digital learning

Campus Technology 2016: Revolution is in the air — from edtechmagazine.com by Amy Burroughs
Georgia Tech educator and author forecasts that technology may be the answer to higher education’s ‘triple threat.’

Excerpts:

In his keynote address at Campus Technology 2016, educator and author Richard DeMillo predicted that technology will be the key to resolving the toughest challenges facing higher education. In his speech, “A Revolution in Higher Education: Tales from Unlikely Allies,” DeMillo said that this revolution may be quiet, but it is happening, as more educators and leaders embrace innovation.
…
One problem, he said, is that the model of education that has dominated until now — small classrooms built around lecture-based pedagogy — is too expensive to be sustainable. Technology, however, now makes it possible to deliver education that is equally effective, yet less costly and less exclusionary (think MOOCs, online learning and emerging capabilities such as artificial intelligence). All this prompts a revolutionary rethinking of time-tested assumptions, he said.

What persists, he said, is his belief that higher education, for all its greatness, is not immune from the influence of politics, business, sociology and the economy.

Entrepreneurs & VCs out there, take note. How much longer before the functionalities found in tools like Bluescape & Mural are available via tvOS-based devices?

On 08/04/2016, in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, A/V -- audio/visual, active learning, adult learning, Bring your own device (BYOD), collaboration, colleges, communications, communities of practice, community colleges, convergence, corporate / business world, corporate universities / corporate training, Daniel S. Christian, digital learning, education technology, emerging technologies, engagement / engaging students, engineering, entrepreneurship, higher education, homeschooling/homeschoolers, human-computer interaction (HCI), ideas, innovation, interactivity, K-12 related, learning, learning ecosystem, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, learning hubs & pods & microschooling, lifelong learning, multimedia, platforms, productivity / tips and tricks, project-based learning, real-world assignments, smart/connected TV, social learning / networks, technologies for your home, telepresence, television, tools, training / L&D, ubiquitous learning, universities, user experience (UX), using teams, vendors, videoconferencing, virtual K-12 schools, virtual tutoring, visualizing information, web-based collaboration, webinars, workplace, by Daniel Christian

From DSC:
How much longer before the functionalities that are found in tools like Bluescape & Mural are available via tvOS-based devices? Entrepreneurs and VCs out there, take note. Given:

the growth of freelancing and people working from home and/or out on the road
the need for people to collaborate over a distance
the growth of online learning
the growth of active/collaborative learning spaces in K-12 and higher ed
the need for lifelong learning

…this could be a lucrative market. Also, it would be meaningful work…knowing that you are helping people learn and earn.

In Memory: Seymour Papert — from media.mit.edu; with thanks to Mr. Joe Byerwalter for this resource

Excerpt:

Seymour Papert, whose ideas and inventions transformed how millions of children around the world create and learn, died Sunday, July 31, 2016 at his home in East Blue Hill, Maine. He was 88.

Papert’s career traversed a trio of influential movements: child development, artificial intelligence, and educational technologies. Based on his insights into children’s thinking and learning, Papert recognized that computers could be used not just to deliver information and instruction, but also to empower children to experiment, explore, and express themselves. The central tenet of his Constructionist theory of learning is that people build knowledge most effectively when they are actively engaged in constructing things in the world. As early as 1968, Papert introduced the idea that computer programming and debugging can provide children a way to think about their own thinking and learn about their own learning.

Also see:

AI and Computer Learning Lion Seymour Papert Dies at 88 — from fortune.com by Barb Darrow
Excerpt:
Seymour Papert, the MIT professor who helped blaze the trail for artificial intelligence and computer-aided education for children at a time when no one saw the potential for using these massive machines for such purposes, died Sunday at the age of 88 in East Blue Hill, Maine.

“In this particular art class they were all carving soap,” he continued, “but what each student carved came from wherever fancy is bred, and the project was not done and dropped but continued for many weeks. It allowed time to think, to dream, to gaze, to get a new idea and try it and drop it or persist, time to talk, to see other people’s work and their reaction to yours — not unlike mathematics as it is for the mathematician, but quite unlike math as it is in junior high school.”

.

