From DSC:
Regarding the article below…why did it take Udacity needing to team up with Infosys to offer this type of program and curriculum? Where are the programs in institutions of traditional higher education on this?  Are similar programs being developed? If so, how quickly will they come to market? I sure hope that such program development is in progress..and perhaps it is. But the article below goes to show us that alternatives to traditional higher education seem to be more responsive to the new, exponential pace of change that we now find ourselves in.

We have to pick up the pace! To do this, we need to identify any obstacles to our institutions adapting to this new pace of change — and then address them immediately. I see our current methods of accreditation as one of the areas that we need to address. We’ve got to get solid programs to market much faster!

And for those folks in higher ed who say change isn’t happening rapidly — that it’s all a bunch of hype — you likely still have a job. But you need to go talk with some people who don’t, or who’ve had their jobs recently impacted big time. Here are some suggestions of folks to talk with:

  • Taxi drivers who were impacted by Lyft and by Uber these last 5-10 years; they may still have their jobs, if they’re lucky. But they’ve been impacted big time…and are likely driving for Lyft and/or Uber as well as their former employers; they’re likely to have less bargaining power than they used to as the supply of drivers has skyrocketed. (By the way, the very existence of such organizations couldn’t have happened without the smartphone and mobile-related technologies/telecommunications.)
  • Current managers and former employees at hotels/motels about the impacts on their industry by AirBnB over a similar time frame
  • Hiring managers at law firms who’ve cut back on hiring entry-level lawyers…work that’s increasingly being done by software (example)
  • Employees who worked at brick and mortar retailers who have been crushed by Amazon.com’s online-based presence (in not that long of time, by the way). For example, below is what our local Sears store looks like these days…go find an employee who used to work at Sears or a Sears automotive-related store:

 

This is what our local Sears store looks like today

This picture is for those who say there is no disruption.
You call
this hype?!

 

The above example list — that’s admittedly woefully incomplete — doesn’t include the folks displaced by technology over the last several decades, such as:

  • Former bank tellers who lost their jobs to ATMs
  • Checkout clerks at the grocery stores who lost their jobs to self-service stations
  • Check-in agents at the airports who lost their jobs to self-service stations
  • Etc., etc., etc.

Institutions of traditional higher education
need to pick up the pace — big time!

 


Infosys and Udacity team up to train 500 engineers in autonomous technologies — from by Leah Brown
Infosys’ COO Ravi Kumar explains how these individuals can apply what they learn to other industries.

Excerpt (emphasis DSC):

Infosys, a global technology consulting firm, recently partnered with online learning platform Udacity to create a connected service that provides training for autonomous vehicles, and other services for B2B providers of autonomous vehicles.

TechRepublic’s Dan Patterson met with Infosys’ COO Ravi Kumar to discuss how autonomous technology can help create new industries.

Autonomous technology is going to be an emerging technology of the future, Kumar said. So Infosys and Udacity came together and developed a plan to train 500 engineers on autonomous technologies, and teach them how to apply it to other industries.

 

Per Wikipedia:
Udacity is a for-profit educational organization founded by Sebastian Thrun, David Stavens, and Mike Sokolsky offering massive open online courses (MOOCs). According to Thrun, the origin of the name Udacity comes from the company’s desire to be “audacious for you, the student.” While it originally focused on offering university-style courses, it now focuses more on vocational courses for professionals.

 


 

But times are changing. Artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics are facilitating the automation of a growing number of “doing” tasks. Today’s AI-enabled, information-rich tools are increasingly able to handle jobs that in the past have been exclusively done by people—think tax returns, language translations, accounting, even some kinds of surgery. These shifts will produce massive disruptions to employment and hold enormous implications for you as a business leader. (mckinsey.com)

 


 

 

From DSC:
After reviewing the article below, I wondered...if we need to interact with content to learn it…how might mixed reality allow for new ways of interacting with such content? This is especially intriguing when we interact with that content with others as well (i.e., social learning).

