2017 October

For colleges, community colleges, & universities: The new, exponential pace of change. [Christian]

On 10/18/2017, in 21st century, adult learning, analytics, Artificial Intelligence / Machine Learning / Deep Learning / Algorithms, bots, career development, change, changing business models, colleges, community colleges, dangers of the status quo, Daniel S. Christian, education reform, experimentation, higher education, ideas, innovation, internet, learning, lifelong learning, mobile technologies, organizational change, pace of change, reinvent, robotics, society, staying relevant, strategy, surviving, technology (general), training / L&D, trends, United States, universities, vision/possibilities, wearables, workplace, by Daniel Christian

From DSC:
Some of the largest waves of change that are hitting the beaches of numerous societies throughout the globe are coming from technological changes such as:

Artificial intelligence (which includes things like machine learning, deep learning, natural language processing, personal assistants, bots, algorithms, and the like)
Big data and analytics
Robotics
The digital transformation of businesses
New forms of human computer interaction such as virtual reality, augmented reality and mixed reality
Mobile computing
Cloud computing
The Internet of Things
Wearables
…and more

But in all of these developments, what is common amongst them is that the pace of change has changed. It’s much faster now. In fact, we are no longer on a linear path of slow, steady, incremental changes. We are now on an exponential trajectory – or pace – of change.

This new pace of change is starting to have profound implications for societies, individuals, institutions of higher education, and workforces throughout the globe. Some of these ramifications include:

Profound modifications to the existing workforce; in some cases, staff reductions
New fields, new positions
New skillsets that require highly-educated individuals as well as a massive amount of additional training for existing employees
New methods of learning and the requirement for lifelong, constant learning from here on out
The need to become more responsive and nimble
The need to pulse-check a variety of landscapes to ascertain the best potential strategies to pursue (in light of the potential upcoming scenarios)

Yet the changes aren’t just arising from technological changes. For institutions of higher education, there have been other areas of change that bring with them significant impact, such as:

Decreases in state funding
The increasing costs of healthcare and benefits for faculty, staff, and administrators
Headwinds from demographic-related declines (depending upon one’s geographic location)
Aging facilities and infrastructures
…and more.

Navigating these rough waters is not easy. But the key questions now are:

Is your institution poised to ride the waves of change or is it about to get crushed by these same waves?

Is someone at your organization looking out for these oncoming waves?
That is, is someone pulse-checking a variety of landscapes to ascertain the trends that are developing, trends that could significantly impact your institution and/or your students?

What are some of the ways that your organization could respond to these waves of change to positively impact the following parties?
- Your organization
  What new programs could be offered at your institution? How is the level of responsiveness at your institution to these changes?
- Your students
  Many jobs that your students will have in their futures haven’t even been invented yet. How can you best develop them to be ready for the new, exponential pace of change? How are you helping your graduates who (increasingly) need to come back to your institution and reinvent themselves – quickly, conveniently, and cost-effectively?
- Your employees
  Given all of this change, the professional growth of your own faculty members, staff, and members of your administration is extremely important. How are you looking after their growth?

Would you use the word “innovative” to describe the culture of your organization? That is, is your institution willing to experiment and take some calculated risks? To take no action or risks in the current environment is likely the biggest risk of all.

For institutions of higher education: Some of the ways to respond to the new, exponential pace of change [Christian]

On 10/18/2017, in 21st century, adult learning, Amazon, analytics, Artificial Intelligence / Machine Learning / Deep Learning / Algorithms, Augmented Reality (AR), Blockchain, bots, business, business side of he, career development, change, colleges, community colleges, consortiums, dangers of the status quo, Daniel S. Christian, data related items, digital learning, distance education, education reform, elearning, emerging technologies, expectations, experimentation, future, future of higher education, game-changing environment, global / globalization, higher education, human-computer interaction (HCI), ideas, innovation, interaction design, interface design, internet, leadership, learning ecosystem, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, lifelong learning, machine-to-machine communications, Michigan, Mixed Reality (MR), online learning, organizational change, pace of change, parents/guardians, personalized/customized learning, platforms, real-world assignments, reinvent, society, staying relevant, strategy, streams of content, student-related, surviving, technology (general), traditional / tradition, trends, United States, universities, user experience (UX), user interface design, Virtual Reality (VR) / worlds / learning, vision/possibilities, by Daniel Christian

