curriculum

The freelance economy: Top trends to watch in 2017 — from blog.linkedin.com

Excerpt:

Freelancers now account for nearly 35% of the U.S. workforce and the trend is only picking up speed with more professionals opting to create their own jobs in lieu of more traditional full-time employment.

As we head into the new year, we want to shed a bit more light on this burgeoning sector of the workforce. What kind of location, industry and demographic trends are surfacing among the freelance professionals of 2016? You might not know, for example, that a whopping 40% of our freelancers are concentrated in just four states: California, Texas, Florida and New York. Or that more senior men are most likely to take the leap into freelancing.

The time is ripe to be a freelancer in America so we’re revealing insider insights like these to help you learn more about this trending profession. Check out the report below – gleaned from a survey of more than 9,500 of our ProFinder professionals – to see what we discovered.

From DSC:
Besides the workforce moving towards the increased use of freelancers, the pace of change has moved from being more linear in nature to more of an exponential trajectory.

Some important questions, therefore, to ask are:

Are our students ready to enter this type of workplace?
Can they pivot quickly?
Do they know how to learn and are they ready to be lifelong learners? (Do they like learning enough to continue to pursue it? Peoples’ overall quality of life would be much higher if they enjoyed learning, rather than be forced to do so in order to keep the bread and butter on their tables.)
Are they able to communicate in a variety of ways?
How are their customer service skills coming along?
How are their problem-solving skills coming along?
Do they know how to maintain their businesses’ books and do their taxes?
Are they digitally literate and do they have an appreciation for the pluses and minuses of technology?

I sure hope so…but I have my serious doubts. That said, many institutions/organizations representing K-12 and higher education are not doing a great job of innovating either. Though there certainly exists some strong pockets of innovation in some of our institutions out there — and the ability to pivot — taken as a whole, our institutions and organizations haven’t been as responsive, nimble, and innovative as our students need them to be.

After all, we are trying to prepare students for their futures (with the externality effect being that we, too, will also be better prepared for that future).

The New Media Consortium (NMC) has released Digital Literacy: An NMC Horizon Project Strategic Brief in conjunction with the 2016 EDUCAUSE Annual Conference.
…
In analyzing the progress and gaps in this area, the NMC’s report has identified a need for higher education leaders and technology companies to prioritize students as makers, learning through the act of content creation rather than mere consumption. Additionally, the publication recommends that colleges and universities establish productive collaborations with industry, government, and libraries to provide students with access to the latest technologies and tools.
…
Based on the variety and complexity of these results, NMC cannot identify just one model of digital literacy. Instead three different digital literacies are now evident, each with distinct standards, potential curriculum, and implications for creative educators.

The aim of this publication is to establish a shared vision of digital literacy for higher education leaders by illuminating key definitions and models along with best practices and recommendations for implementing successful digital literacy initiatives.

To be digitally literate, you need to be:
fluent at critical thinking, collaborating,
being creative, and problem-solving in
digital environments.

Computer science and digital media classes can instruct on everything from office productivity applications to programming and video editing, for example. Sociology courses can teach interpersonal actions online, such as the ethics and politics of social network interaction, while psychology and business classes can focus on computer-mediated human interaction. Government and political science classes are clearly well equipped to explore the intersection of digital technology and citizenship mentioned above. Communication, writing, and literature classes have the capacity to instruct students on producing digital content in the form of stories, arguments, personal expression, posters, and more.

From DSC:
If faculty members aren’t asking students to create multimedia in their assignments and/or take part in online/digitally-based means of communications and learning, the vast majority of the students won’t (and don’t) care about digital literacy…it’s simply not relevant to them: “Whatever gets me the grade, that’s what I’ll do. But no more.”

This type of situation/perspective is quite costly. Because once students graduate from college, had they built up some solid digital literacy — especially the “creative literacy” mentioned above — they would be in much better shape to get solid jobs, and prosper at those jobs. They would be much better able to craft powerful communications — and reach a global audience in doing so. They would have honed their creativity, something increasingly important as the onward march of AI, robotics, algorithms, automation, and such continues to eat away at many types of jobs (that don’t really need creative people working in them).

