Daniel S. Christian

As Challenges in Education Persist, Our Coverage Will Elevate Educator Voices [EdSurge Staff]

On 06/03/2022, in change, Daniel S. Christian, education, education reform, future, game-changing environment, K-12 related, leadership, pace of change, society, teachers, teaching & learning, youth, by Daniel Christian

As Challenges in Education Persist, Our Coverage Will Elevate Educator Voices — from edsurge.com by EdSurge Staff

Excerpt:

Elevating the diverse voices of educators—particularly the perspectives of those traditionally marginalized—is critical for making change. That’s especially important at this moment, during what appears to be an inflection point in the history of American education.

During this period of upheaval, we’ve amplified the voices of educators as they navigate the fallout from the pandemic through our Voices of Change project, creating opportunities for educators to reflect, share and learn from one another through journalism, storytelling and research.

From DSC:
This is great to see, especially seeing as we are in a game-changing environment. These folks are on the front lines, so to speak. As such, we need to listen to them very carefully. Their voices should be the first to be considered and heard as we move forward into the future of education.

Also relevant/see:

Teachers of the Year Say Educators Deserve More Trust — — from edsurge.com by Rebecca Koenig

Excerpt:

“We have this idea that they’ve lost learning, but I really want to change that narrative into: Their learning has shifted,” she explains. “They learned a lot. It might not have been the science I wanted them to learn, but they learned how to learn online and in person; they learned how to change at a moment’s notice, they learned how to keep themselves and … their family safe. I’m pretty sure they all have graduate degrees in technology at this point.”

Rivera believes that education would improve if leaders at every level listened to teachers more, trusted them as experts and drew on their insight when making decisions.

From DSC:
The items below reminded me that things aren’t looking good for higher education these days. Having a son a quarter of the way through college makes this even more relevant/personal for our family.

The Big Quit | Even tenure-line professors are leaving academe. — from chronicle.com by Joshua Doležal

Excerpts:

We have become accustomed to the exodus of graduate students, postdocs, and adjuncts, but before Covid it was still possible to see tenured and tenure-track faculty members as relatively immune from the stresses of working in higher ed. No more. A 2020 study by The Chronicle and Fidelity Investments found that more than half of all faculty members surveyed were seriously weighing options outside of higher education: either changing careers entirely or retiring early.

“If a return to normal simply means restoring the burnout conditions that the pandemic inflamed, then the rumble of faculty members leaving may build to a roar that no amount of magical thinking can explain away.”

Here’s a relevant quote from a weekly newsletter — Teaching — from The Chronicle of Higher Education (by Becky Supiano)

The bottom line? “You don’t get student success,” McClure says, “unless you have invested in faculty well-being.”

The quote is from Kevin McClure, who is “trying to get the challenges front-line faculty and staff face on the radar of more college leaders.” As primarily a former staff member, I appreciate that he’s including staff members here. Staff are important members of the academe as well.

Drop in Spring-2022 Enrollment Is Worse Than Expected — from chronicle.com by Audrey Williams June

Excerpt:

New data from the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center provide a final tally on enrollment for the spring of 2022 — and reveal a persistent trend: College attendance continues to decline.

Undergraduate enrollment fell 4.7 percent from a year earlier, a shortfall of more than 662,000 students. Since the pandemic began, the undergraduate student body has dropped by almost 1.4 million students.

But also in play, he said, are students who increasingly question the value of college, are wary about taking out student loans to pay for it, and who have options to join the labor market instead.

Michigan colleges experience nation’s worst spring enrollment dive, new report shows — from mlive.com by Samuel Dodge

Excerpt:

College enrollment across Michigan plummeted 15% during the spring semester this year, dragged down by a 20% hit to four-year public universities, a new report shows. Spring enrollment across all sectors dropped to 360,220 students, a decrease of more than 62,000 from 2021 to this year, according to data released Thursday, May 26, by the National Student Clearinghouse.

[Cost of Inequity] The Student Loan Crisis — from businessinsidre.com by various
How the student loan industry put a $1.7 trillion price tag on the American dream and the proposed reforms that could pay the bill.

