Alternatives

Why Entrepreneurship Might Save Our Kids—and the Rest of Us. — from gettingsmart.com by Katie Kimbrell

Key Points (emphasis DSC):

We need to be asking our students “How did you put your ideas into the world today?”.
To be human is to be entrepreneurial.

One of my favorite mom friends asks her young school-aged kids every day, “What did you make today?”

I love how subtly subversive this question is. Not, “How was school today?” “Were you good today?” or, “How’s [insert school subject] going?” But, “How did you put your ideas out into the world today?”

That simple question understands this fundamental truth: to be human is to create, to employ our imaginations and partake in forming the world we want to live in.

Microschool in a Box: Programs Enabling the Microschool Movement — from gettingsmart.com by Nate McClennen

Key Points

Microschools are not new. In fact, they are as old as learning itself.
Funding and operations can be difficult within a microschool model. Programs and other organizations can support planning, design and implementation.

Microschools are meeting strong market demand for more personalized, more contextualized and more relevant learning for every student. Programs like ASU Prep’s Microschool in a Box make it possible for more learners to become future-ready with access to affordable, relational microschool learning.

Nate McClennen

The Science of Classroom Design — from edutopia.org by Youki Terada and Stephen Merrill
Our comprehensive, all-in, research-based look at the design of effective learning spaces.

Topics include:

Light
Ventilation and air quality
Complexity and color
Data walls
Nature, plants, and greenery
Representation
- Students can experience representation in classrooms by seeing their own or peers’ artifacts on walls and in shared virtual spaces, or by being exposed to images and references that mirror their interests, passions, and backgrounds.
Flexibility
Learning differences and neurodivergence
Heat
Acoustics/noise
Seating arrangements
Learning Zones

Addendum on 12/1/23:

Four Scenarios for the Future of Legal Education [Kennedy]

On 09/29/2023, in Alternatives, blended learning, face-to-face, future, higher education, hybrid learning, ideas, law schools, Legal operations, legal reform, legal technologies, legislatures / government / legal, Michigan, United States, universities, by Daniel Christian

Four Scenarios for the Future of Legal Education — from denniskennedy.com by Dennis Kennedy

Scenario 1: Fully Digitalized Law School
Scenario 2: Blended Law School Experience
Scenario 3: Specialized Legal Education
Scenario 4: Decentralized Legal Education

In the decentralized legal education scenario, the traditional model of law schools is disrupted by the emergence of alternative education platforms and micro-credentialing. The concept of a law degree is replaced by a more flexible and personalized approach to legal education. Students can choose from an array of legal courses offered by various providers, including universities, law firms, online platforms, and even government agencies.

In Iowa, a “Billy Madison Project” Yields a Different Way to do School — from by Sam Chaltain
A great flood reveals a new path . . .

The idea was simple: ask sixty community leaders to fan across the city’s public schools, follow in the footsteps of its youngest citizens, and report back on what they saw.

Fifty-nine said yes. What they found, Pickering says, “were kids with dead eyes. Kids not engaged. And kids who knew that school was a game – and the game was rigged.”

So the Billy Madison team used its findings to design a prospective high school that would actually produce what its participants said they wanted to see:

Let kids pursue their passions. Give them real work to do. And get them out of the school building, and in the community.

Passion. Projects. People.

How 9 of the World’s Most Innovative Schools Ignite Children’s Love for Learning — from learntrepreneurs.com by Eva Keffenheim
And equip the next generation to become changemakers.

This thought-provoking discussion delves into the topic of system replacement in education. Is school transformation possible without replacing the existing education system? Joining [Michael] to discuss the question are Thomas Arnett of the Christensen Institute and Kelly Young of Education Reimagined.

In an educational landscape that constantly seeks marginal improvements, [Michael’s] guests speak to the importance of embracing new value networks that support innovative approaches to learning. They bring to light the issue of programs that remain niche solutions, rather than robust, learner-centered alternatives. In exploring the concept of value networks, [Michael’s] guests challenge the notion of transforming individual schools or districts alone. They argue for the creation of a new value network to truly revolutionize the education system. Of course, they admit that achieving this is no small feat, as it requires a paradigm shift in mindset and a careful balance between innovation and existing structures. In this conversation, we wrestle with the full implications of their findings and more.