Perhaps Mixed Reality (MR) will bring forth a major expansion of how we look at “blended learning” and “hybrid learning.”

 


Mixed Reality Will Transform Perceptions — from forbes.com by Alexandro Pando


Excerpts (emphasis DSC):

Changing How We Perceive The World One Industry At A Time
Part of the reason mixed reality has garnered this momentum within such short span of time is that it promises to revolutionize how we perceive the world without necessarily altering our natural perspective. While VR/AR invites you into their somewhat complex worlds, mixed reality analyzes the surrounding real-world environment before projecting an enhanced and interactive overlay. It essentially “mixes” our reality with a digitally generated graphical information.

All this, however, pales in comparison to the impact of mixed reality on the storytelling process. While present technologies deliver content in a one-directional manner, from storyteller to audience, mixed reality allows for delivery of content, then interaction between content, creator and other users. This mechanism cultivates a fertile ground for increased contact between all participating entities, ergo fostering the creation of shared experiences. Mixed reality also reinvents the storytelling process. By merging the storyline with reality, viewers are presented with a wholesome experience that’s perpetually indistinguishable from real life.

 

Mixed reality is without a doubt going to play a major role in shaping our realities in the near future, not just because of its numerous use cases but also because it is the flag bearer of all virtualized technologies. It combines VR, AR and other relevant technologies to deliver a potent cocktail of digital excellence.

 


 

 

 

Education must transform to make people ready for AI — from ft.com by Jo Owen
Schools will need to teach know-how, not know-what

Excerpts:

A recent study by Oxford university estimates that nearly half of all jobs in the US are at risk from automation and computers in the next 20 years. While advancing technologies have been endangering jobs since the start of the Industrial Revolution, this time it is not just manual posts: artificial intelligence — the so-called fourth industrial revolution — promises to change the shape of professional work as well.

For instance, lawtech is already proving adept at sorting and analysing legal documents far faster and more cheaply than junior lawyers can. Similarly, routine tasks in accounting are succumbing to AI at the expense of more junior staff.

 

The next generation will need a new set of skills to survive, let alone thrive, in an AI world. Literacy, numeracy, science and languages are all important, but they share one thing in common: computers are going to be far better than humans at processing these forms of explicit knowledge. The risk is that the education system will be churning out humans who are no more than second-rate computers, so if the focus of education continues to be on transferring explicit knowledge across the generations, we will be in trouble.

The AI challenge is not just about educating more AI and computer experts, although that is important. It is also about building skills that AI cannot emulate. These are essential human skills such as teamwork, leadership, listening, staying positive, dealing with people and managing crises and conflict.

 

Evaluation and league tables are a barrier to success — you get what you measure in education as much as you do in business.

 

From DSC:
“Teamwork, leadership, listening, staying positive, dealing with people and managing crises and conflict.” Do our standardized tests measure these types of things? No, I agree with you. They don’t. They measure “know-what skills.”

 

“We are doubling down on the idea that if we get children to know things and regurgitate them in a certain way in an exam, then we are setting them up for success in life.”

Tom Ravenscroft

 

 

 

 


Also see:


 

Capitalism that Works for Everyone — from gettingsmart.com by Tom Vander Ark

Excerpts:

Inequality Gets Worse From Here
Our new report on the future of work and learning illustrated how the combination of artificial intelligence, big data and enabling technologies like robotics are changing the employment landscape fast.

Our new paper on the future of work and learning suggests a couple solutions…

 

The Section 508 Refresh and What It Means for Higher Education — from er.educause.edu by Martin LaGrow

Excerpts (emphasis DSC):

Higher education should now be on notice: Anyone with an Internet connection can now file a complaint or civil lawsuit, not just students with disabilities. And though Section 508 was previously unclear as to the expectations for accessibility, the updated requirements add specific web standards to adhere to — specifically, the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0 level AA developed by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C).