From DSC:
In Part I, I looked at the new, exponential pace of change that colleges, community colleges and universities now need to deal with – observing the enormous changes that are starting to occur throughout numerous societies around the globe. If we were to plot out the rate of change, we would see that we are no longer on a slow, steady, incremental type of linear pathway; but, instead, we would observe that we are now on an exponential trajectory (as the below graphic from sparks & honey very nicely illustrates).

How should colleges and universities deal with this new, exponential pace of change?

1) I suggest that you ensure that someone in your institution is lifting their gaze and peering out into the horizons, to see what’s coming down the pike. That person – or more ideally, persons – should also be looking around them, noticing what’s going on within the current landscapes of higher education. Regardless of how your institution tackles this task, given that we are currently moving at an incredibly fast pace, this trend analysis is very important. The results from this analysis should immediately be integrated into your strategic plan. Don’t wait 3-5 years to integrate these new findings into your plan. The new, exponential pace of change is going to reward those organizations who are nimble and responsive.

2) I recommend that you look at what programs you are offering and consider if you should be developing additional programs such as those that deal with:

Artificial Intelligence (Natural Language Processing, deep learning, machine learning, bots)
New forms of Human Computer Interaction such as Augmented Reality, Virtual Reality, and Mixed Reality
User Experience Design, User Interface Design, and/or Interaction Design
Big data, data science, working with data
The Internet of Things, machine-to-machine communications, sensors, beacons, etc.
Blockchain-based technologies/systems
The digital transformation of business
Freelancing / owning your own business / entrepreneurship (see this article for the massive changes happening now!)
…and more

3) If you are not already doing so, I recommend that you immediately move to offer a robust lineup of online-based programs. Why do I say this? Because:

Without them, your institution may pay a heavy price due to its diminishing credibility. Your enrollments could decline if learners (and their families) don’t think they will get solid jobs coming out of your institution. If the public perceives you as a dinosaur/out of touch with what the workplace requires, your enrollment/admissions groups may find meeting their quotas will get a lot harder as the years go on. You need to be sending some cars down the online/digital/virtual learning tracks. (Don’t get me wrong. We still need the liberal arts. However, even those institutions who offer liberal arts lineups will still need to have a healthy offering of online-based programs.)
Online-based learning methods can expand the reach of your faculty members while offering chances for individuals throughout the globe to learn from you, and you from them
Online-based learning programs can increase your enrollments, create new revenue streams, and develop/reach new markets
Online-based learning programs have been proven to offer the same learning gains – and sometimes better learning results than – what’s being achieved in face-to-face based classrooms
The majority of pedagogically-related innovations are occurring within the online/digital/virtual realm, and you will want to have built the prior experience, expertise, and foundations in order to leverage and benefit from them
Faculty take their learning/experiences from offering online-based courses back into their face-to-face courses
Due to the increasing price of obtaining a degree, students often need to work to help get them (at least part of the way) through school; thus, flexibility is becoming increasingly important and necessary for students
An increasing number of individuals within the K-12 world as well as the corporate world are learning via online-based means. This is true within higher education as well, as, according to a recent report from Digital Learning Compass states that “the number of higher education students taking at least one distance education course in 2015 now tops six million, about 30% of all enrollments.”
Families are looking very closely at their return on investments being made within the world of higher education. They want to see that their learners are being prepared for the ever-changing future that they will encounter. If people in the workforce often learn online, then current students should be getting practice in that area of their learning ecosystems as well.
As the (mostly) online-based Amazon.com is thriving and retail institutions such as Sears continue to close, people are in the process of forming more generalized expectations that could easily cross over into the realm of higher education. By the way, here’s how our local Sears building is looking these days…or what’s left of it.

