Private Student Loans Have Gotten 2x More Expensive Since 2021 — from forbes.com by Vinay Bhaskara; via GSV

Excerpts:

Higher ed may appear less impacted on the surface. But a small yet critical cohort of students and families has been heavily affected – students and parents who take out private student loans. Private student loans are a small piece of the overall student loan puzzle, representing roughly 8% of outstanding student debt (~$146.9 billion) according to a March 2023 analysis from Federal Student Aid.

Private student loans have gotten way more expensive
With that context in mind, it’s worth analyzing how the rise in interest rates has impacted borrowing costs for families. The numbers are staggering. As the Fed has hiked interest rates, private loan borrowing costs have more than doubled since November of 2021. The average interest rate on a 10-year private student loan has jumped from a low of 3.3% in November 2021 to 7% at the end of May 2023. Interest rates for 5-year private loans have skyrocketed even faster, jumping from a low of 2.4% all the way to 8.70% across the same period.
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Higher Ed 101: Accreditation Explained — a podcast from futureupodcast.com by Jeff Selingo and Michael Horn

Excerpt:

Tuesday, June 6, 2023 – Far too often, individuals in higher education don’t understand the nuances of how accreditors operate and the role they play in supporting—or constraining—institutions. Jeff and Michael welcome Barbara Brittingham, former president of the New England Commission on Higher Education, to give the history of accreditation, break down how accrediting agencies operate, show how they compare to one another, and delve into how they might evolve in the future with an eye toward how these organizations impact institutional transformation and support learners in achieving their education and career goals. This episode is made possible with support from Ascendium Education Group, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and Course Hero.
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Building Apprenticeship Nation with Ryan Craig of Achieve Partners — a podcast from edtechinsiders.buzzsprout.com with Ryan Craig
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Rich Novak (Rutgers University) on Evaluating the Changes in Higher Ed — a podcast from Illumination by Modern Campus with Amrit Ahluwalia and Rich Novak. Thanks Amrit for all that you’ve done and are doing.

Excerpt:

On today’s episode of the Illumination by Modern Campus podcast, host Amrit Ahluwalia was joined by Rich Novak to evaluate the changes in higher education over the past decade, and the opportunities ahead for continuing education.
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Council Post: Learning In The Digital Age: Reskilling And The Evolution Of Education — from forbes.com by Daphne Kis

Excerpt:

Partnering With Higher Education
I believe that companies can gain a competitive edge in hiring and retention by establishing long-term partnerships with educators, universities and other pedagogically-driven institutions. However, it is crucial to design these partnerships with scale and replication in mind in order to avoid high costs and low adoption rates that can result in failure.

Establishing a successful partnership will also require companies and universities to determine and agree on the skill-based outcomes they aim to achieve. They will have to find effective ways to share data, develop timelines and measure success for both parties.

This is a shift from traditional partnerships, which often focus on research and innovation initiatives. With this, intellectual property was the outcome of the collaboration. Instead, in a reskilling partnership, in-demand skills are the outcome.
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EDUCAUSE and WCET QuickPoll Results: Current Trends in Microcredential Design and Delivery — from er.educause.edu by Jenay Robert
Microcredentialing programs remain nascent at many institutions, but interest continues to grow. As the demand for flexible learning experiences increases, stakeholders might find renewed interest in and uses for microcredentials.

 

2023 Workplace Learning Report: Building the agile future — from learning.linkedin.com
L&D puts people and skills at the center of organizational success

Excerpt:

This moment requires agility — and L&D can lead the way.

For individuals, agility fuels career growth and relevance. For organizations, agility equals the ability to survive and thrive even amid economic headwinds.

And what is agility if not constant learning? To build a resilient and adaptable future, learning leaders are working across HR to ensure everyone has the tools, the career paths, and the skills to succeed.

Read on for insights and ideas to power your own path.

 

Hire Instructional Designers: The Complete Guide — from teamedforlearning.com

Excerpt:

So you think you want to hire an instructional designer. Great choice. Instructional designers are eLearning industry superheroes. They create learning experiences and develop instructional materials to make learning accessible. Whether you’re creating training modules for your employees or building online courses for students, an instructional designer is an essential member of your eLearning team.


