2015 April

The skills agenda: Preparing students for the future [Google; The Economist Intelligence Unit]

On 04/17/2015, in career development, collaboration, communications, creativity, entrepreneurship, languages and translation, student-related, workplace, youth, by Daniel Christian

The skills agenda: Preparing students for the future — from Google and The Economist Intelligence Unit

Excerpt:

As technology becomes more pervasive, traditional trades disappear and the world of work becomes more globalised, the skills considered to be valuable for the future are shifting.

Problem solving, team working, and communication (a trifecta commonly known as “21st century skills”) are the most-needed skills in the workplace, according to our recent surveys of business executives, students and teachers. Digital literacy and creativity— and the latter’s close relative, entrepreneurship—are expected to grow more important in the next three years.

Addendum on 4/23/15:

The college degrees ad skills employers most want in 2015 — from forbes.com by Susan Adams

Excerpt:

The hiring picture keeps getting better for college graduates. According to a new survey by the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE), employers are planning to hire 9.6% more graduates for their U.S. operations than they did from the class of 2014. That’s a one percent hike from the 8.6% gain a year ago and a significant jump from 2013, when employers said they would boost hiring by just 2.1% over the previous year.

…

The NACE survey also asked employers to rate the skills they most value in new hires. Companies want candidates who can think critically, solve problems, work in a team, maintain a professional demeanor and demonstrate a strong work ethic. Here is the ranking in order of importance:

desired skills

As “TV” continues to morph, what new educational opportunities/affordances might result from this convergence?

On 04/17/2015, in communications, communities of practice, convergence, Daniel S. Christian, digital learning, emerging technologies, engagement / engaging students, ideas, innovation, learning ecosystem, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, learning hubs & pods & microschooling, learning spaces, media/film, multimedia, online learning, online media, online tutoring, participation, Personal Learning Networks (PLNs), personalized/customized learning, second screen apps, smart/connected TV, social learning / networks, social media, technologies for your home, television, tools, transmedia, user experience (UX), vendors, virtual tutoring, web-based collaboration, by Daniel Christian

From DSC:
The articles below illustrate the continued convergence of multiple technologies and means of communication. For example, what we consider “TV” is changing rapidly. As this space changes, I’m looking for new opportunities and affordances that would open up exciting new approaches and avenues for educationally-related learning experiences.

Hootsuite and Tagboard team up to power social TV workflow — from adweek.com by Kimberlee Morrison

Excerpt (emphasis DSC):

More and more TV viewers are engaging with second screen devices while they watch broadcasts. A new partnership between Hootsuite and Tagboard hopes to bridge the gap between television and second screen social experiences.

Tagboard is a social media aggregation and curation platform that allows users to manage incoming social media posts for display, either on television broadcasts, or on screens at live events, and Hootsuite is a social media campaign management program. Their partnership enables integration for mutual users for real-time engagement.

Capture social content on display and TV with Hootsuite and Tagboard — from blog.hootsuite.com

Excerpt:

Adding social content to live TV broadcasts and sports games is a proven way to capture and keep your audience’s attention.

But the process isn’t that easy. For one, digital teams need to ensure that they review each piece of content (to keep it safe for the big screen), and this can create complicated and slow social media workflows.

To help streamline this process, Hootsuite has integrated with Tagboard, an innovative social media display tool, to provide an easy way to capture social content and incorporate it into on-air broadcasts, live event screens, or on digital platforms.

With the Tagboard app for Hootsuite, your team can put relevant and timely social content on air within seconds—when it matters most to the viewer.

KUSA Weather Touchscreen 2 women anchors.png

Introducing the Tagboard App for Hootsuite — from blog.tagboard.com
Social TV is easier than ever with Tagboard’s new app for Hootsuite

New from Educause: Higher Ed IT Buyers Guide

On 04/16/2015, in A/V -- audio/visual, accessibility / UDL, analytics, assistive technologies, Bring your own device (BYOD), cloud-based computing / apps / other cloud-related, CMS/LMS, colleges, communications, community colleges, content development, aggregation, repositories, data related items, digital learning, digital textbooks, digital video, distance education, e-books, e-publishing related items (EPUB and more), education technology, educational games / serious games, elearning, emerging technologies, funding / grants, higher education, IT in HE, learning ecosystem, learning spaces, library / librarians, media/film, mobile learning, mobile technologies, multimedia, online learning, online media, open courseware and systems, productivity / tips and tricks, smart classrooms, social media, student-related, technology (general), telecommunications, training / L&D, universities, vendors, videoconferencing, by Daniel Christian

New from Educause:
Higher Ed IT Buyers Guide

Excerpt:

Quickly search 50+ product and service categories, access thousands of IT solutions specific to the higher ed community, and send multiple RFPs—all in one place. This new Buyers Guide provides a central, go-to online resource for supporting your key purchasing decisions as they relate to your campus’s strategic IT initiatives.