From DSC:
This reminds me of the importance of TrimTab Groups who invent or test out something new apart from the mothership.

Technology in education — from unesco.org by ; via Eva Keffenheim
A tool on whose terms?

The 2023 GEM Report on technology and education explores these debates, examining education challenges to which appropriate use of technology can offer solutions (access, equity and inclusion; quality; technology advancement; system management), while recognizing that many solutions proposed may also be detrimental.

The report also explores three system-wide conditions (access to technology, governance regulation, and teacher preparation) that need to be met for any technology in education to reach its full potential.

Bloom Academy is the first and only self-directed learning center in Las Vegas – microschooling as true, nontraditional and permissionless education alternative. 5 Questions with Microschool Founders Sarah & Yamila.https://t.co/RvxtwGXvkZ

— National Microschooling Center (@microschooling) September 27, 2023

Campus Road Trip Diary: 8 Things We Learned This Year About America’s Most Innovative High Schools — from the74million.org by Greg Toppo & Emmeline Zhao

Since last spring, journalists at The 74 have been crossing the U.S. as part of our 2023 High School Road Trip. It has embraced both emerging and established high school models, taking us to 13 schools from Rhode Island to California, Arizona to South Carolina, and in between.

It has brought us face-to-face with innovation, with programs that promote everything from nursing to aerospace to maritime-themed careers.

At each school, educators seem to be asking one key question: What if we could start over and try something totally new?

What we’ve found represents just a small sample of the incredible diversity that U.S. high schools now offer, but we’re noticing a few striking similarities that educators in these schools, free to experiment with new models, now share. Here are the top eight:
.

.

Learners need: More voice. More choice. More control. -- this image was created by Daniel Christian

.

Empowering Parents: School Choice and Technology — from obviouslythefuture.substack.com
Ep 2 | Joe Connor, Odyssey Education, ESAs, Streamlined Technology Platform, Informed Choices

What does it take to empower parents and decentralize schooling? Why is a diversity of school models important to parents? Are we at a tipping point?
.

PROOF POINTS: Lowering test anxiety in the classroom — from hechingerreport.org/ by Jill Barshay
Review of 24 studies finds quizzes boost achievement and alleviate stress over exams

Several meta-analyses, which summarize the evidence from many studies, have found higher achievement when students take quizzes instead of, say, reviewing notes or rereading a book chapter. “There’s decades and decades of research showing that taking practice tests will actually improve your learning,” said David Shanks, a professor of psychology and deputy dean of the Faculty of Brain Sciences at University College London.

Still, many students get overwhelmed during tests. Shanks and a team of four researchers wanted to find out whether quizzes exacerbate test anxiety. The team collected 24 studies that measured students’ test anxiety and found that, on average, practice tests and quizzes not only improved academic achievement, but also ended up reducing test anxiety. Their meta-analysis was published in Educational Psychology Review in August 2023.

The End of Scantron Tests — from theatlantic.com by Matteo Wong
Machine-graded bubble sheets are the defining feature of American schools. Today’s kindergartners may never have to fill one out.

Benefits of Pretesting in the Classroom — from learningscientists.org by Cindy Nebel

There are several possible reasons why pretesting worked in this study.

Students paid more attention to the pretested material during the lecture.
The pretest activated prior knowledge (some of them are clearly doing a lot of prework), and allowed them to encode the new information more deeply.
They were doing a lot of studying of the pretested information outside of class.
There are some great spaced retrieval effects going on. That is, students saw the material before lecture, they took a quiz on it during the pretest, then later they reviewed or quizzed themselves on that same material again during self-study.

Education in America is going to look very different 10 years from now.

In some places, that future is already here – and there are some incredibly talented people building it.

Here are 10 of those people you should be following ?

— rebelEducator (@rebelEducator) September 3, 2023

Big Ideas in Education — from edweek.org by various

Big Ideas is Education Week’s annual special report that brings the expertise of our newsroom—and occasionally those beyond our newsroom—to bear on the challenges you might be facing in your classroom, school, or district. Big Ideas questions the status quo and explores opportunities to help you build a better, more just learning environment for all students. Browse our collection.

