Also relevant/see:
A New Era for Education — from linkedin.com by Amit Sevak, CEO of ETS and Timothy Knowles, President of the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching
Excerpt (emphasis DSC):
It’s not every day you get to announce a revolution in your sector. But today, we’re doing exactly that. Together, we are setting out to overturn 117 years of educational tradition.
…
The fundamental assumption [of the Carnegie Unit] is that time spent in a classroom equals learning. This formula has the virtue of simplicity. Unfortunately, a century of research tells us that it’s woefully inadequate.
From DSC:
It’s more than interesting to think that the Carnegie Unit has outlived its usefulness and is breaking apart. In fact, the thought is very profound.
If that turns out to be the case, the ramifications will be enormous and we will have the opportunity to radically reinvent/rethink/redesign what our lifelong learning ecosystems will look like and provide.
So I appreciate what Amit and Timothy are saying here and I appreciate their relaying what the new paradigm might look like. It goes with the idea of using design thinking to rethink how we build/reinvent our learning ecosystems. They assert:
It’s time to change the paradigm. That’s why ETS and the Carnegie Foundation have come together to design a new future of assessment.
-
- Whereas the Carnegie Unit measures seat time, the new paradigm will measure skills—with a focus on the ones we know are most important for success in career and in life.
- Whereas the Carnegie Unit never leaves the classroom, the new paradigm will capture learning wherever it takes place—whether that is in after-school activities, during a work-experience placement, in an internship, on an apprenticeship, and so on.
- Whereas the Carnegie Unit offers only one data point—pass or fail—the new paradigm will generate insights throughout the learning process, the better to guide students, families, educators, and policymakers.
I could see this type of information being funneled into peoples’ cloud-based learner profiles — which we as individuals will own and determine who else can access them. I diagrammed this back in January of 2017 using blockchain as the underlying technology. That may or may not turn out to be the case. But the concept will still hold I think — regardless of the underlying technology(ies).
For example, we are seeing a lot more articles regarding things like Comprehensive Learner Records (CLR) or Learning and Employment Records (LER; example here), and similar items.
Speaking of reinventing our learning ecosystems, also see:
Credentialed Learning For All — from gettingsmart.com
Vision
Learning happens throughout life and is not isolated to the K-12 or higher education sectors. Yet, often, validations of learning only happen in these specific areas. The system of evaluation based on courses, grades, and credit serves as a poor proxy for communicating skills given the variation in course content, grade inflation, and inclusion of participation and extra credit within course grades.
Credentialed learning provides a way to accurately document human capability for all learners throughout their life. A lifetime credentialed learning ecosystem provides better granularity around learning, better documentation of the learning, and more relevance for both the credential recipient and reviewer. This improves the match between higher education and/or employment with the individual, while also providing a more clear and accurate lifetime learning pathway.
With a fully-credentialed system, individuals can own well-documented evidence of a lifetime of learning and choose what and when to share this data. This technology enables every learner to have more opportunities for finding the best career match without today’s existing barriers around cost, access, and proxies.
Addendum on 4/28/23 — speaking of credentials:
First Rung — from the-job.beehiiv.com by Paul Fain
New research shows stacking credentials pays off for low-income learners.
Stacking credentials pays off for many low-income students, new research finds, but only if learners move up the education ladder. Also, Kansas is hoping a new grant program will attract more companies to participate in microinternships.
How Easy Is It/Will It Be to Use AI to Design a Course? — from wallyboston.com by Wally Boston
Excerpt:
Last week I received a text message from a friend to check out a March 29th Campus Technology article about French AI startup, Nolej. Nolej (pronounced “Knowledge”) has developed an OpenAI-based instructional content generator for educators called NolejAI.
Access to NolejAI is through a browser. Users can upload video, audio, text documents, or a website url. NolejAI will generate an interactive micro-learning package which is a standalone digital lesson including content transcript, summaries, a glossary of terms, flashcards, and quizzes. All the lesson materials generated is based upon the uploaded materials.
From DSC:
I wonder if this will turn out to be the case:
I am sure it’s only a matter of time before NolejAI or another product becomes capable of generating a standard three credit hour college course. Whether that is six months or two years, it’s likely sooner than we think.
Also relevant/see:
From DSC:
Before we get to Scott Belsky’s article, here’s an interesting/related item from Tobi Lutke:
I just clued in how insane text2vid will get soon. As crazy as this sounds, we will be able to generate movies from just minor prompts and the path there is pretty clear.