Although WCAG 2.0 has been around since the early 2000s, it was developed by web content providers as a self-regulating tool to create uniformity for web standards around the globe. It was understood to be best practices but was not enforced by any regulating agency. The Section 508 refresh due in January 2018 changes this, as WCAG 2.0 level AA has been adopted as the standard of expected accessibility. Thus, all organizations subject to Section 508, including colleges and universities, that create and publish digital content — web pages, documents, images, videos, audio — must ensure that they know and understand these standards.

Reacting to the Section 508 Refresh
In a few months, the revised Section 508 standards become enforceable law. As stated, this should not be considered a threat or burden but rather an opportunity for institutions to check their present level of commitment and adherence to accessibility. In order to prepare for the update in standards, a number of proactive steps can easily be taken:

  • Contract a third-party expert partner to review institutional accessibility policies and practices and craft a long-term plan to ensure compliance.
  • Review all public-facing websites and electronic documents to ensure compliance with WCAG 2.0 Level AA standards.
  • Develop and publish a policy to state the level of commitment and adherence to Section 508 and WCAG 2.0 Level AA.
  • Create an accessibility training plan for all individuals responsible for creating and publishing electronic content.
  • Ensure all ICT contracts, ROIs, and purchases include provisions for accessibility.
  • Inform students of their rights related to accessibility, as well as where to address concerns internally. Then support the students with timely resolutions.

As always, remember that the pursuit of accessibility demonstrates a spirit of inclusiveness that benefits everyone. Embracing the challenge to meet the needs of all students is a noble pursuit, but it’s not just an adoption of policy. It’s a creation of awareness, an awareness that fosters a healthy shift in culture. When this is the approach, the motivation to support all students drives every conversation, and the fear of legal repercussions becomes secondary. This should be the goal of every institution of learning.

 

 


Als0 see:


How to Make Accessibility Part of the Landscape — from insidehighered.com by Mark Lieberman
A small institution in Vermont caters to students with disabilities by letting them choose the technology that suits their needs.

Excerpt:

Accessibility remains one of the key issues for digital learning professionals looking to catch up to the needs of the modern student. At last month’s Online Learning Consortium Accelerate conference, seemingly everyone in attendance hoped to come away with new insights into this thorny concern.

Landmark College in Vermont might offer some guidance. The private institution with approximately 450 students exclusively serves students with diagnosed learning disabilities, attention disorders or autism. Like all institutions, it’s still grappling with how best to serve students in the digital age, whether in the classroom or at a distance. Here’s a glimpse at the institution’s philosophy, courtesy of Manju Banerjee, Landmark’s vice president for educational research and innovation since 2011.

 

 

From DSC:
I sat down for a cup of coffee the other day with an experienced, wise, elderly learning expert. He was virtually a walking encyclopedia of knowledge around matters related to training, teaching, and learning. It was such a gift to learn from his numerous years’ worth of experience and his hard earned knowledge!!!  I rarely use the phrase learning expert because it’s very difficult to be an expert when it comes to how people learn. But in this case, that phrase works just fine for me.

This elderly gentleman had years’ worth of experiences involving instructional design, coaching, teaching, and training behind him. He mentioned several things that I want to record and relay here, such as:

  • In terms of higher education, we need to move from a content orientation to a process orientationi.e., helping our students learn how to learn (i.e., providing some effective methods/best practices such as this article and this study discuss for example).
    While
    I agree that this is a good call, I still think that we’ll need some level of content delivery though. As Daniel Willingham asserts in his book, Why don’t students like school?, students still need to have a base knowledge of a subject so that they can recall that information and integrate it into other situations. Per Willingham, we can’t expect learners to become experts and think like experts without that base level of knowledge in a subject. But if they never had that information in the first place, they couldn’t recall it or bring it up for application in another context. That said, I highly agree that students need to graduate from high school and college having a much better idea on how to learn. Such a skill will serve them very well over their lifetimes, especially in this new exponential pace of change that we’re now experiencing.

 

  • Speaking of contexts, this wise gentleman said that we need to move from being content driven to being concept driven and context driven.
    The trick here is how to implement this type of pedagogy within higher education. It’s hard to anticipate the myriad of potential contexts our students could find themselves in in the future. Perhaps we could provide 2-3 contexts as examples for them.

