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Michael Brown

@brownm.bsky.social
155 followers 147 following 19 posts

I study classroom communities, pedagogy, curriculum and socio-technical systems in communities colleges and 4-year undergraduate education. Views mine.

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Reposted by Michael Brown
Tressie McMillan Cottom @tressiemcphd.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
About 29% of our daily cognitive load could be eliminated if we lived in an opt-in only culture.
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Ben Williamson @benpatrickwill.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
Wow, turns out T&F *was* embarrassed by its own service providing human editors for AI-drafted papers, which it's now both disowned and disabled claiming it as a third party mistake!
Screenshot of a Linkedin post by Taylor and Francis publishing confirming it has disabled a  third party service it was offering on its website for customers to pay for human editors to edit their AI-drafted manuscripts. Full text link:  https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7504585007232053249?commentUrn=urn%3Ali%3Acomment%3A%28activity%3A7504585007232053249%2C7505560025411678208%29&dashCommentUrn=urn%3Ali%3Afsd_comment%3A%287505560025411678208%2Curn%3Ali%3Aactivity%3A7504585007232053249%29
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Norm Charlatan @normcharlatan.bsky.social · 27/07/2026
Imagining a despondent guy following the Emily Wilson-Christopher Nolan discourse and mumbling “I’m the number two Odyssey scholar” like Steve Carrell’s character in Little Miss Sunshine.
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Ypsilanti District Library @ypsilibrary.org · 08/05/2026
Riding through Ypsi just got easier. 🚲 Bike repair stations are now available at all three YDL branches! Pump up your tires, patch a leak, or fix your chain anytime. Free to use, no library card required (but we'd love it if you got one).
A bright orange Fixit bike repair station stands on a downtown sidewalk in front of a building, with a blue bicycle leaned against it. A flowering cherry tree blooms pink above the station. The station includes a mounted air pump with red handles and tools for self-service bike repair.
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McSweeney's @mcsweeneys.net · 20/04/2026
"With a free Skynet Edu account, students can gain the career-readiness needed to navigate an exciting future in which they will be hunted by a remorseless, nuclear-armed superintelligence seeking to annihilate the human race—which will later be revealed to be Skynet itself."
buff.ly
Frequently Asked Questions About Our Innovative New EdTech Collaboration
“With a free Skynet Edu account, students can gain the career-readiness needed to navigate an exciting future in which they will be hunted by a remorseless, ...
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Reposted by Michael Brown
Ben Williamson @benpatrickwill.bsky.social · 21/04/2026
How unique are hallucinated citations offered by generative Artificial Intelligence models? This is greatly useful by Dirk Spenneman on "the structure, recurrence, and onward citation" of "phantom references", using a paper I didn't write as an extended example arxiv.org/abs/2604.16407
arxiv.org
How unique are hallucinated citations offered by generative Artificial Intelligence models?
This paper investigates how generative AI produces and propagates hallucinated academic references, focusing on the recurring non-existent citation 'Education Governance and Datafication' attributed t...
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Rob Townsend @rbtownsend.bsky.social · 17/04/2026
New today: "In 2024, the nation’s colleges and universities awarded 165,489 bachelor’s degrees in the #humanities—the smallest number of degrees awarded since 1991 and 30% below the recent high-water mark in 2012" bit.ly/4sDtLqM
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Rob Townsend @rbtownsend.bsky.social · 17/04/2026
Within the humanities, almost every discipline awarded fewer degrees in 2024 than 12 years earlier (Indicator II-03d). The largest proportional drops in degrees awarded occurred in religious studies (down 59%)"
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Reposted by Michael Brown
Ben Williamson @benpatrickwill.bsky.social · 20/02/2026
The inevitable next stage of academic publishers profiting from academics' work is here - scraping it for AI then charging subscriptions for access to the AI summaries, and then again for the citations. Academic content assetization as we called it in a recent paper. www.science.org/content/arti...
Screenshot reads:

