Amazon

Six items re: the future of higher education

On 05/31/2020, in Amazon, business, business side of he, change, changing business models, collaboration, colleges, community colleges, content development, aggregation, repositories, corporate / business world, cost of getting a degree, dangers of the status quo, Daniel S. Christian, digital learning, disruption, education technology, emerging technologies, Facebook / Meta Platforms, future, future of higher education, game-changing environment, global / globalization, Google, higher education, ideas, innovation, law schools, learning, learning ecosystem, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, lifelong learning, Microsoft, MOOCs -- Massive Open Online Courses, more voice more choice more control, new business models, online learning, online media, open courseware and systems, pace of change, platforms, reinvent, society, staying relevant, student-related, surviving, traditional / tradition, trends, UK, United States, universities, workplace, by Daniel Christian

From DSC:
I saw the piece below from Graham Brown-Martin’s solid, thought-provoking posting entitled, “University as a Service (UaaS)” out at medium.com. My question is: “What happens if Professor Scott Galloway is right?!”

Excerpt:

Prof Scott Galloway predicts lucrative future partnerships between the FAANG mega-corporations and major higher education brands emerging as a result of current disruptions. Galloway wonders what a partnership between MIT and Apple would look like?

The education conveyor belt of the last century that went school to university to work and a job for life just doesn’t work in an era of rapid transformation. Suppose we truly embrace the notion of continuous or lifelong learning and apply that to the university model. It wouldn’t just stop in your twenties would it?

University as a Service (UaaS), where higher education course and degree modules are unbundled and accessed via a monthly subscription, could be a landing spot for the future of higher education and lifelong learners.

Below are some other items
regarding the future of higher education.

Also relevant/see:

Updating the Higher Education Playbook to Stay Relevant in 2020 — from info.destinysolutions.com (Note: You have to complete the form to get access to the whitepaper.)

Also relevant/see:

Shaping the Future of Post-Secondary Education — from Cherry Tree & Associates
A Time of Transformation in Post-Secondary Education and the American Workforce.

Also relevant/see:

Fast Forward: Looking to the Future Workforce and Online Learning — from evolllution.com by Joann Kozyrev (VP Design and Development, Western Governors University) and Amrit Ahluwalia
Excerpt:
With employers and students looking to close the gap in workforce skills, it’s critical for them to know what skills are in need the most. Postsecondary institutions need to be the resource to provide learners with the education the workforce needs and to make both parties understand the value of the students’ education. With the remote and online shift, it’s a new territory for institutions handle. In this interview, Joann Kozyrev discusses the impact remote learning has on an online institution, concerns about the future of online learning and how to get people back into the workforce fast and efficiently.

Tech conferences are going virtual, and it feels like Netflix content on demand — from .marketwatch.com by Jon Swartz

Excerpt:

Such is the new world of tech conferences in the age of COVID-19. They’ve gone all-digital, like Build and GTC Digital, and may never be the same. Absent a vaccine, the days of thousands of people herded into hotel ballrooms and convention centers like cattle, sharing cabs and eating in cramped quarters, are gone.

Far from crippling the tech industry, however, virtual shows could lead to democratization of what had once been an exclusive, pricey privilege for tech movers and shakers. In the new climate, consumers have free access to valuable technical content whenever they wish to view it.

“Last year, I paid several thousand dollars to attend, and if I was late for a session, I couldn’t rewind it. This year, I could.”

Amazon rolls out Alexa-powered voice shopping experience in India [Singh ]

On 03/18/2020, in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, Amazon, Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, business, human-computer interaction (HCI), India, mobile technologies, Natural Language Processing (NLP), platforms, vendors, voice recognition / voice enabled interfaces, by Daniel Christian

Amazon rolls out Alexa-powered voice shopping experience in India — from techcrunch.com by Manish Singh

Excerpt:

Amazon [on 3/12/20] rolled out an Alexa-enabled voice-powered shopping feature in India as the e-commerce giant looks for new ways to engage with customers in one of its key overseas markets.

Customers will be able to use Alexa to search for items on the e-commerce platform, add them to the cart and proceed to checkout — by tapping the in-app mic icon and saying commands such as “Alexa, show me sarees,” “Alexa, add saree to my cart” and “Alexa, go to checkout.”