Will one of our future learning ecosystems look like a Discord server type of service? [Christian]

On 08/17/2023, in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, adult learning, Alternatives, Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, cloud-based computing / apps / other cloud-related, collaboration, communications, communities of practice, competency-based learning/education, content development, aggregation, repositories, Daniel S. Christian, digital learning, distance education, education technology, educational games / serious games, elearning, emerging technologies, Emotion, engagement / engaging students, experimentation, future, global / globalization, higher education, homeschooling/homeschoolers, human-computer interaction (HCI), ideas, innovation, instructional design, intelligent systems, intelligent tutoring, internet, IT in HE, K-12 related, law schools, learning, learning ecosystem, Learning Experience Design, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, learning hubs & pods & microschooling, learning preferences, learning spaces, lifelong learning, love of learning, microlearning, multimedia, New "Amazon.com" of Higher Education, new business models, online learning, online media, online tutoring, passions, personalized/customized learning, platforms, play, simulations, skills, social learning / networks, society, streams of content, student-related, technologies for your home, universities, user experience (UX), vendors, virtual field trips, virtual K-12 schools, Virtual Reality (VR) / worlds / learning, virtual tutoring, vision/possibilities, web-based collaboration, by Daniel Christian

DC: Is the future of one of our powerful learning ecosystems more like adding your own desired groups/cohorts, topics, items, etc. to your server? Like a learning-focused type of Discord service? (https://t.co/Vq4dZamBf2)#future #learningecosystems #personalizedlearning pic.twitter.com/wVMWYBN3R1

— Daniel Christian (he/him/his) (@dchristian5) August 17, 2023

From DSC:
Time will tell.

Per Jeff Maggioncalda, Coursera CEO: “This system-wide industry micro-credential program sets an innovative blueprint for the future of higher education.”

***

University Of Texas, Coursera Launch Historic Micro-credential Partnership — from forbes.com by Michael T. Nietzel

The University of Texas and Coursera, the online learning platform and a pioneer of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCS), are launching a large-scale, industry-recognized micro-credential program. The collaboration was announced today in a blogpost by Coursera.

Through the new partnership, every student, faculty, and staff (and even alumni) across all nine universities in the University of Texas (UT) System will gain access to Courser’s Career Academy for no additional cost to them.

The future of learning and skilling with AI in the picture [Janice Burns out at chieflearningofficer.com]

On 08/05/2023, in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, Alternatives, Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, business, career development, content development, aggregation, repositories, corporate / business world, corporate universities / corporate training, future, learning ecosystem, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, personalized/customized learning, platforms, skills, training / L&D, by Daniel Christian

The future of learning and skilling with AI in the picture — from chieflearningofficer.com by Janice Burns
Janice Burns, chief transformation officer at Degreed, looks at how AI is impacting the future of learning and skilling.

Sections include:

Saving L&D time
Recommending and personalizing
‘As you need it’ learning
A career coach for everyone?
More advances coming
Be mindful of the limitations
Remain open to the changes coming

Also relevant/see:

BCG | AI at Work: What People Are Saying https://t.co/kZhtY3YA9W via @BCG

Employees recognize the need for training and upskilling that this new era will require, but few have actually received it.

Via The Neuron

— Daniel Christian (he/him/his) (@dchristian5) August 2, 2023

Who Will Train Digital (Legal) Talent At Scale? — from forbes.com by Mark A. Cohen

Excerpt (emphasis DSC):

The urgency to fill existing and prospective positions with digital talent and to upskill those already in the workforce are among the reasons why leading companies have boldly assessed and transformed their enterprise talent management strategies. Some key initiatives leading companies are undertaking include:

Direct involvement by the C-Suite in the formulation of the enterprise talent strategy and lifecycle;
A paradigmatic hiring shift from diplomas to skills;
Increased investment in upskilling and career advancement to promote retention and to identify high-performers early on;
Targeted collaboration with universities focused on training in areas of existing and projected talent supply demand
Promoting a learning-for-life mindset and encouraging creative thinking, cross-cultural collaboration, and forging a culture that values these and other humanistic values.
Collaborating with other companies to create joint solutions for fulfilling skill demand