A somewhat-related item:

The Future of Higher Education Is the Hybrid Campus — from campustechnology.com by Dr. Jeffrey R. Docking
Blending the best of face-to-face instruction with the flexibility of online learning can enhance the higher ed experience for all types of learners, lower the cost of a degree and better prepare students for the workforce.

Excerpts (emphasis DSC):

What Students Want
Students and families are increasingly rethinking whether a traditional college education is worth the investment, leaving higher ed leaders searching for innovative ways to showcase their school’s value and entice students. When we think about what students really want, they want more than a degree — they want skills training that will ensure a well-paying, rewarding career. In fact, 62% of college students say they would be more likely to re-enroll if their institution offered “new programs and certificates tailored to the new economy” with high-demand majors and education that connects them to employability. This makes sense since employers are continuing to find value in students developing a “broad skill base that can be applied across a range of contexts.”

But over the last several years, and after seeing the success of it at Adrian College, I’ve become convinced that the future of residential colleges is not face-to-face or online, but an intelligent blend of both modalities.

A somewhat-related item:

Navigating career turbulence — from ted.com by Adam Grant; with thanks to Deirdre Honner for this resource

Description:

Everyone’s career will hit some turbulence at some point. Instead of pushing harder against the headwinds, we’re sometimes better off tilting our rudder and charting a new course. In this episode, host Adam Grant speaks with people who have taken unusual steps to battle uncertainty, rethought their approach to finding and landing a job and reached out for help in unexpected places — as well as an expert on recessions who forecasts the future by looking to the past. Listen and subscribe to WorkLife with Adam Grant and more podcasts from the TED Audio Collective wherever you’re listening to this.

Great example of some elements in a learning ecosystem! “2022 Trends in Learning Technology” [Foreman]

On 05/26/2022, in Augmented Reality (AR), CMS/LMS, collaboration, content development, aggregation, repositories, corporate / business world, corporate universities / corporate training, Daniel S. Christian, digital learning, instructional design, intelligent systems, intelligent tutoring, learner profiles, learning, learning ecosystem, Learning Experience Design, microlearning, personalized/customized learning, productivity / tips and tricks, social learning / networks, technology (general), tools, training / L&D, vendors, Virtual Reality (VR) / worlds / learning, web-based collaboration, XR - extended reality, by Daniel Christian

From DSC:
The report below contains some great examples of a few of the elements in a learning ecosystem! Though there are many other elements in a learning ecosystem, tools and technologies are certainly two key components of one.

Some of the topics in this report at:

Knowledge bases and knowledge management technology
Microlearning
Learning record store
Learning Experience Platform (LXP)
Augmented reality / Virtual reality (AR/VR)
Adaptive learning / Intelligent tutor
Technology stack

2022 Trends in Learning Technology — from learningguild.com by Steve Foreman

Excerpt:

In this research report, Steve Foreman analyzes recent survey findings to examine eight learning technologies and explore how they impact the L&D space, organizations, customer satisfaction, and more.

Above video from Steve Kerr’s statement on school shooting in Texas

From DSC:
Steve Kerr has it right. Powerful. Critically important.

“Enough!” “We can’t get numb to this!”

From DSC:
The items below made me reflect on the need to practice some serious design thinking to rethink/redesign the cradle-to-grave learning ecosystems out there.

Real World Learning in Action — from gettingsmart.com by Shawnee Caruthers

Key Points

The Real World Learning initiative was created to address a simple, but equally complex challenge: How do you prepare students for life after high school?
The traditional, go to classes, earn some credits, participate in some activities and earn a diploma wasn’t working, at least not equitably.

Creating a new high school experience starts with innovative thinking and advocates willing to say yes. As a result of collaborations, visiting best practice sites and numerous convenings, the Kansas City region is now a hub for pathways, wall-to-wall academies, microschools, innovation academies, student-run businesses, strong client-connected project examples and more. Educational stakeholders can now go across state lines to see future-forward thinking for students.

Also relevant/see:

Framing and Designing the HOW — from gettingsmart.com by Rebecca Midles

Key Points (emphasis DSC):

The referenced circle graphic is intended to guide how we talk about our work as a system, internal and externally.
It also is about understanding our why on a personal level.
Learning systems are specifically designed to get the results they have, and to change results, we have to redesign the system.