4) I recommend that you move towards offering more opportunities for lifelong learning, as learners need to constantly add to their skillsets and knowledge base in order to remain marketable in today’s workforce. This is where adults greatly appreciate – and need – the greater flexibility offered by online-based means of learning. I’m not just talking about graduate programs or continuing studies types of programs here. Rather, I’m hoping that we can move towards providing streams of up-to-date content that learners can subscribe to at any time (and can drop their subscription to at any time). As a relevant side note here, keep your eyes on blockchain-based technologies here.

5) Consider the role of consortia and pooling resources. How might that fit into your strategic plan?

6) Consider why bootcamps continue to come onto the landscape. What are traditional institutions of higher education missing here?

7) And lastly, if one doesn’t already exist, form a small, nimble, innovative group within your organization — what I call a TrimTab Group — to help identify what will and won’t work for your institution.

For those seeking to be better communicators/leaders/servants, you need to check out “Communicate Like a True Leader”

On 10/17/2017, in 21st century, Amazon, analytics, Apple, Artificial Intelligence / Machine Learning / Deep Learning / Algorithms, Blockchain, bots, business, career development, cloud-based computing / apps / other cloud-related, collaboration, colleges, communications, community colleges, computer science, corporate / business world, Daniel S. Christian, emerging technologies, engineering, ethics, Facebook / Meta Platforms, global / globalization, hearts -- matters of the heart, higher education, human-computer interaction (HCI), ideas, innovation, intelligent systems, intelligent tutoring, leadership, liberal arts, marketing/social marketing, Michigan, Microsoft, morals/values, organizational change, pace of change, presentations, productivity / tips and tricks, professional development, relationships, robotics, society, student-related, teachers, teaching & learning, United States, universities, writing, by Daniel Christian

From DSC:
I know Quentin Schultze from our years working together at Calvin College, in Grand Rapids, Michigan (USA). I have come to greatly appreciate Quin as a person of faith, as an innovative/entrepreneurial professor, as a mentor to his former students, and as an excellent communicator.

Quin has written a very concise, wisdom-packed book that I would like to recommend to those people who are seeking to be better communicators, leaders, and servants. But I would especially like to recommend this book to the leadership at Google, Amazon, Apple, Microsoft, IBM, Facebook, Nvidia, the major companies developing robots, and other high-tech companies. Why do I list these organizations? Because given the exponential pace of technological change, these organizations — and their leaders — have an enormous responsibility to make sure that the technologies that they are developing result in positive changes for societies throughout the globe. They need wisdom, especially as they are working on emerging technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), personal assistants and bots, algorithms, robotics, the Internet of Things, big data, blockchain and more. These technologies continue to exert an increasingly powerful influence on numerous societies throughout the globe today. And we haven’t seen anything yet! Just because we can develop and implement something, doesn’t mean that we should. Again, we need wisdom here.

But as Quin states, it’s not just about knowledge, the mind and our thoughts. It’s about our hearts as well. That is, we need leaders who care about others, who can listen well to others, who can serve others well while avoiding gimmicks, embracing diversity, building trust, fostering compromise and developing/exhibiting many of the other qualities that Quin writes about in his book. Our societies desperately need leaders who care about others and who seek to serve others well.

I highly recommend you pick up a copy of Quin’s book. There are few people who can communicate as much in as few words as Quin can. In fact, I wish that more writing on the web and more articles/research coming out of academia would be as concisely and powerfully written as Quin’s book, Communicate Like a True Leader: 30 Days of Life-Changing Wisdom.

