change

How to Ace an Online Job Interview [Julie Weed at nytimes.com]

On 08/04/2020, in career development, change, staying relevant, student-related, surviving, workplace, by Daniel Christian

How to Ace an Online Job Interview — from nytimes.com by Julie Weed
A handful of classic techniques and some tips unique to the work-from-home era can help you land that next job.

Excerpt:

Double-Check the Tech
Technical difficulties are understandable, but do all you can to avoid them, said Eliot Kaplan, a former vice present of talent acquisition at Hearst Magazines who is now a career coach. Start by ensuring your Wi-Fi is as strong and reliable as possible. That might mean setting up your video call in the part of your home that gets the best reception, asking housemates to stay off the network during your interview or even paying for better Wi-Fi for a few months while you are job hunting.

Gartner Legal Tech Hype Curve – 2020 Positions [artificiallawyer.com]

On 07/28/2020, in 21st century, bots, career development, change, corporate / business world, Cost of legal services - including access, emerging technologies, future, law schools, Legal operations, legal technologies, technology (general), trends, workplace, by Daniel Christian

Gartner Legal Tech Hype Curve – 2020 Positions — from artificiallawyer.com

Excerpt:

Research company Gartner has published its Legal Tech Hype Curve analysis for 2020, showing where various types of tech are on their famous development and real world adoption chart.

Have a look at the main chart below:

The different Learning Objectives (LO’s) of the corporate world vs. the world of higher education: Who pays the price? [Christian]

On 07/27/2020, in adjunct faculty, Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, business, business side of he, career development, change, collaboration, colleges, communications, community colleges, content development, aggregation, repositories, corporate / business world, corporate universities / corporate training, cost of getting a degree, credentialing, curriculum, dangers of the status quo, Daniel S. Christian, faculty/staff, future, future of higher education, game-changing environment, generational differences, higher education, ideas, instructional design, intelligent systems, Learning Experience Design, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, society, staying relevant, student-related, surviving, United States, universities, vendors, vision/possibilities, by Daniel Christian

From DSC: I’d like to thank Ryan Craig for mentioning several interesting articles and thoughts in a recent Gap Letter. At least 2-3 of the articles he mentioned got me to thinking…

With a degree no longer enough, job candidates are told to prove their skills in tests — from hechingerreport.org by Jon Marcus
Instead of relying on credentials, more employers want applicants to show their stuff

Excerpts (emphasis DSC):

Among the many frustrations ahead for millions of Americans thrown out of work by the pandemic is one that may surprise them: To get a new job, it’s increasingly likely they will have to take a test.

As the number of candidates balloons while health risks make it hard for hiring managers to meet with them in person, a trend toward “pre-hiring assessments” — already under way before Covid-19 — is getting a huge new push.

Skeptical that university degrees are the best measure of whether candidates have the skills they need, employers were already looking for ways that applicants could prove it — including in fields where that was not previously required.

“It’s like try before you buy,” said Price.

PDF version here.

Also see:

College Alumni See Room for Job-Skill Improvement — from news.gallup.com by John Clark

From DSC:
There is a huge misalignment between the Learning Objectives (LO’s) that the corporate world supports — and ultimately hires by — as compared to the LO’s that faculty, provosts, & presidents support.

This happened to me a while back when I was looking for a new job. I traveled to another city — upon the company’s request (though they never lifted a finger to help me with the travel-related expenses). Plus, I dedicated the time and got my hopes up, yet again, in getting the job. But the test they gave me (before I even saw a human being) blew me away! It was meant for PhD-level candidates in Computer Science, Programming, or Statistics. It was ridiculously hard.

The article above got me to thinking….

Higher education increasingly puts a guerrilla of debt on many students’ backs, which adds to the dispiriting struggle to overcome these kinds of tests. Also, the onslaught of the Applicant Tracking Systems that students have to conquer (in order to obtain that sought after interview) further adds to this dispiriting struggle.

How can we achieve better alignment here? Students are getting left holding the bag…a situation that will likely not last much longer. If higher ed doesn’t address this situation, we shouldn’t be surprised to see a mass exodus when effective alternatives pick up steam even further. Last call to address this now before the exodus occurs.

Along these lines see:

Better Connecting College and Career — from insidehighered.com by Steven Mintz
How to improve career readiness.

Excerpt:

How can colleges best prepare students for careers in a volatile, uncertain environment? This is the question recently asked by Marie Cini, the former provost at University of Maryland University College and former president of CAEL.

Career service offices, she observes, are first and foremost job search centers: reviewing résumés, publicizing job openings and arranging interviews. What they are not about, for the most part, is career preparation, a longer and more intense process involving self-analysis, skills building and genuine insights into the job market.

