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czernie.bsky.social
czernie
@czernie.bsky.social
Pessimism of the intellect, optimism of the will

Digital inequality, critical education, HE for Good

Citizen of the world, living at the sea in Africa.
A critical webinar on learning analytics in South Africa: Elizabeth Rakgotho-Booi; Rogers Kaliisa, jean-claude lemmens, Christine Christine Ofulue

Wednesday, 17 Sep2025
12:00 - 14:00
Registration: lnkd.in/d6BGxX92
Enquiries: ntswalo@usaf.ac.za

Hosted by USAf, SAAIR & HELTASA
LinkedIn
This link will take you to a page that’s not on LinkedIn
lnkd.in
September 12, 2025 at 2:59 PM
Thinking about AI and equity from a student perspective, our slides from the recent critical ed tech conference

bit.ly/Students_AI_...
Students and AI Equity Perspective ECCES 2025.pptx
Students and AI: An equity perspective Dr Jennifer Feldman Stellenbosch University, South Africa Prof Laura Czerniewicz University of Cape Town, South Africa June 2025
bit.ly
June 23, 2025 at 6:19 AM
Reposted by czernie
... our presentation was comprised of three interlinked narratives: Openness and democracy (me), Openness and the AI stack (@helenbeetham.bsky.social), and Openness and legal frameworks (@czernie.bsky.social). Thanks to @jondron.bsky.social, Valerie Irvine, and all at @otessa-org.bsky.social.
June 6, 2025 at 11:25 AM
Reposted by czernie
High court tells UK lawyers to stop misuse of AI after fake case-law citations.

Fictitious case law and citations put before the courts by lawyers using AI.

False court judgements secured as lawyers chase bigger profits.

AI can't replace human touch, not yet anyway.
High court tells UK lawyers to stop misuse of AI after fake case-law citations
Ruling follows two cases blighted by actual or suspected use of artificial intelligence in legal work
www.theguardian.com
June 7, 2025 at 5:58 AM
Reposted by czernie
It was a privilege this week to collaborate with @helenbeetham.bsky.social & @czernie.bsky.social to give a joint keynote at the #OTESSA25 conference. Our presentation was titled 'Addressing challenges to open education in an era of authoritarianism and big tech' docs.google.com/presentation...
OTESSA25 keynote slides - CC+HB+LC
Catherine Cronin, Helen Beetham, Laura Czerniewicz OTESSA Conference | 4 June 2025 Addressing challenges to open education in an era of authoritarianism & big tech Image: CC BY Hanna Barakat, Better I...
docs.google.com
June 6, 2025 at 11:19 AM
Reposted by czernie
I’m supporting Mental Health Awareness Week in the workplace, for better work/life balance and digital literacy for mental health #MentalHealthAwarenessWeek #ThisIsMyCommunity
May 12, 2025 at 4:45 PM
Reposted by czernie
As Audrey Watters recently wrote, it's important to talk about how AI - not just GenAI - is being deployed in schools and its harmful effects.

So let's not forget about online proctoring. I curate "Against Online Proctoring," an open library of journalism, peer-reviewed research, and more, at:
May 7, 2025 at 1:39 AM
Reposted by czernie
"You can no longer make students do the reading or the writing. So what’s left? Only this: give them work they want to do. And help them want to do it. What, again, is education? The non-coercive rearranging of desire." (Emphasis in original)
archive.ph/PfvmB
archive.ph
April 30, 2025 at 7:50 PM
Reposted by czernie
Seems to be an argument circulating that there are too many anti-AI voices here. Could be. I try to consider a few things about AI at the same time: 1) it’s a thing that needs to be reckoned with; 2) it can have utility in certain situations; 3) its overall deployment is highly problematic.
April 28, 2025 at 5:39 PM
April 23, 2025 at 7:10 AM
Reposted by czernie
Are you a UK-based technologist interested in joining a body that acts in solidarity against the excesses of extractive platform capitalism? Fill out this survey, and help design the Society for Hopeful Technologists www.careful.industries/blog/2025-4-...
Survey: Society for Hopeful Technologists — Careful Industries
Are you a UK-based technologist interested in joining a body that acts in solidarity against the excesses of extractive platform capitalism? Complete this survey to help shape the Society for Hopef...
www.careful.industries
April 21, 2025 at 12:56 PM
Reposted by czernie
A landmark case could see the US tech giant Meta forced to take responsibility for #WorkersRights violations not just in #Kenya but globally.
African workers are taking on Meta and the world should pay attention
A landmark case could see Meta forced to take responsibility for workers’ rights abuses not just in Kenya but globally.
buff.ly
April 7, 2025 at 4:22 AM
Reposted by czernie
Taxes are good, actually. Big fan. Pay them in several countries. Get services in return, including healthcare! All round awesome-sauce.
I like paying taxes. Genuinely. Not grudgingly. I can’t pave a road, I can’t build and staff a hospital. $200 in my pocket won’t pay for my kid’s daycare but if we all pool our money it might. I really wish someone on the left would be brave enough to be like, “Taxes are good, actually.”
April 7, 2025 at 5:00 AM
Reposted by czernie
Newsletter: The real threat isn't AI using open knowledge — it's AI companies killing the projects that make knowledge free. The future of free and open access isn't saying “wait, not like that” — it’s saying "yes, like that, but under fair terms”.