Also relevant/see:

Fewer People Are Getting Teacher Degrees. Prep Programs Sound the Alarm — from edweek.org by Madeline Wil

Excerpt (emphasis DSC):

As teacher dissatisfaction rates rise and concerns about teacher shortages intensify, colleges of education are sounding the alarm: Enrollment has been steadily declining for the past decade, and the pandemic has likely made things worse.

Smaller and Restructured: How the Pandemic Is Changing the Higher Education IT Workforce — from educause.edu by Jenay Robert

Excerpt:

Several prominent themes emerged from the analysis of these responses and are supported by other recent EDUCAUSE research:

Though most respondents reported a reduction in force, some were able to justify adding new positions to their units in 2021, primarily to meet new institutional needs.
Budget cuts were the main cause of reductions in force.
Work factors such as flexible, remote work options and competitive salaries are playing a central role in attrition and recruitment.
Increased workloads and personal stressors related to the pandemic have resulted in widespread burnout among staff.
IT units have plans to reorganize in 2022 to become more agile and efficient and to respond to the evolving needs of their organizations.

Allan: With $175G Grants, Accelerate ED Looks to Better Link K-12, College & Work — from the74million.org by Sara Allan

Excerpt:

Today, most states require high school students to complete a set of defined courses, assessments and experiences in order to graduate on a career-ready pathway. However, the number of schools that fully embrace coherent programs of study that connect K-12, higher education and employment remains frustratingly small.

.

What if every high school student had the chance to take an additional year of courses related to their interests and earn enough credits to complete their associate degree one year after high school while gaining valuable experience and career preparation—at little to no cost?

— from Seamless Pathways to Degrees and Careers

From DSC:
The above quote is the type of “What if…” question/thinking that we need to redesign our cradle-to-grave/lifelong learning ecosystems.

A relevant addendum on 6/1/22:

Design Thinking approach is not linear – it’s flexible and fluid, looping back and around and in on itself#DesignThinking #loop #empathy #innovation pic.twitter.com/HYB0TbkSqj

— Denis Vukosav (@DenisVukosav) May 26, 2022

‘Stackable credentials’ could be future of higher education in Colorado — from thedenverchannel.com by Nicole Brady; with thanks to Ray Schroeder for this resource out on LinkedIn

Excerpt (emphasis DSC):

DENVER — Metropolitan State University of Denver is one of Colorado’s largest four-year institutions, but some students are spending just months there — not years — before joining the workforce.

They’re doing it by “stacking” credentials.

“Stackable credentials are really a convergence of individuals wanting to learn in smaller chunks and industries being willing to accept those chunks,” said Terry Bower, associate vice president of Innovative and Lifelong Learning at MSU Denver.

The career launchpad lays out exactly what steps are needed to work in those industries and how much money a person can earn with different credentials.

For students who decide they want to add more credentials or work toward a degree, they can return to MSU with no credits lost.

From DSC:
That part that says “The career launchpad lays out exactly what steps are needed to work in those industries and how much money a person can earn with different credentials” will likely be a part of a next-generation learning platform. Here are the skills in demand. Here are the folks offering you the ability to learn/develop those skills and here’s what you can expect to earn at different levels of this type of job. The platform will be able to offer this type of information and these types of opportunities throughout your lifetime.

Cloud-based learner profiles will be part of this new setup — along with recommendation engine-based results based upon one’s learning preferences (not learning styles — which don’t exist — but upon one’s learning preferences).

Why Improving Student Learning is So Hard — from opencontent.org by David Wiley

Excerpt:

2. Student behavior will normally change only in response to changes in faculty behavior – specifically, the assignments faculty give and the support faculty provide.

For many students, the things-they-do-to-learn are all located within the relatively small universe of things their faculty assign them to do – read chapters, complete homework assignments, etc. For a variety of reasons, and many of them perfectly good reasons, “students don’t do optional” – they only do what they’re going to be graded on.

Therefore, students will likely engage in more effective learning behaviors ONLY IF their faculty assign them more effective learning activities. Faculty can further increase the likelihood of students engaging in more effective learning activities if they support them appropriately throughout the process.

From DSC:
I can put an “Amen” to the above excerpt. For years I managed a Teaching & Learning Digital Studio. Most of the students didn’t come into the Studio for help, because most of the faculty members assigned the normal kinds of things (papers, quizzes, and such). Had there been more digitally-created means of showing what students knew, there would have been more usage of the T&L Digital Studio.