Surveys: Most teachers don’t want in-person instruction, fear COVID-19 health risks [Will]

On 07/26/2020, in change, economics, education, health, society, sociology, student teaching/teacher education, student-related, surviving, teachers, United States, youth, by Daniel Christian

Surveys: Most teachers don’t want in-person instruction, fear COVID-19 health risks — from blogs.edweek.org by Madeline Will

Excerpts:

Teachers are more likely than administrators to express concerns about returning to school. The vast majorities of school leaders (96 percent) and district leaders (90 percent) say they are willing to return to their school building for in-person instruction, compared to 81 percent of teachers.

Also, teachers of color are more likely than white teachers to be concerned about going back into the classroom. Just 35 percent of teachers of color say there should be in-person instruction this fall, compared to 47 percent of white teachers. Eighty-three percent of white teachers said they’re willing to go back into school buildings, compared to 66 percent of teachers of color.

Those are some of the key findings from a nationally representative online survey by the EdWeek Research Center. The survey was conducted July 22-23, and 1,366 educators responded—873 teachers, 251 principals, and 242 district leaders.

Also see:

“There’s just no question we’re facing a crisis in the teacher workforce,” @BeckyPringle says at #ewa20. Teachers feel disrespected and excluded from the conversations on how to reopen school building and feel like their health is being put at risk, she says.

— Maddy Will (@madeline_will) July 24, 2020

How to homeschool your child during the pandemic [Hatjakes]

On 07/23/2020, in change, curriculum, education, homeschooling/homeschoolers, K-12 related, learning, learning ecosystem, Learning Experience Design, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, love of learning, more voice more choice more control, parents/guardians, passions, personalized/customized learning, student-related, teaching & learning, youth, by Daniel Christian

How to homeschool your child during the pandemic — from learningliftoff.com by AnnElise Hatjakes

Excerpts:

According to J. Allen Weston, the executive director of the National Home School Association (NHSA), parents’ interest in homeschooling has skyrocketed in the face of the coronavirus pandemic. In an interview with The Sacramento Bee, he explained that the NHSA used to receive 40-50 emails a day. Now, it is receiving thousands. More parents are exploring this option for the first time as they confront the uncertainties surrounding the 2020-2021 school year.
…
Homeschooling is an educational format in which parents are responsible for all of the instructional and administrative duties associated with schooling. Parents who homeschool their children choose the curriculum, teach that curriculum, and keep records in accordance with their respective state’s laws.

If you were to do an online search of homeschool curriculum, you might be overwhelmed by the number of results. A good place to start is with Cathy Duffy’s curriculum reviews, which is a well-known resource for homeschoolers.

7 Things You Should Know About the HyFlex Course Model — from library.educause.edu

Excerpt:

What is it? The hybrid flexible, or HyFlex, course format is an instructional approach that combines face-to-face (F2F) and online learning. Each class session and learning activity is offered in-person, synchronously online, and asynchronously online. Students can decide—for each class or activity—how to participate. As Brian Beatty notes in Hybrid-Flexible Course Design, the result is “a student-directed, multi-modal learning experience.” The HyFlex approach provides students autonomy, flexibility, and seamless engagement, no matter where, how, or when they engage in the course. Central to this model is the principle that the learning is equivalent, regardless of the mode. The approach was developed with a focus on student flexibility, but the benefits also extend to faculty. For example, an instructor, along with some students, could “attend” class remotely, while other students join physically from a room on campus.

More [colleges & U’s] are expected to make the switch in the coming weeks. [Bauer-Wolf]

On 07/20/2020, in business side of he, change, colleges, community colleges, future of higher education, game-changing environment, higher education, IT in HE, law schools, leadership, learning, learning ecosystem, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, online learning, universities, by Daniel Christian

Why some colleges embraced a virtual fall sooner than others — from educationdive.com by Jeremy Bauer-Wolf; July 20, 2020
More schools are expected to make the switch in the coming weeks.

Excerpt:

These colleges aren’t likely to be exceptions for much longer, as higher ed experts predict the trickle of schools staying online will become a flood as the pandemic persists.

“I expect a bunch of colleges to announce their actual fall setup within 72 hours of each other in the next two weeks,” said Robert Kelchen, an associate professor of higher education at Seton Hall University. “It just takes a few colleges to lead the way and then their competitor institutions will follow.”

Also see:

Colleges walk back their fall plans as coronavirus cases spike — from educationdive.com by Natalie Schwartz; July 16, 2020

Dive Brief:

As the pandemic worsens, more colleges are ditching plans for in-person instruction this fall in favor of a mostly virtual term.
At least six colleges have announced in the past week that they’re planning for a remote term after previously indicating they might bring students back to campus.
They join others including the University of Southern California, which changed its fall plans at the beginning of July. Higher education experts expect more reversals to follow over the next few weeks.