Find the Right Vendors for Higher Education’s Top Strategic Technologies

Three of the Top 10 Strategic Technologies identified by the higher education community this year are mobile computing, business intelligence, and business performance analytics.* The new Buyers Guide connects you to many of the IT vendors your campus can partner with in the following categories related to these leading technologies, as well as many more.

View all 50+ product and service categories.

After 2 years of research, the U.S. Dept of Education introduces a new Ed Tech Developer’s Guide

On 04/16/2015, in computer science, education, education reform, education technology, entrepreneurship, funding / grants, ideas, innovation, K-12 related, parents/guardians, programming, society, United States, by Daniel Christian

Excerpt from the tech.ed.gov/developers/ page:

For Developers
Excellent opportunities exist for software designers and developers who want to use their talents to create impactful tools for teachers, school leaders, students, and their families. Our goal is to connect you to the resources needed throughout the cycle of a project – from concept ideation, to generating seed funding, to research and development and evaluation, and ultimately to scalable impact in education.

I originally saw this at “Ed tech must do more to ‘advance equity,’ U.S. Secretary of Education says” — from hechingerreport.org by Nichole Dobo

Excerpt:

SCOTTSDALE, Arizona—The U.S. Department of Education unveiled a new education technology developer’s guide [on 4/7/15] during the annual ASU+GSV Summit conference here.

In remarks at the conference, U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan urged developers to consider the needs of disadvantaged students, so that they are not left behind as more schools adopt new tools that advance teaching and learning.

“If the technology revolution only happens for families that already have money and education, then it’s not really a revolution,” Duncan said.

Duncan announced the developer’s guide during a speech at the ASU+GSV Summit, , a gathering of about 2,500 people interested in innovation in education. The free guide, available for download at tech.ed.gov/developers, is the result of two years of research by Department of Education officials, who interviewed educators, entrepreneurs, parents and students. Its goal is to help technology developers better understand the key needs of the nation’s school system. It identifies 10 “persistent problems in education,” among them increasing family engagement, improving professional development for teachers, creating tests that accurately measure what students have learned, and closing achievement gaps.

Don’t raise a hoop jumper [Eichholz]

On 04/15/2015, in education, education reform, entrepreneurship, ideas, innovation, K-12 related, love of learning, motivation, parents/guardians, participation, passions, by Daniel Christian

Don’t raise a hoop jumper — from by Terri Eichholz

Excerpt:

Yesterday, a dad forwarded this fabulous post from the TED blog. It includes the video of Jane Andraka’s TEDx talk. If that name sounds a bit familiar, but you can’t quite place it, Mrs. Andraka is the mother of two successful young men. One of them is Jack Andraka, a teenager who developed an early-detection test for pancreatic cancer. The other son, Luke, won an international science fair and the MIT Think Award.

Mrs. Andraka speaks about how she helped her sons find their passions, and the responsibility that all parents have to do so. In the Q&A included in the blog post, she says the following,

I saw all these kids who had made themselves into little hoop-jumpers. All of a sudden, for seniors in high school in October, it’s, “Oh, jeez, I need to join some clubs and get my grades up, and then I’ll go to Harvard.” And then whining, “Well, I got all ‘A’s, and I joined Model U.N.” But that’s just not what it’s about. You have to make your own self remarkable. Make them say, “Wow, this couldn’t be any other child.” Don’t be like everybody else.

Also see:

Teaching in a Digital Age
A.W. (Tony) Bates
Guidelines for designing teaching and learning for a digital age

The book examines the underlying principles that guide effective teaching in an age when everyone, and in particular the students we are teaching, are using technology. A framework for making decisions about your teaching is provided, while understanding that every subject is different, and every instructor has something unique and special to bring to their teaching. The book enables teachers and instructors to help students develop the knowledge and skills they will need in a digital age: not so much the IT skills, but the thinking and attitudes to learning that will bring them success.

