And the winner is ….. Library of the Year 2022 — from designinglibraries.org.uk
Congratulations to Missoula Public Library in the United States which was announced as Library of the Year at the IFLA 2022 conference in Dublin, in July.
Also see:
Missoula’s new library — from missoulapubliclibrary.org
TV makers are looking beyond streaming to stay relevant — from protocol.com by Janko Roettgers and Nick Statt
Excerpts:
The search for TV’s next killer app
TV makers have some reason to celebrate these days: Streaming has officially surpassed cable and broadcast as the most popular form of TV consumption; smart TVs are increasingly replacing external streaming devices; and the makers of these TVs have largely figured out how to turn those one-time purchases into recurring revenue streams, thanks to ad-supported services.
…
What TV makers need is a new killer app. Consumer electronics companies have for some time toyed with the idea of using TV for all kinds of additional purposes, including gaming, smart home functionality and fitness. Ad-supported video took priority over those use cases over the past few years, but now, TV brands need new ways to differentiate their devices.
Turning the TV into the most useful screen in the house holds a lot of promise for the industry. To truly embrace this trend, TV makers might have to take some bold bets and be willing to push the envelope on what’s possible in the living room.
From DSC:
What if smart TVs’ new killer app was a next-generation learning-related platform? Could smart TVs deliver more blended/hybrid learning? Hyflex-based learning?
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![The Living [Class] Room -- by Daniel Christian -- July 2012 -- a second device used in conjunction with a Smart/Connected TV](http://danielschristian.com/learning-ecosystems/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/The-Living-Class-Room-Daniel-S-Christian-July-2012.jpg)
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Or what if smart TVs had to do with delivering telehealth-based apps? Or telelegal/virtual courts-based apps?
Per Adobe today (emphasis DSC):
And we’re live! Starting 9:30am pst on Adobe Live’s YouTube Channel
After years of partnering with the Creative Cloud YouTube channel to bring our community inspiration and advice, Adobe Live will be streaming to our own YouTube channel (+Behance!) starting 9/6! This gives the Adobe Live team an exciting opportunity to connect closely with YOU, our community, through tailored content, YouTube’s community tab and, of course, LIVE streams.
Make sure to subscribe to the Adobe Live channel NOW!
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EdTech Giant Unacademy Launches 50 New Channels On YouTube To Democratise Online Education — from edtechreview.in by Shalini Pathak
Excerpt:
Unacademy, an Indian EdTech unicorn and one of the leading online learning platform, has recently launched 50 new education channels on Google-owned YouTube. The channels significantly help in increasing accessibility for millions of learners across academic and non-academic categories.
Few of these 50 channels are built on the existing content categories as offered by Unacademy. They mark Unacademy’s foray into newer terrains such as ‘Tick Tock Tax’- to simplify the direct and indirect tax concepts, and Life After IIT – a platform to crack JEE and discuss success stories of top rankers.
Top tools for learning 2022 — from toptools4learning.com by Jane Hart
Excerpt:
In fact, it has become clear that whilst 2021 was the year of experimentation – with an explosion of tools being used as people tried out new things, 2022 has been the year of consolidation – with people reverting to their trusty old favourites. In fact, many of the tools that were knocked off their perches in 2021, have now recovered their lost ground this year.
Also somewhat relevant/see:
Third edition of Teaching at a Distance is now published — from tonybates.ca by Tony Bates
Excerpts:
The book has been up-dated to take account of the impact of the pandemic on teaching and learning, and with more emphasis for those in k-12 education to balance the post-secondary focus.
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20 Things To Remember About Forgetting — from theelearningcoach.com by Connie Malamed
What Causes Us To Forget
Excerpt:
Even though we use it all day and night, we are usually not aware of our memory’s processes until they fail. Yet remembering and forgetting are crucial aspects of learning. In learning design, it’s important to know what causes us to forget. Here are some key facts about the forgetting process that relate to learning, instruction and creativity.
Jigsaw Explorer — Free Online Jigsaw Puzzles for Students — from educatorstechnology.com by Med Kharbach, PhD
Excerpt:
Jigsaw Explorer is a website that offers a wide variety of online jigsaw puzzles that you can use with kids and students in and out of class. Jigsaw Explorer also allows you to create your own puzzles based on your photos and you can share these puzzles with others via email or through social media websites.