How innovations in voice technology are reshaping education [Lee]

On 03/06/2020, in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, A/V -- audio/visual, Amazon, analytics, Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, assistive technologies, bots, Bring your own device (BYOD), career development, cloud-based computing / apps / other cloud-related, CMS/LMS, communications, content development, aggregation, repositories, convergence, Daniel S. Christian, digital learning, education technology, emerging technologies, future, human-computer interaction (HCI), innovation, intelligent systems, intelligent tutoring, interaction design, interactivity, internet, languages and translation, learning, learning agents, learning ecosystem, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, learning hubs & pods & microschooling, learning spaces, lifelong learning, mobile learning, mobile technologies, MOOCs -- Massive Open Online Courses, more voice more choice more control, multimedia, Natural Language Processing (NLP), new business models, online learning, online media, online tutoring, personalized/customized learning, platforms, podcasting, productivity / tips and tricks, smart classrooms, teaching online, technologies for your home, telecommunications, tools, trends, TVs, United States, vendors, voice recognition / voice enabled interfaces, by Daniel Christian

How innovations in voice technology are reshaping education — from edsurge.com by Diana Lee
Voice is the most accessible form you can think of when you think about any interface. In education, it’s already started to take off.

It could be basic questions about, “Am I taking a class to become X?” or “How strong are my skills relative to other people?” An assistant can help with that. It could potentially be a coach, something that follows you the rest of your life for education. I’m excited about that. People that can’t normally get access to this kind of information will get access to it. That’s the future.

From DSC:
The use of voice will likely be a piece of a next-generation learning platform.

Things I Learned at Project Voice — from thejournal.com by Bradley Metrock, who produces the Project Voice conference, hosts This Week in Voice
Could 2020 be the year of the voice? These voice experts think so.

Excerpt:

Voice experience of the year for education, with these finalists:

Sermo Labs’ 1-2-3 Math;
Bamboo Math;
Voicelets, to help students learn by listening;
Highlights Storybooks from Bamboo; and
Novel Effect, a voice-driven storytelling app for families.

Highlights took this category.

And voice developer of the year, with these finalists:

Pretzel Labs, a voice design studio
Sermo Labs
Voicelets
Bamboo Learning
Novel Effect

Bamboo Learning won this award.

Also see:

12 Education Predictions for 2020 — by Dian Schaffhauser
The learning and innovation in education never stops. Here’s what 12 education technology experts and observers expect for the new year in K-12.

Just because we can, doesn’t mean we should. Another unintended consequence appears on the landscapes. [Christian]

On 01/18/2020, in 21st century, adjunct faculty, Amazon, Apple, Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, colleges, community colleges, computer science, corporate / business world, dangers of the status quo, Daniel S. Christian, data related items, emerging technologies, engineering, ethics, Facebook / Meta Platforms, faculty/staff, future, Google, higher education, ideas, law schools, legislatures / government / legal, Microsoft, morals/values, platforms, political science, programming, research, social learning / networks, social media, society, student-related, teachers, technology (general), the downsides of how people use tech, United States, universities, workplace, youth, by Daniel Christian

From DSC:
I’ll say it again, just because we can, doesn’t mean we should.

From the article below…we can see another unintended consequence is developing on society’s landscapes. I really wish the 20 and 30 somethings that are being hired by the big tech companies — especially at Amazon, Facebook, Google, Apple, and Microsoft — who are developing these things would ask themselves:

“Just because we can develop this system/software/application/etc., SHOULD we be developing it?”
What might the negative consequences be?
Do the positive contributions outweigh the negative impacts…or not?

To colleges professors and teachers:
Please pass these thoughts onto your students now, so that this internal questioning/conversations begin to take place in K-16.

Report: Colleges Must Teach ‘Algorithm Literacy’ to Help Students Navigate Internet — from edsurge.com by Rebecca Koenig

Excerpt (emphasis DSC):

If the Ancient Mariner were sailing on the internet’s open seas, he might conclude there’s information everywhere, but nary a drop to drink.

That’s how many college students feel, anyway. A new report published this week about undergraduates’ impressions of internet algorithms reveals students are skeptical of and unnerved by tools that track their digital travels and serve them personalized content like advertisements and social media posts.

