How to Use AI Effectively Throughout Your Job Search — from higheredjobs.com by Alison Herget
Some recruiters and hiring managers have reported that job seekers’ use of AI has caused floods of applications to come in with formulaic versions of resumes and cover letters all seemingly produced by chatbots, she said.
So, if you’re looking for your next role, here are some tips for engaging in an AI-powered job search that will get you noticed by employers in the right way.
To Fix U.S. Education, Free Our Teachers — from www-forbes-com.cdn.ampproject.org by Brandon Busteed
![Teachers are the least empowered, most[-]disrespected, stressed and burned-out of all professions in the U.S. IMAGED CREATED BY DALL-E FOR BRANDON BUSTEED](https://imageio-forbes-com.cdn.ampproject.org/i/s/imageio.forbes.com/specials-images/imageserve/65d8b0ac957e1304a58aea38/Teacher/960x0.png?height=711&width=711&fit=bounds)
Teachers are the least empowered, most[-] disrespected, stressed and burned-out of all professions in the U.S. IMAGED CREATED BY DALL-E FOR BRANDON BUSTEED
If your goal was to create a miserable work environment where employees are stressed, burned out, disrespected and given no say in their job just look to U.S. schools for inspiration. They are our ‘best practice of miserable workplaces.’ And if you were looking for one major fix to education in America, you’d do everything in your power to ensure teachers are empowered.
Teacher engagement and empowerment may be the single most important national objective for improving education. Yet years of failed education policy combined with maligned attitudes about teaching have rendered teachers as among the least empowered and most disrespected professions in the country. This is a tragedy of unimaginable proportions. After all, teachers are the gateways to every profession because they are the ones we have tasked with teaching and motivating every young person in the country.
We need to free our teachers to do what they do best – to teach and inspire. Well-intentioned yet failed education policies that have overemphasized standardized testing and driven national and state-level ‘standardized’ curriculum have led to teacher disempowerment.
Transforming Communities Into K-12 Classrooms — from forbes.com by Kate Cassada
Putting The Public Back In Education
CommunityShare is an interesting nonprofit organization that has found a way to promote vibrant educational experiences by connecting students and educators to the skills, knowledge, and life experiences of community members.
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Founded in 2015 in Tucson, Arizona, CommunityShare aims to reimagine the relationship between schools and communities. The organization’s vision is “a world where everyone sees themselves as a learner and educator working together to develop their community’s potential.”
Through CommunityShare, teachers and community partners, from artists to astronauts, co-design enriched learning projects that tap into students’ creativity, cultivate real-world skills, and expose students to available community assets.
An unexpected way to fight chronic absenteeism — from hechingerreport.org by Javeria Salman
School districts are having some success with using telemedicine and teletherapy to ensure more kids stay in school
The telemedicine clinic is also a way to relieve the burden on working parents, Oakley said: Many parents in the district’s Title I schools work hourly wage jobs and rely on public transportation, making it difficult to pick up a sick child at school quickly.
How HBCUs are building a stronger Black teacher pipeline — from k12.dive.com by Anna Merod
As HBCUs produce 50% of all Black educators nationwide, a UNCF report illustrates best practices for recruitment efforts.
Dive Brief:
Affordability and Microcredentials — from the-job.beehiiv.com by Paul Fain
Cutting costs for short-term credentials with course sharing and, perhaps, federal money.
‘Bespoke, e-Commerce-Enabled Storefronts’
Demand for nondegree credentials has risen. But it can be expensive and tricky for colleges to create their own workforce-relevant courses and certifications. Homegrown microcredentials also may be more likely to fall flat with students and employers, particularly in competition with professional certificates from big brands like Salesforce or AWS.
Acadeum, an online course-sharing company, is betting that a networked marketplace will be a better option for its 460 college and university partners, which include a growing number of community colleges. Beginning last month, those colleges can tap into 380+ online certificates, certifications, and skills-training courses.
“Skills Marketplace lowers the barrier of entry for institutions to self-select only the certifications that align their program offerings to meet student and workforce demand,” says David Daniels, Acadeum’s president and CEO.
Text to video via OpenAI’s Sora. (I had taken this screenshot on the 15th, but am posting it now.)
We’re teaching AI to understand and simulate the physical world in motion, with the goal of training models that help people solve problems that require real-world interaction.
Introducing Sora, our text-to-video model. Sora can generate videos up to a minute long while maintaining visual quality and adherence to the user’s prompt.
Along these lines, also see:
Pika; via Superhuman AI
? BREAKING: OpenAI just announced their new Text-To-Video model called Sora.
