From DSC:
Using AI to catch cheating…something to keep an eye on.
AI in the perennial problem of authorship verification: From Shakespeare to contract cheating — from lmspulse.com
On 02/22/2020,
in adjunct faculty, algorithms, analytics, Artificial Intelligence / Machine Learning / Deep Learning, colleges, community colleges, Daniel S. Christian, education technology, faculty, higher education, ideas, teachers, teaching & learning, teaching online,
by Daniel Christian
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On 02/22/2020,
in A/V -- audio/visual, active learning, adjunct faculty, attention, change, changing business models, collaboration, colleges, communications, communities of practice, community colleges, education, education technology, engagement / engaging students, expectations, face-to-face, faculty, generational differences, higher education, ideas, innovation, IT in HE, Law Schools, learning, learning ecosystem, learning from the living [class] room, learning hubs, learning spaces, lecture capture, multimedia, online learning, online media, online tutoring, pedagogy, platforms, smart classrooms, student-related, teaching & learning, technology (general), telecommunications, telepresence, tools, traditional / tradition, training / L&D, trends, United States, universities, user experience (UX), user interface design, vendors, videoconferencing, vision, web-based collaboration,
by Daniel Christian
From DSC — and with a shout out to Brad Sousa for this resource:
For those involved with creating/enhancing learning spaces as they relate to pedagogies:
How Has Technology Impacted Higher Education?
In part one of this three-part series, AVI Systems CTO Brad Sousa talks with Jeff Day, Founder of North of 10 Advisors, to discuss the key ways education and, specifically, pedagogy differs from 10, 5, even 3 years ago.
Discussion Topics
- The impact of active learning and the introduction of the internet of things (IoT) in the classroom
- Recommendations for deploying modern learning environments with technology partners
- Classroom systems design, then and now
Some timestamps (roughly speaking)
- 5:15 — changes in pedagogy
- 7:15 or so — active learning
- 15:30 design needs around active learning
- 17:15 DE rooms and active learning — software-controlled platform
- 21:30 — advice; look to outcomes & expectations that want to achieve/meet; uses cases
Media controller w/ intuitive interface to mimic the way someone teaches / way a classroom goes:
- “Class start” — chaotic; mics on everywhere
- “Lecture” — gates /mics closed and focus shifts to the professor
- “Class interaction” — presents roster of who’s there (20:00 mark roughly)
Also see this introductory posting re: the implications of active learning in the higher ed market.
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On 02/20/2020,
in 24x7x365 access, 3D, accessibility, algorithms, colleges, community colleges, design, immersion, innovation, intelligent systems, interactivity, interface design, learning hubs, learning spaces, platforms, special needs, tools, universities, usability, user experience (UX), vendors,
by Daniel Christian
Concept3D introduces wheelchair wayfinding feature to support campus accessibility — from concept3d.echoscomm.com with thanks to Delaney Lanker for this resource
System makes wheelchair friendly campus routes easy to find and follow
Excerpt:
Concept3D, a leader in creating immersive online experiences with 3D modeling, interactive maps and virtual tour software, today announced the launch of a new wheelchair wayfinding feature that adds a new level of accessibility to the company’s interactive map and tour platform.
With the new wheelchair accessible route functionality, Concept3D clients are able to offer a separate set of wayfinding routes specifically designed to identify the most efficient and easiest routes.
Concept3D’s wayfinding system uses a weighted algorithm to determine the most efficient route between start and end points, and the new system was enhanced to factor in routing variables like stairs, curb cuts, steep inclines, and other areas that may impact accessibility.
Also see:
Wayfinding :: Wheelchair Accessible Routes — from concept3d.com
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On 02/18/2020,
in assessment, business side of he, colleges, community colleges, education, learning, learning ecosystem, learning hubs, learning spaces, love of learning, universities,
by Daniel Christian
Measure for assessing how investing in spaces for learning results in a robust return for students, for the institution, & for the community beyond the campus — from pkallsc.org
Excerpts:
How do you make the case that the investment in institutional investment in the physical environment for learning makes a difference? How will you know? What evidence makes that case? From the LSC spaces that work collection II, some potential measures of success can be distilled. These stories about recent projects embrace but go beyond attention to impact of learners while students and alumni; they set forth project goals that are measurable, returns that will be benefit the institution in the future—in regard to increased enrollments and graduate rates, of collaborative research between campus and community and more.