Seymour Papert, 88, Dies; Saw Education’s Future in Computers — from nytimes.com by Glenn Rifkin
Excerpt:
Seymour Papert, a visionary educator and mathematician who well before the advent of the personal computer foresaw children using computers as instruments for learning and enhancing creativity, died on Sunday at his home in Blue Hill, Me. He was 88.

He added, “In the past, education adapted the mind to a very restricted set of available media; in the future, it will adapt media to serve the needs and tastes of each individual mind.”

Take a step inside the classroom of tomorrow [Fearn]

On 08/01/2016, in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, A/V -- audio/visual, Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, attention, bots, change, collaboration, communications, digital learning, education, education technology, educational games / serious games, emerging technologies, engagement / engaging students, history, human-computer interaction (HCI), immersion, innovation, intelligent systems, intelligent tutoring, interactivity, IT in HE, K-12 related, learning ecosystem, learning hubs & pods & microschooling, learning spaces, love of learning, Microsoft, personalized/customized learning, platforms, play, UK, United States, user experience (UX), Virtual Reality (VR) / worlds / learning, by Daniel Christian

Take a step inside the classroom of tomorrow — from techradar.com by Nicholas Fearn
Making learning fun

Excerpt:

But the classroom of tomorrow will look very different. The latest advancements in technology and innovation are paving the way for an educational space that’s interactive, engaging and fun.

The conventions of learning are changing. It’s becoming normal for youngsters to use games like Minecraft to develop skills such as team working and problem solving, and for teachers to turn to artificial intelligence to get a better understanding of how their pupils are progressing in lessons.

Virtual reality is also introducing new possibilities in the classroom. Gone are the days of imagining what an Ancient Egyptian tomb might look like – now you can just strap on a headset and transport yourself there in a heartbeat.

The potential for using VR to teach history, geography and other subjects is incredible when you really think about it – and it’s not the only tech that’s going to shake things up.
…

Artificial intelligence is already doing groundbreaking things in areas like robotics, computer science, neuroscience and linguistics, but now they’re now entering the world of education too.

London-based edtech firm Digital Assess has been working on an AI app that has the potential to revolutionise the way youngsters learn.

With the backing of the UK Government, the company has been trialing its web-based application Formative Assess in schools in England.

Using semantic indexing and natural language processing in a similar way to social networking sites, an on-screen avatar – which can be a rubber duck or robot – quizzes students on their knowledge and provides them with individual feedback on their work.

Love this VR of a classroom lesson – 7 uses that really takes you there — from donaldclarkplanb.blogspot.com by Donald Clark

Excerpt:

I received a fascinating link via Twitter from Chris Edwards, a Deputy Head in Surrey, who was interested in views on his experiment with a 360 camera and VR. In the 360 degree video, Mike Kent, a Geography teacher, delivers a great lesson and you can look round the entire room as students and teacher move around, get things done, interact with the teacher and go through a Q&A session. It is fascinating. They’re using this approach for lesson observations allowing the teacher, or their colleagues, to watch it back in full Virtual Reality. This gives the teacher a view of themselves, from the student’s point of view, as well as observe ‘everything’ that happens in the classroom. It made me think of different possibilities…..

Good lessons by great teachers must surely be worth viewing by novice teachers. The rich set of processes, actions, behaviours, body language and interactions that go into a great lesson are complex, wonderfully captured in this example and could be done on any subject. A bank of such lessons would be far more useful than dry lesson plans.

From DSC:
Donald covers a range of ideas including using these 360 degree cameras and VR in regards to addressing:

Exemplar lessons
Teacher training in school
Behaviour training
Students
Parents
Class layout
Research

Also see:
(You can turn around/view the entire room and somewhat move about the space by zooming in and out):

Also see:

The new Google Arts & Culture, on exhibit now’ — from googleblog.blogspot.com

Excerpt (emphasis DSC):

Just as the world’s precious artworks and monuments need a touch-up to look their best, the home we’ve built to host the world’s cultural treasures online needs a lick of paint every now and then. We’re ready to pull off the dust sheets and introduce the new Google Arts & Culture website and app, by the Google Cultural Institute. The app lets you explore anything from cats in art since 200 BCE to the color red in Abstract Expressionism, and everything in between. Our new tools will help you discover works and artifacts, allowing you to immerse yourself in cultural experiences across art, history and wonders of the world—from more than a thousand museums across 70 countries…

Also see:

Google’s new app isn’t the next best thing to the Louvre. It might be better
Google Arts & Culture turns art from all over the world into a meta museum.

