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These Are The 15 Top Codecademy Courses of 2022
Word of the Day: remiss
This word has appeared in 20 articles on NYTimes.com in the past year. Can you use it in a sentence?
What’s Going On in This Picture? | Dec. 12, 2022
Look closely at this image, stripped of its caption, and join the moderated conversation about what you and other students see.
Everything we know about Elon Musk’s brain chip
Always surrounded by controversy, in the last 2 weeks Elon Musk and his company Neuralink, founded in 2016 and specializing in the development of implantable brain-computer interfaces, also known as Brain-Machine Interfaces or BMI, have not stopped making news.
To better understand the subject, let’s go further on Musk’s project.
After his appearance at the end of November 2022, at the company’s Show and Tell Event, Musk revealed that in 6 months tests could be carried out implanting the chip, Link, in human brains.
The process, Musk said, is advanced in terms of the necessary permits from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which authorizes all types of medical devices on the market, including brain devices.
The site ING explains: “Until now, the FDA has been concerned about possible overheating of the implant – which includes microwires in brain tissue – that could result in chemicals leaking from the implant into the brain mass, Musk clarified in the question and answer session.
The function of the implant will be to “read” brain activity in order to transmit orders that help restore some severely damaged brain functions after a heart attack or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, which results in serious damage to communication skills.
Musk showed a video where a monkey with one of these implants is seen, and that apparently is capable of moving a cursor on a screen towards some letters. “He is moving the cursor with his mind”, Musk said. “Not that he can write, I don’t want to exaggerate”.
On the other hand, associations in defense of animals ask to investigate the Neuralink Corporation and its mistreatment practices in laboratory animals.
According to the article published in Reuters: Musk’s Neuralink faces federal probe, employee backlash over animal tests.
“The investigation has come at a time of growing employee dissent about Neuralink’s animal testing, including complaints that pressure from CEO Musk to accelerate development has resulted in botched experiments, according to a Reuters review of dozens of Neuralink documents and interviews with more than 20 current and former employees. Such failed tests have had to be repeated, increasing the number of animals being tested and killed, the employees say. The company documents include previously unreported messages, audio recordings, emails, presentations, and reports!
Source: www.theteslaspace.com
All about Neurallink?
On its website, the company describes itself as “a team of exceptionally talented people. We are creating the future of brain-computer interfaces: building devices now that have the potential to help people with paralysis and inventing new technologies that could expand our abilities, our community, and our world”.
Source: www.engadget.com
For this purpose, the company is working on The Link. “A wireless implant based on a chip housed in a casing about the size of a quarter, designed to be implanted into the skull, where it interfaces directly with the human brain via a series of tiny wires. Each of these wires (which are the width of a few red blood cells) carries a complement of 16 electrodes and is capable of both tracking the signals sent out by the brain and stimulating them.
Source: Neuralink
On the Neuralink website, they explain that the work of neural stimulation is almost as old as the knowledge of electricity itself. “ When small currents are delivered through an electrode, the changing electric field drives nearby neurons to fire one or more action potentials. By stimulating specific temporal sequences across many electrodes, it is possible to create patterns of activity that elicit the desired sensation, for example, the feel of an object in the hand or a visual image. Stimulation can also reduce or eliminate the pathological patterns of activity that occur in neurological disorders, such as reducing movement deficits in Parkinson’s disease”.
In the following video you can see how the Neuralink app will work:
How does the link work?
The site www.theteslaspace.com explains: “Once it’s in there, the Neuralink can read the neural impulses in your brain. Every action you take begins with a neuron firing in your head. Having a computer wired into your brain opens up a whole world of possibilities, like controlling any technology using just your thoughts alone, no need for a keyboard, mouse, or touchscreen, just mind power. They’ve already shown a proof of concept of this idea by implanting two devices into the skull of a monkey and teaching him how to play the video game Pong with only his mind. But the aspect we really want to drill down into today is how we can radically change how people communicate. How we might be able to replace speech and maybe even to write with a literal neural link between humans”.
Source: www.latimes.com
The difference between Neuralink and deep brain stimulation
In an article on the specialized site Medipol, they refer to “the difference between Neuralink and deep brain stimulation, Dr. Zirh continued his words as follows: Neuralink is placed directly in the subcutaneous in the skull and stimulates the surface of the brain with many thin electrodes. However, the deep brain stimulation we use today consists of two electrodes placed in the deep regions of the brain, extension cables connecting these electrodes to the main battery device, and electronic devices consisting of the body of the battery itself. The electrode part is placed in the brain and connected to the battery placed in the subcutaneous above the rib cage with the help of extension cables. The entire operation is performed under local anesthesia and the patients are awake, just like in Neuralink technology. However, in the system currently in use, patients are only put to sleep at the last stage of the operation so that they do not feel pain while the body of the battery is placed in the subcutaneous in the chest. Another difference is that the Neuralink technology device is charged every 24 hours. The deep brain stimulation used and charged today requires charging every 1-2 weeks and the battery life is around 20-25 years.