To lead is to accept responsibility and act responsibly.
— Quentin Schultze

Reading for delegates to the World Conference on Online Learning (taking place from 10/16/17 through 10/19/17 in Toronto, Canada)

Readings include:

QUANTUM LEAPS YOU CAN EXPECT IN TEACHING AND LEARNING IN THE DIGITAL AGE – A ROADMAP AND MAJOR DEVELOPMENTS
EDU@2035 BIG SHIFTS ARE COMING! LOOKING BACK FROM 2035
Excerpt:
It’s hard for us to imagine a future that is not like the present. When looking at familiar terrain in the rear-view mirror, we must remind ourselves that – less than 50 years ago – two of the world’s biggest companies (Wal-Mart, Apple) had not yet incorporated or that 3 of the 5 largest companies in the world today are Chinese. Google is just preparing for its 20th anniversary, while global giants like Alibaba, Facebook and TenCent are not yet 15 years old! Worldwide, investors are pouring more than USD 3 Billion every year into educational technologies. How might innovations that flow from this investment change post-secondary education?
In 2035, will students choose among term-length and micro-courses from the Alibaba, Apple, Coursera, Sony, or YouTube catalogs? Will their instructors be at academies anywhere in the world, or might they be freelancers? Or chatbots? Will students wear prosthetic implants making it unnecessary to learn new languages? Will bionic devices give them augmented senses? Will we learn on campuses? In holodecks? At home? Using environmental scans, scenarios, probabilities and themes to fuel our imaginations, let’s envision what “automizing and digitizing” analysis, optimization, prophecy and customization might mean in and for post-secondary education’s mission!
From the rear-view mirror of 2035, our landscape might look as follows…
.
MAJOR DEVELOPMENTS, CHALLENGES, OPPORTUNITIES IN ONLINE AND DISTANCE EDUCATION
LES LEARNING ANALYTICS : MODE OU OPPORTUNITÉ?
STUDENT SUPPORT SERVICES FOR ONLINE LEARNING RE-IMAGINED AND RE-INVIGORATED: THEN, NOW AND WHAT’S TO COME
LESSONS LEARNED FROM THE CALIFORNIA COMMUNITY COLLEGE SYSTEM (CCC), THE LARGEST SYSTEM OF HIGHER EDUCATION IN THE U.S.A.
26 BREAKTHROUGH INNOVATIONS AT THE WORLD’S OPEN UNIVERSITIES YOU CAN ADOPT, ADAPT, AND APPLY TO YOUR OWN INSTITUTIONS
A SEPTEMBER 2017 SNAPSHOT
ON THE CUSP OF CHANGE IN APPROACHES TO TEACHING AND LEARNING
PERSPECTIVES OF PRESIDENTS OF ONTARIO’S COLLEGE ON THE FUTURE OF ONLINE LEARNING
A SNAPSHOT OF ACCOMPLISHMENTS, PLANS AND ASPIRATIONS
ON THE CUSP OF CHANGE IN APPROACHES TO TEACHING AND LEARNING
PERSPECTIVES OF PRESIDENTS OF ONTARIO’S UNIVERSITIES ON THE FUTURE OF ONLINE LEARNING
A SNAPSHOT OF ACCOMPLISHMENTS, PLANS AND ASPIRATIONS

Also see:

Emerging Tech Boosts Online Education Growth Over Next 4 Years — from edtechmagazine.com by Meghan Bogardus Cortez
A study finds that mobile devices, virtual reality and blending learning programs will spark innovation.
Excerpt:
With millions of students enrolling in at least one online course, it should be no surprise that a recent Technavio study found that the online education market is forecasted to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 20 percent until 2021. As enrollment and investment in online education increases, the report claims that the industry owes a lot of this growth to mobile devices and increased desire for blended learning opportunities.

2017 Campus Technology Impact Awards
The inaugural recipients of the CT Impact Awards are using tech to improve teaching and learning, streamline operations, build community and more.

Oculus Announces $199 Standalone VR Headset [Nafarrete]

On 10/13/2017, in Facebook / Meta Platforms, human-computer interaction (HCI), innovation, tools, Virtual Reality (VR) / worlds / learning, by Daniel Christian

Oculus Announces $199 Standalone VR Headset — from vrscout.com by Jonathan Nafarrete

Excerpt:

‘Oculus Go’ doesn’t require a phone or PC.

Oculus’ biggest event of the year, Oculus Connect 4, kicked off Wednesday morning with an opening keynote reveal from Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg.