— tobi lutke (@tobi) March 29, 2023
Our World Shaken, Not Stirred: Synthetic entertainment, hybrid social experiences, syncing ourselves with apps, and more. — from implications.com by Scott Belsky
Things will get weird. And exciting.
Excerpts:
Recent advances in technology will stir shake the pot of culture and our day-to-day experiences. Examples? A new era of synthetic entertainment will emerge, online social dynamics will become “hybrid experiences” where AI personas are equal players, and we will sync ourselves with applications as opposed to using applications.
A new era of synthetic entertainment will emerge as the world’s video archives – as well as actors’ bodies and voices – will be used to train models. Expect sequels made without actor participation, a new era of ai-outfitted creative economy participants, a deluge of imaginative media that would have been cost prohibitive, and copyright wars and legislation.
Unauthorized sequels, spin-offs, some amazing stuff, and a legal dumpster fire: Now lets shift beyond Hollywood to the fast-growing long tail of prosumer-made entertainment. This is where entirely new genres of entertainment will emerge including the unauthorized sequels and spinoffs that I expect we will start seeing.
Also relevant/see:
Digital storytelling with generative AI: notes on the appearance of #AICinema — from bryanalexander.org by Bryan Alexander
Excerpt:
This is how I viewed a fascinating article about the so-called #AICinema movement. Benj Edwards describes this nascent current and interviews one of its practitioners, Julie Wieland. It’s a great example of people creating small stories using tech – in this case, generative AI, specifically the image creator Midjourney.
Bryan links to:
Artists astound with AI-generated film stills from a parallel universe — from arstechnica.com by Benj Edwards
A Q&A with “synthographer” Julie Wieland on the #aicinema movement.
From DSC:
How will text-to-video impact the Learning and Development world? Teaching and learning? Those people communicating within communities of practice? Those creating presentations and/or offering webinars?
Hmmm…should be interesting!
From DSC:
While I continue to try and review/pulse-check the K12 learning ecosystem, it struck me that we need new, DIRECT communication channels between educators, support staff, administrators, and legislators — and possibly others.
That is:
- How can teachers, support staff, and administrators talk directly to legislators?
- How can legislators communicate with teachers, support staff, and administrators?
- Should we require relevant legislators (i.e., those individuals sponsoring bills or major changes to our k12 learning ecosystem) to go through training on how students learn?
- What communication vehicles are present? Can they be anonymous?
- Should there be an idea 1-800 hotline or an idea “mailbox” (digital and/or analog based)?
And what about the students themselves and/or their parents/guardians? Should they be involved as well?
Houses of worship to move streaming from social media to dedicated platforms — from inavateonthenet.net
Excerpt:
A report by Pushpay, with data from over 1,700 organisations has found that while 91% of churches currently livestream worship services on social media, only 47% plan to do the same in the upcoming year.
The report, entitled ‘State of Church Tech 2023 is available to download here.
The reason cited for this shift is organisations’ lack of control on social media platforms to maintain engagement, as users are bombarded with pop-up windows, notifications, status updates, and more.
This is driving a rise in custom video players, website embeds, mobile app streaming, and other platforms that are better suited to maintain engagement.
From DSC:
It seems to me that the idea of a Trim Tab Group goes waaaaay back. And from an excellent teacher — the LORD.
Mark 2:21 — from bible.com
“No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment. Otherwise, the new piece will pull away from the old, making the tear worse.”
So the idea of starting a small, different group that will grow into an amazingly large group of people may turn out to be the route that the invention of a new lifelong learning ecosystem will need to go through.
Why The Education Economy Is The Next Big Thing For The American Workforce — from fastcompany.com by Brandon Busteed
How can integrating our educational system, our employers, and our job creators affect our modern economy?
Excerpts (emphasis DSC):
Though the economy and education have long been topics of top concern to Americans, we haven’t created strong linkages between the two.
The topics are more like two castles with a large moat between them. Yet there is nothing more important we can do as a country than to build the world’s most effective “educonomy,” which would seamlessly integrate our educational system, our employers, and our job creators.