 

  • Students need to interact with the content. It won’t have any sort of lasting impact if it’s simply an information transmission model. This is why he practiced (what we today call) active learning based classrooms and project-based learning when he taught college students years ago. This is why he has attendees in his current training-related courses apply/practice what they’ve just been told. Along these lines, he also likes to use open-ended questions and allow for the process of discovery to occur.

 

  • The point of teaching is to make learning possible.

 

  • Learning is change. No change. No learning.
    An interesting, bold perspective that I appreciated hearing. What do you think of this assertion?

 

  • For each educational/training-related item, he asks 3 questions:
    • What does it mean?
    • Why is it important?
    • What am I going to do with it?

 

There was soooooo much knowledge in this wise man’s brain. I reflected on how much information and expertise we lose when instructional designers, teachers, professors, learning theorists (and many others) retire and leave their fields. I asked him if he was blogging to help pass this information along to the next generations, but he said no…there was too much on his plate (which I believe, as he was highly energetic, driven, and active). But I find that when one finally gets enough knowledge to even being close to being called an expert, then it’s time to retire. We often lose that knowledge and people end up reinventing the wheel all over again.

Again, it was such a pleasure to talk with an older gentleman with years of experience under his belt — one who had clearly put a great deal of time and effort into his learning about learning. In an age when America discards the elderly and worships youth, there is an important lesson here.

In an age when organizations are letting their older, more experienced employees go — only to hire much younger people at 1/2 the former wages — we should learn from some of the other nations and cultures who highly respect and lift up the more experienced employees — and the elderly — and who actively seek out their counsel and wisdom. Such people are often worth every penny of their wages.

—–

What do you think? Am I off base on some of my responses/reflections? How do these things strike you?

—–

 

Meticulously Arranged Objects by Artist Adam Hillman

 

Program Easily Converts Molecules to 3D Models for 3D Printing, Virtual and Augmented Reality — from 3dprint.com

Excerpt:

At North Carolina State University, Assistant Professor of Chemistry Denis Fourches uses technology to research the effectiveness of new drugs. He uses computer programs to model interactions between chemical compounds and biological targets to predict the effectiveness of the compound, narrowing the field of drug candidates for testing. Lately, he has been using a new program that allows the user to create 3D models of molecules for 3D printing, plus augmented and virtual reality applications.

RealityConvert converts molecular objects like proteins and drugs into high-quality 3D models. The models are generated in standard file formats that are compatible with most augmented and virtual reality programs, as well as 3D printers. The program is specifically designed for creating models of chemicals and small proteins.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mozilla just launched an augmented reality app — from thenextweb.com by Matthew Hughes

Excerpt:

Mozilla has launched its first ever augmented reality app for iOS. The company, best known for its Firefox browser, wants to create an avenue for developers to build augmented reality experiences using open web technologies, WebXR, and Apple’s ARKit framework.

This latest effort from Mozilla is called WebXR Viewer. It contains several sample AR programs, demonstrating its technology in the real world. One is a teapot, suspended in the air. Another contains holographic silhouettes, which you can place in your immediate vicinity. Should you be so inclined, you can also use it to view your own WebXR creations.

 

 

Airbnb is replacing the guest book with augmented reality — from qz.com by Mike Murphy

Excerpt:

Airbnb announced today (Dec.11) that it’s experimenting with augmented- and virtual-reality technologies to enhance customers’ travel experiences.

The company showed off some simple prototype ideas in a blog post, detailing how VR could be used to explore apartments that customers may want to rent, from the comfort of their own homes. Hosts could scan apartments or houses to create 360-degree images that potential customers could view on smartphones or VR headsets.

It also envisioned an augmented-reality system where hosts could leave notes and instructions to their guests as they move through their apartment, especially if their house’s setup is unusual. AR signposts in the Airbnb app could help guide guests through anything confusing more efficiently than the instructions hosts often leave for their guests.