Practical, powerful employee education: How interactivity supports greater learning online — from chieflearningofficer.com by Natasha Nicholson

Consider this comparison: In more passive online learning, a participant will learn primarily by listening, watching and observing. Conversely, in an interactive model, the participant will be expected to engage with a story or situation by being asked to make choices that will show potential consequences.
…
Here are some of the elements that, when combined, make interactive learning especially effective:

Student loan debt: Averages and other statistics in 2023 — from usatoday.com by Rebecca Safier and Ashley Harrison; via GSV

Excerpt:

The cost of college has more than doubled over the past four decades — and student loan borrowing has risen along with it. The student loan debt balance in the U.S. has increased by 66% over the past decade, and it now totals more than $1.77 trillion, according to the Federal Reserve.

Here’s a closer look at student loan debt statistics in the U.S. today, broken down by age, race, gender and other demographics.

In the 2020-2021 academic year, 54% of bachelor’s degree students who attended public and private four-year schools graduated with student loans, according to the College Board. These students left school with an average balance of $29,100 in education debt.

From DSC:
With significant monthly payments, many graduates HAVE TO HAVE good jobs that pay decent salaries. This is an undercurrent flowing through the higher ed learning ecosystem — with ramifications for what students/families/guardians expect from their investments.

‘Pracademics,’ professors who work outside the academy, win new respect — from washingtonpost.com by Jon Marcus
What’s in a word? A way to help impatient college students better connect to jobs.

Excerpts (emphasis DSC):

Among its approaches, the university focuses on having students learn from people like Taylor, who work or have worked in the fields about which they teach. Sheffield Hallam even has a catchy word to describe these practical academics: “pracademics.”
…
American universities have pracademics, too, of course. They’re among the more than 710,000 part-time and non-tenure-track faculty members who now make up some 61 percent of all faculty, according to the American Association of University Professors. Other adjectives for them include “adjunct,” “casual,” “contingent,” “external” and “occasional.”

From DSC:
For several years now I’ve thought that adjuncts are the best bet for our current traditional institutions of higher education to remain relevant and have healthier enrollments (i.e., sales) as well as offer better ROI’s that the students are looking for. Why? Because adjuncts bring current, real-world expertise to the classroom.

But the problem here is that many of these same institutions have treated adjunct faculty members poorly. Adjunct faculty members are often viewed as second-class citizens in many colleges and universities — even though they provide the lion’s share of the teaching, grading, and assessing of students’ work. They don’t get benefits, they are paid far less than tenured faculty members, and they often don’t know if they will actually be teaching a course or not. Chances are they don’t get to vote or have a say within faculty senates and such. They are often without power…without a voice.

I’m not sure many adjunct faculty members in the U.S. will stay with these institutions if something better comes around in the way of other alternatives.

Colgate Adds Trade School to Higher Education Employee Benefit — from colgate.edu by Daniel DeVries; via Brandon Busteed on LinkedIn

Excerpt (emphasis DSC):

One of Colgate University’s most important employee benefits has been expanded to support employee children as they seek trade or vocational education.

Colgate, like many leading universities, offers financial support for employee children who attend an accredited college or university in pursuit of an undergraduate degree. Now, at the University, this benefit has been expanded to include employee children who enroll in trade or vocational schools.

Coursera’s degree and certificate offerings help drive Q2 revenue growth — from highereddive.com by Natalie Schwartz
The MOOC platform’s CEO touted the company’s strategy of allowing students to stack short-term credentials into longer offerings.

Dive Brief:

Coursera’s revenue increased to $153.7 million in the second quarter of 2023, up 23% compared to the same period last year, according to the company’s latest financial results.
The increases were partly driven by strong demand for the MOOC platform’s entry-level professional certificates and rising enrollment in its degree programs.
During a call with analysts Thursday, Coursera CEO Jeff Maggioncalda attributed some of that enrollment growth to new offerings, which include a cybersecurity analyst certificate from Microsoft and artificial intelligence degree programs from universities in India and Colombia.

