adjunct faculty

Reflections on “By Putting Tensions on Stage, Colleges Aim to Change Campus Culture” [Koenig]

On 03/06/2021, in adjunct faculty, Bias | Diversity Equity & Inclusion (DE&I), career development, collaboration, colleges, communities of practice, community colleges, credentialing, culture, Daniel S. Christian, drama/theater, faculty/staff, higher education, student-related, United States, universities, by Daniel Christian

By Putting Tensions on Stage, Colleges Aim to Change Campus Culture — from edsurge.com by Rebecca Koenig

Excerpt:

That’s the creative solution more colleges are turning to as they try to make their cultures more inclusive for people who find themselves marginalized within academia. Programs for applied theater at institutions including University of Michigan, University of New Hampshire, University of Virginia and Florida International University bring to life higher ed troubles and tensions through original sketches, shows and the occasional musical number.

An applied theater sketch is like a pane of glass. For some viewers, it’s a mirror that reflects their personal experiences. For others, it’s a window into the lives of their colleagues and students. And for everyone willing to engage, it’s a magnifying lens that enlarges the details of daily interaction for clearer inspection.

From DSC:
I say we expand this line of thought even more: Here’s another idea/approach to leveraging the talents of Theatre Majors throughout higher education.

A new world of creative, engaging, active learning could open up if those involved with the Theatre Department could work collaboratively with students/faculty members from other disciplines. And in the end, the learning experiences and content developed would be highly engaging — and perhaps even profitable for the institutions themselves!

Also from edsurge.com:

Counting U.S. Postsecondary and Secondary Credentials – 2021 Report — from credentialengine.org

Excerpt (emphasis DSC):

Learners, educators and policymakers understand that high school completion and education beyond high school are critical to thrive in the workforce. However, until recently an inventory of the number or type of secondary and post-secondary credential opportunities in the United States did not exist. This is the third annual report from Credential Engine that attempts to count all these credentials. The report identifies 967,734 unique credentials in the U.S. in 16 detailed credential categories across four types of credential providers…

Asynchronous Video Conversations: 11 Tips and Best Practices — from er.educause.edu by Rob Gibson

Excerpt (first 4 of 11):

1. Closely align video conversations with the stated module, course, and/or program learning objectives. Clearly indicate those alignments in the course outline.

2. Use the syllabus, an introductory course video, or a sample student video recording to prepare students in advance for this type of activity. Since many students will use their smartphones to record, provide information about best practices for creating quality video using a phone.

3. Some students are uncomfortable recording themselves. Depending on the product, consider offering alternatives such as an audio/mic-only mode, a text-only mode, or using a proxy image or avatar in the video.

4. Consider using threaded video conversations for course introductions to build a sense of humanizing the course. Michelle Pacansky-Brock supports the use of video conversations as an alternative to text. In her book How to Humanize Your Online Class with VoiceThread, she indicates that video tools maximize presence, a dimension of online connectivity to fellow students, the faculty, and the content. Research in her own courses found an increase from 25 percent to 75 percent in voluntary voice-video comments.^Footnote5 This also helps form common goals and dispositions among students—dispositions are affective learning dimensions, such as motivation, attitude, persistence, empathy, and problem solving.^Footnote6

From DSC:
As a follow up to The Chegg situation is worse than you think [Feldstein] (which discussed cheating, buying answers, selling answers, proctoring software, and more), it seems to me that one of the challenges that we face in our teaching and learning efforts has to do with the transformation of our students: Helping them move from a K-16 world to the world of work. The below graphic tries to capture that idea.

Transforming gameplayers into lifelong learners.

DSC: This is a picture I took of the Michigan Hall of Justice, in Lansing, MI.

What I mean to say is that our learners’ future clients don’t care about our learners’ ability to cram and score high on tests and then forget about topic XYZ. They want our learners to know and be able to apply topic XYZ in order to solve their problems/issues/needs. (Not to mention that being able to cram and do well on a high-stakes test is not nearly as helpful as spacing out their retrieval of topic XYZ over a much longer span of time.)