Look at these 10 insane examples:
1. Space movie trailer featuring a man wearing a red wool knitted motorcycle helmet pic.twitter.com/Z8ezF69Tar
— Alvaro Cintas (@dr_cintas) February 15, 2024
An Ivy League school just announced its first AI degree — from qz.com by Michelle Cheng; via Barbara Anna Zielonka on LinkedIn
It’s a sign of the times. At the same time, AI talent is scarce
At the University of Pennsylvania, undergraduate students in its school of engineering will soon be able to study for a bachelor of science degree in artificial intelligence.
What can one do with an AI degree? The University of Pennsylvania says students will be able to apply the skills they learn in school to build responsible AI tools, develop materials for emerging chips and hardware, and create AI-driven breakthroughs in healthcare through new antibiotics, among other things.
Google Pumps $27 Million Into AI Training After Microsoft Pledge—Here’s What To Know — from forbes.com by Robert Hart
Google on Monday announced plans to help train people in Europe with skills in artificial intelligence, the latest tech giant to invest in preparing workers and economies amid the disruption brought on by technologies they are racing to develop.
The Exhausting Pace of AI: Google’s Ultra Leap — from marcwatkins.substack.com by Marc Watkins
The acceleration of AI deployments has gotten so absurdly out of hand that a draft post I started a week ago about a new development is now out of date.
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The Pace is Out of Control
A mere week since Ultra 1.0’s announcement, Google has now introduced us to Ultra 1.5, a model they are clearly positioning to be the leader in the field. Here is the full technical report for Gemini Ultra 1.5, and what it can do is stunning.
Maryville Announces $21 Million Investment in AI and New Technologies Amidst Record Growth — from maryville.edu; via Arthur “Art” Fredrich on LinkedIn
[St. Louis, MO, February 14, 2024] – In a bold move that counters the conventions of more traditional schools, Maryville University has unveiled a substantial $21 million multi-year investment in artificial intelligence (AI) and cutting-edge technologies. This groundbreaking initiative is set to transform the higher education experience to be powered by the latest technology to support student success and a five-star experience for thousands of students both on-campus and online.
Skills-Based Hiring: The Long Road from Pronouncements to Practice— from burningglassinstitute.org
While headlines trumpet the demise of the college degree, our joint report with Harvard Business School Project on Managing the Future of Work reveals a different reality. Many companies have announced dropping degree requirements, but sustained hiring changes remain elusive for most. This report identifies where the reality of Skills-Based Hiring is lagging well-meaning ambitions, and shows which companies are getting it right.
States bet big on career education, but struggle to show it works — from hechingerreport.org by Patrick Hall
Adult employment outcomes are disconnected from K-12 data sets
As college costs soar and demand for skilled labor rises, programs that prepare students for well-paid work are gaining popularity. About 85 percent of high school graduates in 2019 had taken at least one course in career and technical education, or CTE. In 2018, Congress increased annual funding for CTE, which now exceeds $1.4 billion. And in 2022, 36 states enacted policies promoting career training for high schoolers, college students, and adults, according to Advance CTE, a professional organization for state CTE leaders.
Yet many states struggle to answer a basic question: Is career education working?
It’s Time to Launch a National Initiative to Create the New American High School — from the74million.org by Robin Lake; via GSV
Robin Lake: We must start thinking, talking and acting bigger when it comes to preparing teens for both college and career.
One State Rolled Out a Promising Child Care Model. Now Others Are Replicating It. — from edsurge.com by Emily Tate Sullivan
Excerpt (emphasis DSC):
Last month, business leaders and child care advocates from a handful of states convened on Zoom. Representing Michigan, Kentucky, North Carolina and Virginia, they had come together to discuss a new child care model, called “Tri-Share,” that has gained traction across the country, including in their respective regions.
The cost-sharing model, in which the state government, the employer and the employee each pay for one-third of the cost of child care, first launched in 2021 in Michigan, where it is furthest along. But it has become so popular that other states, including New York, North Carolina and Kentucky, have already secured funding for their own adaptations of the program.
Also relevant/see:
Road Scholars: When These Families Travel, School Comes Along for the Ride — from the74million.org by Linda Jacobson; via Matthew Tower
‘It’s not just a pandemic thing,’ one industry expert said about the growing number of families ‘roadschooling’ across the country.
Using Technology for Students in Special Education: What the Feds Want Schools to Know — from edweek.org by Alyson Klein
But this is the first time the department has released guidance on how assistive technology relates to the special education law. That’s partly because schools have come to rely so much more on technology for teaching and learning, Wright-Gallo said.