The Facebook owned Oculus unveiled on stage their first standalone VR headset. Dubbed Oculus Go, the VR headset is a all-in one mobile computer, which means you don’t need to slide in your phone or plug it into a beefy gaming PC. There’s also no cords. The best part of it all, Oculus Go is priced at $199 and will be available in 2018.

Also see:

Facebook Adds Live 360° Video and Creative Tools to Spaces — from vrscout.com by Jesse Damiani

Amazon and Microsoft announce Gluon, making deep learning accessible to all developers

On 10/13/2017, in Amazon, analytics, Artificial Intelligence / Machine Learning / Deep Learning / Algorithms, bots, business, career development, cloud-based computing / apps / other cloud-related, computer science, Google, human-computer interaction (HCI), Microsoft, platforms, programming, by Daniel Christian

AWS and Microsoft announce Gluon, making deep learning accessible to all developers — from news.microsoft.com
New open source deep learning interface allows developers to more easily and quickly build machine learning models without compromising training performance. Jointly developed reference specification makes it possible for Gluon to work with any deep learning engine; support for Apache MXNet available today and support for Microsoft Cognitive Toolkit coming soon.

Excerpt:

SEATTLE and REDMOND, Wash. — Oct. 12, 2017 — On Thursday, Amazon Web Services Inc. (AWS), an Amazon.com company (NASDAQ: AMZN), and Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) announced a new deep learning library, called Gluon, that allows developers of all skill levels to prototype, build, train and deploy sophisticated machine learning models for the cloud, devices at the edge and mobile apps. The Gluon interface currently works with Apache MXNet and will support Microsoft Cognitive Toolkit (CNTK) in an upcoming release. With the Gluon interface, developers can build machine learning models using a simple Python API and a range of prebuilt, optimized neural network components. This makes it easier for developers of all skill levels to build neural networks using simple, concise code, without sacrificing performance. AWS and Microsoft published Gluon’s reference specification so other deep learning engines can be integrated with the interface. To get started with the Gluon interface, visit https://github.com/gluon-api/gluon-api/.

Microsoft and Amazon struck a brilliant partnership to take on Google in the next big thing for cloud computing — from finance.yahoo.com Business Insider by Julie Bort

Excerpt:

Microsoft and Amazon announced a surprise partnership on Thursday in which they were jointly releasing for free a new software tool for developers called Gluon.
Gluon makes it easier for developers to build AI/machine learning systems, aka apps that can learn.
But there’s another, more important reason this partnership is interesting: it challenges Google in its one big area of dominance.

Virtual Reality: A Great Fit for Employee Onboarding — from trainingindustry.com by Andrew Woodberry

Excerpts:

For jobs that are particularly dangerous or high-stress, introducing employees to the environment through virtual reality is a smart approach. In recent years, companies have created realistic VR applications that they have used to train people from surgeons to firefighters. Virtual reality gives new employees as close an approximation to their new workplace as they can have without actually needing to be physically present. The exposure to the simulated high-stress environment should, theoretically, make the VR users more comfortable when they actually face the real-world equivalent.

Tips for Adding VR to Onboarding

Start with shorter VR onboarding videos.
Add interactivity to generate a more memorable training experience.
Measure the effectiveness of VR onboarding.

From DSC:
I appreciated that the article included the following sentence: “For industries without a lot of change, the VR training modules can be used for numerous years.” This hints at the need to start small and be sure that your content won’t be changing all the time. If it does, VR may not be a good fit. It’s at least something to consider — along with the costs of the hardware to review/experience the training-related content (which are changing all of the time these days…and will likely continue to change for a while yet).

For a long, successful career, LinkedIn says nothing beats a liberal arts major — from qz.com by Dan Kopf and Amy Wang

Excerpt:

“There is a real concern that these labor-market-oriented degrees that focus on specific technical skills are not as durable,” says Guy Berger, a LinkedIn economist and one of the researchers who worked on the report. Berger believes that “cross-functional skills” like management and analytical know-how are more adaptable across a range of work environments. As technology changes the nature of work across nearly every industry, it’s important to have a wide range of such talents, rather than a narrow subset applied only to a particular sector that may not look the same in the near future (or, indeed, exist at all).