This is an important topic, especially as digitally-based means of communication continue to grow in their usage and impact.

Part of digital literacy is not just understanding how a tool works but also why it is useful in the real world and when to use it.

5 essential skills you need to keep your job in the next 10 years — from fastcompany.com by Gwen Moran
Automation may affect half of jobs. Here are five areas to develop to keep yourself employed.

Excerpts/quotes (emphasis DSC):

Trendspotting
Collaborating in new ways
Building brands—even as employees
Learning next-level technology
Developing your emotional intelligence

Trendspotting
With the workplace changing so quickly, it’s essential to develop systems to not only monitor those changes, but to distill the information and training you’ll need to keep up with them. That means staying abreast of industry developments, taking classes, attending trade events, and following thought leaders who are talking about your sector. It also means being observant about the day-to-day tasks and functions that matter and how they’re changing, separating anomalies from trends.
Looking for the next changes and remaining ahead of the curve in learning about them will be essential to remaining among the most marketable employees.
In addition, following trends and thought leadership in your own sector and ensuring that your skills are staying up to date will also play a role.
…remaining employable will require embracing rather than eschewing tech changes
Pay attention to what’s happening in the most advanced workplaces in your field and prepare. That way, you’ll be ahead of the game when the changes come to you.

From DSC:
It is great to see an article that encourages trendspotting, being aware of what’s happening in the world around us, and looking upwards/into the horizons as key skills! Given the pace of change, this is becoming critical for people to do — otherwise, we risk being blindsided by changes — by incoming “waves” of change — that we didn’t see coming. We don’t want to be tapped on the shoulder, personally escorted to that conference room with all of the windows having cardboard on them, and then be let go…to our utter shock and dismay.

Laid Off Get Back On Track

Image from:
ttp://www.careerealism.com/laid-off-get-back-immediately/

This also means that we should be teaching more about trendspotting and futurism in K-20.

Further questions/thoughts:

Will our students be able to pivot? To reinvent themselves? To practice lifelong learning?
.
Will our students have the ability to peer into the horizons and be able to ascertain potential scenarios and directions that could impact them? Will they have the problem solving skills to plan for potential plans of action to address these scenarios?
.
Does each of us have an effective learning ecosystem that is robust enough — and up-to-date — that will help us adapt, learn, and grow?

#DesignInTech Report 2016 [KPCB]

On 03/16/2016, in business, career development, change, changing business models, corporate / business world, corporate universities / corporate training, creativity, curriculum, design, engagement / engaging students, entrepreneurship, graphics, higher education, human-computer interaction (HCI), ideas, innovation, instructional design, intelligent systems, interaction design, interactivity, interface design, internet, K-12 related, MBA, microlearning, mobile learning, mobile technologies, multimedia, online learning, platforms, professional development, programming, real-world assignments, reinvent, staying relevant, strategy, technology (general), training / L&D, trends, usability, user experience (UX), user interface design, using teams, vendors, by Daniel Christian

#DesignInTech Report 2016 — from kpcb.com

Some excerpted slides:

Example slides from one of the presentations at the Flipped Classroom Conference 2016
[Held at Harvey Mudd College in January; with special thanks to Mr. Jeremy VanAntwerp,
Professor of Engineering at Calvin College for this resource]

Three reasons for switching to flipped learning — from rtalbert.org by Robert Talbert, Mathematics Professor at Grand Valley State University in Michigan [USA]

Excerpt:

The argument from pedagogy: We use flipped learning because it puts the best-known/best-available practices for teaching and learning in the spotlight, including active learning of all kinds, student-centered instruction, constructivist techniques, differentiated instruction, spaced repetition, Vygotsky’s zone of proximal development idea, self-regulated learning, and the like. Whereas these things can be featured in a traditional classroom but it feels unnatural, like the wrong tool for the job.
The argument from logistics…
The argument from relationships…

Peer instruction for active learning — by Harvard University Prof. Eric Mazur on difficulties of beginners, teaching each other, and making sense of information

Also see Eric’s presentation out at Auburn University from back in September 2014:

Why are we so slow to change the way we teach? — from facultyfocus.com by Maryellen Weimer, PhD

Excerpt:

However, lecture isn’t the only example of where we’re slow to change. Many aspects of teaching—course design, approaches to testing, assignments, and grading—have also changed little. Granted, some faculty do change, a lot and regularly, but not the majority. The question is, “Why?” Here are some possibilities I’ve been considering.

