Colin Madland 🇨🇦
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cmad.land
Colin Madland 🇨🇦
@cmad.land
780 followers 1.7K following 340 posts
studying technology-integrated assessment | rider of bikes | smoker of meats | #RStats | #OpenResearch | #luddite | #ElbowsUp | he/him
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cmad.land
Hey @searchliaison.bsky.social even though you’ve enshittified your search algo, it’s still better than the utter bullshit coming from Gemini.
Search results show the hours of the Kamloops Library today. The AI Slop ‘overview’ says the hours are not listed in search results. This lunacy is highlighted.
October 26, 2025 at 3:58 PM
cmad.land
This is Ellie. Her full name is Eleanor, and she’s been blind her whole life. She lives for scritches, chasing balls, and treats….and naps.
October 24, 2025 at 4:58 AM
cmad.land
Interesting guidance from the Tri-Council Agencies in Canada about AI use in evaluating grant proposals. I presume this applies also to tools like #turnitin. @sshrc-crsh.canada.ca #nserc #cihr @linkletter.org
Guidance on the use of generative AI in the evaluation of grant applications In the evaluation of grant applications, reviewers should be aware that uploading application information into any online tool could result in breaches of privacy and in the loss of custody of intellectual property. Examples include transmission of application text to online tools such as ChatGPT and DeepL, which may store and reuse the data for future enhancement of the tool. This would place a reviewer in breach of the Conflict of Interest and Confidentiality Agreement for Review Committee Members, External Reviewers and Observers. Therefore, use of publicly available online tools for evaluating grant applications is strictly prohibited.
October 21, 2025 at 9:39 PM
cmad.land
@drkevinrmcclure.com Interesting ad below the listing for your book on amazon. Seems ... pointed.
screenshot of the amazon.com listing for the book 'The Caring University' by Kevin R. McClure. the listing includes a sponsored advertisement promoting a book called 'Silenced: how wokism enforces conformity in higher education and how to fight back'. The screenshot is annotated with 'Not Amazon using its obscene power to push false right-wing narratives'.
October 10, 2025 at 1:49 PM
cmad.land
It is imperative that techbros (and everyone else) stop anthropomorphising synthetic text generators. www.techpolicy.press/ai-chatbots-... #openai #llm
Even as such stories draw concern from the public and from lawmakers, tech companies appear to be doubling down on AI companions. OpenAI recently acquired a startup called ‘io’ to collaborate on what its cofounder and CEO, Sam Altman, calls “maybe the biggest thing [we’ve] ever done as a company”: a screen-less, pocket-sized AI companion. Meta founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg recently floated his own vision for AI friends. Tech giants are no longer just building platforms for human connection or tools to free up time for it, but pushing technology that appears to empathize and even create social relationships with users. This is dangerous ground, and it is critical for tech firms to strip away illusions of personality and cognition in their products while we work out associated risks and how to mitigate them. Deceptive, dangerous design Chatbots communicate their “social-ness” through a range of design choices, such as appearing to “type” or “pause in thought,” or using phrases like “I remember.”
August 31, 2025 at 4:20 PM
cmad.land
I'm riding 200km to raise money to fight kids' cancer. Here's a link if you are able. greatcyclechallenge.ca/riders/Colin...
Collage of children smiling for the camera. Each child is fighting some form of childhood cancer.
August 14, 2025 at 4:25 AM
cmad.land
Current status…vehicle incident. It’s inconvenient for me, but someone is having the worst day of their lives, and that is awful.
iOS map showing my car parked on highway 97 in central BC, at the end of a long line of stopped cars. Highway is closed in both directions due to a vehicle incident.
May 5, 2025 at 12:16 AM
cmad.land
A couple for you to play with…
Bald, bearded white guy looking skeptical.