Addendum on 6/6/23, a somewhat relevant posting:

Professional Organizations for Instructional Designers — from christytuckerlearning.com by Christy Tucker
What professional organizations are useful for instructional designers? The Learning Guild, ATD, TLDC, Training Magazine Network, and LDA.

 


From DSC:
I also wanted to highlight the item below, which Barsee also mentioned above, as it will likely hit the world of education and training as well:



Also relevant/see:


 

082 | Generating Voices — from thebrainyacts.beehiiv.com

Excerpts:

Conventional Use Cases

  1. Audio Document Reading:
  2. Accessibility:
  3. Training Materials:
  4. Document Proofing:
  5. Transcriptions:
  6. Blog to Podcast:

Unconventional Use Cases

  1. Voice Cloning for Client Interaction:
  2. Multilingual Services:
  3. AI-based Legal Information Hotline:
  4. Real-Time Courtroom Assistance:
  5. Engaging Jurors:
  6. Storytelling for Case Understanding:
 

Below comments/notes are from DSC (with thanks to Roberto Ferraro for this resource):
according to Dan Pink, intrinsic motivation is very powerful — much more powerful for many types of “messy/unclear” cognitive work (vs. clear, more mechanical types of work). What’s involved here according to Pink? Autonomy, mastery, and purpose. 

Dan Pink makes his case in the video below. My question is:

  • If this is true, how might this be applied to education/training/lifelong learning?

From DSC (cont’d):

As Dan mentions, we each know this to be true. For example, for each of our kids, my wife and I introduced them to a variety of things — music, sports, art, etc. We kept waiting for them to discover which thing(s) that THEY wanted to pursue. Perhaps we’ll find out that this was the wrong thing to do. but according to Pink, it’s aligned with the type of energy and productivity that gets released when we pursue something that we want to pursue. Plus creativity flows in this type of setting. 

Again, my thanks to Roberto Ferraro for resurfacing this item as his “One ‘must read’ for this week” item of his newsletter.


Learners need: More voice. More choice. More control. -- this image was created by Daniel Christian

 

Brainyacts #57: Education Tech— from thebrainyacts.beehiiv.com by Josh Kubicki

Excerpts:

Let’s look at some ideas of how law schools could use AI tools like Khanmigo or ChatGPT to support lectures, assignments, and discussions, or use plagiarism detection software to maintain academic integrity.

  1. Personalized learning
  2. Virtual tutors and coaches
  3. Interactive simulations
  4. Enhanced course materials
  5. Collaborative learning
  6. Automated assessment and feedback
  7. Continuous improvement
  8. Accessibility and inclusivity

AI Will Democratize Learning — from td.org by Julia Stiglitz and Sourabh Bajaj

Excerpts:

In particular, we’re betting on four trends for AI and L&D.

  1. Rapid content production
  2. Personalized content
  3. Detailed, continuous feedback
  4. Learner-driven exploration

In a world where only 7 percent of the global population has a college degree, and as many as three quarters of workers don’t feel equipped to learn the digital skills their employers will need in the future, this is the conversation people need to have.

Taken together, these trends will change the cost structure of education and give learning practitioners new superpowers. Learners of all backgrounds will be able to access quality content on any topic and receive the ongoing support they need to master new skills. Even small L&D teams will be able to create programs that have both deep and broad impact across their organizations.

The Next Evolution in Educational Technologies and Assisted Learning Enablement — from educationoneducation.substack.com by Jeannine Proctor

Excerpt:

Generative AI is set to play a pivotal role in the transformation of educational technologies and assisted learning. Its ability to personalize learning experiences, power intelligent tutoring systems, generate engaging content, facilitate collaboration, and assist in assessment and grading will significantly benefit both students and educators.

How Generative AI Will Enable Personalized Learning Experiences — from campustechnology.com by Rhea Kelly

Excerpt:

With today’s advancements in generative AI, that vision of personalized learning may not be far off from reality. We spoke with Dr. Kim Round, associate dean of the Western Governors University School of Education, about the potential of technologies like ChatGPT for learning, the need for AI literacy skills, why learning experience designers have a leg up on AI prompt engineering, and more. And get ready for more Star Trek references, because the parallels between AI and Sci Fi are futile to resist.