I hope that our students are hearing/experiencing from us: “We’re on your team. We’re here to help you.” And being transparent with our teaching techniques is key (i.e., here’s WHY I’m assigning this item or asking you to do this activity).

Podcasting for Educators — from techlearning.com by Erik Ofgang
Most educators have skills sets that translate well to the podcasting world. Here’s how to get started with your podcast.

Excerpt:

Tech & Learning talked with Young as well Dr. Kecia Ray and Dr. Frances Gipson, hosts of Tech & Learning’s Honor Role podcast, for some best practices and tips. We also collaborated with the six hosts of the AV SuperFriends podcast, asking questions for this story but recording the entire conversation for a future episode of their podcast. Watch for the release of that episode here.

From DSC:
I’d love to see even more teachers, trainers, and professors share their expertise out there. Podcasting is a great way to do that. And so is blogging. It would be nice to see the expertise of those folks reach a far greater audience — society — than just the (behind-the-paywall) journals.

A message about learning from the C-suite — from chieflearningofficer.com by Patricia A. McLagan
Executives are increasingly saying they want to create “learning organizations” and support “lifelong learning.” So, what should executives be saying to their workforce about learning today? Consider this sample letter to employees from the C-suite.

Excerpts:

How are you keeping up your skills and knowledge in our increasingly complex and fast-changing world of work? As today’s pandemic turmoil reminds us, it is hard to predict how the future will evolve. But one thing we do know is that continuous learning will be a key survival meta-skill for all of us — learning that each of us consciously guides every day, moment to moment, alone, in teams, with any resource, anywhere and anytime.
…
Consider: More than 50 percent of today’s jobs will probably disappear or change radically within 10 years. There are many reasons for this.
…
Beyond technology, companies like ours need more agility, innovation and self-management from everyone. We used to manage more by job descriptions, and you were best described as a box on the organization chart — probably with little expectation that you could experiment, take risks, and act with discretion and autonomy. But today and into the future, your skills and creative thinking matter more. Your “job” responsibilities shift as you move into and out of teams and as we call on you to support new strategies, customer groups and priorities.

From DSC:
I really appreciated reading this solid article from Patricia McLagan. She captured so many solid points. That said, I was bummed to see the following item included in this article (emphasis DSC):

Of course, our company is committed to supporting your learning and development, to providing formal training and access to learning opportunities for everyone. But even in the best of times, we will only be able to formally support a small part of what you will need and want. This is why I am sending this note to you: to tell you that we care about your learning and development, that we will do our best to support it, but that 95 percent of your learning is in your hands.

Our company is committed to supporting your learning development — yeh…right…all 5% of it.
Whoopie. The other 95% of it belongs to you and me. (Which reminds me that words are so easy to say but much harder to truly back up.) And you and I will likely do it on your/our own time. That seems to be more of the reality…the expectation…especially when job cuts are occurring all over the place and the job plates continue to expand for those who survived the cuts.

My experience over my career has been that corporations used to promote and truly support their employees’ professional development. They sent more people to courses and significantly helped many people obtain their MBA’s as well as other relevant master’s degrees and/or certifications/ and/or just to support some professional interests.

For example, I’m forever indebted to one of my formers bosses, Irvin Charles Coleman III. I worked for Irv at Kraft Foods’ HQ’s and he once let me go to a seminar on Photoshop. Though I used Photoshop in my work, it wasn’t in my formal description. That seminar changed many things for me. It supported my growth and learning and it fed my passion for designing and creating content.

I’m sure this kind of thing still occurs, but from what I can tell, it doesn’t happen at nearly the level that it used to. That said, I don’t blame the corporate world for getting bummed out at their employees that they had invested in — only to see those same employees grab the degrees and credentials and leave for greener pastures. Through the years, it seemed like the corporate world backed off from providing such a level of training/professional development.