Reflections on “Faculty Predict Virtual/Augmented/Mixed Reality Will Be Key to Ed Tech in 10 Years” [Kelly]

On 10/12/2017, in 3D, A/V -- audio/visual, attention, Augmented Reality (AR), Blockchain, cloud-based computing / apps / other cloud-related, CMS/LMS, collaboration, colleges, communications, community colleges, Daniel S. Christian, digital audio, digital learning, digital video, education technology, emerging technologies, engagement / engaging students, future, future of higher education, innovation, internet, IT in HE, learner profiles, learning, learning agents, learning ecosystem, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, lifelong learning, Mixed Reality (MR), mobile learning, mobile technologies, Natural Language Processing (NLP), personalized/customized learning, platforms, smart classrooms, streams of content, student-related, teachers, teaching & learning, tools, United States, universities, videoconferencing, Virtual Reality (VR) / worlds / learning, wearables, web-based collaboration, by Daniel Christian

Faculty Predict Virtual/Augmented/Mixed Reality Will Be Key to Ed Tech in 10 Years — from campustechnology.com by Rhea Kelly
Faculty in our 2017 Teaching with Technology Survey believe tech will play a positive role in the future of higher education — but some technologies will be more important than others.

Excerpt:

What technologies do faculty think will be important in education over the next decade? The most popular answer to that question by far was virtual/augmented/mixed reality, garnering 81 percent of responses (it topped the list last year as well). Mobile devices and apps, 3D modeling/scanning/printing, adaptive/personalized learning and video/streaming all rounded out the top five.

From DSC:
Great to see several of these items made the list. I would also add:

The use of Natural Language Processing (NLP) to allow more voice-enabled and voice-driven applications
Learning agents/bots (for example, a learning-related bot could go find out the top 50-100 jobs that employers are hiring for and present a list of potential digital playlists from a variety of providers that would help potential employees be able to do the work in those positions)
Blockchain and the use of web-based learner profiles
Artificial Intelligence / cognitive computing (which could be argued is already mentioned in the item re: adaptive, personalized learning)
Moving towards providing up-to-date streams of content (for purposes of lifelong learning and microlearning)

Finally, it was great to see #9 on the list as I, too, believe that a next gen learning platform is needed:

Top 10 Strategic Technology Trends for 2018 [Gartner]

On 10/11/2017, in 21st century, analytics, Artificial Intelligence / Machine Learning / Deep Learning / Algorithms, Blockchain, bots, business, career development, change, changing business models, communications, computer science, corporate / business world, emerging technologies, future, game-changing environment, human-computer interaction (HCI), ideas, immersion, innovation, intelligent systems, internet, IT in HE, machine-to-machine communications, Mixed Reality (MR), platforms, programming, research, society, strategy, technology (general), tools, trends, user experience (UX), vendors, Virtual Reality (VR) / worlds / learning, voice recognition / voice enabled interfaces, by Daniel Christian

Top 10 Strategic Technology Trends for 2018 — from Gartner Research

Summary

The intelligent digital mesh is a foundation for future digital business and its ecosystems. To create competitive advantage, enterprise architecture and technology innovation leaders must evaluate these top trends to identify opportunities that their organizations can exploit.

Key Findings

Artificial intelligence (AI) delivers value to every industry, enabling new business models. It does so by supporting key initiatives such as customer engagement, digital production, smart cities, self-driving cars, risk management, computer vision and speech recognition.
As people, places, processes and “things” become increasingly digitalized, they will be represented by digital twins. This will provide fertile ground for new event-driven business processes and digitally enabled business models and ecosystems.
The way we interact with technology will undergo a radical transformation over the next five to 10 years. Conversational platforms, augmented reality, virtual reality and mixed reality will provide more natural and immersive interactions with the digital world.
A digital business is event-centric, which means it must be continuously sensing and adapting. The same applies to the security and risk infrastructure that supports it, which must focus on deceiving potential intruders and predicting security events.