The Promise of Personalized Learning Never Delivered. Today’s AI Is Different — from the74million.org by John Bailey; with thanks to GSV for this resource

Excerpts:

There are four reasons why this generation of AI tools is likely to succeed where other technologies have failed:

    1. Smarter capabilities
    2. Reasoning engines
    3. Language is the interface
    4. Unprecedented scale

Latest NVIDIA Graphics Research Advances Generative AI’s Next Frontier — from blogs.nvidia.com by Aaron Lefohn
NVIDIA will present around 20 research papers at SIGGRAPH, the year’s most important computer graphics conference.

Excerpt:

NVIDIA today introduced a wave of cutting-edge AI research that will enable developers and artists to bring their ideas to life — whether still or moving, in 2D or 3D, hyperrealistic or fantastical.

Around 20 NVIDIA Research papers advancing generative AI and neural graphics — including collaborations with over a dozen universities in the U.S., Europe and Israel — are headed to SIGGRAPH 2023, the premier computer graphics conference, taking place Aug. 6-10 in Los Angeles.

The papers include generative AI models that turn text into personalized images; inverse rendering tools that transform still images into 3D objects; neural physics models that use AI to simulate complex 3D elements with stunning realism; and neural rendering models that unlock new capabilities for generating real-time, AI-powered visual details.

 

Also relevant to the item from Nvidia (above), see:

Unreal Engine’s Metahuman Creator — with thanks to Mr. Steven Chevalia for this resource

Excerpt:

MetaHuman is a complete framework that gives any creator the power to use highly realistic human characters in any way imaginable.

It includes MetaHuman Creator, a free cloud-based app that enables you to create fully rigged photorealistic digital humans in minutes.

From Unreal Engine -- Dozens of ready-made MetaHumans are at your fingertips.

 

Upskilling the top priority for L&D leaders, LinkedIn report finds — from hcamag.com by Ksenia Stepanova; with thanks to GSV for this resource
L&D is becoming critical to business strategy – but are leaders keeping up? LinkedIn reveals its latest insights

Excerpt:

Learning and development (L&D) has taken centre stage in recent years, and has become vital to business strategy across the globe. In Singapore, upskilling employees has become the number one priority for L&D professionals in 2023, according to LinkedIn’s 2023 Workplace Learning Report.

 

Introducing Teach AI — Empowering educators to teach w/ AI & about AI [ISTE & many others]


Teach AI -- Empowering educators to teach with AI and about AI


Also relevant/see:

 

Accessibility Do’s and Don’ts for Website Navigation — from boia.org

Excerpt:

If people can’t navigate your website, they can’t use it — and you miss an opportunity to connect with your audience.

Navigation controls can present a significant barrier to people with disabilities, making it difficult for them to find and interact with the content they need.

The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) includes a list of success criteria to ensure that navigation controls are operable (they don’t require interactions that a user can’t perform). These criteria are put in place to assist users with a wide variety of abilities, including individuals who use assistive technologies (AT).

If you’re new to web accessibility, WCAG’s requirements may seem overwhelming. Fortunately, they’re based on simple principles — and by understanding a few basic concepts, you can avoid common mistakes.

Also relevant/see:

Assistive Technology: What’s an “Alternative Input Device?” — from boia.org

Examples:

  • Eye-Tracking Systems
  • Sip-and-Puff Systems
  • Head Mouse
  • Modified Keyboards
  • Joysticks
 

PricewaterhouseCoopers to Pour $1 Billion Into Generative AI — from wsj.com by Angus Loten
Multiyear investment in U.S. business includes accessing ChatGPT maker OpenAI’s language model, training staff in AI capabilities

Excerpt:

PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP plans to invest $1 billion in generative artificial intelligence technology in its U.S. operations over the next three years, working with Microsoft Corp. and ChatGPT-maker OpenAI to automate aspects of its tax, audit and consulting services.

The accounting and consulting giant said the multiyear investment, announced Wednesday, includes funding to recruit more AI workers and train existing staff in AI capabilities, while targeting AI software makers for potential acquisitions.

For PwC, the goal isn’t only to develop and embed generative AI into its own technology stack and client-services platforms, but also advising other companies on how best to use generative AI, while helping them build those tools, said Mohamed Kande, PwC’s vice chair and co-leader of U.S. consulting solutions and global advisory leader.