Are ‘quick wins’ possible in assessment and feedback? Yes, and here’s how — from timeshighereducation.com by Beverley Hawkins, Eleanor Hodgson, Oli Young
It takes coordination, communication, and credibility to implement quick improvements in assessment and feedback, as a team from the University of Exeter explain

One way to establish this is to form an “assessment and feedback expert group”. Bringing together assessment expertise from educators and academic development specialists, and student participants across the institution establishes a community of practice beyond those in formal leadership roles, who can share their experience and bring opportunities for improvement back into their local networks.

Focusing the group on “quick wins” can encourage discussion to address specific tips and tricks that educators can use without changing their assessment briefs and without significant preparation.

Also re: providing feedback see:

Five common misconceptions on writing feedback — from timeshighereducation.com by Rolf Norgaard , Stephanie Foster
Misapprehensions about responding to and grading writing can prevent educators using writing as an effective pedagogical tool. Rolf Norgaard and Stephanie Foster set out to dispel them

Writing is essential for developing higher-order skills such as critical thinking, enquiry and metacognition. Common misconceptions about responding to and grading writing can get in the way of using writing as an effective pedagogical tool. Here, we attempt to dispel these myths and provide recommendations for effective teaching.

How generative AI like ChatGPT is pushing assessment reform — from timeshighereducation.com by Amir Ghapanchi
AI has brought assessment and academic integrity in higher education to the fore. Here, Amir Ghapanchi offers seven ways to evaluate student learning that mitigate the impact of AI writers

Recommended assessment types to mitigate AI use
These assessment types can help universities to minimise the adverse effects of GAI:

Staged assignments
In-class presentations followed by questions
Group projects
Personal reflection essays
Class discussion
In-class handwritten exams
Performance-based assessments

Instructors Rush to Do ‘Assignment Makeovers’ to Respond to ChatGPT — from edsurge.com by Jeffrey R. Young

(Referring to rubrics) But, Bruff says, “the more transparent I am in the assignment description, the easier it is to paste that description into ChatGPT to have it do the work for you. There’s a deep irony there.”

Bruff, the teaching consultant, says his advice to any teacher is not to have an “us against them mentality” with students. Instead, he suggests, instructors should admit that they are still figuring out strategies and boundaries for new AI tools as well, and should work with students to develop ground rules for how much or how little tools like ChatGPT can be used to complete homework.

Nearly 90% of staff report major barriers between traditional and emerging academic programs — from universitybusiness.com by Alcino Donadel
Only 53% of respondents recognized an existing strategic initiative at their institution with regard to PCE units; 17% indicated none existed, and 30% were not sure.

In the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers’ (AACRAO) new survey on how institutions are mediating PCE units’ coexistence with the academic registrar, they found that once-siloed PCE units that are now converging with the academic registrar are causing internal tension and confusion.

“Because the two units have been organically grown for years to be separate institutions and to offer different things, it is difficult to grow together without knowing the goals of each or having a relationship,” one anonymized respondent said in the report.

Gen Z values education — but doesn’t think a four-year degree is the only option — from highereddive.com by Laura Spitalniak

Dive Brief:

The current cohort of high school students, part of Generation Z, values postsecondary education but is increasingly interested in alternatives to four-year colleges, according to a new report from ECMC Group, a nonprofit focused on student success, and Vice Media.
In 2023, 65% of surveyed students said they would need education beyond high school, compared to 59% pre-pandemic, the report said. But 59% said they could be successful if they don’t get a four-year degree
Almost half, 48%, of high schoolers said their postsecondary education would ideally take three years or less, and just over a third, 35%, said it should take two years or less.

DC: #HigherEducation needs more efforts like this. We need to provide much more lifelong learning opportunities and more design thinking to create more cradle-to-grave #learningecosystems.https://t.co/Uro6XjhVm0

— Daniel Christian (he/him/his) (@dchristian5) July 7, 2023

From DSC:
And some further comments on that article:

Rather than looking to modify the traditional higher education structures for 18-year-olds fresh out of high school, the College for Adult Learners and Continuing Education will establish its own processes for the nontraditional student.

The average age of students enrolled in the Center for Distance Education is 32, and many have kids or other life responsibilities that impact their time and ability to focus on education, Seal explains.