Table of Contents

Analysis

Trend No. 1: AI Foundation
Today’s AI Is Narrow AI

Trend No. 2: Intelligent Apps and Analytics
Augmented Analytics Will Enable Users to Spend More Time Acting on Insights

Trend No. 3: Intelligent Things
Swarms of Intelligent Things Will Work Together

Trend No. 4: Digital Twins
Digital Twins Will Be Linked to Other Digital Entities

Trend No. 5: Cloud to the Edge
Edge Computing Brings Distributed Computing Into the Cloud Style

Trend No. 6: Conversational Platforms
Integration With Third-Party Services Will Further Increase Usefulness

Trend No. 7: Immersive Experience
VR and AR Can Help Increase Productivity

Trend No. 8: Blockchain
Blockchain Offers Significant Potential Long-Term Benefits Despite Its Challenges

Trend No. 9: Event-Driven Model
Events Will Become More Important in the Intelligent Digital Mesh

Trend No. 10: Continuous Adaptive Risk and Trust
Barriers Must Come Down Between Security and Application Teams

Gartner Recommended Reading

Also see:

AI, Merging of Digital and Physical Worlds Among Top 10 Tech Trends for 2018 — from campustechnology.com by Joshua Bolkan
Excerpt:
Gartner has released its list of top 10 strategic technology trends for 2018 with a focus for the coming year on technologies related to artificial intelligence and machine learning and those that blend the physical and digital worlds.

Reuters Top 100: The World’s Most Innovative Universities – 2017

On 10/10/2017, in Asia, emerging technologies, Europe, global / globalization, higher education, innovation, Michigan, science, technology (general), United States, universities, by Daniel Christian

Reuters Top 100: The World’s Most Innovative Universities – 2017 — from reuters.com with thanks to eduwire for their posting on this

Excerpts:

Reuters’ annual ranking of the World’s Most Innovative Universities identifies and ranks the educational institutions doing the most to advance science, invent new technologies and power new markets and industries.

The top 10 innovative universities are:

Stanford University
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
Harvard University
University of Pennsylvania
KU Leuven
KAIST
University of Washington
University of Michigan System
University of Texas System
Vanderbilt University

7 Things You Should Know About Research on Active Learning Classrooms — from library.educause.edu

Excerpt:

Research into active learning classrooms (ALCs)—spaces explicitly designed to support and promote this kind of learning and pedagogy—is expanding. This research provides educators with insights about how best to implement active learning pedagogies and support learners in ALCs. Studying how pedagogy and physical space can influence each other, researchers assess how well design elements work and how they affect learning. Higher education needs to know why active learning works, how it works best, and how these methods can be adopted more widely. Research that shows the efficacy of ALCs helps advance the use of such spaces and informs improvements in the design of learning spaces.

That item also mentions:
A Guide to Teaching in the Active Learning Classroom

7 Things You Should Know About AR/VR/MR — from library.educause.edu

Excerpt:

Augmented reality can be described as experiencing the real world with an overlay of additional computer generated content. In contrast, virtual reality immerses a user in an entirely simulated environment, while mixed or merged reality blends real and virtual worlds in ways through which the physical and the digital can interact. AR, VR, and MR offer new opportunities to create a psychological sense of immersive presence in an environment that feels real enough to be viewed, experienced, explored, and manipulated. These technologies have the potential to democratize learning by giving everyone access to immersive experiences that were once restricted to relatively few learners.

1,600 donated Echo Dots say hello to Arizona State engineering students [Lestch]

On 10/09/2017, in A/V -- audio/visual, Amazon, Artificial Intelligence / Machine Learning / Deep Learning / Algorithms, colleges, communications, community colleges, digital audio, education technology, emerging technologies, engineering, human-computer interaction (HCI), student-related, tools, United States, universities, voice recognition / voice enabled interfaces, by Daniel Christian

1,600 donated Echo Dots say hello to Arizona State engineering students — from by Corinne Lestch; with thanks to eduwire for their posting on this
ASU says the voice-controlled Amazon devices aren’t just for campus questions — they’re preparing students for future technologies, too.