Zooming in on Gen Z [McKinney]

On 07/18/2020, in business, career development, change, corporate / business world, corporate universities / corporate training, generational differences, learner profiles, learning, learning ecosystem, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, learning preferences, society, student-related, training / L&D, United States, videoconferencing, youth, by Daniel Christian

Zooming in on Gen Z — from trainingmag.com by Scott McKinney
How L&D can cater to this rising generation’s intuitive worldview and desires.

Excerpt:

As the 60-plus million members of Generation Z enter the workplace, adapting training programs to connect with them is mission-critical.

Gen Zers—born in the mid-1990s and raised in the 2000s—will account for more than 20 percent of working adults by the end of 2020, according to a report from software-based learning management system provider Docebo. Their preferences are more in line with Gen Xers than the Millennials, despite their technology fluency. They’re the first generation raised entirely in the Digital Age but—surprisingly—prefer face-to-face communication with their peers.

Here’s a look at how L&D departments can zoom in on this rising generation’s intuitive worldview and desires in a constantly changing and COVID-19-challenged world.

[Higher ed] Reflections on “Stay apart or stay home” [Anderson]

On 07/17/2020, in adjunct faculty, business side of he, change, colleges, community colleges, face-to-face, faculty/staff, future, game-changing environment, health, higher education, law schools, leadership, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, learning spaces, student-related, United States, universities, by Daniel Christian

Stay apart or stay home — from insidehighered.com by Greta Anderson
Colleges are implementing social contracts or making addenda to code of conduct policies requiring students to abide by social distancing guidelines this fall. Some institutions have said they will remove students from campus for noncompliance.

Excerpt (emphasis DSC):

As college leaders move ahead on plans to reopen their campuses this fall, it is becoming more clear that they lack confidence in their ability to control student behavior that can spread the coronavirus.

In addition to plans to regularly test students for COVID-19, college administrators are putting faith in conduct codes and written pledges that mandate students refrain from large gatherings, follow social distance guidelines and wear face masks. The administrators are setting up clear expectations for how students must conduct themselves and getting the message out through campus health campaigns and online training modules. What is less clear is how far colleges can go beyond their gates to enforce healthy behavior, which some students have already proven they are not willing to engage in.

She said it will also be important for campuses to come up with enforcement measures for noncompliance. A feasible university response to students who violate expectations is to remove or ban them from campus, she said.

From DSC:
Do we really think college-age students will wear masks all the time and practice social distancing? I agree with Professor Scott Galloway’s recent comments at the Remote Conference — i.e., that we are either delusional in thinking this will occur or worse, we are being dishonest.

I’m not saying this type of thing is an easy decision and I don’t envy those folks having to make such difficult decisions. But there will likely be some colleges and universities who go ahead and make the decision to bring their students back to campus — and they do so in order to keep their doors open and/or to meet their goals for their forecasted budgets. That is, they will be sure to get the students’ tuition $$, room and board, books, fees, etc., and then after a few weeks on campus, tell everyone to go back home and finish out the term online.

These organizations better think twice before following that strategy. That strategy is short-sided. It may work for one year — or maybe not even that. Perhaps only for one semester or only for one quarter. But the bottom line is that you will get ONE shot at doing the right thing. You may not be getting those students back, as their trust in your organization will have been shattered.

Even if that isn’t your organization’s strategy, it could turn out to be a trust/PR nightmare if such a situation develops at your campus. Your organization may be unfairly compared to or lumped with other organizations who followed this strategy.

Had this Coronavirus situation happened 30-40 years ago, it would have been a different situation I think — at least trust wise. But even prior to the Coronavirus hitting us, there has been a growing backlash against higher education, especially in the last 2 decades. These days, are colleges/universities really confident that when they enforce things (and play the “heavy”), there isn’t going to be an even bigger backlash? As we’re in the process of multiplying many of the changes that we are going through by 10 years, are we ready for a 10-year leap in the backlash against higher education?

I’m grateful that the law school where I currently work — the WMU-Cooley Law School — decided early on to keep all of our courses in a 100% online-based format for this fall. It was/is the right call I think, given the current circumstances and highly uncertain future. It does the best job of protecting the students, faculty, staff, and members of administration.

But all that said, I realize this is a tough situation; there are likely many issues no matter which route(s) we take. I just encourage people and organizations to be as transparent and honest as possible here. Trust in higher education as one of our key institutions is at stake.

