments the findings with data on high school diploma attainment, which Shapiro said usually helps reduce the number of miscounts by allowing them to pinpoint when, or whether, a 17-year-old student has graduated from high school.

Screenshot from prior article that interviews NSC CEO: There was an error in how we imputed a particular category of dual-enrolled students versus freshmen. But if you look at the report, the total number of learners wasn’t impacted by that. These preliminary reports were designed to meet a need after COVID, to understand what the impact was going to be. We basically designed a report on an emergency basis, and by default, when you don’t have complete information, there’s imputation. There’s been a lot of pressure on getting the preliminary fall report out. That being said, you learn your lesson—you gotta own it and then you keep going. This was very unfortunate, and you can imagine the amount of soul searching to ensure that this never happens again.

Now, here's the error explanation. I'll note this does not align with how I would think of an imputation error as suggested by the interview with the outgoing CEO earlier this week. Reaaaal useful example for methods classes on researcher assumptions.

New article on left, CEO interview on right

Screenshot of article that reads: So how did things turn out so differently than expected? The Education Department seemed to predict the uptick last fall when officials noted that changes in aid eligibility calculations on the new FAFSA had resulted in a 5 percent increase in students receiving federal aid and a whopping 14 percent increase in Pell Grant recipients. The new report’s data seems to support a connection between the expansion of federal aid eligibility and rising enrollment. Enrollment from the lowest-income neighborhoods rose by 7.3 percent after two straight years of modest 2 percent growth, and growth was strongest at community colleges and less selective institutions, which tend to serve more low-income students.

Someone asked me how I "got it right" that the "drop" in the NSC October report almost certainly did not happen. Most of it is because of the ED report they mention here which appears to align with the new NSC data. Low-income student enrollment is likely up!

Enrollment passes pre-pandemic levels with first-year surge Total enrollment surpassed pre-pandemic levels for the first time and first-year enrollment grew 5.5 percent. It’s a shocking finding after last year’s enrollment pessimism—and a complete reversal fro...

So much here! To start, instead of a 5% decrease in first-year enrollment, it's actually a 5.5% increase! Lots of students enrolled in the northeast! Even an explanation on this "error" which is not from imputation but from researcher assumptions! Short 🧵

www.insidehighered.com/news/admissi...

There's still time to register for the Broadening Research & Instructional Designs for Greater Equity in STEM (BRIDGES) Virtual Conference, which is happening on January 31 and February 1, 2025.

Register here: events.zoom.us/ev/AtnaLdDxl...
#AcademicSky #STEMeducation

Text reads: remembering that time in grad school when my advisor, a great ornithologist, got a random call: Drunk guy, bar noises in background: IS THIS THE BIRD PROFESSOR? My advisor: Um…. yes? Drunk guy: DO HUMMINGBIRDS HAVE FEET?? my advisor: …. yes *wild cheering over phone from bar*

Always a classic. #birds #birdmemes #hummingbirds

Yikes

www.studentclearinghouse.org/news/nationa...

16mm film footage of Buzz Aldrin on EVA in low-Earth orbit during the Gemini XII mission on November 11, 1966

A spiral galaxy seen in visible light. The spiral arms appear red/brown, with the centre appearing really bright. Some star clusters can be seen in the arms, appearing blue. Some Milky Way stars are photobombing the image, as well as background galaxies.

These days are not good at all for so many people around here, so I'll try to brighten the mood, even for a second, with a new Hubble image! 🔭

This is the NGC-5530 galaxy, as seen by Hubble earlier today. This galaxy is located some 40 million light years away.

HD: flic.kr/p/2qEpfnz

Burying beetle, Nicrophorus humator. An exciting family of the Silphidae. What can this beetle feel, smell, taste and hear with its sensors on its leg?