Also, if we want to foster more creativity and innovation — as well as give our learners more choice and more control over their learning — we should occasionally get away from the traditional papers.

Another comment here is that it’s hard to change what faculty members do, when Instructional Designers can’t even get in the car to help faculty members navigate. We need more team-based efforts in designing our learning experiences.

“Airbnb’s design for employees to live and work anywhere” — now apply that to a school, college, or university [Barrett]

On 05/11/2022, in Australia, blended learning, change, changing business models, cloud-based computing / apps / other cloud-related, CMS/LMS, collaboration, colleges, communications, communities of practice, corporate / business world, corporate universities / corporate training, Daniel S. Christian, education, experimentation, face-to-face, future, future of higher education, game-changing environment, global / globalization, higher education, homeschooling/homeschoolers, hybrid learning, Hyflex learning, ideas, innovation, instructional design, internet, IT in HE, K-12 related, learning ecosystem, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, learning preferences, learning spaces, New "Amazon.com" of Higher Education, new business models, online learning, participation, platforms, reinvent, remote teaching and learning, smart classrooms, smart/connected TV, society, staying relevant, student-related, surviving, teachers, technologies for your home, universities, videoconferencing, vision/possibilities, by Daniel Christian

Airbnb’s design for employees to live and work anywhere — from news.airbnb.com; with thanks to Tom Barrett for this resource

Excerpt:

Airbnb is in the business of human connection above all else, and we believe that the most meaningful connections happen in person. Zoom is great for maintaining relationships, but it’s not the best way to deepen them. Additionally, some creative work and collaboration is best done when you’re in the same room. I’d like working at Airbnb to feel like you’re working at one of the most creative places on Earth, and this will only happen with some in-person collaboration time.

The right solution should combine the best of the digital world and the best of the physical world. It should have the efficiency of Zoom, while providing the meaningful human connection that only happens when people come together. We have a solution that we think combines the best of both worlds.

We’ve designed a way for you to live and work anywhere—while collaborating in a highly coordinated way, and experiencing the in-person connection that makes Airbnb special. Our design has five key features…

Now, a thought exercise on that item from Tom Barrett:

While you are there, extend the thought experiment and imagine the new policy for a school, college or university.

You can work from home or the office
You can move anywhere in the country you work in, and your compensation won’t change
You have the flexibility to travel and work around the world
We’ll meet up regularly for team gatherings, off-sites, and social events
We’ll continue to work in a highly coordinated way

From DSC:
As a reflection on this thought experiment, this graphic comes to my mind again. Teachers, professors, trainers, staff, and students can be anywhere in the world:

Learning from the living class room

Reflections on “It may be time to rethink the emphasis on taking calculus in high school” [Anderson]

On 05/09/2022, in curriculum, Daniel S. Christian, education, education reform, ideas, K-12 related, mathematics, skills, society, student-related, United States, vision/possibilities, youth, by Daniel Christian

OPINION: It may be time to rethink the emphasis on taking calculus in high school — from hechingerreport.org by Veronica Anderson
An argument for opening other paths that could be more relevant to students

Excerpt:

Based on data from surveys and interviews, “A New Calculus for College Admissions” reveals how deep-seated preferences for calculus weigh heavily in decisions about who gets admitted to college.

Yet does it make sense for calculus to have such an influential role in college admission when so few college majors actually require the course? There are other ways for high school students to gain the quantitative reasoning skills that will prepare them for the rigors of college and the workplace.

It’s time to reconsider the dominance of calculus.

From DSC:
I wholeheartedly agree. And along these lines, I think it would be far more beneficial to students to have classes on topics such:

How do I do my taxes?
What legal things do I need to know about (i.e., wills, trusts, civil law-related items, other)?
How can I get and stay healthy?