www.citationneeded.news/free-and-ope...
“Wait, not like that”: Free and open access in the age of generative AI
The real threat isn't AI using open knowledge — it's AI companies killing the projects that make knowledge free
www.citationneeded.news
March 14, 2025 at 6:51 PM
The work of digital literacies in an age of AI is more important and more complex than ever! And it increasingly requires understanding the political economy of #edtech because individuals cannot be responsible for structural constraints & risks
So glad you are doing this @cherylbrown.bsky.social
In Suva facilitating a cdelta.col.org workshop developing digital education leaders in the Pacific. 1st started working on this in 2017 at @uct-cilt.bsky.social with @czernie.bsky.social. A reminder that despite EdTech changes the foundations of digital literacies are still so relevant.
March 15, 2025 at 6:09 AM
Reposted by czernie
Airbnb is telling people who email to complain about their co-founder’s involvement with Musk, that they are refusing emails. 😡
You know what to do!
February 25, 2025 at 8:19 PM
Reposted by czernie
Fantastic news. More countries should do the same.
💥The Netherlands' largest pension fund, has sold its shares in Tesla, Meta, and Alphabet (Google). The fund with US $569 billion equivolent in assets is "directing more money to companies and projects that help to improve society and the environment." #Divest

www.reuters.com/markets/euro...
Dutch pension fund ABP sells all Alphabet and Meta shares, CEO tells newspaper FD
ABP, the Netherlands' largest pension fund, has sold its shares in tech companies Meta and Alphabet , its CEO told Dutch newspaper FD in an interview published on Monday.
www.reuters.com
February 23, 2025 at 5:16 AM
Reposted by czernie
💥The Netherlands' largest pension fund, has sold its shares in Tesla, Meta, and Alphabet (Google). The fund with US $569 billion equivolent in assets is "directing more money to companies and projects that help to improve society and the environment." #Divest

www.reuters.com/markets/euro...
Dutch pension fund ABP sells all Alphabet and Meta shares, CEO tells newspaper FD
ABP, the Netherlands' largest pension fund, has sold its shares in tech companies Meta and Alphabet , its CEO told Dutch newspaper FD in an interview published on Monday.
www.reuters.com
February 22, 2025 at 5:05 PM
If you only ever read one thing I ever wrote, read this blog on aggregated metadata and its harms. I thought I understood it pretty well but when I was reading deeper to write this, it was worse than I had imagined...
czernie.weebly.com/blog/how-usi...
How using and misusing metadata really matters – the hidden harms of Whatsapp
This is the third part of a four-parter. Part One on avoiding Whatsapp as a political act is here .  Part Two on what’s wrong with Meta is here . Part Four on how to avoid Whatsapp is here .
czernie.weebly.com
February 19, 2025 at 9:50 AM
Reposted by czernie
Colleagues at #RightsCon2025, do join: "Reskilling for tomorrow: navigating tech transformations and future jobs in the Global South"

I'll focus on the @towardsfairwork.bsky.social initiative to certify AI production networks to improve the jobs of data workers.

rightscon.summit.tc/t/rightscon-...
February 18, 2025 at 3:35 PM
A friend asked me about the harms of Whatsapp, leading me to this four -part reply! Starting with avoidance as a political act, then what’s wrong with Meta, on to why and how metadata really matters and finally some practical suggestions
czernie.weebly.com/blog/avoidin...
February 17, 2025 at 3:13 PM
Call for proposals to discuss the complexities that technology and/or open practice raise for education, society, and scholarship, at OTESSA.
Participate online or across a few different sites.
Am also delighted to be joint key-noting with Helen Beetham & Catherine Cronin :-)

otessa.org/2025/cfp/
Call for Proposals – OTESSA 2025
OTESSA encourages researchers and practitioners to share their scholarship on the complexities that technology and/or open practice raise for education, society, and scholarship, as well as to come together to build connections, collaborations, and critical conversations at this year’s conference. Scholars, practitioners, graduate and undergraduate students, librarians, designers, makers, policy advisors, and educators or administrators from K12, post-secondary, or workplace settings are all welcome! Whatever your current role and wherever you are located in the world, we invite you to join us and contribute your experience, expertise, and insights to timely discussions about openness and technology in education, society and scholarship.
otessa.org
February 11, 2025 at 4:54 AM
Reposted by czernie
Of course it’s a coup. Miss the obvious, lose your republic.
open.substack.com/pub/snyder/p...
Of course it’s a coup
Miss the obvious, lose your republic
open.substack.com
February 5, 2025 at 2:59 PM