The challenges of making a scalable BCI
On the same website of the company we can find what are its biggest challenges so far: “Neuralink’s technology builds on decades of BCI research in academic labs, some of which is currently being tested in ongoing clinical studies. The BCI systems used in these aforementioned studies have no more than a few hundred electrodes with connectors that pass through the skin. Their use also requires laboratory equipment and personnel to be present. Our challenge is to build a safe and effective BCI that is wireless and fully implanted, scales up the number of electrodes removes the need for external equipment (other than the device being controlled), and that users can take anywhere and operate by themselves. Recent engineering advances in the field and new technologies developed at Neuralink are paving the way for progress on each of these key technical hurdles”.
To learn more about this Elon Musk project and its impact on humanity, we invite you to learn more with the following readings:
Neuralink: El chip cerebral que Elon Musk pretende instalar en humanos estaría en 6 meses
A quick guide to Elon Musk’s new brain-implant company, Neuralink
Is Neuralink by Elon Musk replacing the deep brain stimulation?
Co-founder of brain implant startup Neuralink leaves the companyIS THERE A DARK SIDE TO NEURALINK
Human-computer interface, deep learning and explainable AI: BCI technology based on brain waves data has varied potential uses.
Musk’s next mission: Linking brains to computers.
Gravitas: 1500 animals killed in Neuralink trials
Elon Musk’s Neuralink Event: Everything Revealed in 10 Minutes
Elon Musk’s Neuralink firm facing animal testing investigation – report
Exclusive: Musk’s Neuralink faces federal probe, employee backlash over animal tests
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Author : Vanessa D”angelo |
Coursera and Google partner with the University of Texas System to provide critical job skills to students across eight campuses
By Scott Shireman, Global Head of Campus at Coursera
Today’s workplace requires digital skills, and businesses report a lack of skilled talent as an increasing threat. At the same time, in a competitive and fast-changing labor market, college students are expecting their degree programs to land them a well-paying job. State higher education systems will play a crucial role in solving both sides of this challenge: improving student employment at scale and fulfilling skilled talent shortages for local employers.
Today, I am excited to announce that Coursera and Google have partnered with the University of Texas System to launch an innovative, system-wide initiative that will equip students and faculty across eight campuses with the skills and credentials they need to unlock their full career potential in the digital economy.
“The UT System’s partnership with Coursera allows our students to pair a bachelor’s degree with a Google certificate – this leads to graduates who are both broadly educated and specifically skilled. With the Texas population expected to double by 2050 and Texas projected to have the highest net job growth of any state by 2030, UT institutions are proud to be leading efforts to meet our state’s workforce and industry demands while positioning our graduates for success and professional growth in the modern job market.”
–James B. Milliken, UT System Chancellor
This three-year partnership will provide all eight University of Texas (UT) campuses with access to 5,300 online courses and 3,400 Guided Projects from university and industry leaders on Coursera including Yale University, Google, AWS, and Microsoft. In addition, Google is providing each campus with an additional 500 licenses to distribute to students, faculty, and the larger campus community to access Google’s transformative career certificates on Coursera at no cost.
The initiative will also provide UT students and faculty with access to over 25 entry-level Professional Certificates, also known as industry microcredentials, from top companies like Google, IBM, Meta, and Intuit, that prepare students without prior work experience to enter attractive digital careers in areas like UX Design, Data Analytics, Software Development, and Bookkeeping.
“Google is proud to work with Texas universities and workforce development organizations to help more students and workers take advantage of the incredible job opportunities created by the state’s growing economy. Our mission is to expand opportunities for all, and we’re thrilled to further that effort by widening access to tech workforce training through the Google Career Certificates program.”
–Lisa Gevelber, Grow with Google Founder
Several of the industry microcredentials come with ACE Credit Recommendation, and in fact, several universities have recently begun integrating content on Coursera into their for-credit curriculum including UT Arlington, UT El Paso, UT San Antonio, and UT Tyler.
UT campuses are using the courses and certificates to supplement various programs. For example, UT Dallas Jindal School of Business is offering the Google certificates as a co-curricular resource for business students, and UT Tyler is integrating the certificates into its Psychology courses. UT Austin is integrating courses from Coursera into several programs including Beginner and Advanced Excel and the NACE-aligned Career Readiness program to help students develop skills like leadership, communication and critical thinking.
