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Northern Arizona wins regional accreditor’s approval for personalized learning program [Millichap]

On 06/05/2013, in accreditation, assessment, competency-based learning/education, future of higher education, game-changing environment, higher education, New "Amazon.com" of Higher Education, new business models, personalized/customized learning, United States, by Daniel Christian

Northern Arizona wins regional accreditor’s approval for personalized learning program –– from nextgenlearning.org by Nancy Millichap

Excerpt (emphasis DSC):

It’s all systems go, at last: Northern Arizona University, one of the ten institutions presently developing breakthrough degree programs with NGLC support, recently got the green light to start enrolling students in their Personalized Learning program. The Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools (HLC), NAU’s regional accreditor, approved their application to offer a competency-based degree program that moves away from the credit hour standard to use an approach referred to as “direct assessment” instead. In this approach, students receive credit related not to their presence in a real or virtual classroom for a specified period of time but instead to their successful completion of assessments that show they have mastered clearly defined competencies or are able to perform specific, predetermined tasks. HLC has created a pilot group of four institutions now approved to offer a competency-based degree program: NAU, the University of Wisconsin Colleges (a system of two-year campuses), the University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee, and Capella University.

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Teacher gives epic resignation in video [Stansbury]

On 05/30/2013, in assessment, education reform, K-12 related, teachers, teaching & learning, by Daniel Christian

Teacher gives epic resignation in video — from eSchoolNews.com by Meris Stansbury
“Everything I love about teaching is now extinct.”

 

 

InPursuitOfHappiness-ATeachersResignation-May2013

 

From DSC :
After listening to this, I can’t help but reflect on the run-away train/emphasis on standardized tests. It appears that not only has such an emphasis robbed the joy, curiosity, wonder, initiative, and creativity of our students, but also that of our teachers. 

With each day that passes, I want to see more programs and opportunities that support an amazing variety of pathways and choices.  We each have different gifts, abilities, passions, callings, etc.  — teachers as well as students.   The very words “standards” and “standardization” seem to be incongruous with how we are actually made.

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Perhaps I should have called this posting, “Assessment gone awry…?”

 

 

 

 

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In other words, begin with… [EdTechTeacher.org]

On 05/02/2013, in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, assessment, blogs / blogging / vlogging, Bring your own device (BYOD), cloud-based computing / apps / other cloud-related, collaboration, creativity, design, digital audio, digital learning, digital photography, digital storytelling, digital textbooks, digital video, e-books, e-publishing related items (EPUB and more), e-readers, education technology, educational games / serious games, elearning, emerging technologies, engagement / engaging students, K-12 related, multi-touch, multimedia, new media literacies, online media, presentations, productivity / tips and tricks, videoconferencing, web-based collaboration, writing, by Daniel Christian

IWantMyStudentsTo-EdTechTeacher-May2013

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Education standardization: Essential or harmful? [Bjerede]

On 04/29/2013, in assessment, curriculum, by Daniel Christian

Education standardization: Essential or harmful? — from gettingsmart.com by Marie Bjerede

 

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Harvard researchers: frequent tests increase retention in online learning [Winner]

On 04/16/2013, in assessment, instructional design, memory, online learning, pedagogy, by Daniel Christian

Harvard researchers: frequent tests increase retention in online learning — from elearningindustry.com by Andrew Winner

Excerpt:

A pair of researchers at Harvard University think they’ve got part of the answer. In a study run by Daniel Schacter, the William R. Kenan Jr. Professor of Psychology, and Karl Szpunar, a postdoctoral fellow in psychology, they found that interspersing short quizzes into online learning course can dramatically increase student retention of material.

 

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Moving exams out of the classroom [Briggs]

On 02/27/2013, in assessment, learning spaces, by Daniel Christian

Moving exams out of the classroom — from campustechnology.com by Linda L. Briggs

Excerpt:

The idea of moving exam-taking out of the classroom and into dedicated testing centers on campus is gaining currency. The approach frees up valuable class time, and allows for more frequent and varied testing approaches.

Despite these benefits, though, a number of challenges persist for on-campus testing centers, including providing sufficient seats during peak times such as midterms and finals, keeping student data secure, and finding good exam-building software.

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Reflections after reading ‘Warnings From the Trenches’ [Flaherty]

On 02/19/2013, in assessment, global / globalization, higher education, homeschooling/homeschoolers, K-12 related, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, legislatures / government / legal, love of learning, passions, student-related, ubiquitous learning, by Daniel Christian

‘Warnings from the trenches’ — from insidehighered.com by Colleen Flaherty

Excerpt (emphasis DSC):

“Thus, students arriving in our high school lacked experience and knowledge about how to do the kinds of writing that are expected at higher levels of education,” he wrote. And even though high school teachers may try their best to make up for lost time, they, too, are held accountable for standardized test scores. Beyond mandatory state tests, the broad scope of Advanced Placement exams can have the same short-sighted effect on instruction, he added (many of Bernstein’s courses were AP U.S. government and politics).