Crafting questions that drive projects — from learninginhand.com by Tony Vincent

Excerpt:

Not only does project based learning motivate students because it is an authentic use of technology, it facilitates active learning, critical thinking, collaboration, and creativity. Projects begin with a driving question—an open-ended question that sets the stage for the project by creating interest and curiosity. Writing an effective driving question is surprisingly challenging. You want the question to be intriguing and irresistible to students, which makes it very different from the typical questions they encounter on tests.

A Driving Force
Like many educators, I call the “mission statement” of a project a driving question. It captures the heart of the project by providing purpose using clear and compelling language. With so many different flavors of project based learning (including problem based learning, challenge based learning, student centered learning, exploration, student driven inquiry, and authentic learning), it’s not surprising that we have a variety of other terms for a question or statement that is the project’s driving force. These terms include essential question, challenge, prime question, WILD HOG question, focus question, and smart question. I’ll stick with driving question, but do know that sometimes the driving question is not interrogative. It might be a statement, but I’ll still refer to is as a question.

Literacy help: Alan Peat story bags – How to develop story writing and literacy skills in younger children. — from hubpages.com

Excerpt:

There is no getting away from the fact that the more a child has been read to and the more they try to read themselves then the better their literacy skills are going to be. Parents have a massive influence on this. As a parent myself I considered reading to and teaching my daughter to read the one most important thing I could do to aid her life at school.

Sadly this is not always the case and too many students we teach read rarely at home or in rare cases don’t even own a book. Sad I know and to be honest I can’t imagine a house without books in it. I jokingly refer to my daughters collection ‘her library’ because she has so many which are updated as she reads through them.

But lets be fair, it is not only the students who struggle with reading that need help with story writing. A lot of students will benefit from this approach including your high flyers. I have taught this in year 3, although i would consider it to be more a KS1 activity, but in year 3 they do need certain aspects of a KS1 curriculum to help there development as it is a hard transitional year. Saying that I have seen other teachers use it in higher years than that and why not if it will benefit their writing.

…
On the front of each bag, so every child can read it easily should be the questions:

Who?
Where?
Where next?
Why?
What goes wrong?
Who helps?
Where last?
Feelings?

Simple tips to create a blended learning classroom — from blog.edmentum.com by Jasmine Auger

Excerpt:

We’ve compiled this list of five easy ways to start incorporating technology into your classroom and building a blended environment!

Blogging
Social Media
Virtual Presentations
Infographics
Video

Other somewhat related items:

Full STEAM ahead: Why arts are essential in a STEM education — from edutopia.org by Mary Beth Hertz

Excerpt:

The connection is also obvious for anyone who has ever worked in any traditional STEM career. Everyone from software engineers and aerospace technicians to biotechnical engineers, professional mathematicians, and laboratory scientists knows that building great things and solving real problems requires a measure of creativity. More and more, professional artists themselves are incorporating technological tools and scientific processes to their art.

Also see:
STEM to STEAM: Resources Toolkit — from edutopia.org | Originally Published: 5/21/14 | Updated: 1/20/16
Whether you are looking for resources on integrating science, technology, engineering, and math or on infusing the arts to transform STEM into STEAM, these curated compilations will help you plan different approaches to integrated studies.

…and a related item re: curriculum, but at the collegiate level:

What is the value of an education in the humanities? — from npr.org by Adam Frank

Excerpt:

In spite of being a scientist, I strongly believe an education that fails to place a heavy emphasis on the humanities is a missed opportunity. Without a base in humanities, both the students — and the democratic society these students must enter as informed citizens — are denied a full view of the heritage and critical habits of mind that make civilization worth the effort.
…

So, these are my traditional answers to the traditional questions about the value of humanities and arts education vs. science and engineering. From my standpoint as a scholar, I’ll stand by them and defend what they represent to the last breath.