…
All told, we collected the voices of close to 1 million Americans on this subject in the past year alone. And what we’ve learned is alarming:
Student engagement in school drops precipitously from 5th grade through 12th grade. About three quarters of elementary school kids (76%) are engaged in school, while only 44% of high school kids are engaged. The longer students stay in school, the less engaged they become. If we were doing this right, the trend would be going in the exact opposite direction.
From DSC:
I appreciated the imagery of the economy and education being like two castles with a large moat between them. I, like many others, also use the term siloed to describe our various learning ecosystems — PreK-12, higher education and vocational programming, and the corporate/business world (I realize I could also include those who work in other areas such as the government, but hopefully folks get the gist of what I’m trying to say).
But here’s the most disturbing part (albeit likely not a surprise to those working within K-12 environments):
About seven in 10 K-12 teachers are not engaged in their work (69%), and as a profession, teachers are dead last among all professions Gallup studied in saying their “opinions count” at work and their “supervisors create an open and trusting environment.” We also found that teacher engagement is the most important driver of student engagement. We’ll never improve student engagement until we boost teachers’ own workplace engagement first.
Our older daughter works in an elementary school where several of the teachers left prior to Christmas and more have announced that they are leaving after this academic year. For teachers to leave halfway through the year, you know something is majorly wrong!
I think that legislators are part of the problem, as they straight-jacket teachers, principals, and administrators with all kinds of standardized testing.
I would think that such testing dictates the pace and the content and the overall agendas out there. I don’t recall taking nearly as many standardized tests as our youth do today. Looking back, each of my teachers was engaged and seemed to be happy and enthusiastic. I don’t think that’s the case any longer. Let’s ask the teachers — not the legislators — why that is the case and what they would recommend to change things (before it’s too late).
Digital credentials’ appeal is strong, while corporate upskilling moves at a ‘snail’s pace’ — from by Elyse Ashburn; with thanks to Paul Fain for this resource
Surveys out this week from IBM and LinkedIn take a closer look at the role of digital credentials and other forms upskilling in education and on the job.
Excerpt:
Interest in upskilling and short-term credentials, either as an alternative or an add-on to college, has grown steadily over the past few years. And a couple of surveys out this week take a closer look at the role digital credentials and other forms upskilling can play in bridging the gap between formal education and work.
A major IBM survey fielded in 13 countries, including the United States, found that almost half of students, job seekers, and career changers are interested in jobs in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM)—but more than 61% think they aren’t qualified because they lack the right degrees.
- 75% of respondents thought that digital credentials were a good way to supplement traditional education, but only 47% were actually familiar with such credentialing programs.
- Among those who’d earned a digital credential, 86% said that it helped them achieve their career goals.
Eight in 10 people surveyed said they planned to upgrade their skills in the next two years—but time, cost, or simply not knowing how to begin were major barriers. Among both students and job seekers, 40% said that they don’t know where to start in developing new professional or technical skills.
Blogs are back baby — from blog.edtechie.net by Martin Weller
Excerpt:
The conclusion I take from all this (which I carefully assembled so I could draw the conclusion I want), is that there is a desire to have a core place on the net, that is not subject to the whims of billionaires, institutions or markets, where you can engage in a range of dialogue, from personal to professional, and that you enjoy revisiting. Ladies and gentleman, I give you, the blog.
From DSC:
I hope you’re right Martin!!! I still really appreciate blogs, as readers of this Learning Ecosystems blog might have guessed.
Tired of the Same Old Professional Development? Let Students Lead. — from edsurge.com by Matt Homrich-Knieling
Excerpts (emphasis DSC):
Despite my love for learning, I strongly disliked most professional development sessions. The way sessions were facilitated often contradicted research-based teaching strategies. It is also frustrating when pre-packaged PD sessions are disconnected from your specific school context and student population.
To most teachers, this critique isn’t surprising. PD has a bad reputation in education circles, and it isn’t because teachers are resistant to professional learning. On the contrary, teachers want professional learning that is practical, engaging and relevant.
…
A group of students from the club met with the principal and explained their idea for leading a PD on building classroom community and supporting student self-confidence.
…
“Think about times when you lacked community or self-confidence in class. What did the teacher do/not do that led you to that experience? On the other hand, think about times when you felt a great sense of community or self-confidence in class. What did the teacher do/not do that led you to that experience?”
From DSC:
“On the contrary, teachers want professional learning that is practical, engaging and relevant.“
Hmmm…sounds like what students want as well.