As Tony mentions here, his intended audience is primarily:

college and university instructors anxious to improve their teaching or facing major challenges in the classroom,
school teachers, particularly in secondary or high schools anxious to ensure their students are ready for either post-secondary education or a rapidly changing and highly uncertain job market.

An example chapter:
Chapter 7: Pedagogical differences between media

Trends and resources re: mobile learning

On 04/14/2015, in Augmented Reality (AR), educational games / serious games, future, mobile learning, mobile technologies, second screen apps, social media, trends, wearables, web design and production, by Daniel Christian

New eBook: Mobile Learning in Context — from learningsolutionsmag.com, Janet Clarey, & others; with thanks to Mayra Aixa Villar for this item

Excerpt:

Mobile learning is here to stay: Why be tied to a computer when you can spend the day where you want and learn at the same time? But mLearning isn’t just eLearning on a smaller screen. It has specific demands and offers unique opportunities. Are you making the most of your mLearning? The eLearning Guild’s free eBook, Mobile Learning in Context, might inspire you to rethink your approach.

Rethink your approach
For Mobile Learning in Context, contributing editor Janet Clarey assembled a group of mobile learning thought leaders and asked for their take on the range of mLearning topics. Each of the essays will make you consider the possibilities of mobile learning in a whole new light. Among the eBook’s highlights:

Watch out for these trends in mobile learning: 2015 and beyond — from blog.originlearning.com

Excerpt:

Global mobile data traffic grew 69 percent in 2014 and was nearly 30 times the size of the entire global Internet in 2000
Mobile video traffic exceeded 50 percent of total mobile data traffic for the first time in 2012
Mobile network (cellular) connection speeds grew 20 percent in 2014
In 2014, on an average, a smart device generated 22 times more traffic than a non-smart device.

These are just some excerpts from Cisco’s Visual Networking Index: Global Mobile Data Traffic Forecast Update for 2014 to 2019, but they clearly prove a point. That, the usage of mobiles is growing faster than ever before, backed by the rolling out of quicker internet speeds and smarter phones at affordable prices.

The research has also made important forecasts for the next 5 years, such as:
The number of mobile-connected devices exceeded the world’s population in 2014.
4G traffic will be more than half of the total mobile traffic by 2017.
Because of increased usage on smartphones, smartphones will reach three-quarters of mobile data traffic by 2019.

Now against the backdrop of such information, it is interesting to explore what role mobiles are playing in shaping up the workplace learning scenario. These trends with mobile learning are evidence to the fact that we are on the brink of a new era of learning – through the mobile device.

Learning in a Multi-device World (Infographic) — from upsidelearning.com by Pranjalee Thanekar; with thanks to Mayra Aixa Villar for this item

Excerpt:

According to the Verto Analytics’ Device Ecosystem US 2014 report, the average number of smartphones, tablets and computers used by an average US adult is 2.8 devices. Further, consumers show an increasingly polarised preference towards a particular device and platform as technology evolves. This indicates the increasing dependency on devices, generated by the ease in switching between tasks and the leverage it provides.

AWS wants to put machine learning in reach of any developer [Ron Miller]

On 04/09/2015, in Amazon, Artificial Intelligence / Machine Learning / Deep Learning / Algorithms, by Daniel Christian

AWS wants to put machine learning in reach of any developer — from techcrunch.com by Ron Miller

Excerpt:

Andy Jassy, senior vice president at Amazon Web Services, announced a new machine learning platform today at the AWS Summit in San Francisco.

The Amazon Machine Learning service is designed to give developers without machine learning background the tools to build smart, data-driven applications that can not only analyze what’s happening in real time or what happened in the past, but also predict what’s going to happen in the future (and that’s what’s most interesting here).

Also see this item back from 2/18/15:

Microsoft Officially Launches Azure Machine Learning Platform

lynda.com has entered into an agreement to be acquired by LinkedIn

On 04/09/2015, in career development, learning ecosystem, lifelong learning, vendors, by Daniel Christian

lynda.com has entered into an agreement to be acquired by LinkedIn

Also see the FAQ on this agreement here.

Over 50 and back in college, preparing for a new career [Hannon]

On 04/09/2015, in colleges, community colleges, higher education, learning ecosystem, lifelong learning, universities, by Daniel Christian

Over 50 and back in college, preparing for a new career — from nytimes.com by Kerry Hannon

Excerpt:

For many, a retirement of babysitting grandchildren, golfing and relaxing on the beach is passé. Older people today approach work as a pillar of a retirement lifestyle, planning ahead and adding skills even before leaving their current jobs.