 

EdTech Is Going Crazy For AI — from joshbersin.com by Josh Bersin

Excerpts:

This week I spent a few days at the ASU/GSV conference and ran into 7,000 educators, entrepreneurs, and corporate training people who had gone CRAZY for AI.

No, I’m not kidding. This community, which makes up people like training managers, community college leaders, educators, and policymakers is absolutely freaked out about ChatGPT, Large Language Models, and all sorts of issues with AI. Now don’t get me wrong: I’m a huge fan of this. But the frenzy is unprecedented: this is bigger than the excitement at the launch of the i-Phone.

Second, the L&D market is about to get disrupted like never before. I had two interactive sessions with about 200 L&D leaders and I essentially heard the same thing over and over. What is going to happen to our jobs when these Generative AI tools start automatically building content, assessments, teaching guides, rubrics, videos, and simulations in seconds?

The answer is pretty clear: you’re going to get disrupted. I’m not saying that L&D teams need to worry about their careers, but it’s very clear to me they’re going to have to swim upstream in a big hurry. As with all new technologies, it’s time for learning leaders to get to know these tools, understand how they work, and start to experiment with them as fast as you can.


Speaking of the ASU+GSV Summit, see this posting from Michael Moe:

EIEIO…Brave New World
By: Michael Moe, CFA, Brent Peus, Owen Ritz

Excerpt:

Last week, the 14th annual ASU+GSV Summit hosted over 7,000 leaders from 70+ companies well as over 900 of the world’s most innovative EdTech companies. Below are some of our favorite speeches from this year’s Summit…

***

Also see:

Imagining what’s possible in lifelong learning: Six insights from Stanford scholars at ASU+GSV — from acceleratelearning.stanford.edu by Isabel Sacks

Excerpt:

High-quality tutoring is one of the most effective educational interventions we have – but we need both humans and technology for it to work. In a standing-room-only session, GSE Professor Susanna Loeb, a faculty lead at the Stanford Accelerator for Learning, spoke alongside school district superintendents on the value of high-impact tutoring. The most important factors in effective tutoring, she said, are (1) the tutor has data on specific areas where the student needs support, (2) the tutor has high-quality materials and training, and (3) there is a positive, trusting relationship between the tutor and student. New technologies, including AI, can make the first and second elements much easier – but they will never be able to replace human adults in the relational piece, which is crucial to student engagement and motivation.



A guide to prompting AI (for what it is worth) — from oneusefulthing.org by Ethan Mollick
A little bit of magic, but mostly just practice

Excerpt (emphasis DSC):

Being “good at prompting” is a temporary state of affairs. The current AI systems are already very good at figuring out your intent, and they are getting better. Prompting is not going to be that important for that much longer. In fact, it already isn’t in GPT-4 and Bing. If you want to do something with AI, just ask it to help you do the thing. “I want to write a novel, what do you need to know to help me?” will get you surprisingly far.

The best way to use AI systems is not to craft the perfect prompt, but rather to use it interactively. Try asking for something. Then ask the AI to modify or adjust its output. Work with the AI, rather than trying to issue a single command that does everything you want. The more you experiment, the better off you are. Just use the AI a lot, and it will make a big difference – a lesson my class learned as they worked with the AI to create essays.

From DSC:
Agreed –> “Being “good at prompting” is a temporary state of affairs.” The User Interfaces that are/will be appearing will help greatly in this regard.


From DSC:
Bizarre…at least for me in late April of 2023:


Excerpt from Lore Issue #28: Drake, Grimes, and The Future of AI Music — from lore.com

Here’s a summary of what you need to know:

  • The rise of AI-generated music has ignited legal and ethical debates, with record labels invoking copyright law to remove AI-generated songs from platforms like YouTube.
  • Tech companies like Google face a conundrum: should they take down AI-generated content, and if so, on what grounds?
  • Some artists, like Grimes, are embracing the change, proposing new revenue-sharing models and utilizing blockchain-based smart contracts for royalties.
  • The future of AI-generated music presents both challenges and opportunities, with the potential to create new platforms and genres, democratize the industry, and redefine artist compensation.

