Beyond Ads: Sequential Decision-Making Algorithms in Law and Public Policy

We explore the promises and challenges of employing sequential decision-making algorithms - such as bandits, reinforcement learning, and active learning - in law and public policy. While such algorithms have well-characterized performance in the private sector (e.g., online advertising), their potential in law and the public sector remains largely unexplored, due in part to distinct methodological challenges of the policy setting. Public law, for instance, can pose multiple objectives, necessitate batched and delayed feedback, and require systems to learn rational, causal decision-making policies, each of which presents novel questions at the research frontier. We highlight several applications of sequential decision-making algorithms in regulation and governance, and discuss areas for needed research to render such methods policy-compliant, more widely applicable, and effective in the public sector. We also note the potential risks of such deployments and describe how sequential decision systems can also facilitate the discovery of harms. We hope our work inspires more investigation of sequential decision making in law and public policy, which provide unique challenges for machine learning researchers with tremendous potential for social benefit.Comment: Version 1 presented at Causal Inference Challenges in Sequential Decision Making: Bridging Theory and Practice, a NeurIPS 2021 Worksho

‘Knowledge enhancement’: the risks and opportunities of evidence-based policy

The EU Kids Online network was funded by the European Commission’s (EC) Safer Internet programme since 2006 as a ‘knowledge enhancement’ project ‘to make a better internet for children’. This chapter discusses how the network - a multinational and multidisciplinary group of researchers approached the task of enhancing knowledge so as to underpin European policy development in this important area. It is argued that research cannot be conducted in isolation if it is to inform stakeholders but, rather, depends on researchers engaging in expert and public debates, contributing to the deliberative process by which policy unfolds while, simultaneously retaining academic values of rigour, contextualisation and independence. In the case of EU Kids Online, the chapter discusses how this proved a learning process for both the research and stakeholder communities, all complicated by the media panics and public anxieties surrounding children’s online risk and safety matters

EFEKTIVITAS PEMBELAJARAN ONLINE SAAT PANDEMI COVID-19 DI UNIVERSITAS ISLAM NEGERI AR-RANIRY BANDA ACEH

The Covid-19 pandemic has changed the daily routine of work. Since the issuance of PP Number 21 of 2020 concerning Large-Scale Social Restrictions, activities in public places or public facilities have been limited with the aim of reducing the spread of Covid-19. Likewise with the learning process, the Covid-19 pandemic has changed the conventional face-to-face learning pattern to face-to-face online. Therefore, this study aims to determine how effective online learning is at UIN Ar-Raniry Banda Aceh. The research method used in this study is a qualitative method with a descriptive approach with observation, interviews and documentation techniques. The research subjects are LPM UIN Ar-Raniry as policy makers as well as lecturers and students at UIN Ar-Raniry as implementers of online learning. The results of this study indicate that online learning at UIN Ar-Raniry Banda Aceh has not been effective, but to achieve this effectiveness the campus has tried as much as possible by doing several things, namely before the implementation of online learning activities the campus first designed planning and survey conditions and training to lecturers, then formulate policies, formulate goals and strategies, determine facilities and supervision which is carried out routinely through the Siakad portal

21st Century Skills State Policy Initiatives: School Leaders' Views

In April 2008, the Massachusetts Board of Elementary and Secondary Education formed a Task Force on 21st Century Skills to assist the Board in considering how to infuse 21st century learning into the work of the state's public schools. The Task Force created recommendations related to five broad levers for change -- educator quality and support, standards, assessment, accountability and demonstration vehicles. During February and March 2010, the Rennie Center for Education Research & Policy surveyed public school superintendents, principals and charter school leaders across the state to better understand the skills and knowledge administrators believe are most important for their students to acquire. As part of this online survey, administrators were asked to indicate the extent to which they believe the state should engage in particular initiatives that were recommended by the Task Force. This issue brief, "21st Century Skills State Policy Initiatives: School Leaders' Views", provides the percentage of administrators' agreeing with each of the Task Force's recommendations as well as considerations for state policymakers given administrators' responses.In addition to this issue brief, the Rennie Center's full report of all survey findings (Fall 2010) will provide a picture of school and district priorities for student learning statewide including the skills and knowledge school administrators believe are most important for their students to acquire. The report will also highlight school- and district-wide approaches to incorporating 21st century skills into teaching and learning as well as instructional practices