“It’s not so much that we’re competing with other institutions [for adult learners], it’s that we’re competing with life,” Seal says. “They’re not leaving to go to another institution—they’re leaving because of life things.”

Some resources and reflections from Stephen Downes:

Online Learning Still in High Demand at Community Colleges — from insidehighered.com by Sara Weissman
Some colleges are still offering half or the majority of their classes online in response to student demand.

East Los Angeles College, the most populous campus in the California Community College system, offered 60 percent of its courses in a hybrid or online format this past spring, most of them asynchronous. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, fewer than a quarter of courses were offered online.
…

He said students have made their preferences clear via their enrollment trends—online course sections at the college have filled much more quickly lately than in-person courses.

Teaching: Does higher education value good teaching? — from chronicle.com by Beth McMurtrie; possible paywall but at least must have an account

Excerpt:

But the bigger question hanging over the conference was this: Do colleges actually value good teaching? On the one hand, it would seem obvious that they must. Undergraduate education is the central reason most colleges exist. How could you not value your core product?

But look below the surface and what do you see? An industry in which the majority of instructors are adjuncts who are often low-paid and unlikely to receive any sort of professional development, let alone an office in which to meet with students after class. At research universities you will find many tenure-track professors who were warned not to devote too much time to teaching before securing tenure, since scholarship is what’s rewarded. Promotion and tenure policies on many campuses, research-intensive or not, over-rely on student evaluations when it comes to judging teaching expertise or commitment. Finally, given that most doctoral programs devote a nominal amount of time to teaching students how to teach, it’s easy to see why many professors stick to how they were taught as students, whether or not those methods were effective.

“AI-driven Legal Apprenticeships” [Kubicki] plus other AI & legaltech related postings

On 06/26/2023, in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, Access to Justice (A2J), Alternatives, Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, business, change, changing business models, cloud-based computing / apps / other cloud-related, collaboration, corporate / business world, dangers of the status quo, Daniel S. Christian, future, game-changing environment, generational differences, ideas, instructional design, IT in HE, law schools, learner profiles, learning, learning agents, learning ecosystem, Learning Experience Design, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, learning preferences, Legal operations, legal reform, legal technologies, legislatures / government / legal, lifelong learning, online tutoring, personalized/customized learning, society, the downsides of how people use tech, tools, trends, United States, vendors, Virtual courts and law firms, vision/possibilities, web-based collaboration, workplace, by Daniel Christian

AI-driven Legal Apprenticeships — from thebrainyacts.beehiiv.com by Josh Kubicki

Excerpts:

My hypothesis and research suggest that as bar associations and the ABA begin to recognize the on-going systemic issues of high-cost legal education, growing legal deserts (where no lawyer serves a given population), on-going and pervasive access to justice issues, and a public that is already weary of the legal system – alternative options that are already in play might become more supported.

What might that look like?

The combination of AI-assisted education with traditional legal apprenticeships has the potential to create a rich, flexible, and engaging learning environment. Here are three scenarios that might illustrate what such a combination could look like:

- Scenario One – Personalized Curriculum Development
- Scenario Two – On-Demand Tutoring and Mentoring
- Scenario Three – AI-assisted Peer Networks and Collaborative Learning:

Why Companies Are Vastly Underprepared For The Risks Posed By AI — from forbes.com by
Accuracy, bias, security, culture, and trust are some of the risks involved

Excerpt:

We know that there are challenges – a threat to human jobs, the potential implications for cyber security and data theft, or perhaps even an existential threat to humanity as a whole. But we certainly don’t yet have a full understanding of all of the implications. In fact, a World Economic Forum report recently stated that organizations “may currently underappreciate AI-related risks,” with just four percent of leaders considering the risk level to be “significant.”

A survey carried out by analysts Baker McKenzie concluded that many C-level leaders are over-confident in their assessments of organizational preparedness in relation to AI. In particular, it exposed concerns about the potential implications of biased data when used to make HR decisions.

AI & lawyer training: How law firms can embrace hybrid learning & development — thomsonreuters.com
A big part of law firms’ successful adaptation to the increased use of ChatGPT and other forms of generative AI, may depend upon how firmly they embrace online learning & development tools designed for hybrid work environments

Excerpt:

As law firms move forward in using of advanced artificial intelligence such as ChatGPT and other forms of generative AI, their success may hinge upon how they approach lawyer training and development and what tools they enlist for the process.