Consequently, he said in an interview, students now arriving at college — even elite ones — are better at “filling in bubbles” than thinking outside a discrete set of multiple choices, in the ways the higher education and adult life demand.

Bernstein said he’d planned on retiring from his Maryland high school several years from now, but decided to leave last month due to a combination of factors, including the increasingly frustrating nature of teaching in a test-focused system.

 

From DSC:
I saw a question out on the blogosphere the other day that asked, “After the SATs are gone, then what?”  I’d like to see us pursue that line of thinking, as we need to strive to do more things for students’ learning and not so much because that’s the most efficient way to “manage” education.  (I wonder about CMS’s/LMS’s in this regard as well.)  My vote is for helping students identify their God-given talents, interests, passions, abilities and to help them develop those gifts — creating WIN-WIN situations throughout society and the globe. Assessment is a key element of teaching and learning, but I think we’ve gone too far with these standardized tests — the pendulum needs to swing back the other way.

 

Also see:

  • The Future of Education .. from Isaac Asimov, 1988 #edcmooc — from dontwasteyourtime.co.uk
    Excerpt:
    “Once we have computer outlets in every home, each of them hooked up to enormous libraries where anyone can ask any question and be given answers, be given reference material in something you’re interested in knowing … you ask,you can find out, you can follow it up and you can do it in your own home, at your own speed, at your own direction, in your own time, then everyone will enjoy learning.”
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A warning to college profs from a high school teacher [Bernstein]

On 02/12/2013, in assessment, education reform, K-12 related, legislatures / government / legal, love of learning, teachers, by Daniel Christian

A warning to college profs from a high school teacher — from washingtonpost.com by Kenneth Bernstein
For more than a decade now we have heard that the high-stakes testing obsession in K-12 education that began with the enactment of No Child Left Behind 11 years ago has resulted in high school graduates who don’t think as analytically or as broadly as they should because so much emphasis has been placed on passing standardized tests. Here, an award-winning high school teacher who just retired, Kenneth Bernstein, warns college professors what they are up against. Bernstein, who lives near Washington, D.C. serves as a peer reviewer for educational journals and publishers, and he is nationally known as the blogger “teacherken.”  This appeared in Academe, the journal of the American Association of University Professors.

Excerpt:

Where do I begin? I spent the last thirty minutes listening to a group of arrogant and condescending noneducators disrespect my colleagues and profession. I listened to a group of disingenuous people whose own self-interests guide their policies rather than the interests of children. I listened to a cabal of people who sit on national education committees that will have a profound impact on classroom teaching practices. And I heard nothing of value. “I’m thinking about the current health-care debate,” I said. “And I am wondering if I will be asked to sit on a national committee charged with the task of creating a core curriculum of medical procedures to be used in hospital emergency rooms.”

The strange little man cocks his head and, suddenly, the fly on the wall has everyone’s attention.

“I realize that most people would think I am unqualified to sit on such a committee because I am not a doctor, I have never worked in an emergency room, and I have never treated a single patient. So what? Today I have listened to people who are not teachers, have never worked in a classroom, and have never taught a single student tell me how to teach.”

 

From DSC:
I remember one of my first coaches saying, “always change a losing game. Never change a winning game.” Standardized tests = a losing game.

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Reflections on “The new intelligence” by Kolowich

On 01/25/2013, in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, analytics, Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, assessment, Daniel S. Christian, data related items, education technology, educational games / serious games, emerging technologies, engagement / engaging students, experimentation, future of higher education, game-changing environment, higher education, human-computer interaction (HCI), innovation, intelligent systems, intelligent tutoring, interactivity, internet, K-12 related, learner profiles, learning agents, learning ecosystem, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, mobile learning, MOOCs -- Massive Open Online Courses, multimedia, new media literacies, personalized/customized learning, real-world assignments, simulations, smart/connected TV, social learning / networks, technologies for your home, tools, trends, using teams, vendors, virtual tutoring, by Daniel Christian

From DSC:

In real estate, one hear’s the mantra:
Location. Location. Location.

In higher education, I have it that we’ll be hearing this for a while:
Experimentation. Experimentation. Experimentation.