These days, it seems like the corporations and the businesses out there have the hiring expectation that you will hit the ground running from day one. Learning and development are up to you and me. Nevermind that the way learning is supposed to go is that you:

introduce the learning objectives to someone
give them the information/content
provide the relevant and aligned learning activities that help them truly engage with the content
provide aligned formative and summative assessments along the way to ascertain whether they learned the material/concepts or not.

So I’m amazed that corporations are putting recent grads through their own tests on things that many of these students have never actually studied. (Yeh, I can hear the push backs now…and while I agree with some of them, it’s not fair to the students. They just followed what the colleges and universities offered for$100,000-$400,000+).

I could go on, but I need to go do my taxes. Gotta run. I hope to pick this line of thought up later.

Putting Your Best Self Forward: 6 Keys For Filming Quality Videos — from er.educause.edu by Jered Borup
The difference between a video that students watch and one that is ignored often comes down to a few, easily addressed factors.

Excerpt:

Key #1: Convey Your Voice—Is the audio clear, or is there background noise or reverberations in the room that distract from your message?
Key #2: Find the Light—Are you well lit with a light source in front of you, or are you backlit and/or have shadows on your face?
Key #3: Frame and Maintain Eye Contact—Are you about at arm’s length and eye level with the camera, or are you looking down or up at the camera?
Key #4: Stage—Do you have personal and/or interesting things in the background, or are you recording in front of a blank wall?
Key #5: Be Prepared and Natural—Are you speaking naturally in a way that conveys your interest in the topic, or do you sound somewhat robotic and/or scattered?
Key #6: Keep it Short—Is the video under six minutes?

This article is part of a series about incorporating asynchronous video into educational activities:

Unbounded by Time: Understanding How Asynchronous Video Can Be Critical to Learning Success
Putting Your Best Self Forward: 6 Keys For Filming Quality Videos
Teacher, Are You There? Being “Present” in Online Learning
Let’s Discuss Discussions: Using Asynchronous Video to Improve Online Discussions
Improving Problem-Based Learning with Asynchronous Video
Back to Feedback Basics Using Video Recordings
The Handoff: Transitioning from Synchronous to Asynchronous Teaching

Inclusivity Begins with Overcoming Bias [Benson]

On 02/25/2021, in adjunct faculty, Bias | Diversity Equity & Inclusion (DE&I), colleges, community colleges, corporate universities / corporate training, culture, faculty/staff, law schools, relationships, student-related, teaching & learning, training / L&D, universities, by Daniel Christian

Inclusivity Begins with Overcoming Bias — from scholarlyteacher.com by Spencer Benson

Excerpt:

On an individual level, we need to be mindful that small things that may seem inconsequential to us may have detrimental impacts on others. Numerous articles and resources are readily available detailing best practices for creating more inclusive environments for students. Small things that can help to foster a sense of belonging and inclusiveness include the following:

being intentional in selecting course content that reflects diverse people and voices,
ensuring that resources and materials reflect individuals from underrepresented groups,
sharing gender pronouns,
learning preferred names and asking students to correct mispronunciation,
having students do a short online biographic sketch,
using small group learning,
giving students agency in assessments and grading, and
using mid-term and end-of-term student surveys.

Never Going Back: What Online Teaching in the Times of COVID Can Add to Our Teaching Toolkits – Elisabeth Sandberg — from cft.vanderbilt.edu with thanks to Beckie Supiano at the Chronicle for this resource

Excerpt:

Teaching online has not been all challenges for Sandberg. From this period of teaching, she has gathered a set of experiences that, she expects, will benefit her in an in-person setting, too. For one thing, Sandberg has explored new ways of optimizing the element of time in students’ learning. Realizing that even the most entertaining presenters become soon-to-bore lecturers in online settings, she became more attentive to keeping her prerecorded video lectures brief and dividing them into pieces interwoven with online activities. The Explain Everything app (a collaborative virtual whiteboard platform with multi-media features) has been helpful for annotating these short pieces of recorded lectures. Sandberg’s renewed attention to student attention has also made her more mindful of things she assigns out of class, and what these might represent in terms of student efforts. “I learned over the summer,” she said, referring to the CFT’s Online Course Design Institute, “how to be more cognizant of how much time the things that I consider easy work really take the students. And that was really a revealing piece that I will carry with me when we return to in person.”