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On 02/18/2020,
in active learning, adjunct faculty, colleges, community colleges, higher education, instructional design, K-12 related, learning, learning ecosystem, learning theories, pedagogy, student-related, teachers, teaching & learning, teaching online, universities,
by Daniel Christian
Three thoughts on active learning and self-teaching — from rtalbert.org Robert Talbert
“The teacher isn’t teaching and I’m having to teach myself the material” has three embedded misconceptions that need to be addressed.
Excerpts:
First: Learning is a process, not an action that one person performs on another.
…
But in the end, an outside person cannot cause you to learn. This isn’t how learning works. Learning instead is a process that moves back and forth, sometimes focused on an instructor but other times focused on the learner or a group of learners together.
…
Second: Not being lectured to all the time is not the same thing as having to teach yourself.
…
Third: In any event, the skill of self-teaching is essential in college and needs to be developed.
But in general, we need to see — and we have work to do in communicating this to students — that self-teaching is a feature, not a bug.
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On 02/18/2020,
in adjunct faculty, colleges, community colleges, faculty, higher education, ideas, innovation, Law Schools, pedagogy, teaching & learning, universities, Using teams,
by Daniel Christian
Overcoming the challenges of large courses — from teachingprofessor.com by Maryellen Weimer
Excerpt:
The course redesign promotes students’ engagement with a student response system, peer instruction, and active learning strategies that get all students present involved in each day’s planned activity. The learning assistants tackle problems of anonymity. Each are assigned a group of students, and various means are used to connect students with their respective learning assistant. Learning assistants offer study sessions. Students also get email feedback on their exam scores, and those who are struggling are invited to meet with an instructor to develop improvement goals.
…
Large courses require special teaching skills; not every teacher has them. Those who do should be supported and rewarded for using them in this most challenging teaching situation. Students at the front end of a college experience deserve the best we can deliver, and often that’s not what they get.
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On 02/15/2020,
in 21st century, algorithms, analytics, Artificial Intelligence / Machine Learning / Deep Learning, bots, business, cloud-based computing / apps / other cloud-related, colleges, community colleges, computer science, Daniel S. Christian, design, heutagogy, higher education, IT in HE, learning, learning ecosystem, Lifelong learning, pace of change, platforms, programming, reinvent, society, staying relevant, student-related, surviving, United States, universities, vendors, workplace,
by Daniel Christian
The 5 top tech skills companies want in new hires right now — from fortune.com by Anne Fisher; with thanks to Ryan Craig for his relaying this resource
Excerpts (emphasis DSC):
Tim Tully agrees. Chief technology officer at data giant Splunk—whose clients number 92 of the Fortune 100—Tully says that the most important trait IT job candidates need now is “a strong desire to learn.” It might be too broad of a requirement, but consider Tully’s own list of the five most essential tech skills now:
1. Real-time data management
2. Design thinking
3. App development
4. A.I. and machine learning
5. A composite of the first four skills
From DSC:
I’m especially posting this for students who are considering a tech-related career. If that’s you, Tim’s words ring true — you must have a strong desire to learn. And I would add, to keep learning and to keep learning and to keep learning…
If you are in IT, it’s wise to check in regularly on career progress – because staying still for too long could quickly lead to falling behind. (source)
Also, given the pace of change and today’s current marketplace, you need to be ready to be let go and take a right turn (i.e., be flexible and adaptable). You need to have a healthy learning ecosystem built up and maintained — one that will support you over the long haul. Heutagogy comes into play here. And at least for me, prayer helps greatly here too — as one can easily put one’s eggs into the wrong basket(s) when we’re talking about tech-related jobs.
And for you applying for jobs, don’t get discouraged by those organizations/people who are looking for those “purple unicorns” that Ryan Craig talks about in his Gap Letter Volume II, #4 (i.e., the perfect candidate who meets a ridiculously long list of requirements for the job).