And some students feel like they’ve largely been left to navigate the internet’s murky waters alone, without adequate guidance from teachers and professors.

Researchers set out to learn “how aware students are about their information being manipulated, gathered and interacted with,” said Alison Head, founder and director of Project Information Literacy, in an interview with EdSurge. “Where does that awareness drop off?”
…
They found that many students not only have personal concerns about how algorithms compromise their own data privacy but also recognize the broader, possibly negative implications of tools that segment and customize search results and news feeds.

Some items re: the Computer Electronics Show for 2020

On 01/15/2020, in 21st century, Amazon, Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, Augmented Reality (AR), corporate / business world, data related items, emerging technologies, experimentation, human-computer interaction (HCI), innovation, new business models, the downsides of how people use tech, tools, vendors, Virtual Reality (VR) / worlds / learning, XR - extended reality, by Daniel Christian

CES 2020: Finding reality in a deluge of utopia — from web-strategist.com by Jeremiah Owyang

Excerpts:

One of my strategies is to look past the products that were announced, and instead find the new technologies that will shed light on which products will emerge such as sensors and data types.

The trick to approaching CES: Look for what creates the data, then analyze how it will be used, therein lies the power/leverage/business model of the future.

Sharp’s augmented windows give us an interesting glimpse of what retail could look like if every window was a transparent screen…
…
Rivian, the new electric truck company, which is funded by both Ford and Amazon was featured at the Amazon booth, with a large crowd, each wheel has an independent motor and it’s Alexa integrated – watch out Cybertruck.
…
Caution: “Data leakage” (where your data ends up in places you didn’t expect) is frightening, and people will start to care. The amount of devices present, that offer data collection to unknown companies in unknown countries is truly astounding. Both from a personal, business, and national security perspective, consumers and businesses alike really don’t know the ramifications of all of this data sharing.

Also see:

CES 2020: Panasonic Unveils World’s First Ultra HD VR Eyeglasses — from vrscount.com by Kyle Melnick
CES 2020: Samsung Teases Prototype AR Glasses — from vrscount.com by Kyle Melnick
The Weird, the Wacky, the Just Plain Cool: Best of CES 2020 — from singularityhub.com by Vanessa Bates Ramirez

The 20 top tech skills that employers want and that can help you find a job, according to recruiting site Indeed — from businessinsider.com by Rosalie Chan and Bani Sapra

Excerpt:

The job search site Indeed released a report this month about the top tech skills of 2019 based on job descriptions that are being posted.

Andrew Flowers, an economist at Indeed, says that in today’s job market, there are two major trends that drive the top skills in tech. The first is the rise of data science, machine learning, and artificial intelligence. The second is the rise of cloud computing.

“Python has had explosive growth,” Flowers told Business Insider. “If I’m around the dinner table and a nephew asks what should I learn? Having done this report, I would say, learn Python.”

Amazon’s Ring planned neighborhood “watch lists” built on facial recognition — from theintercept.com by Sam Biddle

Excerpts (emphasis DSC):

Ring, Amazon’s crime-fighting surveillance camera division, has crafted plans to use facial recognition software and its ever-expanding network of home security cameras to create AI-enabled neighborhood “watch lists,” according to internal documents reviewed by The Intercept.
…

Previous reporting by The Intercept and The Information revealed that Ring has at times struggled to make facial recognition work, instead relying on remote workers from Ring’s Ukraine office to manually “tag” people and objects found in customer video feeds.
…
Legal scholars have long criticized the use of governmental watch lists in the United States for their potential to ensnare innocent people without due process. “When corporations create them,” said Tajsar, “the dangers are even more stark.” As difficult as it can be to obtain answers on the how and why behind a federal blacklist, American tech firms can work with even greater opacity: “Corporations often operate in an environment free from even the most basic regulation, without any transparency, with little oversight into how their products are built and used, and with no regulated mechanism to correct errors,” Tajsar said.

From DSC:
Those working or teaching within the legal realm — this one’s for you. But it’s also for the leadership of the C-Suites in our corporate world — as well as for all of those programmers, freelancers, engineers, and/or other employees working on AI within the corporate world.

By the way, and not to get all political here…but who’s to say what happens with our data when it’s being reviewed in Ukraine…?