We should put “How best to study/learn” in all global/course navigation bars [Christian]

On 05/09/2022, in 24x7x365 access, assistive technologies, Canvas - and other Instructure-related items, CMS/LMS, community colleges, corporate / business world, corporate universities / corporate training, Daniel S. Christian, digital learning, education, education reform, higher education, ideas, innovation, instructional design, interface design, IT in HE, K-12 related, law schools, learning, learning ecosystem, Learning Experience Design, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, learning spaces, learning theories, love of learning, Michigan, microlearning, online learning, online media, parents/guardians, pedagogy, productivity / tips and tricks, professional development, research, skills, strategy, student teaching/teacher education, student-related, teachers, teaching & learning, tools, training / L&D, United States, universities, user interface design, vision/possibilities, visualizing information, vocational / trades, workplace, youth, by Daniel Christian

From DSC:
For the last few years, I’ve been thinking that we need to make learning science-related information more accessible to students, teachers, professors, trainers, and employees — no matter what level they are at.

One idea on how to do this — besides putting posters up in the hallways, libraries, classrooms, conference rooms, cafeterias, etc. — is that we could put a How best to study/learn link in all of the global navigation bars and/or course navigation bars out there in organizations’ course management systems and learning management systems. Learners of all ages could have 24 x 7 x 365, easy, instant access as to how to be more productive as they study and learn about new things.

For example, they could select that link in their CMS/LMS to access information on:

Retrieval practice
Spacing
Interleaving
Metacognition
Elaboration
The Growth Mindset
Accessibility-related tools / assistive technologies
Links to further resources re: learning science and learning theories

What do you think? If we started this in K12, kept it up in higher ed and vocational programs, and took the idea into the corporate world, valuable information could be relayed and absorbed. This is the kind of information that is highly beneficial these days — as all of us need to be lifelong learners now.

From DSC:
The resource below (from The Chronicle of Higher Education) is one of the best, most useful articles I’ve read in a long time. It’s full of innovative and/or powerful ideas. I like the part about seeking to give students “more voice, more choice, more control.”

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

5 No-Cost or Low-Cost Ways to Improve Your Campus — from chronicle.com by Richard J. Light and Allison Jegla
Change doesn’t have to be expensive. It’s often sparked by a simple suggestion and a leader willing to give it a try.

Excerpts (emphasis DSC):

No. 1: Reward innovative teaching. Lynne Schofield, a professor of statistics at Swarthmore College, has fundamentally changed the way her students learn basic and intermediate statistics. She lectures and assigns problem sets but she also teams up with local Philadelphia organizations such as food banks and blood-donation centers to give students an opportunity to solve real-world problems using their classroom knowledge. The organizations benefit from data and analysis that they may not have had time or bandwidth to collect themselves, and the students see the practical application of what they might ordinarily have perceived as a dry subject.

No. 2: Solicit ideas from students. …
They met with a dean and proposed a public event called, “10 Big Ideas, 10 Professors, 10 Minutes Each.”

When the dean agreed, the students took the lead on selecting and inviting professors to each present the “most exciting new idea” in their academic field, in less than 10 minutes.

From DSC:
After seeing the item below, I thought, “Hmmm…traditional institutions of higher education better look out if alternatives continue to gain momentum.” Perhaps it’s wise to double down on efforts to gather feedback from students, families, parents, businesses, and other stakeholders in the workplace regarding what they want and need — vs. what the faculty members of institution ABC want to teach.

A Third of U.S. College Students Consider Withdrawing — from news.gallup.com by Stephanie Marken

Excerpt:

Editor’s Note: The research below was conducted in partnership between the Lumina Foundation and Gallup.

About a third (32%) of currently enrolled students pursuing a bachelor’s degree report they have considered withdrawing from their program for a semester or more in the past six months. A slightly higher percentage of students pursuing their associate degree, 41%, report they have considered stopping out in the past six months. These are similar to 2020 levels when 33% of bachelor’s degree students reported they had considered stopping out and 38% of associate degree students said the same.

The idea of someone’s “presence” continues to get stronger, more realistic online/digitally. How might this impact our future learning ecosystems? [Christian]

On 05/04/2022, in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, 3D, A/V -- audio/visual, active learning, art, collaboration, communications, communities of practice, content development, aggregation, repositories, creativity, Daniel S. Christian, education technology, emerging technologies, engineering, entrepreneurship, experimentation, face-to-face, future, game-changing environment, higher education, Holographic comms, human-computer interaction (HCI), ideas, immersion, innovation, K-12 related, learning, learning ecosystem, Metaverse, multimedia, online learning, platforms, productivity / tips and tricks, remote teaching and learning, tools, training / L&D, user experience (UX), Virtual Reality (VR) / worlds / learning, virtual tutoring, vision/possibilities, visualizing information, web-based collaboration, workplace, by Daniel Christian

From DSC:
The posting below (out at vrscout.com) made me reflect that the idea of someone’s presence continues to get stronger and more realistic in the online/digital worlds. How might this impact our future learning ecosystems?