But the world has changed and, I believe, these answers are no longer enough.

It’s not just the high cost of college that alters the equation. It’s also vast changes that have swept through society with the advent of a world run on information (i.e., on data). So, with that mind, here is my updated — beyond the traditional — response to the value of the humanities in education: The key is balance.

It is no longer enough for students to focus on either science/engineering or the humanities/arts.

Report from Davos: 5 million jobs to be lost by 2020 because of tech advances — from siliconbeat.com by Levi Sumagaysay

Excerpt (emphasis DSC):

A new report predicts a loss of 5 million jobs in the next five years because of technological advances, but don’t blame it all on the robots.

The other culprits: artificial intelligence, 3-D printers and advances in genetics, biotech and more.

The World Economic Forum, which is holding its annual meeting in Davos this week, in its report details the effects of modern technology on the labor market, for better or for worse. It says “the fourth industrial revolution” will be “more comprehensive and all-encompassing than anything we have ever seen.”

The report actually estimates a loss of 7 million jobs in 15 economies that today have 1.86 billion workers, or about 65 percent of the world’s workforce, but it also expects 2 million new jobs to be created.

From DSC:
If this turns out to be true, how should this affect our curricula? What should we be emphasizing and seeking to build within our students?

6 ways work will change in 2016 [Lindzon]

On 11/03/2015, in business, career development, corporate / business world, curriculum, professional development, trends, workplace, by Daniel Christian

6 ways work will change in 2016 — from fastcompany.com by Jared Lindzon
Workplace trends for 2016 will be set in large part by what’s happening in the freelance world right now.

Some of the areas covered include:

Remote-First Businesses
The Rise Of Independent Consultants
Less PowerPoint, More Video
Consumer-Grade Design As The New Normal

From DSC:
Are our students ready to successfully freelance when they graduate? Whether they are right away or not, chances are they will be a contingent worker at some point in their careers.

Enhancing the student digital experience: a strategic approach — from jisc.ac.uk
Supporting institutions to develop digital environments which meet students’ expectations and help them to progress to higher study and employment

Excerpts:

How are you responding to the changing digital needs and expectations of your students and staff?
Do the experiences and the digital environment you offer to your students adequately prepare them to flourish in a society that relies heavily on digital technologies?
What are you doing to engage students in dialogue about digital issues and to work collaboratively with them to enhance their digital learning experience?
How well is the digital vision for your establishment embedded in institutional policies and strategies?

Contents

Context

Deliver a relevant digital curriculum

Deliver a relevant digital curriculum: make a difference in your organisation
Further resources for delivering a relevant digital curriculum

Deliver an inclusive digital student experience

Inclusive digital experience: make a difference in your organisation
Further resources for inclusive digital experience delivery

Deliver a robust, flexible, digital environment

Robust digital environment: make a difference in your organisation
Further resources for delivering a robust digital environment

Engage in dialogue with students about their digital experience and empower them to develop their digital environment

Students’ digital environment development: make a difference in your organisation
Further resources for students’ digital environment development

Develop coherent ‘bring your own’ policies

‘Bring your own’ policies: make a difference in your organisation
Further resources for ‘bring your own’ policies development

Support students and staff to work successfully with digital technologies

Digital technologies support: make a difference in your organisation
Further resources for supporting staff and students with digital technologies

Take a strategic approach to developing the student digital experience

A strategic approach to student digital experience: make a difference in your organisation
Further resources for taking a strategic approach to student digital experience development

Summary

With so many competing pressures educational leaders do not always recognise the strategic and operational importance of digital technology or realise the potential transformative effect this could have on their institutions, the wider sector, employers and society.

“The bridge between what researchers have been saying about learning & what teachers and students do in a classroom is spelled HTML5.”