 

 

This HoloLens App Wants to Kickstart Collaborative Mixed Reality — from vrscout.com by Alice Bonasio

Excerpt:

Now Object Theory has just released a new collaborative computing application for the HoloLens called Prism, which takes many of the functionalities they’ve been developing for those clients over the past couple of years, and offers them to users in a free Windows Store application.

 

 

 

 

Virtual and Augmented Reality to Nearly Double Each Year Through 2021 — from campustechnology.com by Joshua Bolkan

Excerpt:

Spending on augmented and virtual reality will nearly double in 2018, according to a new forecast from International Data Corp. (IDC), growing from $9.1 billion in 2017 to $17.8 billion next year. The market research company predicts that aggressive growth will continue throughout its forecast period, achieving an average 98.8 percent compound annual growth rate (CAGR) from 2017 to 2021.

 

 

A look at the new BMW i3s in augmented reality with Apple’s ARKit — from electrek.co by Fred Lambert

 

 

 

 

Scope AR brings remote video tech support calls to HoloLens — from by Dean Takahashi

Excerpt:

Scope AR has launched Remote AR, an augmented reality video support solution for Microsoft’s HoloLens AR headsets.

The San Francisco company is launching its enterprise-class AR solution to enable cross-platform live support video calls.

Remote AR for Microsoft HoloLens brings AR support for field technicians, enabling them to perform tasks with better speed and accuracy. It does so by allowing an expert to get on a video call with a technician and then mark the spot on the screen where the technician has to do something, like turn a screwdriver. The technician is able to see where the expert is pointing by looking at the AR overlay on the video scene.

 

 

 

 

Virtual Reality: The Next Generation Of Education, Learning and Training — from forbes.com by Kris Kolo

Excerpt:

Ultimately, VR in education will revolutionize not only how people learn but how they interact with real-world applications of what they have been taught. Imagine medical students performing an operation or geography students really seeing where and what Kathmandu is. The world just opens up to a rich abundance of possibilities.

 

 

 

7 Things You Should Know About Video Walls — from library.educause.edu /

Excerpt:

What is it?
A video wall is a large-scale ultra-resolution digital display that joins multiple display screens with minimal bezels to create what is essentially one large screen. While the multiple monitors can be tiled to display one large image, the technology also lends itself well to viewing multiple sources at one time. Video walls are linked via software to a computer or other media source. Video walls typically are arrayed as flat-screen planar displays; sometimes the walls are curved. Found in public spaces like stadiums and airports, video walls are increasingly used in higher education as tools for pedagogy and research. Sizes vary. One example consists of 24 HD displays tiled and connected to create a 50-million-pixel screen. Another example combines twelve 55-inch ultra-resolution LED screens. A video wall at Stanford University measures 16 x 9 feet while one at Georgia State University measures 24 feet wide.

What are the implications for teaching and learning?
Video walls help create a dynamic, interactive, hands-on educational environment that enhances research, encourages active learning, and bolsters collaboration between faculty and students. Used for visualization and modeling of large data sets, for example, this technology helps learners and researchers view in-put with different perspectives, helping them draw new conclusions and deeper analyses, and contributing to the development of new knowledge. Through that capacity, coupled with the immersive experience created by large-scale displays, video walls help learners bridge quantitative and qualitative methods, inter-disciplinary exploration, and diverse modes of inquiry to address complex questions across the arts and sciences.

 

 

 

 

 

Curated Content & Conversations from Learning 2017
This 30-page eBook is packed with content, context, conversations, video links, and curated resources that include:

  • Learning Perspectives from Michelle Obama, John Lithgow, Julian Stodd, Christine McKinley, and other Learning 2017 Keynotes
  • Graphic Illustrations from Deirdre Crowley, Crowley & Co.
  • Video Links for Content Segments
  • Learning Perspectives from Elliott Masie
  • Segments focusing on:
  • Curation & Learning
  • “Micro” & Compressed Learning
  • Performance Support
  • Mobile Learning
  • Learning Design
  • Learning Strategy
  • Leadership Development
  • Gaming & Gamification for Learning
  • Escape Rooms for Learning
  • Diversity & Inclusion
  • Storytelling
  • and much more!