As digital job growth and skilled talent gaps accelerate, universities and colleges must look for innovative ways to deliver job-relevant training and skills development opportunities to students. Innovative state-wide initiatives like this one offer hope and promise of a future where students benefit from multiple signals in the labor market: the degree they earn from their local campus, and the career credentials they complete along the way.
We’re honored to partner with the University of Texas System to prepare the next generation of Texan talent for new career opportunities, while building a competitive and resilient local workforce that can propel the state economy.
Learn more about Coursera for Campus today.
Discovering Your Learning Style
Here’s what we know for sure. When it comes to learning, what works for you may not necessarily for me. We all learn differently. You need to discover your learning style and what method works best for you to not just make the grade to progress, but to enjoy the learning process. Keep reading to find out more about learning styles.
Learning Styles
How we learn has been a keen area of interest for many theorists.
When we speak about “learning styles”, we mean an individual mixture of styles. We have different strengths and preferences. And for most of us, we have a combination of learning styles. There is no one correct way to learn and these approaches to learning are not fixed. You may read this and recognise slipping between these at various times over the course of a programme.
Why do learning styles matter?
A professional looking to upskill their resume. A college going individual with a desire to enhance their studies with additional courses. Or you have a young child in school. It doesn’t matter what you’re studying, the difference in how we learn affects how we absorb and retain the information.
Another factor that affects learning but is often ignored is your personality type. This is often referred to as ‘interactive learning’. Here, those with extroverted personalities learn better in a group setting. They thrive off working with others, bouncing off ideas and engaging in discussions as part of the learning.
An intrapersonal learning style, for the introverts on the other hand, learn better alone. These learners absorb information better at their own pace. This learning style is often accompanied by other learning styles.
VAK Learning Styles
The Visual-Auditory-Kinesthetic (VAK) learning styles are a simple means to explain and understand the different kinds of learning styles. This is a favourite learning theory style because its principles and benefits extend to all learning and development types. People are believed to also have a more dominant learning style, although in most cases, there is a mix or balance of the three featured styles.
This learning style model is also referred to as VARK (Visual-Auditory-Reading-Kinesthetic) or VACT (Visual-Auditory-Kinesthetic-Tactile). Let’s learn more about these different styles.
“Visual learners” are those individuals who learn better through watching videos and taking online courses. As a visual learner, you are most likely attached to colours and rich visual aids. You will get the most out of your earning through delivery that utilizes visual aids, diagrams, graphs, and PowerPoint presentations to name a few examples. These visuals aid the learning process by making you understand the material, structures, and ideas presented better.
Tip: Colour code your notes to help you organize the learning material.
No one remembers song lyrics quite like you. As an auditory style learner, you learn better by hearing and listening and store information by how it sounds. The more you hear something, the more likely you are to remember it. Using audio books is one such example you can use to learn. For individuals who lean towards aural learning, it’s important to understand that they pay better attention to what is being said, rather than what is on a screen or a board.
Tip: Read your written notes aloud to yourself to help process the information.
Some individuals learn better by “doing” something, that is, using hands to learn and develop a skill. You talk with your hands, gesture a lot and are more likely to open the back of something to figure out how it works. The kinesthetic (or tactile) learners grasp content better when they’re actively performing a task. So, whether they are reciting information or pacing around a room while learning, the information is received better when active as opposed to written instructions.
Tip: review your study material while on the move, even while exercising. Take regular breaks during your study time and come back refreshed.
Added to this list are the reading/writing learners who learn best by reading and writing the material down.
How to identify your learning style
Now that we’ve covered the different learning styles, you need to identify your personal style. Here are a few ways to do this.
- For visual learners, use a visual memory test where you try to recall as many images as possible. If this test was relatively easy, you may be a visual learner.
- To test if you are an auditory learner, listen to an audio recording from your class or lesson and test yourself to see how many facts you can list out.
- For the reading/writing learners, if you read a lot and take pages of notes in a class, you may be this type of learner. Like the auditory test, read a chapter of a book and then try remembering as many of the key ideas after a break.
- Kinesthetic learners. Ask yourself two essential questions. Do you get the best results from learning when you do something? How well do you do in motor-related skill activities? If these responses are positive, then you are likely a kinesthetic learner.
Your learning style is best identified by the mode of study that gives you the best learning outcome.
When you understand your learning style, you will have a better learning experience. The key thing to remember is that whatever journey you are on, learning is an essential part of the growth process. What differs is how each of us acquires the learning received and finding the motivation to succeed. And when you find your learning style, you’ll prime yourself for success and have a more balanced and effective learning process.