On 09/02/2015, in active learning, curriculum, digital learning, digital textbooks, K-12 related, learning ecosystem, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, online learning, online media, pedagogy, research, teachers, teaching & learning, trends, by Daniel Christian

Is There an Uncrossable Chasm Between Research and the Classroom? Part 2 — from thejournal.com by Cathie Norris, Elliot Soloway
HTML5 is the bridge!

Excerpts (emphasis DSC):

The bridge between what researchers have been saying about learning & what teachers and students do in a classroom is spelled HTML5.
Do we hear a “HUH?” Okay, buckle up. Here goes…
…
Put another way: When curricular resources are implemented in HTML5 (or its derivatives), the dream of BYOD is no longer a dream: Students can bring virtually any computer device into the classroom and a teacher can count on the fact that the learning activity for today’s lesson will be executable on all of those devices.
…
Yes, HTML5 is that big a deal. Why? Because it has come along at just the right time. Curriculum and pedagogy are changing; new curricular materials are being developed that meet CCSS and NGSS. If those materials are developed in HTML5, then the curriculum developer and the teacher can expect those materials to work in her or his BYOD classroom or his or her iPad/Chromebook/laptop classroom. And, for the researcher, there is the opportunity to influence curriculum development and have those research-based ideas embodied in curricular resources that virtually every learner in the U.S. can use on their computing device! Holy Toledo indeed!

From DSC:
Are we neglecting to ask some key questions within higher education? I’ll get to those questions in a moment, the ones that came to my mind after seeing the following posting:

The robots are coming for your job! Why digital literacy is so important for the jobs of the future — from theconversation.com

Excerpt (emphasis DSC):

In a report released this week, the Foundation for Young Australians (FYA) claims that up to 70% of young people are preparing for jobs that will no longer exist in the future. The report also raises concerns about decreasing entry-level occupations for school leavers and the impacts of automation.

In another recent report, the Committee for Economic Development of Australia predicts that:

almost five million Australian jobs – around 40% of the workforce – face the high probability of being replaced by computers in the next 10 to 15 years.

…

The FYA report also makes the case for increased emphasis on developing digital literacy and the implementation of a digital technologies curriculum in primary school.

Digital literacy includes skills such as coding, data synthesis and manipulation, as well as the design, use and management of computerised, digital and automated systems. Success in the new work order requires these skills alongside lateral thinking, innovation, problem-solving, collaboration and entrepreneurship. Add these to the traditional literacy skills of reading and writing and you have a very complex picture of what literacy is.

With automation a real threat to future jobs, school curricula have to keep up with the times.

From DSC:
The article raises an important point: “At the same time, the question of how we are preparing students in our schools for the new work order also bears serious consideration.”

I couldn’t agree more, as there are enormous ramifications to this topic/question: Are we, in fact, preparing our students for the future that they will inherit?

I suppose I could have also titled this posting, “More reasons to support the liberal arts,” as the liberal arts lay a strong foundation for many of the twists and turns that our students (and ourselves) will encounter down the road.

However, I fear that even within our liberal arts programs, we aren’t offering quite enough new courses that would help our students deal with a rapidly changing world. For example, I would like to see more courses on futurism offered — training students to look up and pulse check a variety of items that could impact them, their families, or their businesses in the future. Also, I don’t think they are going to know how to run their own businesses or to effectively freelance, something that 30-50% of them are going to need to do (depending upon which articles and reports one reads).

Also, why aren’t we offering more online-based opportunities for students to encounter learning opportunities and discussions that involve people from all over the globe? Won’t they be on project teams like that in the future? Isn’t that occurring already?

What do you think…how are we doing here? How are things in your city, state, or country?

That ‘useless’ liberal arts degree has become tech’s hottest ticket — from forbes.com by George Anders; with a shout out to Krista Spahr for bringing this item to my attention

Except:

What kind of boss hires a thwarted actress for a business-to-business software startup? Stewart Butterfield, Slack’s 42-year-old cofounder and CEO, whose estimated double-digit stake in the company could be worth $300 million or more. He’s the proud holder of an undergraduate degree in philosophy from Canada’s University of Victoria and a master’s degree from Cambridge in philosophy and the history of science.