From DSC:
I agree…the teaching toolboxes have expanded. In the future, teachers, professors, trainers, (and now parents) will have a wider selection of options/tools/pedagogies to select from.

Whats in your teaching toolbox?

Teacher, Are You There? Being “Present” in Online Learning — from er.educause.edu by Richard West

Excerpt:

Video technologies are part of that shift in helping online learners feel connected to teachers and peers. This connection comes from people developing the sense that they are “present” in the class, even if they are not physically in the same room. How is it possible to be present when you are physically separated?

Panorama Project Releases Immersive Media & Books 2020 Research Report [panoramaproject.org]

On 02/24/2021, in adjunct faculty, business, faculty/staff, library / librarians, reading, teachers, by Daniel Christian

Panorama Project Releases Immersive Media & Books 2020 Research Report — from panoramaproject.org

Excerpt:

The Panorama Project, a cross-industry publishing initiative, released today Immersive Media & Books 2020 a comprehensive market study that gauges the role of books and consumer engagement by age groups, ethnicity, and more. This report contains survey data from 4,300+ pre-qualified respondents and was authored by Dr. Rachel Noorda and Dr. Kathi Inman Berens, faculty members of the Portland State University graduate program in Book Publishing.

Data collection and analysis for Immersive Media & Books 2020 were conducted in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic and represent Panorama Project’s ongoing commitment to research. The report is rich with data, including graphs and tables to illustrate provocative findings that will stimulate discourse between publishers, authors, librarians, booksellers, thought leaders, advocacy groups and the media.

ACUE and team members from 5 Florida colleges form “The Coffee Shop”

On 02/20/2021, in adjunct faculty, colleges, community colleges, face-to-face, faculty/staff, higher education, instructional design, pedagogy, student-related, teaching & learning, teaching online, United States, universities, vendors, by Daniel Christian

About the Coffee Shop (list of videos here)

Example:

What, So What, Now What? [Excerpt from Tom Barrett’ The Dialogic Learning Weekly #204]

On 02/20/2021, in adjunct faculty, corporate universities / corporate training, faculty/staff, ideas, pedagogy, teachers, teaching & learning, teaching online, training / L&D, by Daniel Christian

Excerpt from The Dialogic Learning Weekly #204 — by Tom Barrett • Issue #204

What, So What, Now What?
Three simple questions that pack a punch when explored together. Use this method when reflecting on a shared experience.

The precise split between what is observed and why it might be meaningful is powerful. It helps participants not get lost in the swamp of interpretation, too soon at least!

The outline of the steps below is from Liberating Structures.

If needed, describe the sequence of steps and show the Ladder of Inference (see below). If the group is 10–12 people or smaller, conduct the debrief with the whole group. Otherwise, break the group into small groups.
First stage: WHAT? Individuals work 1 min. alone on “What happened? What did you notice, what facts or observations stood out?” then 2–7 min. in small group. 3–8 min. total.
Salient facts from small groups are shared with the whole group and collected. 2–3 min.
Second stage: SO WHAT? People work 1 min alone on “Why is that important? What patterns or conclusions are emerging? What hypotheses can I/we make?” then 2–7 min. in small group. 3–8 min. total.
Salient patterns, hypotheses, and conclusions from small groups are shared with the whole group and collected. 2–5 min.
Third stage: NOW WHAT? Participants work 1 min. alone on “Now what? What actions make sense?” then 2–7 min. in small group. 3–8 min. total.
Actions are shared with the whole group, discussed, and collected. Additional insights are invited. 2–10 min.