GUEST POST: What’s the Secret to Learning? It’s Belonging
The relationship between belonging and engagement was further explored in a survey study by Yust et al. (3). In previous research studies, belonging has been linked to achievement, motivation, engagement, and class enjoyment. This article focused on introductory psychology courses, as entry-level classes are important as a means to explore possible majors and even future career paths. Study 1 results revealed that the more students felt engaged and experienced a sense of belonging, the higher their course grade and the more likely they were to engage in research. In addition, students felt more engaged when they reported high course enjoyment and had good connections with their peers. This not only implies that belonging can have an impact in classroom enjoyment, but also an enjoyment of the field in which students are interested. Belonging can inspire students to push themselves further and persevere through challenges.
TIPS FOR THE CLASSROOM
Considering these and other research studies supporting the relationship between course engagement and belonging (and ultimately academic performance), it is important to ensure that students feel like they have a valued place in the classroom. Here are some tips, many from James Lang’s Small Teaching (2), for all grade levels (K-12 to graduate school), that teachers can utilize to enhance belonging in the classroom:
(1) Make Space
If you notice that a student has not spoken much or at all in class, it can help to call on them and ask if they have anything to add. To give students more time to think, you can also give them a few minutes to write their response down to a question for a few minutes, then ask for volunteers. Also, wait until at least three hands are raised before calling on someone.
(2) Use Names
When calling on students or referencing something that a student said, use names and encourage other students to do the same. At the beginning of the semester, play a name-game, having each student take turns saying classmates’ names, perhaps with a simple mnemonic such as a descriptor that starts with the same first letter (e.g., Generous Ginny). Another way to use names is to do the Popcorn technique, or allowing each student to call on a classmate after reading aloud or providing an answer to a question.
(3) Group Activities
The research by Yust et al. (3) suggested that there may be a relationship between engagement and good relationships with peers. To encourage relationships or classroom bonds, try using group activities. This can include asking a question and having students pair up to discuss or designing group projects around a specific problem that students can work together to develop a solution to. For example, in my Cognitive Psychology seminar, we had a group project focused on creating a research project on a topic related to the class.
(4) Have Accessible Office Hours
Make sure that your office hours are listed on your syllabus, and ensure that you specify that students are welcome to come if they need you, or even to chat about the course. Just listing your office hours may not be enough and sometimes students need to be reassured that they are wanted during these hours. If a student needs help and knows that they can come to you, this can make them feel like you value not only their learning, but them as a person.
(5) Use Virtual Engagement Activities
Activities such as Kahoot or Mentimeter can help shy or quiet students become more comfortable with participating. Using these activities became popular during the pandemic and it demonstrated a new way to hear everyone in class, even those who do not like to speak up during discussions. It shows that you not only value and want to hear everyone’s thoughts, but it can also be a nice starting point for discussions.
(6) Create Rules
At the beginning of your first discussion together, have students come together to make rules for the classroom focused on respect. Referring back to strategy # 3 above, this is also a way for students to work together and create bonds. If you want, you can have students make their own rules in smaller groups and come together as a larger group to form classroom rules. Make sure to return to these rules frequently during class discussions.
(7) Take Time In Class to Express Interest
You can create a sense of belonging in students by taking an interest in what they do outside of class, or even by wanting to know how their day has gone thus far (yes, you can use this technique even if it’s early!). Take a few minutes at the beginning or end of class to ask students to share something good or important that has happened during the week, or something they are looking forward to.
(8) Sit in a Circle
If possible, have students sit facing each other. The easier way to do this is to have students sit in a circle or a horseshoe. Students seeing each others’ faces, combined with using each others’ names, can create a strong sense of community. And don’t hesitate to change up the seating arrangement and style, both for variety and to support students getting to know all of their classmates (not just the ones nearby).
The techniques that I mentioned above are some that have been used by my professors and focus on understanding and connecting with students. As someone who has difficulty speaking up in class, I also appreciate it when my professors ask me for my input. I feel less nervous when I’m asked directly for a contribution, versus when I have to make the decision to raise my hand or step in myself. I also appreciate when my professor implements other participation activities such as using digital tools to allow students to respond or test their knowledge without overly speaking to the group. These techniques can benefit all students, regardless of their initial level of reticence or confidence. So, knowing that engagement and learning can stem from students feeling they have a valued place in your classroom, make sure they feel like they belong. Not only with each other, but with you.
How Do You Have Fun?
What activities make you feel alive?
The Gift
Tell us a story, real or made up, that is inspired by this image.
Word of the Day: perpetuity
This word has appeared in 52 articles on NYTimes.com in the past year. Can you use it in a sentence?