“Studying philosophy taught me two things,” says Butterfield, sitting in his office in San Francisco’s South of Market district, a neighborhood almost entirely dedicated to the cult of coding. “I learned how to write really clearly. I learned how to follow an argument all the way down, which is invaluable in running meetings. And when I studied the history of science, I learned about the ways that everyone believes something is true–like the old notion of some kind of ether in the air propagating gravitational forces–until they realized that it wasn’t true.”
…
And he’s far from alone. Throughout the major U.S. tech hubs, whether Silicon Valley or Seattle, Boston or Austin, Tex., software companies are discovering that liberal arts thinking makes them stronger. Engineers may still command the biggest salaries, but at disruptive juggernauts such as Facebook and Uber, the war for talent has moved to nontechnical jobs, particularly sales and marketing. The more that audacious coders dream of changing the world, the more they need to fill their companies with social alchemists who can connect with customers–and make progress seem pleasant.

Addendum on 8/7/15:

STEM Study Starts With Liberal Arts — from forbes.com by Chris Teare
Excerpt (emphasis DSC):
Much has been made, especially by the Return on Investment crowd, of the value of undergraduate study in the so-called STEM fields: Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics. Lost in the conversation is the way the true liberal arts underpin such study, often because the liberal arts are inaccurately equated solely with the humanities. From the start, the liberal arts included math and science, something I learned firsthand at St. John’s College.

This topic is especially on my mind since reading the excellent article George Anders has written for Forbes: “That ‘Useless’ Liberal Arts Degree Has Become Tech’s Hottest Ticket” In this context, understanding the actual origin and purposes of the liberal arts is all the more valuable.

This is a solid, wise question: “What should graduates look like in 10 years?” [Norris]

On 06/26/2015, in career development, curriculum, digital learning, education, education reform, future, global / globalization, ideas, K-12 related, languages and translation, new media literacies, student-related, vision/possibilities, by Daniel Christian

What should graduates look like in 10 years? — from eschoolnews.com by Rachel Norris

Excerpt (emphasis DSC):

Superintendent Richard Carranza of San Francisco Unified School District and the board of education considered, for instance, that graduates will need to develop and manage their local, global, and digital identities, and be comfortable separating and switching between the three. Graduates will benefit from being bilingual or multilingual; a 2025 graduate must be technologically fluent as well as college and career ready, with the added challenge that many of those careers have yet to be created.

Community participants looked at trends and data to create a 2025 “Graduate Profile.” They also, in large and small groups, engaged creatively with each other, with research and with information gathered from field trip observations to design possible future learning environments.

Then they started a pilot program to begin to bring that vision to life — starting in first grade.

50 exemplars of effective practice in support of students’ digital experiences [JISC]

On 05/01/2015, in colleges, community colleges, curriculum, digital learning, higher education, teaching & learning, UK, universities, user experience (UX), by Daniel Christian

50 exemplars of effective practice in support of students’ digital experiences — from jisc.ac.uk

These 50 exemplars explore how colleges and universities are responding to the challenges of supporting the digital student experience. They show the importance of involving students not only in improving infrastructure and provision but in designing relevant curriculum activities.

Sections include:

Prepare and support students to study successfully with digital technologies
Deliver a relevant digital curriculum
Ensure an inclusive student experience, using technology to overcome disadvantage
Provide a robust, flexible digital environment
Develop coherent policies for ‘Bring Your Own’
Engage students in dialogue about their digital experience and empower them to make changes
Take a strategic, whole-institution approach to the digital student experience

Also see:

Enhancing the student digital experience: a strategic approach – from jisc.ac.uk
Supporting institutions to develop digital environments which meet students’ expectations and help them to prepare for higher study and employment

Chris Dede: The Future of Digital Learning [webinar/session recording from Adobe]