As demand for more adult learning opportunities accelerates, colleges and universities are trying to figure out how to tap into the market for second careers to bolster their revenue and perhaps build alumni loyalty. The potential audience is huge.
…
“It makes no sense, however, to have an educational system that ends in the 20s when people are likely to be working into their 80s,” said Laura L. Carstensen, founding director of the Stanford Center on Longevity. “We need to rethink these things.”
…
Some of those reluctant retirees want, or need, to keep working in some fashion, but to get hired, they must first expand their skill set.

The need to offer more educational options that can lead to jobs for older adults is gaining traction.

From DSC, along these lines:

DanielChristian-No-longer-running-sprints--but-marathons

One last thought here…it seems like competency-based education and nano-degrees will likely continue to pick up steam in this environment, as many people may not have the time or the funding to go back to school for 2-4+ years.

Embracing failure to spur success: A new collaborative innovation model [Wilcox & Ray]

On 04/08/2015, in collaboration, consortiums, experimentation, higher education, innovation, leadership, strategy, vision/possibilities, by Daniel Christian

Embracing failure to spur success: A new collaborative innovation model — from educause.com by Kim Wilcox and Edward Ray

Excerpt:

The implied message is clear: We’d prefer not to talk about what isn’t working at the postsecondary level.

We’re in a competitive sector, and there is misplaced pressure on all higher education institutions to achieve top placement in U.S. News & World Report and other annual rankings, regardless of whether or not those rankings make any sense. We all feel significant pressure to make sure that our constituents—from board members to faculty to parents to legislators—are happy with the direction of the institution. And we also know that those constituents can be impatient in waiting for substantive change to produce positive results. Honest discourse on new initiatives that seem unproductive or in need of modification is likely to lead to unpleasant conversations that few of us would relish.

This is not the way to foster innovation and improvement in higher education. The best innovators in the world typically follow the mantra that failure is acceptable, helpful, and sometimes even necessary to ultimately achieving an objective. Many of the products we rely on today, from Post-it Notes to pacemakers, resulted from mistakes or failures in the search for other innovations. And just about any founder of a successful Silicon Valley start-up has a track record of ventures that failed.

Successful innovation requires experimentation and learning from failure.

…

At the University of California, Riverside, and Oregon State University, we are engaged in one effort to achieve these goals: the University Innovation Alliance. The UIA is a consortium of eleven major public research universities that are working together to identify new solutions to challenges found throughout the higher education community, and then to share information about failures and successful solutions among institutions.

From DSC:
Some images that are along these lines:

RealEstate-HigherEd-DanielSChristian11-1-13

TheTrimtabInHigherEducation-DanielChristian

“Who is taking MOOCs? Teachers, says MIT-Harvard study”; plus other MOOC-related items

On 04/07/2015, in corporate / business world, corporate universities / corporate training, distance education, MOOCs -- Massive Open Online Courses, online learning, professional development, teachers, training / L&D, workplace, by Daniel Christian

Who is taking MOOCs? Teachers, says MIT-Harvard study — from pbs.org by Kirk Carapezza, WGBH

Excerpt:

A new MIT-Harvard study released on [April 1st] finds that nearly 40 percent of learners who take open online courses are teachers. That finding has researchers wondering whether they can better design online courses once predicted to upend students’ experience to meet teachers’ needs.

The study describes two years of open online courses launched on MIT and Harvard’s non-profit online initiative, edX. It explores 68 certificate courses and 1.7 million participants.

“We know who these people are,” said Harvard Associate Professor Andrew Ho, co-author of the study.

HarvardX and MITx: Two Years of Open Online Courses Fall 2012-Summer 2014

Abstract:
What happens when well-known universities offer online courses, assessments, and certificates of completion for free? Early descriptions of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) have emphasized large enrollments, low certification rates, and highly educated registrants. We use data from two years and 68 open online courses offered by Harvard University (via HarvardX) and MIT (via MITx) to broaden the scope of answers to this question. We describe trends over this two-year span, depict participant intent using comprehensive survey instruments, and chart course participation pathways using network analysis. We find that overall participation in our MOOCs remains substantial and that the average growth has been steady. We explore how diverse audiences — including explorers, teachers-as-learners, and residential students — provide opportunities to advance the principles on which HarvardX and MITx were founded: access, research, and residential education.