From DSC:
Let’s put together a nationwide campaign that would provide a website — or a series of websites if an agreement can’t be reached amongst the individual states — about learning how to learn. In business, there’s a “direct-to-consumer” approach. Well, we could provide a “direct-to-learner” approach — from cradle to grave. Seeing as how everyone is now required to be a lifelong learner, such a campaign would have enormous benefits to all of the United States. This campaign would be located in airports, subway stations, train stations, on billboards along major highways, in libraries, and in many more locations.
We could focus on things such as:
- Quizzing yourself / retrieval practice
- Spaced retrieval
- Interleaving
- Elaboration
- Chunking
- Cognitive load
- Learning by doing (active learning)
- Journaling
- The growth mindset
- Metacognition (thinking about one’s thinking)
- Highlighting doesn’t equal learning
- There is deeper learning in the struggle
- …and more.
NOTE:
The URL I’m using above doesn’t exist, at least not at the time of this posting.
But I’m proposing that it should exist.
A group of institutions, organizations, and individuals could contribute to this. For example The Learning Scientists, Daniel Willingham, Donald Clark, James Lang, Derek Bruff, The Learning Agency Lab, Robert Talbert, Pooja Agarwal and Patrice Bain, Eva Keffenheim, Benedict Carey, Ken Bain, and many others.
Perhaps there could be:
- discussion forums to provide for social interaction/learning
- scheduled/upcoming webinars
- how to apply the latest evidence-based research in the classroom
- link(s) to learning-related platforms and/or resources
A learning ecosystem is composed of people, tools, technologies, content, processes, culture, strategies, and any other resource that helps one learn. Learning ecosystems can be at an individual level as well as at an organizational level.
Some example components:
- Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) such as faculty, staff, teachers, trainers, parents, coaches, directors, and others
- Fellow employees
- L&D/Training professionals
- Managers
- Instructional Designers
- Librarians
- Consultants
- Types of learning
- Active learning
- Adult learning
- PreK-12 education
- Training/corporate learning
- Vocational learning
- Experiential learning
- Competency-based learning
- Self-directed learning (i.e., heutagogy)
- Mobile learning
- Online learning
- Face-to-face-based learning
- Hybrid/blended learning
- Hyflex-based learning
- Game-based learning
- XR-based learning (AR, MR, and VR)
- Informal learning
- Formal learning
- Lifelong learning
- Microlearning
- Personalized/customized learning
- Play-based learning
- Cloud-based learning apps
- Coaching & mentoring
- Peer feedback
- Job aids/performance tools and other on-demand content
- Websites
- Conferences
- Professional development
- Professional organizations
- Social networking
- Social media – Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook/Meta, other
- Communities of practice
- Artificial Intelligence (AI) — including ChatGPT, learning agents, learner profiles,
- LMS/CMS/Learning Experience Platforms
- Tutorials
- Videos — including on YouTube, Vimeo, other
- Job-aids
- E-learning-based resources
- Books, digital textbooks, journals, and manuals
- Enterprise social networks/tools
- RSS feeds and blogging
- Podcasts/vodcasts
- Videoconferencing/audio-conferencing/virtual meetings
- Capturing and sharing content
- Tagging/rating/curating content
- Decision support tools
- Getting feedback
- Webinars
- In-person workshops
- Discussion boards/forums
- Chat/IM
- VOIP
- Online-based resources (periodicals, journals, magazines, newspapers, and others)
- Learning spaces
- Learning hubs
- Learning preferences
- Learning theories
- Microschools
- MOOCs
- Open courseware
- Portals
- Wikis
- Wikipedia
- Slideshare
- TED talks
- …and many more components.
These people, tools, technologies, etc. are constantly morphing — as well as coming and going in and out of our lives.
Discovering Autism and Community Later in Life — from aane.org by Brenda Dater, Executive Director
Excerpt:
This month we are discussing autism and aging. Many older adults in AANE’s community were children in the 1950s, 60s and 70s when the diagnosis of autism as we understand it today didn’t exist. Some were misdiagnosed with conditions like childhood schizophrenia, but many were just harmfully labeled as odd or having behavior problems. Because of the lack of awareness and understanding about autism, many have come to their diagnosis, or self-understanding, in their fifties, sixties, seventies and beyond, often after many years of being misunderstood or not fitting in at school, work, or socially. The stories they tell about feeling relief to have an explanation for their experience and finally…finally feeling like they belong warms my heart.