Consider the following reflections on Steve’ Kolowich’s solid article, The new intelligence (from InsideHigherEd.com)

Excerpt:

And for the largest public university in the country, it is hardly fiction. Arizona State University has become ground zero for data-driven teaching in higher education. The university has rolled out an ambitious effort to turn its classrooms into laboratories for technology-abetted “adaptive learning” — a method that purports to give instructors real-time intelligence on how well each of their students is getting each concept.
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From DSC:
Besides being used in blended learning environments…some predictions:

  • These technologies will become integrated into what MOOCs eventually morph into and provide a significant piece of the assessment/guidance puzzle
  • Such tools will be a part of one’s future learning ecosystem
  • Such tools will be part of interactive, massively open online educationally-related games
  • Such tools will be integrated into personalized learning agents — spiders/recommendation engines that scan the web for relevant items that one needs to complete one’s cognitive gaps in a subject/topic
  • They will be accessible from your living room as well as from your mobile devices
  • They will integrate into web-based learner profiles

It’s the sort of thing I was trying to get at with this graphic from 3 years ago:
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Like a mechanic...

 

Please don’t misunderstand me, the human mind is far beyond the complexity of an engine. But I still think that there will be more tools & technologies developed that will help the teachers/professors in their efforts to guide students into the knowledge of a discipline.

I beseech the corporate world to get involved more here — and not with the end goal of earning profits — but rather, with the aim of making the world a better place and giving a huge gift to the generations yet born. 

I urge the corporate world to reach into their deep pockets (1.X trillion in cash at this point in time) and team up with our youth/teachers/professors/instructional designers/programmers/etc. to develop sophisticated, educationally-related, engaging games that are relevant to the world that our youth will be growing up in; and/or create interactive simulations that provide more choice/more control to the learners. 

I urge more of the corporate world to join Knewton and Pearson and allocate some significant resources to help develop the next gen learning tools.  I’ll bet that we’ll be amazed at what can be produced! Your daughters, sons, granddaughters, and grandsons will really appreciate the work that you did for them!!!

 

 

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Best practices: 30 tips for creating quiz questions [DeSantis]

On 09/26/2012, in assessment, pedagogy, teaching & learning, tools, by Daniel Christian

Best practices: 30 tips for creating quiz questions — from Moodlerooms.com by Rebecca DeSantis, MSIT, Moodlerooms Instructional Designer

Excerpt:

Assessments are critical because they allow teachers to evaluate how well students are doing in a course, and they help identify key areas in a course where improvements are needed. However, creating assessments in your courses isn’t always an easy task. In Moodle, teachers often use the Quiz and Assignment activities for assessing knowledge. They may also use Forum, Glossary, Database, Lesson, and Workshop activities. In today’s post, I’m providing 30 tips for writing Quiz questions.

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High-stakes testing: Is it removing the enjoyment of teaching….and learning? If it is, I vote to lessen it’s importance.

On 09/22/2012, in assessment, career development, lifelong learning, love of learning, student-related, teachers, workplace, by Daniel Christian

From DSC:
High-stakes testing: Is it removing the enjoyment ot teaching….and learning? I reflected on that question after I saw the item below:

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Opt-Out Movement Gains Steam -- Harvard Education Letter - Sep/Oct 2012

 

From DSC:
I wonder:

  • How such high-stakes assessment systems are impacting incentive systems and funding? Are they changing the field of teaching?
  • How much standardized testing — and having to teach to such tests — is impacting teachers’ enjoyment of their careers?
  • How much standardized testing is impacting learners’ enjoyment of their educational experiences?  If it’s killing the love of learning, I say we significantly lessen the importance that we place upon such standardized tests.  One of the key deliverables that I think we need to strive for right now in education is that people enjoy learning and appreciate it — because the reality in today’s workplace is that they’ll need to be doing it for the rest of their lives:

Mind the (Skills) Gap –– from HBR by William D. Eggers, John Hagel and Owen Sanderson

Excerpt:

A bachelor’s degree used to provide enough basic training to last a career. Yet today, the skills college graduates acquire during college have an expected shelf life of only five years according to extensive work we’ve done in conjunction with Deloitte’s Shift Index. The key takeaway? The lessons learned in school can become outdated long before student loans are paid off.

And it’s not only white-collar, college-driven careers that will suffer rapid skills obsolescence. Think of how new metering systems and motion sensors suddenly require highly technical skills from contractors, plumbers and electricians. Or how welders working on wind turbines now need specialized degrees and the ability to read CAD blueprints or LEED certification requirements.

…

skills-of-the-future.png

 

 

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Transform education by measuring what matters. Hint: It’s not test scores. [Nielsen]

On 08/31/2012, in assessment, change, education reform, K-12 related, passions, personalized/customized learning, student-related, using teams, by Daniel Christian

Transform education by measuring what matters. Hint: It’s not test scores. — from the Innovative Educator by Lisa Nielsen

Excerpts:

What if instead we measured success in things that really mattered to students, parents and teachers.  For example…

Students have:

  • A plan to find and develop their passion(s).
  • A team of mentors, guidance, and/or advisors to help guide them in discovery and development of their passions.
  • Customized success plans that they help design.
  • Advisors who are deeply involved in and responsible for their lives and their success.
  • An opportunity to learn about what they are interested in the world with real world experts.
  • Reported they are satisfied with support they receive from the school.
  • An authentic portfolio that can be used for career, academic, or civic pursuits.