Keywords:
MOOC, massive open online course, HarvardX, MITx, edX, online learning, distance education, higher education, residential learning

Study on MOOCs provides new insights on an evolving space — from newsoffice.mit.edu
Findings suggest many teachers enroll, learner intentions matter, and cost boosts completion rates.

Excerpt:

[On April 1], a joint MIT and Harvard University research team published one of the largest investigations of massive open online courses (MOOCs) to date. Building on these researchers’ prior work — a January 2014 report describing the first year of open online courses launched on edX, a nonprofit learning platform founded by the two institutions — the latest effort incorporates another year of data, bringing the total to nearly 70 courses in subjects from programming to poetry.

“We explored 68 certificate-granting courses, 1.7 million participants, 10 million participant-hours, and 1.1 billion participant-logged events,” says Andrew Ho, a professor at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. The research team also used surveys to gain additional information about participants’ backgrounds and their intentions.

August LearnMoodle MOOC is now enrolling — from moodlenews.com by Joseph Thibault

9 free MOOCs for corporate training — from elearningindustry.com

Excerpt:

MOOCs for corporate training offer a wide range of benefits but due to the broad range of courses available today, finding the right ones for skill set development and corporate training can often be a time consuming and frustrating task. To make the process easier, I’d like to share some of the top MOOCs for corporate training that you may want to consider.

Over 120 MOOCs and courses coming up in the month of April 2015 — from edtechreview.in

From 2014:
Ten big reasons for the rise of corporate MOOCs — from trainingzone.co.uk by Donald Clark

The increasing popularity of MOOCs, open-education resources such as OpenStax College, and freely available course content on platforms such as iTunes U brings an incredible opportunity for high school teachers and college instructors to collaborate and enhance each other’s instruction.

– from Mind the Gap: Connecting K–12 and Higher Education
Educators to Improve the Student Experience –from educause.edu
by Matthew W. Stoltzfus, Ben Scragg, and Cory Tressler

A solid variety of tools & apps

On 04/07/2015, in Adobe, Apple, art, Augmented Reality (AR), creativity, digital storytelling, education technology, geography / geology, Microsoft, storytelling, tools, Uncategorized, vendors, Virtual Reality (VR) / worlds / learning, workplace, writing, youth, by Daniel Christian

Augmented Reality can be a reality in your art classroom — from theartofed.com

Excerpt:

Last fall, I attended a technology conference where I went to a session on augmented reality technology (AR) and how it can be used in the classroom. I was blown away by the possibilities of this tech concept and its ability to modify our students’ current reality into a compelling, virtual experience of interactive information.

AR in your Art Classroom
There are dozens of AR apps, programs and resources out there that can help encourage curiosity and inspire critical thinking and intense creativity in your students. Here are a few augmented reality options that you can start infusing into your art curriculum.

Aurasma

ARPhoto#2

Jaunt VR wants to (virtually) change the way we travel — from cntraveler.com
Gaming is just the beginning. The real future of virtual reality lies in hacking the global travel experience.

52 of the best apps for your classroom in 2015 — from list.ly by Terry Heick

Adobe’s Slate is a [new] visual storytelling app for the iPad — from techcrunch.com; also an article at CampusTechnology.com on this app

The top 50 apps for creative minds — from theguardian.com
Our pick of the best tablet and smartphone tools to enable you to make video, music, art and more

[Microsoft’s] Sway is now collaborative—create and edit together with others! — from blogs.office.com by the Sway Team

Excerpt:

When we announced Sway, we knew that people would want to work on standout class projects, eye-catching business reports, engaging vacation recaps, or more, together—it’s the way things are done now, right? But Sway up until now has been a tool for individual authors to create polished content in a new and interactive way to share with their audiences. However, we know you’ve asked for shared editing in Sway in our feedback channels (such as UserVoice), and that Office has delivered real-time editing and collaboration features for years, allowing people to work together to share their collective ideas. On top of that, we can’t tell you how many times that we on the Sway team have said to each other, “I wish I could work on this Sway with you!” So now we’re rolling out co-authoring in Sway!

Microsoft debuts Office Lens, a document-scanning app for iOS and Android — from techcrunch.com by Sarah Perez

Excerpt:

Microsoft [on 4/2/15] launched Office Lens, a mobile document scanner app that works with OneNote, for iOS and Android smartphones. The app, which allows users to snap photos of paper documents, receipts, business cards, menus, whiteboards, sticky notes and more, was first launched a year ago as an application designed only for Windows Phone devices.