On 04/24/2015, in 21st century, active learning, Adobe, analytics, biology, blended learning, creativity, curriculum, data related items, digital learning, education technology, educational games / serious games, elearning, emerging technologies, engagement / engaging students, face-to-face, future, geography / geology, ideas, innovation, interactivity, K-12 related, learning agents, learning ecosystem, learning theories, lifelong learning, mobile learning, mobile technologies, multimedia, participation, pedagogy, personalized/customized learning, platforms, real-world assignments, research, science, student-related, teaching & learning, tools, webinars, by Daniel Christian

From DSC:
Chris uses ecoMOBILE and ecoMUVE to highlight the powerful partnerships that can exist between tools and teachers — to the benefits of the students, who can enjoy personalized learning that they can interact with. Pedagogical approaches such as active learning are discussed and methods of implementing active learning are touched upon.

Chris pointed out the National Research Council’s book from 2012 entitled, “Education for Life and Work: Developing Transferable Knowledge & Skills in the 21st Century” as he spoke about the need for all of us to be engaged in lifelong learning (Chris uses the term “life-wide” learning).

Also, as Chris mentioned, we often teach as we were taught…so we need communities that are able to UNlearn as well as to learn.

Also see:

The CreateEdu Channel on YouTube

“13 new trends in Big Data and Data Science” + NYU’s new Data Science Certificate + other related items

On 04/20/2015, in analytics, corporate / business world, curriculum, data related items, higher education, IT in HE, workplace, by Daniel Christian

13 new trends in Big Data and Data Science — from bigdatanews.com by Mike Beneth

Excerpt:

The rise of data plumbing, to make big data run smoothly, safely, reliably, and fast through all “data pipes” (Internet, Intranet, in-memory, local servers, cloud, Hadoop clusters etc.), optimizing redundancy, load balance, data caching, data storage, data compression, signal extraction, data summarization and more. We bought the domain name DataPlumbing.com last week.
The rise of the data plumber, system architect, and system analyst (a new breed of engineers and data scientists), a direct result of the rise of data plumbing
Use of data science in unusual fields such as astrophysics, and the other way around (data science integrating techniques from these fields)
The death of the fake data scientist.
…

Top online engineering school responds to industry appetite for data science, energy, and cloud expertise — from prnewswire.com
NYU School of Engineering’s 3-course immersion offerings bridge technology skills gap

Excerpt:

NEW YORK, April 16, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — Fortune 500 companies looking to move the talent needle forward are now able to send employees through online certificate courses in data science, power engineering, and data center and cloud technologies. The NYU Polytechnic School of Engineering’s online learning unit has launched certificates of completion in these new three-course immersion programs.

The new Data Science certificate includes three courses in big data analysis, machine learning, and principles of database systems, with substitutions allowed for visualization or cloud computing courses. “Organizations are drowning in data but starving for insights,” said Professor Nasir Memon, chair of the Computer Science and Engineering Department. “The Data Science certificate provides coursework immediately applicable to data scientists working on complex data problems.”

Becoming a #DataScientist with style! http://t.co/UXHJeVn1Zp #BigData #DataViz #MachineLearning #AI #IoT #DataScience pic.twitter.com/vn9mMGv7e6

— Ekimetrics. (@ekimetrics) April 17, 2015

Top LinkedIn groups in #Analytics, #BigData, #DataMining, #DataScience from “Big Bang” to now http://t.co/jCbG4hIvPA pic.twitter.com/Vvj5oc8NLm — Gregory Piatetsky (@kdnuggets) April 20, 2015

For marketers every tech trend hinges on big data and analytics — from forbes.com by Daniel Newman

Excerpt:

But as we talk incessantly about new technologies, we may overlook the fact that it isn’t really technology that’s driving this revolution, but the data and the insights these technologies create. With this data we are able to better understand what interests people and motivates them to engage with a brand and buy their products, and we can also use this data to innovate products that are a perfect fit for our target audience. Let’s discuss how data and analytics underlie the true value of the technology we are so obsessed with.

…

Learning Ecosystems

6 ways work will change in 2016 [Lindzon]

That ‘useless’ liberal arts degree has become tech’s hottest ticket [Anders; Forbes]

50 exemplars of effective practice in support of students’ digital experiences [JISC]

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