Online learning critical to the ‘reskilling’ of America [Maggioncalda]

On 07/15/2020, in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, career development, change, corporate / business world, corporate universities / corporate training, cost of getting a degree, curriculum, Daniel S. Christian, digital audio, digital learning, digital video, disruption, distance education, education, education technology, future, higher education, human-computer interaction (HCI), ideas, innovation, intelligent systems, intelligent tutoring, internet, learning, learning agents, learning ecosystem, Learning Experience Design, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, lifelong learning, MOOCs -- Massive Open Online Courses, more voice more choice more control, new business models, online learning, online media, online tutoring, platforms, reinvent, society, staying relevant, strategy, surviving, technologies for your home, United States, vendors, vision/possibilities, web-based collaboration, by Daniel Christian

Online learning critical to the ‘reskilling’ of America — from thehill.com by Jeff Maggioncalda
[From DSC: As Jeff is the CEO of Coursera, a worldwide online learning platform, it causes this to be an opinion piece for sure; but his points are nevertheless, very valid in my opinion as well.]

Excerpts:

America is facing the worst unemployment crisis since the Great Depression. One in four American workers has filed for unemployment insurance since March. In less than four months, over 44 million American workers have watched their jobs be put on hold or disappear entirely — and that number is expected to grow in the coming months.
…
Policymakers should use this opportunity to launch a large-scale effort to help Americans develop the skills to do the jobs of the future.
…
Amidst this pandemic, Americans require a solution that meets them where they are, offering a safe learning environment during social distancing while preparing them for in-demand jobs now and post-COVID.
…
Online learning helps workers develop skills at an unparalleled speed and scale, as seen with the recent experience of training tens of thousands of contact tracers in a matter of weeks.

How might increased competition amongst accreditors impact innovation within higher education? Is that’s what’s been missing? [Christian]

On 07/15/2020, in accreditation, business side of he, change, changing business models, colleges, community colleges, credentialing, higher education, innovation, United States, universities, by Daniel Christian

DC: Now there’s a thought/question…

How might increased competition amongst #accreditors impact #innovation within #HigherEducation?!

Is that’s what’s been missing? Hmmm…could easily be an incredible time of change these next few years. https://t.co/5R8Ov8EjiU

— Daniel Christian (@dchristian5) July 15, 2020

Which links to this article:

Another regional accreditor drops geographic limits — from educationdive.com by Hallie Busta

Dive Brief:

The Middle States Commission on Higher Education (MSCHE) announced Monday that it will accept applications for accreditation from institutions located outside its historical territory, which is primarily the mid-Atlantic states.
It will also begin taking applications from international institutions seeking accreditation.
MSCHE is the second of the country’s seven historically regional accreditors to make such a move, the result of new federal regulations removing their geographic boundaries.

We will consider the ways that the Commission engages in its work and whether an alternative structure may be necessary to support the changing nature of accreditation, and its more modern demands. Believe it or not, our requirements and standards are also scheduled for evaluation. We will need to begin to have conversations about the ways we can improve the language of our requirements and standards or our accreditation processes. — source

‘No college degree required’: Google expands certificate program for in-demand job skills [Dishman]

On 07/15/2020, in accreditation, analytics, career development, change, computer science, data related items, Google, learning, learning ecosystem, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, lifelong learning, professional development, staying relevant, training / L&D, United States, user experience (UX), vendors, by Daniel Christian

‘No college degree required’: Google expands certificate program for in-demand job skills — from fastcompany.com by Lydia Dishman

Excerpt:

Google just announced that it is expanding its skills certification program to help more people land high-paying tech jobs without a college degree.

The Grow with Google Career Certificates will be available soon for in-demand jobs including Data Analyst, Project Manager, and UX designer. These jobs pay between $60,000 and $90,000, on average.

From DSC:
Does this get at what Professor Scott Galloway was talking about yesterday at the Remote Conference? That is, that Big Tech is coming for healthcare and education. Could be.

Also see:

Google to launch 3 more tech certificates on Coursera — from educationdive.com by Natalie Schwartz
Excerpt:
The certificates — which will be in data analytics, project management and user experience design — will cost $49 a month and take three to six months to complete. Google will fund 100,000 need-based scholarships for those who take them.

Launching: The National Black Tech Ecosystem Association

On 07/15/2020, in 21st century, change, collaboration, policy, political science, society, sociology, technology (general), web-based collaboration, by Daniel Christian

What a Black tech movement might look like — from venturebeat.com by Khari Johnson

Excerpt:

That’s why, Wilson told VentureBeat, she is launching the National Black Tech Ecosystem Association. The group’s initial community gathering will focus on bringing together people in tech and the Black faith community.