Also see:
Below is a relevant excerpt from that report:
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On 02/13/2020,
in adjunct faculty, attention, Canvas - and other Instructure-related items, CMS/LMS, colleges, communities of practice, community colleges, engagement / engaging students, higher education, ideas, instructional design, IT in HE, K-12 related, learning, learning ecosystem, learning preferences, Lifelong learning, MOOCs -- Massive Open Online Courses, multimedia, online learning, online media, productivity / tips and tricks, professional development, student-related, teachers, teaching & learning, teaching online, universities, usability, user experience (UX),
by Daniel Christian
Optimal Video Length for Student Engagement — from blog.edx.org by Candace Hazlett and Philip Guo
Excerpt:
In this first post, I’ll share some preliminary results about video usage, obtained from initial analyses of a few edX math and science courses. Unsurprisingly, students engaged more with shorter videos. Traditional in-person lectures usually last an hour, but students have much shorter attention spans when watching educational videos online. The graph below shows median engagement times versus video length, aggregated over several million video watching sessions:
From DSC:
If you have access to a tool like Canvas Studio, then you can probably extend the length of your videos if you are interspersing your videos with a healthy dose of interactivity — i.e., inserting quiz questions every few minutes.
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On 02/13/2020,
in accessibility, adjunct faculty, algorithms, analytics, Artificial Intelligence / Machine Learning / Deep Learning, augmented reality, bots, business side of he, career development, change, changing business models, collaboration, colleges, community colleges, data mining, digital learning, digital video, education technology, emerging technologies, engagement / engaging students, future of higher education, higher education, human-computer interaction (HCI), ideas, innovation, instructional design, intelligent systems, intelligent tutoring, IT in HE, learning ecosystem, Mixed reality, tools, trends, United States, universities, virtual reality / worlds / learning, vision, workplace,
by Daniel Christian
6 Ed Tech Trends to Watch in 2020 — from campustechnology.com by Rhea Kelly with:
- Bridget Burns, Executive Director, University Innovation Alliance
- James Frazee, Chief Academic Technology Officer and Associate VP, Instructional Technology Services, San Diego State University
- Ernie Perez
Director, Educational Technology, Digital Learning & Innovation, Boston University
This year’s top issues in education technology reflect the bigger picture of a student’s pathway from individual courses all the way to graduation and career.
Topics include:
1) Workforce Readiness
2) Artificial Intelligence and Chatbots
3) Extended Reality (XR)
4) Video and Accessibility
5) Predictive Analytics and Advising
6) Industry Partnerships
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On 02/12/2020,
in adjunct faculty, adult learning, assessment, blended learning, colleges, community colleges, corporate universities / corporate training, digital learning, education, elearning, face-to-face, faculty, higher education, ideas, instructional design, K-12 related, Law Schools, learning, online learning, pedagogy, teachers, teaching & learning, tools, training / L&D, universities,
by Daniel Christian
Revised Bloom’s Taxonomy — from Iowa State University; with a shout out to Matt Miller for his blog posting entitled, “10 tips for lesson planning writer’s block” — where I saw this reference
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On 02/12/2020,
in 21st century, colleges, community colleges, cost of getting a degree, future of higher education, game-changing environment, generational differences, higher education, society, student-related, United States, universities,
by Daniel Christian
For 5th straight year, study shows hunger and homelessness hinder American college students — from hope4college.com; with thanks to Angela Baggetta for this resource
Excerpt:
In 2019, nearly 167,000 students from 171 two-year institutions and 56 four-year institutions responded to the #RealCollege survey. The results indicate:
- 39% of respondents were food insecure in the prior 30 days
- 46% of respondents were housing insecure in the previous year
- 17% of respondents were homeless in the previous year
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On 02/10/2020,
in accessibility, adjunct faculty, blended learning, colleges, community colleges, elearning, faculty, higher education, Law Schools, more choice more control, online learning, participation, pedagogy, universities,
by Daniel Christian
A two-part series from Educause regarding inclusive design/accessibility — with thanks to Ray Schroeder for his posting on this out on LinkedIn.
- Part I: A Taxonomy of Inclusive Design: On Disclosure, Accessibility, and Inclusion — from er.educause.edu by Lorna Gonzalez and Kristi O’Neil
- Part II: Moving a Taxonomy of Inclusive Design from Theory to Practice
— from er.educause.edu by Lorna Gonzalez and Kristi O’Neil
An excerpt from Part II:
The previous two definitions have tried to articulate the idea that students carry intersecting invisible circumstances with them into the classroom. Whether or not students disclose their circumstances—or whether faculty members invite students to disclose them—does not determine their existence. From this perspective, inclusion means designing and teaching for variability. Faculty can practice inclusive pedagogy by following universal design principles and offering multiple options for representation, engagement, and expression:
Options are essential to learning, because no single way of presenting information, no single way of responding to information, and no single way of engaging students will work across the diversity of students that populate our classrooms. Alternatives reduce barriers to learning for students with disabilities while enhancing learning opportunities for everyone.4
In a Nutshell …
Inclusive pedagogy can be an act of intention—something that is initiated before and during the course design process—rather than being an act of revision or omission.