Also see:

Opinion: AI for good is often bad — from wired.com by Mark Latonero
Trying to solve poverty, crime, and disease with (often biased) technology doesn’t address their root causes.

How might such NLP / voice recognition techs impact future learning experiences and learning spaces? [Christian]

On 11/19/2019, in 21st century, A/V -- audio/visual, Amazon, Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, assistive technologies, Daniel S. Christian, digital audio, education technology, emerging technologies, human-computer interaction (HCI), ideas, innovation, intelligent systems, interactivity, interface design, law schools, learning ecosystem, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, learning hubs & pods & microschooling, learning spaces, Natural Language Processing (NLP), platforms, productivity / tips and tricks, technologies for your home, technology (general), television, tools, TVs, vendors, voice recognition / voice enabled interfaces, by Daniel Christian

Amazon’s new Fire TV Blaster works with Echo to control your TV, soundbar, cable box and more — from techcrunch.com by Sarah Perez

Excerpt:

Amazon already offers Alexa voice control to TV owners through its Fire TV devices, by way of a voice remote or by pairing an Echo device with a Fire TV, for hands-free voice commands. Now, it’s introducing a new device, the Fire TV Blaster, which extends that same hands-free voice control to your TV itself and other TV devices — like your soundbar, cable box, or A/V Receiver.

That means you’ll be able to say things like “Alexa, turn off the TV,” or “Alexa, switch to HDMI 1 on TV.” You can also control the volume and the playback.

And if you have other TV devices, you can control them hands-free as well, by saying things like “Alexa, turn up the soundbar volume,” or “Alexa tune to ESPN on cable.”

From DSC:
How might such Natural Language Processing (NLP) / voice recognition technologies impact future learning experiences and learning spaces? Will we enjoy more hands-free navigation around some cloud-based learning-related content? Will faculty members be able to use their voice to do the things that a Crestron Media Controller does today?

Parenthetically…when will we be able to speak to our routers (to shut off the kids’ internet connections/devices for example) and/or speak to our thermostats (to set the temperature(s) quickly for the remainder of the day)?

Six Examples of Augmented Reality in Performance Support — from learningsolutionsmag.com by Jeff Batt

Excerpt:

What do you think of when you hear the words “performance support”? We may all have our interpretation, but for me, performance support gives the learner instruction on how to perform actions while on the job and in the moment they need it. That has AR written all over it.

AR in performance support puts learning content in the context of what the learner is seeing. It enhances the real world, and it guides the learner through steps they need to take in the real world and even allows them to explore content they cannot easily access otherwise.

That has enormous potential for the learning and development space and gets me super excited about using AR. In this article, I’ll explore some possible scenarios for using AR in your performance support materials.

FTI 2020 Trend Report for Entertainment, Media, & Technology [FTI]

On 11/13/2019, in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, 3D, A/V -- audio/visual, Amazon, analytics, Apple, Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, Asia, Augmented Reality (AR), Australia, Blockchain, bots, business, Canada, career development, change, changing business models, cloud-based computing / apps / other cloud-related, collaboration, communications, computer science, content development, aggregation, repositories, convergence, corporate / business world, creativity, digital audio, digital photography, digital video, drama/theater, education technology, educational games / serious games, emerging technologies, engagement / engaging students, engineering, entrepreneurship, Europe, experimentation, Facebook / Meta Platforms, future, game-changing environment, generational differences, global / globalization, Google, human-computer interaction (HCI), IBM, ideas, immersion, India, innovation, intelligent systems, interactivity, internet, law schools, leadership, learning ecosystem, legislatures / government / legal, media/film, Microsoft, Mixed Reality (MR), multimedia, Natural Language Processing (NLP), Near Field Communication (NFC), parents/guardians, photography, platforms, policy, privacy, programming, psychology, publishing, robotics, social learning / networks, social media, society, strategy, streams of content, technology (general), telecommunications, television, tools, trends, TVs, United States, vendors, Virtual Reality (VR) / worlds / learning, vision/possibilities, voice recognition / voice enabled interfaces, wearables, workplace, XR - extended reality, youth, by Daniel Christian

FTI 2020 Trend Report for Entertainment, Media, & Technology — from futuretodayinstitute.com

Our 3rd annual industry report on emerging entertainment, media and technology trends is now available.