THE USE OF MICROSOFT TEAMS AS AN ONLINE PLATFORM IN ELT CLASSROOM DURING THE PANDEMIC: STUDENTS’ PERCEPTION

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Indonesia is currently implementing a new policy that is teaching and learning activities from a distance, or we can call it learning from home or online learning. All education institutions require teachers and students to use online platforms to continue the learning process. The research aimed to find out the students’ perception of using Microsoft Teams as an online platform during the pandemic. This research was categorized as an explanatory-sequence approach. This study involved 8th-grade students (N=18) from the public junior high school in Surabaya. Eighteen items of questionnaires have been distributed. The findings revealed that the majority of the students involved in this study have a good perspective on using Microsoft Teams as an online platform; because of the ease of the use of Microsoft Teams, the students feel that the features of Microsoft Teams are pretty useful for them as the students, but even though most of them enjoy using Microsoft Teams, they prefer to choose to do classical learning which can be known as traditional learning

Students Perception of Virtual Class-Based E-Learning as a Medium for Financial Accounting Learning

The pandemic of COVID19 has affected education system, especially since the government issued the lockdown policy. However, it does not suspend learning ativities, which constitutes a formidable challenge for both educators and students. The purpose of this research was to know the effectiveness of the distance learning process through the use of Google Classroom in financial accounting class at Public Vocational High School 1 of Pagerwojo, Tulungagung. This was quantitative research using descriptive method and focusing on the evaluation of the learning process through online media. The research population was the eleventh-grade students, majoring in Accountung and Financial Institutions (AFI). The research involved 32 of AFI 1 students as the research sample. The reserach data were colleted using questionnaires, and the data were analyed using descriptive statistics. The research found that the distance learning using Google Classroom is effective enough. This is corroborated by the fact that students prefer Google Classroom to other online media, because they feel that the features of Google Classroom are easy to understand and run

Web 2.0 and knowledge management for local government in England – A model for the public sector?

PURPOSE Delivering success in the public and private sector requires staff to have access to the best knowledge possible about how to do their jobs well so a major challenge for employers is how to ensure their staff are making decisions based on the latest knowledge of best practice. 21st century professionals and policy makers are increasingly being required to demonstrate that their practice and decision making is evidence based. This paper examines a new public sector knowledge management initiative across local government in England and Wales which aims to improve knowledge sharing across local government. In response to a number of drivers for improvement, the Improvement and development Agency for local government in England (IDeA) has harnessed web 2.0 tools to support knowledge creation and sharing, and just in time learning to create a professional networking online environment - a ‘Facebook’ type environment for local government. The result is an pnline Communities of Practice for local government initiative . DESIGN This initiative was launched across local government in England and Wales in January 2008 and an arrangement with the local government improvement services in Scotland provides similar access to local government officers there. At the time of writing the initiative has over 30,000 members in over 700 online communities with new members joining every day. The knowledge management strategy discussed in this paper was developed following a review of knowledge management literature and an analysis of the specific needs of the local government sector by the Improvement and Development Agency for local government in England. The data reported come from a number of sources including web statistics which are collected automatically and interviews carried out to identify ways in which the initiative is having impact. RESEARCH LIMITATIONS/IMPLICATIONS The impact of knowledge management initiatives can be hard to quantify but the paper outlines some proxy measures which give some indication of the value for money of this knowledge management strategy. PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS The argument is made that online communities of practice can very quickly provide advantages and significant cost benefits to the public sector in spite of the limitations of the software and the fact that working practices will take many years to change. It is argued that the approach set out in this article provides a model for other public sector organisations. ORIGINALITY/VALUE Knowledge transfer and research impact are areas in England of concern to both government and academics who in the REF 2013 will be judged on the impact of their research This online communities of practice initiative is a new way of knowledge sharing and working across a whole public sector. It has the potential to revolutionise the ways professionals learn and carry on learning as well as the relationships between academics and potential users of research However, the establishing and managing of such an initiative requires national leadership on behalf of a sector