 

 

 

From DSC:

After looking at the items below, I wondered…

How soon before teachers/professors/trainers can quickly reconfigure their rooms’ settings via their voices? For example, faculty members will likely soon be able to quickly establish lighting, volume levels, blinds, or other types of room setups with their voices. This could be in addition to the use of beacons and smartphones that automatically recognize who just walked into the room and how that person wants the room to be configured on startup.

This functionality is probably already here…I just don’t know about it yet.

 


Somfy Adds Voice Control for Motorized Window Coverings with Amazon Alexa — form ravepubs.com by Sara Abrons


 

Also see:

 


 

 

15 Gifts Any Art Teacher Would Love this Holiday Season  — from theartofed.com by Wynita Harmon

Excerpt:

With the holidays just around the corner, the shopping season is in full swing. But finding gifts for art teachers or other creative individuals can be tricky! After all, there’s not much they can’t make for themselves.

Of course, it’s truly the thought that matters. But, if your family and friends are looking for ideas (or if you’re looking for a way to treat yourself!), you might want to check out the great list below!

 

 

 

Addendum on 12/12/17:

  • A Gaggle of Gift Guides and Places To Give — from byrdseed.com
    Excerpt:
    Looking for gift ideas for your classroom or home? Here are some of my favorite gift guides:

    • One of the internet’s best sites The Kid Should See This publishes an outstanding gift guide with lots of fun toys, books, and games.
    • The fabulous Terri Eichholz at EngageTheirMinds.com puts out a gift guide called Gifts for the Gifted.
    • Geek Dad has an annual guide featuring books, games, and toys.
    • The site Toys and Tools has an annual gift guide with everything from games, to cooking tools, to tech toys (that Lego New York print looks amazing!).
    • I’ve also put together a small gift guide here (which I need to update!).

 

 

 

5 technologies disrupting the app development industry — from cio.com by Kevin Rands
Developers who want to be at the top of their game will need to roll with the times and constantly innovate, whether they’re playing around with new form factors or whether they’re learning to code in a new language.

Excerpts:

But with so much disruption on the horizon, what does this mean for app developers? Let’s find out.

  1. AI and machine Learning
  2. The Internet of Things
  3. Blockchain
  4. Self-driving tech
  5. AR and VR

 

 

 

Udemy for Business Unveils Team Plan, a New Learning Product Designed Specifically for Small & Midsize Businesses — from globenewswire.com
Team Plan enables organizations of any size to invest in their employees’ skills development by providing quick, easy access to top-rated courses without the hassle of contracts

Excerpt:

SAN FRANCISCO, Dec. 07, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Udemy, the global marketplace for learning and teaching online, today introduced Team Plan, a new corporate learning product from Udemy for Business designed specifically to help teams of 5-20 employees master new skills. With Team Plan, managers are able to easily purchase subscriptions to a curated selection of more than 2,000 top courses from the Udemy marketplace for their team and immediately gain access to learning content without a time-consuming contracting process.

Udemy is unveiling Team Plan at a time when more workers are feeling pressure to keep up with changing job requirements. A recent Udemy survey revealed that nearly 80% of Americans agree there is a skills gap, and more than a third (35%) say it affects them personally. More than a quarter of U.S. employees also believe that employers should take responsibility for reskilling the workforce. Team Plan is an easy-to-use and affordable subscription-based solution that lets internal departments and small businesses offer employees on-demand access to quality learning content that they can use to gain new skills and apply what they learn immediately.

 

 

 
 

We Need to Help Our Students Build Solid Online-Based Footprints
I used a tool called VideoScribe to create this piece. The video relays how important it is that our students have solid, sharp, online-based footprints.

 

We need to help our students build their own online-based footprints

 

 

We need to help our students build their own online-based footprints

 

 

 

We need to help our students build their own online-based footprints

 

 

 
© 2024 | Daniel Christian