Reflections on “Radio Garden: Tune into thousands of live radio stations across the globe!” [Christian]

On 02/14/2021, in adjunct faculty, Africa, Asia, Australia, Canada, colleges, communications, community colleges, creativity, Daniel S. Christian, digital audio, digital learning, drama/theater, education technology, engagement / engaging students, entrepreneurship, Europe, experimentation, future, geography / geology, global / globalization, higher education, human-computer interaction (HCI), ideas, India, innovation, K-12 related, languages and translation, learning ecosystem, Learning Experience Design, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, media/film, Michigan, more voice more choice more control, multimedia, music, online media, open courseware and systems, passions, platforms, play, society, streams of content, technologies for your home, telecommunications, TVs, UK, United States, universities, vendors, vision/possibilities, web-based collaboration, by Daniel Christian

Radio.Garden — with thanks to David Pogue for this resource

This is the COOLEST. A Google Earth-type representation of the planet. Every green dot is a radio station. Click any dot to listen in. It’s like cultural teleportation. You could spend hours with this thing… https://t.co/rdEHUUfgvk pic.twitter.com/VJgyzVClJD

— David Pogue (@Pogue) February 14, 2021

From DSC:
This is amazing! Some screenshots:

Several questions/reflections come to my mind:

What could those teachers and professors who are trying to teach someone a language do with this?!
If this can be done with radio stations, what can be done with learning-related streams of content?!
Talk about “More Choice. More Control.” Man o’ man!

Streams of content

Addendum on 2/28/21:
Could this type of interface be used to navigate the world of work? Where instead of nations, you would have arenas of work?

How Much Has Covid Cost Colleges? $183 Billion — from chronicle.com by Paul N. Friga

Excerpt:

How bad is it? To answer that, my colleagues and I sought to go beyond surveys. We conducted an extensive review of publicly announced revenue and budget news from the top 400 universities in U.S. News & World Report, as well as its top 100 liberal-arts colleges, drawing from news released from March through December. We were able to obtain data from 107 of those institutions (21 percent). The results are dire. Our research suggests that we are experiencing the biggest financial losses our sector has ever faced. The institutions we tracked averaged an estimated 14-percent aggregate decline in revenues across fiscal years 2020 and 2021, and further losses loom as drops in enrollment, tuition freezes, and Covid-related expenses continue.

What do these cuts and losses add up to? We estimate the impact as follows: $85 billion in lost revenues, $24 billion for Covid-related expenses, and $74 billion in anticipated future decreases in state funding. That adds up to a whopping $183 billion.

Also see:

65 Percent of Colleges Raised Less in 2020 Than 2019, Survey Finds — from philanthropy.com by Emily Haynes
Donations to colleges stayed flat at $50B in fiscal 2020 — from highereddive.com by Natalie Schwartz

The Chegg situation is worse than you think — from eliterate.us by Michael Feldstein

Excerpts:

Forbes just ran with an article entitled “This $12 Billion Company Is Getting Rich Off Students Cheating Their Way Through Covid“.

Ouch.

[Per Michael] To sum up:

Publishers, after selling expensive textbooks to students, sold the answers to the homework questions in those expensive books to Chegg.
Chegg sells the answers to the questions to the students, who often use them to cheat.
To combat this problem, universities pay for proctoring software, which is apparently more effective at preventing students from going to the bathroom than it is at preventing cheating.
To add insult to all of this injury, “to chegg” is now apparently a verb in the English language. We will all have to live with that linguistic violence.

Addendum on 2/9/21:

Students cheat with online learning service, professors hope to identify users — from dailyemerald.com by Claire Warner

Learning Ecosystems

Reflections on “A message about learning from the C-suite” [McLagan]

Putting Your Best Self Forward: 6 Keys For Filming Quality Videos [Borup]

Never Going Back: What Online Teaching in the Times of COVID Can Add to Our Teaching Toolkits [Sandberg]

Panorama Project Releases Immersive Media & Books 2020 Research Report [panoramaproject.org]

What, So What, Now What? [Excerpt from Tom Barrett’ The Dialogic Learning Weekly #204]

How Much Has Covid Cost Colleges? $183 Billion [Friga]

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