Online Interstate Student Diplomats Discuss What Justifies War: 'We don't want people to die, but we don't want to lose our oil'

This is the publisher's version, also found at http://www.ccsenet.org/journal/index.php/jel/article/view/17286Given that most research in online discussion addresses asynchronous discussions and that middle school students receive little opportunity to engage in sustained, substantive dialogues, there is a need to develop and pilot ways to instructional support students in sustained, online synchronous discussions about public policy issues such as why nations go to war. This article presents: a blended learning instructional model for an online synchronous discussion that was developed and piloted; instructional and logistical issues raised with the model; suggestions on conducting interschool online discussions to promote students’ online voice; and, samples of students’ thinking about what justifies war

New Professional Doctorate Program Offers New Opportunities for Embedded Librarianship with Policy Practitioners

As doctoral programs frequently evolve in large urban universities, how can liaison librarians best position themselves for outreach activities, teaching faculty/librarian partnerships, student engagement, information literacy instruction, and more? At the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV), the School of Public Policy and Leadership has developed a professional doctorate degree, Doctor of Public Policy (DPP), which is designed for individuals interested in developing skills in policymaking and policy implementation at all levels of government. “Completion of this degree will prepare students to conduct policy analysis, advocate for public policies and community-based solutions, or serve in decision-making positions.” (UNLV DPP Program, 2021). Although most of the students in the DPP program have been working as professional practitioners in various policy-related fields (e.g., higher education, state government, nonprofit organizations) for a number of years, many of the students had not had specific experience or expertise in finding and evaluating information and with library research skills in general. While the initial library orientation for the School of Public Policy and Leadership for the DPP students, in addition to other graduate and doctoral students within the school, provided a detailed one-hour introduction to the library services and research, the DPP faculty and the liaison librarian strategized on the most effective ways to help the students in this new program succeed as new doctoral students. Although the DPP program began as a hybrid program, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the entire program transitioned to online beginning in March 2020. To meet the needs of the students in a new professional online doctoral program, a multi-part library approach was created by the faculty program coordinator and the library liaison: a) Library Orientation with all graduate and doctoral students from the School of Public Policy and Leadership. b) Creation of a LibGuide with tutorials, library databases, and government resources to acquaint the students with beginning their research. c) Students provided the librarian with their tentative research topics two weeks prior to the online workshop. d) Intensive online workshop with students broken into groups by their policy area. For example, health-related students would be in one group; education policy students would be in a separate group (90 minutes each). Although this was time consuming, it was an excellent way to begin brainstorming about the research process among students. e) Online office hours and regularly scheduled online appointments with students are available throughout the semester f) As the semester progresses and the students’ research evolves, the course LibGuide is updated so that it can continue to be a learning tool for the current cohort as well as future cohorts. g) Assessment by teaching faculty and librarian will begin in early 2022. The multi-part library approach for doctoral students that will be discussed in the proposed presentation provides a solid model that may be of use for other institutions working with practitioner-doctoral students

Countervisuality as Policy Feedback: A Critical Policy Study on the Symbolic Role of Visual Culture in Contemporary Antiracist Resistance

This critical interpretive study explores the relationship between public policy and visual culture. Drawing from five areas of research literature on (1) policy feedback theory, (2) the spectacle, (3) art and visual culture, (4) Black feminist theory, (5) and critical philosophies of resistance, images of contemporary antiracist activism are conceptualized as a form of policy feedback. Photographs of Ieshia Evans, Bree Newsome, and a self-portrait by Nona Faustine are reverse searched through Google Images. Utilizing constructivist grounded theory, a collection of publicly available news articles, blogs, and social media content are analyzed to better understand how mass publics engage with these images online. The findings reveal that a unique form of social learning takes place as publics orient themselves to the images in terms of lived experience, current events, and history; as they make sense of images by connecting novel information to previously learned information; and, as they apply the images in a variety of ways in civil society, politics, and market. This form of extra-institutional learning appears to be consistent with current literature on public pedagogy. Implications for the field of public policy are discussed