Hologram voicemails are here thanks to asynchronous reality — from vrscout.com by Bobby Carlton; with thanks to Ori Inbar for this resource out on Twitter

What price do we pay when school systems go for the rankings? [Christian]

On 05/03/2022, in assessment, Daniel S. Christian, education, K-12 related, Learning Experience Design, Michigan, student-related, teachers, United States, youth, by Daniel Christian

From DSC:
When I saw the recent article below out at mlive.com, I couldn’t help but recall the words that our daughter just said the other day — that they had yet another day of standardized testing to do that day. (She works in a public school system here in Michigan.) In fact, she said that the relaying of new content had already ended a while ago and the last two months of the year were being allocated for reviewing what had already been covered and then taking these standardized tests. I’m guessing that neither students nor the teachers and other teaching/support-related staff were all that excited about that agenda.

In such cases, I’m guessing that the love of learning goes right out the window — as does the love of teaching. All of this is to:

assuage the legislators in our state’s capitol — especially to see how Michigan is stacking up in the comparison game with other states
give bragging rights to administrators in the comparison game as they compare their school district to other districts in Michigan
give the realtors and communities reasons for the increased prices of their houses (in a different but related comparison game)

Am I oversimplifying this? Most likely. But it still bothers me nonetheless.

These are the 50 highest rated Michigan high schools in the new U.S. News rankings — from mlive.com by Martin Slagter

Excerpt:

Three Michigan high schools are once again rated among the top 100 best high schools in the country in the latest U.S. News & World Report best high school rankings released on Tuesday, April 26.

Rankings are based on several weighted factors, including college readiness (30%), college curriculum breadth (10%), state assessment proficiency (20%), state assessment performance (20%), underserved student performance (10%) and graduation rate (10%). The data used is from the 2019-20 school year.

While the six ranking indicators that determined each school’s rank were the same as those used in the three prior years, U.S. News adjusted its calculation of these measures to account for the impact the COVID-19 pandemic had on schools in the 2019-2020 school year.

Also relevant from mlive.com, see:

‘We need them to love what they do:’ Veteran teacher trying to inspire young educators as Michigan loses teachers — by Melissa Frick

Education Needs a Reset. We Can Start by Listening to Our Teachers. — from edsurge.com by Elissa Vanaver

Excerpts:

What too few politicians and parents are talking about, though, is the dire state of the career pipeline for teachers, the ones we’ll be depending on to lead the post-pandemic learning recovery in our classrooms over the next few years—not to mention for the next generation.

Valuing teachers is the systemic path to centering students. In order to move the needle, we must go beyond what teachers need to do to address root causes that require cultural and systemic change. Here are a few things it will take:

Understanding that teaching and learning are inherently relational and the power relationships have on student and teacher success.
Centering the joy of learning and making classrooms a place students and teachers want to be.
Creating an empowered teaching culture to advocate for children and encouraging creativity that optimizes engagement.
Fostering culturally responsive methods through continuous mentoring by exceptional, experienced educators.
Developing partnerships with quality teacher preparation programs for coherent and supportive career pathways.

From DSC:
When I used to work in customer service and also in technical support at Baxter Healthcare, I always thought that management should be listening closely to those employees who were on the front lines — i.e., those of us who were in regular contact with Baxter’s customers. Similarly, the teachers are on the front lines within education. We need to give them a huge say in what happens in the future of the preK-12 learning ecosystems. We also need the students’ voices to be heard big time.

Also popular last month from edsure.com, see:

Students Have Different Thinking Speeds. Inclusive Teaching Means Realizing That. — by Jeffrey R. Young

Learning Ecosystems

‘Stackable credentials’ could be future of higher education in Colorado [Brady]

A brief reflection on “Why Improving Student Learning is So Hard” [Wiley]

Higher ed better look out for promising alternatives. [Christian]

Categories

Tags