Excerpt:

ASU students have set up Echo Dots, a hands-free, voice-controlled device the size of a hockey puck, in engineering residence halls.

Students can ask questions about topics ranging from the weather to campus sporting events to library hours to exam schedules.

“We’re continuing to add content as we’re learning what students want to learn about,” Rome said. “So there’s this feedback loop of what students want, and we monitor what questions are being asked.”
…
Amazon donated about 1,600 Dots to engineering students at ASU, so the technology belongs to the students, not to the school. The students can choose to use them or not, said John German, director for media relations and research communications.

“We have the largest engineering school in the country, and one of the things we’re trying to do is teach students the most advanced technology, the kinds of technology that are going to make them competitive in the job market when they get their degrees,” German said. “And voice technology is a field that’s growing. It’s going to play a role in the future.”

“Voice is becoming the new mobile of 10 years ago,” Rome said. “We’ve decided to be an early adopter of this technology.”
…
“There’s going to come some day when students can interact [with ASU’s student portal] via webpage or microphone on their mobile phones,” he said. “We think that’s inevitable.”

Especially meant for students: The Unofficial LinkedIn FAQ: 50 Answers by Andy Foote

On 10/09/2017, in career development, Microsoft, Personal Learning Networks (PLNs), professional development, social learning / networks, social media, by Daniel Christian

The Unofficial LinkedIn FAQ: 50 Answers by Andy Foote — from linkedinsights.com by Andy Foote

Excerpts:

If I had a dollar….my clients have asked a lot of the same questions over the years and I’ve been dying to write an unofficial FAQ type post to address these common questions in one swoop. Took me a while to put this 5,000 word guide together, if you find it useful, please share it.
…

(6) Should I only connect with people I know?
No. Though the LinkedIn User Agreement (8.2.g) states “You agree that you will not: Invite people you do not know to join your network” everyone knows this is both unenforceable and contrary to a major premise of LinkedIn. The big selling point of LinkedIn is the ability to grow yourself a network by connecting virtually with people you have not met and you don’t know, yet. Only connecting with people you know in real life is the equivalent of building an imaginary wall around your profile and ignoring all of the engagement and information sharing going on around you. Or you could just join MySpace.

…

(15) What are Followers?
Hangers on. Followers dig what you have written or like the cut of your jib on LinkedIn. Following someone on LinkedIn does not mean that they will get notified when the person being followed writes/shares (that would be too logical). Followers were born after LinkedIn publisher launched (Feb 2014) in an effort to encourage budding authors to think of their network as a built-in audience for their content. When you connect with someone you automatically follow them too. Everyone who follows you is potentially interested in connecting with you. Ask them!

…

(16) How much space do I have in my Headline/Summary?
120 characters (headline) 2000 characters (summary). For a while you could get 220 characters if you edited your headline on the mobile app. Don’t feel you have to use all 2,000 characters for your summary. Here’s a link to 3 ‘stunningly good’ summaries https://www.linkedinsights.com/3-stunningly-good-linkedin-profile-summaries And another link to maximum character counts https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/maximum-linkedin-character-counts-2017-andy-foote

…

(37) What’s the quickest way to get LinkedIn support?
Tweet them @LinkedInHelp

Learning Ecosystems

For colleges, community colleges, & universities: The new, exponential pace of change. [Christian]

Oculus Announces $199 Standalone VR Headset [Nafarrete]

Amazon and Microsoft announce Gluon, making deep learning accessible to all developers

Virtual Reality: A Great Fit for Employee Onboarding [Woodberry]

Top 10 Strategic Technology Trends for 2018 [Gartner]

Reuters Top 100: The World’s Most Innovative Universities – 2017

7 things you should know about ALCs as well as AR/VR/MR [EDUCAUSE]

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