Help All Students Be Seen: Five Tips for Stronger Connections — from blog.edmentum.com by Amy Collins
Excerpt:
I began to challenge myself to set aside my preconceived boxes for them and see each one as a person—complex, with parts they reveal to the world easily and parts they hide. As I did this more and more, I was amazed at how my strategies needed to change in order to truly see each student and make those strong connections that lead to more effective learning. In this blog post, I hope to share some thoughts on how to adjust your own thinking to see the true student within.
An excerpt from Eva Keiffenheim’s recent Learn Letter| learning science to make the most of your mind
Resources for Evidence-Based Teaching
Are you an educator who wants to improve teaching? This website can be a great help. You can access proven, practical and free educational articles on psychology, assessment, behavior, and social-emotional learning. One of my favorite articles include 6 high-impact teaching strategies.
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This YouTube Star Says AI Will Become a Creative ‘Collaborator’ With Students — from soundcloud.com by Jeff Young and Taryn Southern
Description:
Taryn Southern is a pioneering YouTuber who these days experiments with how cutting edge tech might transform human expression. She’s recorded a pop album that she co-wrote with some AI code, for instance, and she’s created a digital clone of herself that she can use to make videos for her popular YouTube channel. Here’s what she sees coming for education.
#convergence #AR #VR #MR #AI #blockchain #HCI #Metaverse
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Teacher shortage? Here’s one way around it — from edcircuit.com by EdCircuit Staff
Excerpt:
After seeing the teacher shortage first hand in China, Jessie Sullivan and Isla Iago launched an innovative new start-up that teaches children how to read and write through YouTube – without the need for adult expertise or attention. Since the release in July, the start-up called See Say Write is already being used by schools, homes, and children’s charities in seven different countries.
[Administrator Tips] Sharing the Benefits of Virtual Learning with Homeschooling Families — from blog.edmentum.com
Excerpt:
One of the long-lasting results of the pandemic is the number of ongoing virtual learning programs that have been created, allowing schools to retain students who found that they need or prefer to learn in a virtual environment. Another segment of students who have been increasingly turning to online learning is homeschoolers.
Virtual learning programs offered through the school district have a great deal of benefits to offer homeschooling families. Promoting these benefits and showing families that a district virtual program offers the best of both worlds can help bring families back from independent homeschooling.
While there certainly are differences between traditional homeschooling and online schooling, it is helpful to point out the similarities and benefits so that homeschooling families can make an educated decision about the options available to them.
Addendums on 8/22/22:
5 Fantastic Ideas for Collaboration Projects — from cultofpedagogy.com by Jennifer Gonzalez
Excerpt:
One challenge teachers face in creating these opportunities is thinking up ideas for good projects. So I sent out a tweet asking for teacher-tested projects that went well and got students actually collaborating, not just dividing up the work. From those responses I chose five examples, and I’m presenting them here as broader project concepts — the goal is to give you five different options that you can customize for your content area. For each one, I’ve also offered a quick description of the technology the teachers in the examples used to facilitate their work.
The examples offered here may or may not contain equal amounts of criticality and agency; they were not submitted with those ideas in mind. I’m adding this challenge not as a commentary on the examples, but rather a nudge to get you thinking along those lines for your own projects.
Along the lines of ideas and pedagogies, also see:
Promoting Student Choice & Voice Through Meaningful Assessments — from rdene915.com by Rachelle Dene Poth
Excerpt (emphasis DSC):
Student choice and voice in learning are essential. It is important that we provide a variety of opportunities for our students to develop skills in ways that meet their specific interests and needs. We need activities and tools that will help students to develop content-area knowledge and skills, while also developing essential social-emotional learning (SEL) skills to best prepare them for their future.
From DSC:
I agree!
The future of learning: Co-creating skills development strategies with employee preferences — from chieflearningofficer.com by Stacey Young Rivers
The limitations of developing just-in-time learning strategies perpetuate a paradigm where learning and development can appear ineffective for teams that have to move quickly and fail fast.
Excerpt:
I believe the future of learning will be a system where employees and learning teams co-create experiences. No longer will skills development programs be created in silos for employees to consume. Gone will be the days of conducting exhaustive needs analysis that can add layers of complexity for program delivery.