5 free (or low cost) tools for Flipped Learning— from Campus Technology’s April/May 2015 edition

Doceri
Explain Everything
Office Mix
Screencast-O-Matic
Verso

AppStudio for ArcGIS — with thanks to Dr. Jason Van Horn (Associate Professor Geology, Geography & Env Studies at Calvin College) for this resource
Your mobile mapping apps, built in a snap

Excerpt:

AppStudio for ArcGIS is a groundbreaking tool in the GIS app revolution. It lets you convert your maps into beautiful, consumer-friendly mobile apps ready for Android, iOS, Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux, and publish them using your own brand to all popular app stores – no developer skills required.

Moodle Mobile 2 is coming: updated look and feel of the application, transition to Ionic Framework — from moodlenews.com

Excerpt:

A few weeks ago Juan Leyva introduced a demo site for Moodlers to check out the 2nd version of Moodle Mobile the ever improving official mobile application for the learning management system. The major changes include a shift to Ionic framework which will greatly enhance the developers’ ability to focus on new features development.

Some of the best storytelling apps for elementary students — from educatorstechnology.com

Excerpt:

The apps below are particularly useful for elementary students but they can also be used with other age groups. Elementary teachers often complain about the paucity of apps that are kids appropriate compared with apps for other age groups. So we thought it would be useful to create a section in this blog devoted entirely to apps specifically curated for elementary teachers. After we have covered math and writing apps, today’s post features some very good iPad storytelling apps to use with young kids. You can use these apps to help kids develop a wide range of basic literacy skills that include: writing, reading and speaking.

5 great writing apps for elementary students — from educatorstechnology.com

Excerpt:

The selection we curated for you today contains some useful iPad apps to use with elementary students to help them with their writing. Some the things your kids will get to learn from these apps include: learning how to write letters, learning phonics and spelling, composing syllables by combining vowels and consonants, and several other basic literacy skills. Some of these apps also include tracking features which allow teachers and parents to keep updated about the progress of their kids.

Addendum on 4/8/15:

An entirely reimagined way to work is here! — from blogs.adobe.com
Excerpt:
[On April 6th] Adobe made available Adobe Document Cloud with all-new Acrobat DC – and, in so doing, offers people and organizations worldwide a better and more efficient way to work.

Addendum on 4/9/15:

Apple releases update to OS X, introduces new Photos app — from talkingnewmedia.com by D.B. Hebbard

Addendums on 4/13:15:

Six ways to make movies on a smartphone — from quib.ly by Laura Celada
Excerpt:

Have you tried using mobile devices to make movies? Film-making is such a great way for your children to express themselves and nurture their creativity and imagination. We’ve selected the most powerful apps and programs that can even the least techy kids become creative moviemakers.
None of these require any special equipment, just a tablet or a smartphone. Children can take videos, edit their work and make professional quality movies on the go. Check out the list below and bring out the Spielberg in them. Maybe next year you and your little thinker might be walking down the red carpet…
.
Nice for Every Device: 15 Tech-Agnostic Tools — from edsurge.com
Posting included tools for:
Student Response Systems
Student Collaboration Activities
English Language Arts/Social Studies
Math/Science
80 Twitter Tools for Almost Everything — from hongkiat.com

Mind the Gap: Connecting K–12 and Higher Education Educators to Improve the Student Experience [educause.edu]

On 04/07/2015, in collaboration, corporate / business world, higher education, K-12 related, web-based collaboration, by Daniel Christian

Mind the Gap: Connecting K–12 and Higher Education Educators to Improve the Student Experience — from educause.edu by Matthew W. Stoltzfus, Ben Scragg, and Cory Tressler

Excerpts:

With such vastly different and equally important skill sets in the educational spectrum, it’s unfortunate that high school teachers and college professors do not collaborate more often. Strong collaborations would enhance instruction for both parties, would increase the understanding of what types of teaching and learning are happening in each setting, and would assist students in their transition from high school to college. The increasing popularity of MOOCs, open-education resources such as OpenStax College, and freely available course content on platforms such as iTunes U brings an incredible opportunity for high school teachers and college instructors to collaborate and enhance each other’s instruction.