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On 02/03/2020,
in accessibility, analytics, Bring your own device (BYOD), business side of he, change, cloud-based computing / apps / other cloud-related, CMS/LMS, colleges, community colleges, data mining, education technology, higher education, learning ecosystem, Mobile technologies, strategy, student-related, teaching & learning, technology (general), tools, trends, United States, universities,
by Daniel Christian
Higher Education’s 2020 Trend Watch & Top 10 Strategic Technologies — from library.educause.edu
Excerpt:
Most Influential Trends
Six trends are influential at 61% or more of colleges and universities (listed below from highest to lowest level of influence):
- Growing complexity of security threats
- Student success focus/imperatives
- Data-informed decision-making
- Privacy
- Enterprise risk management
- Institution-wide data management and integrations
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On 02/01/2020,
in 21st century, analytics, business side of he, change, colleges, community colleges, cost of getting a degree, dangers of the status quo, Daniel S. Christian, data mining, future, future of higher education, game-changing environment, generational differences, higher education, innovation, IT in HE, Law Schools, learning ecosystem, learning from the living [class] room, learning hubs, learning spaces, online learning, smart classrooms, staying relevant, strategy, student-related, United States, universities, vision,
by Daniel Christian
2020 Top 10 IT Issues — from educause.edu
The Drive to Digital Transformation Begins | EDUCAUSE Review Special Report
Excerpt:
Colleges and universities are working to unmake old practices and structures that have become inefficient and are preparing to use technology and data to better understand and support students and to become more student-centric.
They are working to fund technology and to sustainably manage and secure data and privacy. Higher education institutions are applying data and technology to innovate student outcomes and experiences.
The role of the CIO is undergoing its own transformation in order to advance institutional priorities through the use of technology.
The focus in 2020, then, is to simplify, sustain, innovate, and drive to Dx in all of our institutions and places of higher learning.
From DSC:
To me, one of the key roles of today’s collegiate CIO should be to collaborate with the academic side of the house to identify ways to strategically use technologies to significantly lower the cost of obtaining a degree. Higher education affordability is listed as #8. That’s waaaaaay underestimating the issue and another key reason the backlash continues to build against traditional higher education. If things don’t change and a much cheaper — but still effective — means comes along, look out. Students and families are feeling the weight of the gorillas of debt on their back — weight that lasts for decades for many people today. Along these lines, issues involving privacy and data security — while also important to students — are mainly a CYA for colleges and universities. They don’t address the gorillas of debt as much as other solutions might.
Sorry if you don’t want to hear it, but one of the best solutions involves offering a significant amount of 100% online-based offerings. While this was mentioned, you can still get major pushback about this strategy. But you can’t tell me for one second that offering online-based classes is more expensive than offering traditional, face-to-face based classes. Why? What?! How could I possibly assert this?! The answer is quite simple. One just needs to request to review the budget of your Physical Plant Department. That’s why. Check it out if you can — you’ll see what I mean.
Also, though data is important, it won’t save colleges and universities from closing. What are some things that stand a better chance of doing that?! Here are some:
- Vision
- Developing a culture that supports innovation and a willingness to experiment/change
- Finding ways to significantly lower the price of obtaining a degree
- Scanning the horizons to see what’s coming down the pike and how that will impact our students’ futures. Then, develop the curriculum to best help our students prepare for their future.
“The CIO’s ‘role at the table’ has evolved to be one that is less about the mechanics of the IT organization and more about how IT can serve as a strategic partner in helping the institution execute its mission.”(source)
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On 02/01/2020,
in business, business side of he, career development, change, changing business models, colleges, community colleges, cost of getting a degree, dangers of the status quo, Daniel S. Christian, future, future of higher education, game-changing environment, higher education, K-12 related, Law Schools, learning, learning ecosystem, learning from the living [class] room, Lifelong learning, new business models, organizational change, pace of change, universities, workplace,
by Daniel Christian
If your organization’s culture is all about maintaining the status quo:
* Your pursuit of lifelong learning needs to be in full gear
* Enhancing your personal learning ecosystem is critically important
…because given the rate of change, your organization may not be around for long.— Daniel Christian (@dchristian5) January 31, 2020
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