The limitations of developing just-in-time learning strategies perpetuate a paradigm where learning and development can appear ineffective for teams that have to move quickly and fail fast. Thinking about how to overcome these challenges conjures a solution similar to a metaverse, a persistent virtual world that is always open. One value proposition of a metaverse is that everyone can create their own adventure in an ecosystem supporting curiosity and experimentation, two areas undergirding skills development.
With this lens, understanding employee preferences for learning is the beginning of co-creating experiences, and one approach for how L&D leaders can begin to structure skills development programs. While conducting a study to engage employees in training, we uncovered new insights into where corporate L&D is headed in the future.
Also relevant here, see:
Workplace Learning: Still a Mess — from eliterate.us by Michael Feldstein
Excerpt:
There’s a mantra these days that higher education needs to get better at listening to industry so they can better prepare students for work. And while there is definitely some truth to that, it assumes that “industry” knows what it needs its workers to know. Former HP CEO Lew Platt once famously said, “If only Hewlett Packard knew what Hewlett Packard knows, we’d be three times more productive.”
In other words, a lot of vital know-how is locked up in pockets within the organization. It doesn’t reach either the training folks or the HR folks. So how are either universities or EdTech professional development companies supposed to serve an invisible need?
It’s not that they don’t know how to learn or they don’t like to learn online. It’s because their experience tells them that their valuable time spent “learning” might not equate to actual skills development.
Addendum on 8/15/22:
10 in-demand soft skills to supercharge your career — from fastcompany.com by Melissa Rosenthal
Your résumé and experience may get you through the door, but these soft skills could help you clinch the job.
Excerpt:
A LinkedIn Global Talent Trends report shows that 92% of talent professionals reported that soft skills are equally or more important to hire for than hard skills. The same study reveals that 89% surveyed said that when a new hire doesn’t work out, it’s because they lack much-needed soft skills.
The hard truth about hard skills is that they can have a short half-life. Constant innovation, technology updates, and new feature releases render many of these skills obsolete quickly. Meanwhile, soft skills never expire—they are relevant, transferable, and keep a person highly employable.
Online Learning, From the Margins to the Center — from insidehighered.com by Ray Schroeder
Online learning has evolved over the past 25 years from a niche position on the margins of higher ed to the leading driver of growth in enrollment and innovation.
Excerpt:
Online learning has grown from a marginal niche of higher ed to the largest provider of postsecondary learning in the world. We are now on the cusp of yet another technological evolution in the delivery of online learning. The advent of the metaverse in higher education is closer than many casual observers may think. By 2025, we will begin to see significant numbers of offerings using avatars and immersive technologies such as virtual reality, augmented reality and extended reality engaging learners at a distance.
Do you have developmental immersion laboratories for your faculty and staff to prepare for 2025? Who at your university is advocating for the integration of VR, AR and XR into online delivery? Are you already collaborating with industry and business in developing the most effective and relevant technology-enhanced online programs that will meet their needs? Those who lead in these ventures will set the standards and gain the recruiting advantage in higher education.
Two Years After Promising a ‘Transformational’ Partnership, the U. of Arizona and Zovio Part Ways — from chronicle.com by Dan Bauman
Excerpt:
The University of Arizona Global Campus announced on Monday it would take over management of its online education programs from Zovio Inc. — the same company that two years earlier transferred its for-profit college holdings to the University of Arizona in what was touted then as a “transformational” agreement.
The news marks a precipitous end for the original deal, Arizona acquired Zovio’s Ashford University in 2020 and created the University of Arizona Global Campus, a nonprofit organization affiliated with the traditional public university.
The article links to “An Open Letter from Paul Pastorek” (President of the University of Arizona Global Campus) — from uagc.edu
Excerpt:
As an institution, this new chapter reflects our belief that our mission demands that the governance and control of critical functions, in particular enrollment, marketing, student advising, and financial aid, rest exclusively with UAGC leadership. It is grounded in a conviction that outsourcing such functions is inherently at odds with our aspirations and desired outcomes. Placing all of our services under one roof, we believe, will increase efficiency, reduce costs, and is a necessary precondition to making good on our commitments to our students.