“My ultimate vision is to build an association that allows for all of those entities to share information, to collectively organize, develop policy, and if needed protest moments around this new tech world that’s being built,” she told VentureBeat.

Are universities going the way of CDs and cable TV? [Smith]

On 07/08/2020, in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, business side of he, change, changing business models, cloud-based computing / apps / other cloud-related, colleges, community colleges, computer science, content development, aggregation, repositories, cost of getting a degree, dangers of the status quo, Daniel S. Christian, digital learning, disruption, distance education, education technology, elearning, emerging technologies, experimentation, face-to-face, future, future of higher education, game-changing environment, generational differences, global / globalization, heutagogy, higher education, homeschooling/homeschoolers, human-computer interaction (HCI), ideas, innovation, instructional design, intelligent systems, intelligent tutoring, internet, K-12 related, law schools, learning, learning agents, learning ecosystem, Learning Experience Design, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, learning hubs & pods & microschooling, learning preferences, learning spaces, lifelong learning, microlearning, mobile learning, MOOCs -- Massive Open Online Courses, more voice more choice more control, multimedia, new business models, online learning, online media, online tutoring, organizational change, pace of change, parents/guardians, platforms, remote teaching and learning, social learning / networks, society, staying relevant, strategy, streams of content, student-related, surviving, teaching online, technologies for your home, technology (general), training / L&D, TVs, United States, universities, user experience (UX), vendors, virtual field trips, virtual K-12 schools, Virtual Reality (VR) / worlds / learning, virtual tutoring, vision/possibilities, web-based collaboration, webinars, workplace, by Daniel Christian

Are universities going the way of CDs and cable TV? — from theatlantic.com by Michael Smith; with thanks to Homa Tavangar & Will Richardson for this resource
Like the entertainment industry, colleges will need to embrace digital services in order to survive.

Excerpts:

We all know how that worked out: From 1999 to 2009, the music industry lost 50 percent of its sales. From 2014 to 2019, roughly 16 million American households canceled their cable subscriptions.

Similar dynamics are at play in higher education today. Universities have long been remarkably stable institutions—so stable that in 2001, by one account, they comprised an astonishing 70 of the 85 institutions in the West that have endured in recognizable form since the 1520s.

That stability has again bred overconfidence, overpricing, and an overreliance on business models tailored to a physical world. Like those entertainment executives, many of us in higher education dismiss the threats that digital technologies pose to the way we work.

Information technology transforms industries by making scarce resources plentiful, forcing customers to rethink the value of established products.

From DSC:
I can’t help but hear Clayton Christenson’s voice in the following quote:

An analogous situation prevails in higher education, where access to classroom seats, faculty experts, and university diplomas have been scarce for half a millennium. When massively open online courses first appeared, making free classes available to anyone with internet access, universities reflexively dismissed the threat. At the time, MOOCs were amateuristic, low-quality, and far removed from our degree-granting programs. But over the past 10 years, the technology has improved greatly.

To survive the pandemic, American colleges need a revolution [Selingo]

On 07/05/2020, in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, accreditation, adjunct faculty, business side of he, change, changing business models, colleges, community colleges, education, experimentation, face-to-face, faculty/staff, future, future of higher education, game-changing environment, higher education, law schools, leadership, learner profiles, learning, learning ecosystem, Learning Experience Design, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, lifelong learning, microlearning, Microsoft, new business models, online learning, pace of change, parents/guardians, participation, personalized/customized learning, platforms, society, student-related, teaching & learning, traditional / tradition, trends, United States, universities, vision/possibilities, by Daniel Christian

To survive the pandemic, American colleges need a revolution — from linkedin.com by Jeff Selingo

Excerpts:

Moreover, the American higher education system is built largely for full-time students pursuing degrees that might take two or four years to finish. Unemployed workers want a new job in the next few weeks or months, not two years from now when they complete a degree. The newly unemployed also are accustomed to the cadence of regular work and can’t easily pivot to class schedules at colleges constructed for the convenience of faculty members, not students.

Higher education needs to reinvent itself for continual learning if it is going to remain relevant and expand opportunity for tens of millions of adults who find themselves unemployed in a fast-changing economy.

Learning Ecosystems

Gartner Legal Tech Hype Curve – 2020 Positions [artificiallawyer.com]

More [colleges & U’s] are expected to make the switch in the coming weeks. [Bauer-Wolf]

Online learning critical to the ‘reskilling’ of America [Maggioncalda]

How might increased competition amongst accreditors impact innovation within higher education? Is that’s what’s been missing? [Christian]

Launching: The National Black Tech Ecosystem Association

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