Ohio State is leading one such project. College Ready Ohio seeks to provide K–12 teachers with college-level content and professional development related to digital pedagogy, the incorporation of mobile technology for teaching and learning, and digital content creation. Through a partnership between Ohio State, the Ohio STEM Learning Network, two regional Education Service Centers, and ten participating school districts across the state, College Ready Ohio aims to expand students’ access to—and increase the affordability of—higher education for Ohio’s students. By piloting dual enrollment, known as College Credit Plus in Ohio, for students in the partner districts, College Ready Ohio will help ease the financial burden of higher education by providing students with an opportunity to earn college credits in high school, while simultaneously preparing students for the rigor of college-level coursework.

From DSC:
I love to see this type of collaboration! It makes a world of sense and I wish that there were more of these kinds of efforts/collaborations — and efforts that help bridge the gaps between higher education and the workplace. Such efforts would make for smoother transitions from K-12 to higher ed — and then from higher ed to the workplace.

“8 steps to 7 billion liberal arts degrees” & other items on ecampusnews’ Whither Liberal Arts? Symposium

On 04/06/2015, in colleges, dangers of the status quo, Daniel S. Christian, higher education, liberal arts, new business models, online learning, relationships, tools, Uncategorized, universities, by Daniel Christian

Liberal arts education is unique in its ability to develop independence of thought, to nurture wisdom, and to build both a deep empathy for others and broad context for decision making in uncertain situations.

— Gunnar Counselman

8 steps to 7 billion liberal arts degrees — from ecampusnews.com by Gunnar Counselman, the founder/CEO of Fidelis Education, a Learning Relationship Management (LRM) System.

Excerpt (emphasis DSC):

So being on the offensive about the liberal arts means reframing the conversation from a defense for the 40M people who participate in it today. Being on offensive means abandoning all tendency toward Ludditism and instead getting creative about using technology to scale effective learning in the liberal arts and pure sciences to the other 99.6 percent of people on the planet. And being on the offensive means we must stop worrying about jobs. There will be many more jobs educating 99.6 percent of the world’s population than there are educating the .4 percent (the percentage of the world population currently receiving a liberal arts degree), no matter how efficient we become with technology.

…

Let’s observe the ingredients of liberal education as they are today at places like Middlebury, Smith, Sarah Lawrence, and Union, honors programs at state universities, then imagine what it would look like scaled to 7 billion people.

…

This analysis makes it clear that liberal education is a relationship-generation machine built around personalized content. So our technology has to be a relationship-management machine, purpose-built to make sure that every single person in a learning community has peers, mentors, and advisors to collaborate to build strong learning pathways of content.

From DSC:
Though Gunnar likely has his LMS-influenced lenses on while sharing his thoughts here (as I often have my tech-tinted lenses/perspectives on as well), he still makes some valid points. Those who support the liberal arts need “to stop hunkering down in a defensive posture. It’s time to go on the offensive…” he asserts. I would second his thought that we need to creatively employ technology to help the liberal arts thrive in the 21st century.

In fact, I’m beginning to wonder more and more if online/digitally-based learning will turn out to be the very thing that saves the liberal arts as we make our way through the 21st century. Getting a liberal arts degree at $5K a year is one thing. Getting it at a price tag of $25K-$50+K per year is another thing. When prices rise like that, expectations change. The expectations of a solid ROI come to mind much more as the prices increase (and I would even use the word requirements for many of us now, not just expectations).

If we want the liberal arts to continue to exist outside the top 5% of the income earners out there, we must find ways to bring the prices down again. The best way I know to do that is to go online — at least in part. Setting up a new server or asking one’s vendor(s) to allocate more storage, bandwidth, applications, user accounts, etc. is far cheaper than maintaining physical campuses or developing new buildings on campuses across the land. And you can still have excellent relationships, interactions, and communications via online/digitally-based means.

Also see:

Mind the gap: How to close the distance between liberal arts and employment — from ecampusnews.com by Josh Jarrett and Tabor Martinsen

Learning Ecosystems

AWS wants to put machine learning in reach of any developer [Ron Miller]

lynda.com has entered into an agreement to be acquired by LinkedIn

Over 50 and back in college, preparing for a new career [Hannon]

Embracing failure to spur success: A new collaborative innovation model [Wilcox & Ray]

“Who is taking MOOCs? Teachers, says MIT-Harvard study”; plus other MOOC-related items

A solid variety of tools & apps

Aurasma

“8 steps to 7 billion liberal arts degrees” & other items on ecampusnews’ Whither Liberal Arts? Symposium

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