March 16, 2025 at 10:08 PM
cmad.land
See also Starch and Elliott on grading practices in education. Starch, D., & Elliott, E. C. (1912). Reliability of the Grading of High-School Work in English. The School Review, 20(7), 442–457. doi.org/10.1086/435971
Three plots of grading data showing the results of expert teachers grading the same paper. There are huge discrepancies between the grades along with an apparent influence of the passing grade being either 70% or 75%. Source is Starch, D., & Elliott, E. C. (1912). Reliability of the Grading of High-School Work in English. The School Review, 20(7), 442–457. https://doi.org/10.1086/435971
February 22, 2025 at 6:38 PM
cmad.land
Notification that my twitter account has been deactivated.
January 25, 2025 at 7:37 AM
cmad.land
Close up of a black and tan dog’s face. She is snoozing on her favourite person’s bed. Her pupils are fully dilated as she is blind, but it gives her a perpetual ‘puppy dog eyes’ look. Large black and tan dog completely zonked on her favourite persons bed. There may or may not be some laundry also on the bed.
December 20, 2024 at 6:46 AM
cmad.land
Ellie says hi!
Large black and tan dog overlooking Okanagan Lake near Kelowna bc. It is a beautiful sunny day and the mountains are reflected in the water across the lake.
December 19, 2024 at 5:30 AM
cmad.land
@hypervisible.bsky.social travelling today…
Picture of a black suitcase with a sticker that reads “computational tools aren’t going to make people recognize our humanity” in red text. Also a ‘Yeti’ sticker.
November 11, 2024 at 6:08 PM
cmad.land
From Macgilchrist, F. (2019). Cruel optimism in edtech: When the digital data practices of educational technology providers inadvertently hinder educational equity. Learning, Media and Technology, 44(1) doi.org/10.1080/1743...
#edusky #HigherEd #assessment @discoursology.social.coop.ap.brid.gy
Screenshot with highlighted text that reads "In education, no matter how good the motives, and how pedagogically well-founded the decisions, it is a post-democratic moment when the ability to make these decisions has shifted from publicly accountable government officials, policy-makers or educators, to developers, programmers, designers and other staff in private edtech organisations."
September 24, 2024 at 1:45 PM
cmad.land
Like this?
Screenshot of a spam follower with no posts and following 708 ppl.
September 21, 2024 at 12:50 AM
cmad.land
Just finished lunch.
Bald, bearded white guy looking at the camera. He looks grumpy, but isn’t.
September 19, 2024 at 8:31 PM
cmad.land
Bluesky now has over 10 million users, and I was #1,229,918!
September 18, 2024 at 11:59 PM
cmad.land
Eleanor says hi. #BlindPup
Black and tan dog looking past the camera with her tongue lolling out Black and tan dog sleeping on a couch with her tongue hanging out
August 16, 2024 at 2:34 PM
cmad.land
Today is 'Kick Cancer's Butt Day' in my Cycling challenge! If you help out with a donation, it will be matched! Will you help me get to $1000? @GreatCycleC #KickCancersButt greatcyclechallenge.ca/Donate/Rider...
Image that reads "Sponsor me today and your donation will be matched!"
August 14, 2024 at 4:16 PM
cmad.land
Office with a view. #phdSky #edusky
Pictures of my computer screen with a beach with water toys, then Okanagan Lake and the mountains in the medium and far background.
July 28, 2024 at 7:27 PM
cmad.land
*cries in elm* - which are accompanied by bazillions of elm seed bugs feasting on them then hiding in ALL the nooks and crannies.
Elm seeds scattered on a door mat and sidewalk. Bajillions of elm seeds waiting to be unleashed from their nursery to invade my house.
May 14, 2024 at 3:16 PM
cmad.land
May 11, 2024 at 7:12 AM
cmad.land
Pink and green northern lights over Okanagan lake. Pink and green northern lights over Okanagan lake. Pink and green northern lights over Okanagan lake. Pink and green northern lights over Okanagan lake.
May 11, 2024 at 7:08 AM
cmad.land
Pink and green northern lights over Okanagan lake. Pink and green northern lights over Okanagan lake. Pink and green northern lights over mt Boucherie
May 11, 2024 at 7:01 AM
cmad.land
Deconstructed McDonald’s strawberry ‘milk’shake.
Glass of melted strawberry milkshake from McDonald’s. There are three distinct layers.
May 11, 2024 at 2:11 AM