The guidance, released last month, is aimed at parents, specialists who provide services to babies and toddlers at risk of developmental delays, special educators, general educators, school and district leaders, technology specialists and directors, and state education officials, Wright-Gallo said.
Guiding and Connecting the Homeschooling Community — from michaelbhorn.substack.com by Michael B. Horn
How ‘Teach Your Kids’ is Empowering Parents to Take Charge of their Students’ Educations
More and more parents are taking charge of their children’s education through homeschooling. Manisha Snoyer’s podcast and online homeschooling community, Teach Your Kids, is seeking to empower parents with the guidance, tools, and network they need to thrive as educators for their children. She joined the Future of Education to discuss her work, dispel misconceptions about homeschooling, and consider the future of this growing trend. I was intrigued to explore her observations that, through modularity, families can pull apart socialization, childcare, and the learning itself to make the benefits of homeschooling much more accessible. As always, subscribers can listen to the audio, watch the video, or read the transcript.
Can Career Learning Bring America’s Young People Back to School? — from realcleareducation.com by Taylor Maag
School absenteeism sky-rocketed post-pandemic: 6.5 million more students missed at least 10% or more of the 2021-22 school year than in 2017-18. This means 14.7 million students were chronically absent even after schools reopened from the pandemic. While preliminary data shows that absentee rates slightly decreased in the 2022-23 school year, truancy remains a serious concern for our nation’s K-12 system.
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If we want to get students back in the classroom and avoid poor outcomes for our nation’s young people, U.S. leaders must rethink how we operate K-12 education. One potential solution is reinventing high school to ensure every young person is exposed to the world of work through career-oriented education and learning. An analysis of international cross-section data found that nations enrolling a large proportion of students in vocational or career-focused programs have significantly higher school attendance rates and higher completion rates than those that don’t.
My child with ADHD is being disciplined at school for things they can’t control. What can I do? — from understood.org by Julian Saavedra, MA
Is your child with ADHD being disciplined at school more and more? Get expert advice on how to manage school discipline. Learn the steps to better advocate for your child.
Also relevant/see:
The Teaching and Learning Workforce in Higher Education, 2024 — from library.educause.edu by Nicole Muscanell
Opinion: Higher-Ed Trends to Watch in 2024 — from govtech.com by Jim A. Jorstad
If the recent past is any indication, higher education this year is likely to see financial stress, online learning, a crisis of faith in leadership, emerging tech such as AI and VR, cybersecurity threats, and a desperate need for skilled IT staff.
“We’re in the early stages of creating a new paradigm for personalized assessment and learning; it’s critical for moving the field forward … It’s supporting teachers in the classroom to personalize their teaching by using AI to provide feedback for individual learners and pointing in the direction where students can go.”
PROOF POINTS: Most college kids are taking at least one class online, even long after campuses reopened — from hechingerreport.org by Jill Barshay
Shift to online classes and degrees is a response to declining enrollment
The pandemic not only disrupted education temporarily; it also triggered permanent changes. One that is quietly taking place at colleges and universities is a major, expedited shift to online learning. Even after campuses reopened and the health threat diminished, colleges and universities continued to offer more online courses and added more online degrees and programs. Some brick-and-mortar schools even switched to online only.
College Affordability Helped Drive Rise in State Support for Higher Ed — from chronicle.com by Sonel Cutler
State support for higher education saw a significant jump this year, rising more than 10 percent from 2023 — even though the share of that money provided by the federal government dropped 50 percent.
That’s according to the annual Grapevine report released Thursday by the State Higher Education Executive Officers Association, or SHEEO. The data reflect a continued upward trajectory for state investment in higher education, with a 36.5-percent increase in support nationally over the last five years, not adjusted for inflation.
Vocational training programs for special education students teach work, life skills — from edsource.org by Lasherica Thornton
Programs also foster acceptance in the community
Through hands-on experience at the hotel, students gain skills to work in the housekeeping and hospitality industry – whether at El Capitan or elsewhere – after they graduate. And they develop life skills for adulthood.
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This is not the case with Merced County’s program which, instead, integrates students into the housekeeping career, making it one of a few in California and across the nation to do so. The program now serves as a model for other districts aspiring to integrate students with disabilities into careers and society.
Fong said the year-long program is critical for the students “to be in the actual field,” get on-the-job training and be able to model employees’ behavior, which in turn provides them with real world experience while allowing them to interact with others.