One of the tools that some law firms use to deliver a new, multi-modal learning environment is an online, video-based learning platform, Hotshot, that delivers more than 250 on-demand courses on corporate, litigation, and business skills.

Ian Nelson, co-founder of Hotshot, says he has seen a dramatic change in how law firms are approaching learning & development (L&D) in the decade or so that Hotshot has been active. He believes the biggest change is that 10 years ago, firms hadn’t yet embraced the need to focus on training and development.

From DSC:
Heads up law schools. Are you seeing/hearing this!?

Are we moving more towards a lifelong learning model within law schools?
If not, shouldn’t we be doing that?
Are LLM programs expanding quickly enough? Is more needed?

Legal tech and innovation: 3 ways AI supports the evolution of legal ops — from lexology.com

Excerpts:

Simplified legal spend analysis
Faster contract review
Streamlined document management

Brief reflections on “Colleges Race to Hire and Build Amid AI ‘Gold Rush’ [D’Agostino]

On 05/22/2023, in 21st century, adjunct faculty, Alternatives, Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, business side of he, colleges, community colleges, culture, Daniel S. Christian, higher education, IT in HE, traditional / tradition, United States, universities, by Daniel Christian

Colleges Race to Hire and Build Amid AI ‘Gold Rush’ — from insidehighered.com Susan D’Agostino
Cue the bulldozers to make room for hordes of new AI faculty. But computer scientists willing to teach are in short supply, and innovation’s trajectory is rarely predictable.

Excerpt (emphasis DSC):

The University at Albany, part of the State University of New York, will hire 27 new faculty members—all specializing in AI—in the largest cluster hire in the institution’s history. Purdue University will recruit 50 new AI faculty. Emory University will hire between 60 and 75 new faculty members, including an endowed chair, for its AI Humanity Initiative.

When it comes to artificial intelligence, some universities are going big—very big. The University of Southern California has invested more than $1 billion in its AI initiative that will include 90 new faculty members, a new seven-story building and a new school.

From DSC:
Time will tell whether colleges and universities will be able to find and hire these folks. My guess? For the most part, no they won’t.

Such talent will likely go to deep-pocketed players, startups, and/or new alternatives to institutions of traditional higher education. The disparate salary levels, risk-averse nature, and overall culture of higher education may not be attractive to some of these individuals. Plus, the future of higher education is not looking as solid.

Verified Skills — from the-job.beehiiv.com by Paul Fain
Hunting for a common thread amid the hype around skills.

Excerpt:

The glitzy ASU+GSV gathering this week was titled “Brave New World.” But Tim Knowles wanted to talk about 1906.

That was when the organization Knowles leads, the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, created the credit-hour standard. The time has arrived, argue Knowles and Amit Sevak, CEO of ETS, to move away from the Carnegie Unit and toward a new currency of education based on meaningful skills and accomplishments, demonstrated through assessment.

Our old way of training Americans for ‘good jobs’ is past its sell-by date — from workshift.opencampusmedia.org by JB Holston
We’re at a pivot point in education and workforce development. Employers in the U.S. and its allies have an opportunity to accelerate their economies by collaborating to scale new pathways to prosperity. They need to seize that opportunity, writes JB Holston, former CEO of the Greater Washington Partnership.

The country is at a pivot point. COVID’s acceleration of remote work and training; an increased dedication to inclusion, equity, and diversity since the murder of George Floyd; the inexorable pace of technological change; and America’s new, well-funded industrial policy have created an opportunity for the most significant re-set in the relationship between employers and our education systems in the last 150 years.

The old path to family-supporting career positions—which depended on large employers recruiting graduates from a small universe of ranked colleges whose education stopped with that degree—is past its sell-by date.

