Deepfakes and other manipulated media are now easy to make. The tools are freely available and the results can be convincing. It is now possible to put one public figure’s words in the mouth of another by superimposing and lip-syncing the latter’s face. It is also possible to have anybody appear to say things that nobody ever said in reality except the faker. The technology is now mature enough to fool the casual viewer. And since the media are consumed almost entirely by casual viewers, deepfakes are a new and pernicious danger to the public’s perceptions of reality.

When it comes to the efficient transfer of knowledge into people’s heads, digital learning is still in its infancy. A student who sits clicking through the linear, restrictive activities in a typical LMS activity in 2019 is spending as much time complying with the demands of the technology as they are learning. Knowledge is dispensed in one direction in measured doses, like those internet-enabled cat feeders. Take this knowledge, says the LMS, pass the test, and be grateful. Just don’t ask me any difficult questions.

“The ghost in the machine” used to refer to humanity’s ineradicable tendency towards self-destruction. Arthur Koestler’s 1967 book of that name argues that our brains evolved very rapidly to make us the intelligent, talking creatures we are, but the new gray matter is built upon the original reptilian brain stem that we all still have, and which is capable of overpowering all our fine reasoning skills and propelling us towards catastrophic actions like nuclear war.

A kid just won three million bucks by winning a Fortnite tournament. The total prize pool was thirty million dollars and the event – the Fortnite World Cup – took place at the Arthur Ashe stadium in New York City. Where did all that cash come from? Fortnite’s developer Epic Games banked $2.4 BILLION in microtransactions from players round the world in 2018 as they bought cosmetic features and unlocked perks in the game.

Courseindex.com provide a suite of services around Moodle. Here we explain what we do and how it is of value to people and organisations who are entering the eLearning space.