From DSC:
This hits home for my family and me. We are entering a phase of our youngest daughter’s life where we need to help her build life skills. This type of program is excellent — highly relevant to many families out there.
The future of learning — from moodle.com by Sonya Trivedi
Self-directed and continuous learning
The concept of self-directed and continuous learning is becoming increasingly popular, reshaping our approach to knowledge and skill acquisition in both formal education and workplace settings. This evolving landscape reflects a world where traditional career paths are being replaced by more dynamic and flexible models, compelling learners to adapt and grow continuously.
The Future of Learning Report 2022 highlights this shift, noting the diminishing concept of a ‘career for life.’ With regular job switching and the expansion of the gig economy, there is an increasing need for a workforce equipped with a broad range of skills and the ability to gain qualifications throughout their careers. This shift is underlined by learners increasingly seeking control over their educational journeys, understanding that the ongoing acquisition of knowledge and skills is essential for staying relevant in the rapidly changing world of work. Reflecting this trend, a significant portion of learners, 33%, are choosing online platforms for their flexibility and ability to cater to individual needs and schedules.
From DSC:
The next paragraph after the above excerpt says:
Much like how companies such as Uber and Airbnb have reshaped their respective industries without owning traditional assets, the future of education might see universities functioning as the ‘Netflix of learning.’ In this model, learners comfortably source their educational experiences from various platforms, assembling their qualifications to create a personalised and continuously evolving portfolio of skills??.
But I don’t think it will be universities that function as the “Netflix of learning” as I don’t think the cultures of most institutions of traditional higher education can deal with that kind of innovation. I hope I’m wrong.
I think it will be a new, global, lifelong learning platform that originates outside of higher education. It will be bigger than higher education, K12, corporate training, or vocational training — as such a 21st-century, AI-based platform will offer all of the above and more.
Slow Shift to Skills — from the-job.beehiiv.com by Paul Fain
Real progress in efforts to increase mobility for nondegree workers is unlikely during the next couple years, Joseph Fuller, a professor at Harvard University’s business school who co-leads its Managing the Future of Work initiative, recently told me.
Yet Fuller is bullish on skills-based hiring becoming a real thing in five to 10 years. That’s because he predicts that AI will create the data to solve the skills taxonomy problem Kolko describes. And if skills-based hiring allows for serious movement for workers without bachelor’s degrees, Fuller says the future will look like where Texas is headed.
Report: Microcredentials Not a Strategic Priority for Many Colleges — from insidehighered.com by Kathryn Palmer
A new report finds that while most colleges surveyed embrace alternative credentials, many have a decentralized approach for creating and managing them.
While the majority of colleges focused on online, professional and continuing education have embraced alternative credentials, a significant number of those institutions haven’t made them a strategic priority.
That’s one of the key takeaways from a new study released Monday by UPCEA, the organization previously known as the University Professional and Continuing Education Association. University Professional and Continuing Education Association.
“While a lot of institutions want this, they don’t necessarily all know how” to deliver alternative credentials, said Bruce Etter, UPCEA’s senior director of research and consulting. “Embracing it is great, but now it needs to be part of the strategic plan.”
The Higher Learning Commission’s Credential Lab — from hlcommission.org
10 higher ed trends to watch in 2024 — from insidetrack.org by
Trend 1.
Linking education to career paths
Trend 2.
Making sense of the AI explosion
Trend 3.
Prioritizing mental health on campus
…plus 7 other trends
North Carolina’s Community Colleges Make a Big Bid to Stay Relevant — from workshift.opencampusmedia.org by Margaret Moffett
The system is poised to ask state legislators to overhaul its funding formula to focus on how well colleges prepare students for high-demand, well-paying jobs.
The new formula would pay a premium to each college based on labor-market outcomes: the more students enrolled in courses in high-demand, high-paying workforce sectors, the more money the college receives.
Importantly, the proposed formula makes no distinction between curricular courses that count toward degree programs and noncredit continuing education classes, which historically offer fewer slots for students because of their lower FTE reimbursement rates.
Supporting Career and Technical Education — from bloomberg.org via Paul Fain
The American job market is changing. A high school diploma is no longer a ticket to a good job now, an increasing number of employers are offering “middle-skill jobs” that require more than a high school diploma but less than a bachelor’s degree. Industries like health care, IT, advanced manufacturing, and financial services continue to see sustained growth at all levels, and they need workers with the experience and the credentials to fill new positions. Bloomberg Philanthropies is investing in programs that help young people get the specialized training they need through internships, apprenticeships, academics, and work-based learning.