AI in Hiring and Evaluating Workers: What Americans Think — from pewresearch.org by Lee Rainie, Monica Anderson, Colleen McClain, Emily A. Vogels, and Risa Gelles-Watnick
62% believe artificial intelligence will have a major impact on jobholders overall in the next 20 years, but far fewer think it will greatly affect them personally. People are generally wary and uncertain of AI being used in hiring and assessing workers

Excerpt:

A new Pew Research Center survey finds crosscurrents in the public’s opinions as they look at the possible uses of AI in workplaces. Americans are wary and sometimes worried. For instance, they oppose AI use in making final hiring decisions by a 71%-7% margin, and a majority also opposes AI analysis being used in making firing decisions. Pluralities oppose AI use in reviewing job applications and in determining whether a worker should be promoted. Beyond that, majorities do not support the idea of AI systems being used to track workers’ movements while they are at work or keeping track of when office workers are at their desks.

From DSC:
Regarding the core curricula of colleges and universities…

For decades now, faculty members have taught what they wanted to teach and what interested them. They taught what they wanted to research vs. what the wider marketplace/workplace needed. They were not responsive to the needs of the workplace — nor to the needs of their students!

And this situation has been all the more compounded by the increasing costs of obtaining a degree plus the exponential pace of change. We weren’t doing a good job before this exponential pace of change started taking place — and now it’s (almost?) impossible to keep up.

The bottom line on the article below: ***It’s sales.***

Therefore, it’s about what you are selling — and at what price. The story hasn’t changed much. The narrative (i.e., the curricula and more) is pretty much the same thing that’s been sold for years.

But the days of faculty members teaching whatever they wanted to are over, or significantly waning.

Faculty members, faculty senates, provosts, presidents, and accreditors are reaping what they’ve sown.

The questions are now:

Will new seeds be sown?
Will new crops arise in the future?
Will there be new narratives?
Will institutions be able to reinvent themselves (one potential example here)? Or will their cultures not allow such significant change to take place? Will alternatives to institutions of traditional higher education continue to pick up steam?

A Profession on the Edge — from chronicle.com by Eric Hoover
Why enrollment leaders are wearing down, burning out, and leaving jobs they once loved.

Excerpts:

Similar stories are echoing throughout the hallways of higher education. Vice presidents for enrollment, as well as admissions deans and directors, are wearing down, burning out, and leaving jobs they once loved. Though there’s no way to compile a chart quantifying the churn, industry insiders describe it as significant. “We’re at an inflection point,” says Rick Clark, executive director of undergraduate admission at Georgia Tech. “There have always been people leaving the field, but not in the numbers we’re seeing now.”

Some are being shoved out the door by presidents and boards. Some are resigning out of exhaustion, frustration, and disillusionment. And some who once sought top-level positions are rethinking their ambitions. “The pressures have ratcheted up tenfold,” says Angel B. Pérez, chief executive of the National Association for College Admission Counseling, known as NACAC. “I talk with someone each week who’s either leaving the field or considering leaving.”

From DSC:
This quote points to what I’m trying to address here:

Dahlstrom and other veterans of the field say they’ve experienced something especially disquieting: an erosion of faith in the transformational power of higher education. Though she sought a career in admissions to help students, her disillusionment grew after taking on a leadership role. She became less confident that she was equipped to effect positive changes, at her institution or beyond, especially when it came to the challenge of expanding college access in a nation of socioeconomic disparities: “I felt like a cog in a huge machine that’s not working, yet continues to grind while only small, temporary fixes are made.”

ANALYSIS: ‘Microcredentials’ poised to disrupt higher ed as degrees lose relevance to employers — from campusreform.org by Shelby Kearns; with thanks to Ray Schroeder on LinkedIn for this resource

Key points:

Survey respondents are demonstrating confidence in microcredentials–online training programs that take no more than six months to complete–as four-year degree programs often overlook job training.
‘Grade inflation and efforts to help everyone … attend college make it harder for employers to differentiate among applicants.’

Learning Ecosystems

Four Scenarios for the Future of Legal Education [Kennedy]

Time will tell whether this statement from Jeff Maggioncalda, Coursera’s CEO, will be the case. [Christian]

Verified Skills [Fain] + “Our old way of training Americans for ‘good jobs’ is past its sell-by date [Holston]

ANALYSIS: ‘Microcredentials’ poised to disrupt higher ed as degrees lose relevance to employers [Kearns]

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