She and other publishing specialists question whether LeapSpace’s limited reach is worth the cost. Users will need either an institutional subscription (based in part on the institution’s size and amount of research) or an individual one, which costs $32 a month. Many libraries are already struggling to afford existing subscriptions. And if users want to read the cited content, they will need a separate subscription to that content’s publisher—akin to paying for multiple video-streaming services.
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Walt Ecton @waltecton.bsky.social · 10/02/2026
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.
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Ben Williamson @benpatrickwill.bsky.social · 27/01/2026
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...
buzzsprout.com
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...
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Lincoln Michel @thelincoln.bsky.social · 07/01/2026
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-...
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
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Kara Finnigan @ksfinnigan.bsky.social · 05/01/2026
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.
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Dr Miranda Fay Thomas (they/she) @drmirandafay.bsky.social · 18/12/2025
People who aspire to be academics: I wish to live a life of the mind Actual academics:
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Molly Kleinman @mollyak.bsky.social · 18/12/2025
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
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Ebony Elizabeth Thomas @ebonyteach.blacksky.app · 17/12/2025
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.
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Ebony Elizabeth Thomas @ebonyteach.blacksky.app · 17/12/2025
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")
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Dr. Casey Fiesler @cfiesler.bsky.social · 16/12/2025
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.
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.)
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Michael Brown @brownm.bsky.social · 10/12/2025
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.
media.tenor.com
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.
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Reposted by Michael Brown
Jon M. Wargo (he/him/his) @wargojon.bsky.social · 17/11/2025
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
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Matt Seybold @mattseybold.bsky.social · 20/10/2025
How many classes today were canceled because a whole suite of EdTech services are built atop AWS? You know what platform never crashes?
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Ben Williamson @benpatrickwill.bsky.social · 20/10/2025
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...
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Erin Doran @edoran.bsky.social · 19/03/2025
@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
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Ebony Elizabeth Thomas @ebonyteach.blacksky.app · 18/03/2025
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.
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Lauren Schudde @laurenschudde.bsky.social · 04/03/2025
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...
doi.org
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...
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Michael Brown @brownm.bsky.social · 26/02/2025
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
rdcu.be
People and Places: Understanding the Longitudinal College-Going and Residential Pathways of U.S. Adults Who “Went Away” to College
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Stephanie Aguilar-Smith @drsaguilarsmith.bsky.social · 10/02/2025
🚨 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
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Dr. Ty C. McNamee @tycmcnamee.bsky.social · 27/01/2025
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
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R.S.A. Garcia (BUY THE NIGHTWARD) @rsagarcia.bsky.social · 24/01/2025
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...
gofundme.com
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
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Dominique Baker @bakerdphd.bsky.social · 23/01/2025
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 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.
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Dominique Baker @bakerdphd.bsky.social · 23/01/2025
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!
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.
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Dominique Baker @bakerdphd.bsky.social · 23/01/2025
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...
insidehighered.com
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...
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Dr. Rosie Perez (she/her) @rosiejp.bsky.social · 21/01/2025
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
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The One True Kat @theonetruekat.bsky.social · 14/01/2025
Always a classic. #birds #birdmemes #hummingbirds
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*
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Prof Dynarski @dynarski.bsky.social · 14/01/2025
Yikes www.studentclearinghouse.org/news/nationa...
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Jason Major @jpmajor.bsky.social · 14/01/2025
16mm film footage of Buzz Aldrin on EVA in low-Earth orbit during the Gemini XII mission on November 11, 1966
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Thomas Carpentier @thocarp.bsky.social · 09/01/2025
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
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.
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Thorben Danke @sagaoptics.bsky.social · 06/01/2025
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?
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Ferris Jabr @ferrisjabr.bsky.social · 06/01/2025
In winter through early spring, you can sometimes find unspoiled, still-bright groundcherries sitting in the latticed remnants of their husks, like hearts suspended in paper ribcages
A photo of groundcherries (Alkekengi) in a garden in winter. The round, orange, cherry tomato-like fruits are suspended in the center of pendulous, vaguely heart-shaped husks made of networks of dried beige veins. The husks have a delicate, skeletal, lattice-like structure, reminiscent of laser-cut papercraft.
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Erin Doran @edoran.bsky.social · 22/12/2024
@brownm.bsky.social and I have a new pub on two-year college faculty in the latest volume of the Higher Education Handbook. Yes, I know it says El Paso, IA. It is what it is. 😆
Title page of a new publication on two year college faculty
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Dr. Noreen Naseem Rodríguez @nrdz.bsky.social · 18/12/2024
Attention academics, authors, and creatives! What are your favorite vendors for getting custom swag, whether it be sticker sheets, shirts, or other items? And to all, what's your favorite swag to receive? We're thinking phone chargers are the new USB drive. And what is NOT useful/wanted?
media.tenor.com
a man is making a funny face while standing in a park with his hand on his face .
Alt: Gif of a man in a hoodie saying, "Psssst.." and waving the viewer to come closer
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Gina Ann Garcia @ginaanngarcia.bsky.social · 25/11/2024
If the U.S. Department of Education is Dismantled, You Are STILL an HSI. Please read and share!! www.ginaanngarcia.com/post/if-the-...
ginaanngarcia.com
If the U.S. Department of Education is Dismantled, You Are STILL an HSI
The election of the 47th president of the United States has many of us feeling anxious, holding our breath, and waiting to see which campaign promises will come to fruition. For educators, the threat ...
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Gina Ann Garcia @ginaanngarcia.bsky.social · 24/11/2024
The #ASHE2024 hang over is real! What day is it? 🫠
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Rebecca Stafford @rebeccahazelstaff.bsky.social · 22/11/2024
It takes me more time to revise a generic chatGPT output than to just write something creative for an assignment on my own. It's not a good use of my time. Also, what it creates is very gameable by chatgpt because it is so generic.
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