The Need for AI PD — from techlearning.com by Erik Ofgang
Educators need training on how to effectively incorporate artificial intelligence into their teaching practice, says Lance Key, an award-winning educator.

“School never was fun for me,” he says, hoping that as an educator he could change that with his students. “I wanted to make learning fun.”  This ‘learning should be fun’ philosophy is at the heart of the approach he advises educators take when it comes to AI. 


Coursera Adds ChatGPT-Powered Learning Tools — from campustechnology.com by Kate Lucariello

Excerpt:

At its 11th annual conference in 2023, educational company Coursera announced it is adding ChatGPT-powered interactive ed tech tools to its learning platform, including a generative AI coach for students and an AI course-building tool for teachers. It will also add machine learning-powered translation, expanded VR immersive learning experiences, and more.

Coursera Coach will give learners a ChatGPT virtual coach to answer questions, give feedback, summarize video lectures and other materials, give career advice, and prepare them for job interviews. This feature will be available in the coming months.

From DSC:
Yes…it will be very interesting to see how tools and platforms interact from this time forth. The term “integration” will take a massive step forward, at least in my mind.


 

The 2023 Global Sentiment Survey — from donaldhtaylor.co.uk by Don Taylor

Excerpt:

This year’s Global Sentiment Survey – the tenth – paints a picture that is both familiar and unusual. In our 2020 survey report, we noted that ‘Data dominates this year’s survey’. It does so again this year, with the near 4,000 respondents showing a strong interest in AI, Skills-based talent management and Learning analytics (in positions #2, #3 and #4), all of which rely on data. The table is topped by Reskilling/upskilling, in the #1 spot for the third year running.
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Donald Taylor's GSS 2023

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Also see Don’s report here >>

 

 

Verified Skills — from the-job.beehiiv.com by Paul Fain
Hunting for a common thread amid the hype around skills.

Excerpt:

The glitzy ASU+GSV gathering this week was titled “Brave New World.” But Tim Knowles wanted to talk about 1906.

That was when the organization Knowles leads, the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, created the credit-hour standard. The time has arrived, argue Knowles and Amit Sevak, CEO of ETS, to move away from the Carnegie Unit and toward a new currency of education based on meaningful skills and accomplishments, demonstrated through assessment.

Our old way of training Americans for ‘good jobs’ is past its sell-by date — from workshift.opencampusmedia.org by JB Holston
We’re at a pivot point in education and workforce development. Employers in the U.S. and its allies have an opportunity to accelerate their economies by collaborating to scale new pathways to prosperity. They need to seize that opportunity, writes JB Holston, former CEO of the Greater Washington Partnership.

The country is at a pivot point. COVID’s acceleration of remote work and training; an increased dedication to inclusion, equity, and diversity since the murder of George Floyd; the inexorable pace of technological change; and America’s new, well-funded industrial policy have created an opportunity for the most significant re-set in the relationship between employers and our education systems in the last 150 years.

The old path to family-supporting career positions—which depended on large employers recruiting graduates from a small universe of ranked colleges whose education stopped with that degree—is past its sell-by date.

AI in Hiring and Evaluating Workers: What Americans Think — from pewresearch.org by Lee Rainie, Monica Anderson, Colleen McClain, Emily A. Vogels, and Risa Gelles-Watnick
62% believe artificial intelligence will have a major impact on jobholders overall in the next 20 years, but far fewer think it will greatly affect them personally. People are generally wary and uncertain of AI being used in hiring and assessing workers

Excerpt:

A new Pew Research Center survey finds crosscurrents in the public’s opinions as they look at the possible uses of AI in workplaces. Americans are wary and sometimes worried. For instance, they oppose AI use in making final hiring decisions by a 71%-7% margin, and a majority also opposes AI analysis being used in making firing decisions. Pluralities oppose AI use in reviewing job applications and in determining whether a worker should be promoted. Beyond that, majorities do not support the idea of AI systems being used to track workers’ movements while they are at work or keeping track of when office workers are at their desks.

 

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.

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).

Perhaps blockchain will be the underlying technology to provide us with cloud-based learner profiles

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.

LER — The Learning and Employment Record for a Skills-Based Economy


Speaking of reinventing our learning ecosystems, also see:

 
© 2024 | Daniel Christian