…

If we work to move the conversation to measuring success by meeting our student’s personal goals in college, career, and/or life experiences we accomplish these goals:

  • Instead of teaching to the test we teach to the student.
  • Billions of dollars are restored toward resources for students.
  • Schools are held accountable, not for test scores, but for placement in what matters: college, career, and/or civic duty.

 

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Innovating Pedagogy 2012: Open University Innovation Report 1. [Sharples, McAndrew, Weller, Ferguson, FitzGerald, Hirst, Mor, Gaved, & Whitelock]

On 07/23/2012, in accreditation, analytics, assessment, innovation, learning ecosystem, MOOCs -- Massive Open Online Courses, pedagogy, teaching & learning, by Daniel Christian

Sharples, M., McAndrew, P., Weller, M., Ferguson, R., FitzGerald, E., Hirst, T., Mor, Y., Gaved, M. and Whitelock, D. (2012). Innovating Pedagogy 2012: Open University Innovation Report 1. Milton Keynes: The Open University.

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Exploring new forms of teaching, learning and assessment, to guide educators and policy makers

 

Contents

  • Executive summary 3
  • Introduction 6
  • New pedagogy for e-books
    Innovative ways of teaching and learning with next-generation e-books 8
  • Publisher-led short courses
    Publishers producing commercial short courses for leisure and professional development 11
  • Assessment for learning
    Assessment that supports the learning process through diagnostic feedback 13
  • Badges to accredit learning
    Open framework for gaining recognition of skills and achievements 16
  • MOOCs
    Massive open online courses 19
  • Rebirth of academic publishing
    New forms of open scholarly publishing 21
  • Seamless learning
    Connecting learning across settings, technologies and activities 24
  • Learning analytics
    Data-driven analysis of learning activities and environments 27
  • Personal inquiry learning
    Learning through collaborative inquiry and active investigation 30
  • Rhizomatic learning
    Knowledge constructed by self-aware communities adapting to environmental conditions 33
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Learning in a Digital Age – extending higher education opportunities for lifelong learning [JISC]

On 07/19/2012, in accreditation, assessment, curriculum, higher education, lifelong learning, UK, workplace, by Daniel Christian

Learning in a Digital Age - JISC - 2012

 

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Contents of Learning in a Digital Age -- from JISC in 2012

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When the technologies behind Watson and Siri get perfected and integrated into the “Learning from the Living [Class] Room” environment [Christian]

On 07/16/2012, in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, A/V -- audio/visual, adult learning, analytics, Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, assessment, blended learning, business side of he, career development, change, changing business models, cloud-based computing / apps / other cloud-related, competency-based learning/education, cost of getting a degree, dangers of the status quo, Daniel S. Christian, data related items, digital learning, disruption, education reform, education technology, educational games / serious games, elearning, emerging technologies, engagement / engaging students, future, future of higher education, game-changing environment, global / globalization, higher education, homeschooling/homeschoolers, hybrid learning, intelligent systems, intelligent tutoring, interactivity, internet, learning agents, learning ecosystem, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, lifelong learning, machine-to-machine communications, mirroring and/or multiple devices, mobile learning, multimedia, New "Amazon.com" of Higher Education, new business models, online learning, online tutoring, personalized/customized learning, reinvent, smart/connected TV, social learning / networks, staying relevant, streams of content, tablets, teachers, teaching & learning, teaching online, technologies for your home, telepresence, trends, ubiquitous learning, videoconferencing, virtual K-12 schools, Virtual Reality (VR) / worlds / learning, virtual tutoring, vision/possibilities, web-based collaboration, by Daniel Christian

From DSC:

When the technologies behind IBM’s Watson and Apple’s Siri get perfected and integrated into products and services that will make up the near future “Learning from the Living [Class] Room” environment— there will be:

 

  • A high degree of personalization and customization — available 24x7x365 on multiple kinds of devices
    .
  • The option to turn on tracking and analytics — reporting from which can be moved into the learner’s cloud-based profile upon completion of the unit/activity/badge
    .
  • Students of all ages will have access to their own virtual tutors so to speak
    .
  • When a virtual tutor is unable to resolve or address the student’s issue to the student’s satisfaction, the student will be able to instantly access a human tutor (with the option of keeping the existing work/issue/problems visible to the human tutor)

 

IBM's Watson -- incredible AI!

 

 

The Living [Class] Room -- by Daniel Christian -- July 2012 -- a second device used in conjunction with a Smart/Connected TV

 

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Addendums:

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