157 trends
28 optimistic, pragmatic and catastrophic scenarios
10 non-technical primers and glossaries
Overview of what events to anticipate in 2020
Actionable insights to use within your organization

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Synthetic media offers new opportunities and challenges.
Authenticating content is becoming more difficult.
Regulation is coming.
We’ve entered the post-fixed screen era.
Voice Search Optimization (VSO) is the new Search Engine Optimization (SEO).
Digital subscription models aren’t working.
Advancements in AI will mean greater efficiencies.

Emerging Tech Trend: Patient-Generated Health Data — from futuretodayinstitute.com — Newsletter Issue 124

Excerpt:

Near-Futures Scenarios (2023 – 2028):

Pragmatic: Big tech continues to develop apps that are either indispensably convenient, irresistibly addictive, or both, and we pay for them, not with cash, but with the data we (sometimes unwittingly) let the apps capture. But for the apps for health care and medical insurance, the stakes could literally be life-and-death. Consumers receive discounted premiums, co-pays, diagnostics and prescription fulfillment, but the data we give up in exchange leaves them more vulnerable to manipulation and invasion of privacy.

Catastrophic: Profit-driven drug makers exploit private health profiles and begin working with the Big Nine. They use data-based targeting to over prescribe patients, netting themselves billions of dollars. Big Pharma target and prey on people’s addictions, mental health predispositions and more, which, while undetectable on an individual level, take a widespread societal toll.

Optimistic: Health data enables prescient preventative care. A.I. discerns patterns within gargantuan data sets that are otherwise virtually undetectable to humans. Accurate predictive algorithms identifies complex combinations of risk factors for cancer or Parkinson’s, offers early screening and testing to high-risk patients and encourages lifestyle shifts or treatments to eliminate or delay the onset of serious diseases. A.I. and health data creates a utopia of public health. We happily relinquish our privacy for a greater societal good.

Watchlist: Amazon; Manulife Financial; GE Healthcare; Meditech; Allscripts; eClinicalWorks; Cerner; Validic; HumanAPI; Vivify; Apple; IBM; Microsoft; Qualcomm; Google; Medicare; Medicaid; national health systems; insurance companies.

What happens when employers can read your facial expressions? — from nytimes.com by Evan Selinger and Woodrow Hartzog
The benefits do not come close to outweighing the risks.

Excerpts:

The essential and unavoidable risks of deploying these tools are becoming apparent. A majority of Americans have functionally been put in a perpetual police lineup simply for getting a driver’s license: Their D.M.V. images are turned into faceprints for government tracking with few limits. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials are using facial recognition technology to scan state driver’s license databases without citizens’ knowing. Detroit aspires to use facial recognition for round-the-clock monitoring. Americans are losing due-process protections, and even law-abiding citizens cannot confidently engage in free association, free movement and free speech without fear of being tracked.

“Notice and choice” has been an abysmal failure. Social media companies, airlines and retailers overhype the short-term benefits of facial recognition while using unreadable privacy policies and vague disclaimers that make it hard to understand how the technology endangers users’ privacy and freedom.

From DSC:
This article illustrates how far behind the legal realm is in the United States when we look at where our society is at with wrestling with emerging technologies. Dealing with this relatively new *exponential* pace of change is very difficult for many of our institutions to deal with (higher education and the legal realm come to my mind here).

The impact of voice search on firms [lawtechnologytoday.org ]

On 10/21/2019, in 21st century, A/V -- audio/visual, Amazon, Apple, Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, bots, corporate / business world, digital audio, law schools, legal technologies, legislatures / government / legal, multimedia, Natural Language Processing (NLP), tools, vendors, voice recognition / voice enabled interfaces, web design and production, by Daniel Christian

The impact of voice search on firms — from lawtechnologytoday.org

Excerpts:

“Alexa, where can I find an attorney near me who specializes in…?”

“What is my liability if a tree in my yard falls on my neighbor’s house because of a storm?”

“…voice-activated legal searches are coming, and probably faster than you expect.”

Learning Ecosystems

Tech conferences are going virtual, and it feels like Netflix content on demand [Swartz]

Categories

Tags

Below are some other items regarding the future of higher education.

Categories

Tags

Below are some other items
regarding the future of higher education.