How might these enhancements to Siri and tvOS 10 impact education/training/learning-related offerings & applications? [Christian]

On 07/14/2016, in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, adult learning, analytics, Apple, Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, Blockchain, business, career development, change, changing business models, communities of practice, competency-based learning/education, content development, aggregation, repositories, convergence, corporate / business world, corporate universities / corporate training, cost of getting a degree, Daniel S. Christian, digital learning, disruption, distance education, education technology, elearning, emerging technologies, formal learning, future of higher education, game-changing environment, global / globalization, heutagogy, higher education, homeschooling/homeschoolers, human-computer interaction (HCI), ideas, informal learning, innovation, instructional design, intelligent systems, intelligent tutoring, interactivity, internet, K-12 related, learner profiles, learning, learning agents, learning ecosystem, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, learning hubs & pods & microschooling, learning preferences, learning spaces, lifelong learning, microlearning, mirroring and/or multiple devices, MOOCs -- Massive Open Online Courses, more voice more choice more control, multimedia, online learning, online tutoring, open courseware and systems, pace of change, participation, passions, personalized/customized learning, platforms, reinvent, second screen apps, smart/connected TV, social learning / networks, staying relevant, storytelling, streams of content, student-related, surviving, technologies for your home, telecommunications, telepresence, television, tools, training / L&D, transmedia, user experience (UX), videoconferencing, virtual field trips, virtual K-12 schools, virtual tutoring, vision/possibilities, web-based collaboration, webinars, workplace, by Daniel Christian

From DSC:
I read the article mentioned below. It made me wonder how 3 of the 4 main highlights that Fred mentioned (that are coming to Siri with tvOS 10) might impact education/training/learning-related applications and offerings made possible via tvOS & Apple TV:

Live broadcasts
Topic-based searches
The ability to search YouTube via Siri

The article prompted me to wonder:

Will educators and trainers be able to offer live lectures and training (globally) that can be recorded and later searched via Siri?
What if second screen devices could help learners collaborate and participate in active learning while watching what’s being presented on the main display/”TV?”
What if learning taken this way could be recorded on one’s web-based profile, a profile that is based upon blockchain-based technologies and maintained via appropriate/proven organizations of learning? (A profile that’s optionally made available to services from Microsoft/LinkedIn.com/Lynda.com and/or to a service based upon IBM’s Watson, and/or to some other online-based marketplace/exchange for matching open jobs to potential employees.)
Or what if you could earn a badge or prove a competency via this manner?

Hmmm…things could get very interesting…and very powerful.

More choice. More control. Over one’s entire lifetime.

Heutagogy on steroids.

Micro-learning.

Perhaps this is a piece of the future for MOOCs…

Apple TV gets new Siri features in tvOS 10 — from iphonefaq.org by Fred Straker

Excerpt:

The forthcoming update to Apple TV continues to bring fresh surprises for owners of Apple’s set top box. Many improvements are coming to tvOS 10, including single-sign-on support and an upgrade to Siri’s capabilities. Siri has already opened new doors thanks to the bundled Siri Remote, which simplifies many functions on the Apple TV interface. Four main highlights are coming to Siri with tvOS 10, which is expected to launch this fall.

Addendum on 7/17/16:

CBS News Launches New Apple TV App Designed Exclusively for tvOS — from macrumors.com

Excerpt:

CBS today announced the launch of an all-new Apple TV app that will center around the network’s always-on, 24-hour “CBSN” streaming network and has been designed exclusively for tvOS. In addition to the live stream of CBSN, the app curates news stories and video playlists for each user based on previously watched videos.

The new app will also take advantage of the 4th generation Apple TV’s deep Siri integration, allowing users to tell Apple’s personal assistant that they want to “Watch CBS News” to immediately start a full-screen broadcast of CBSN. While the stream is playing, users can interact with other parts of the app to browse related videos, bookmark some to watch later, and begin subscribing to specific playlists and topics.

Paper 53 is the ‘sketch-iPad’ you always wanted — from edtech4beginners.com

Excerpt:

Paper 53 is a brilliant app which combines drawings, notes, photos and sketches. It is available on the Appstore. The app is simple and user-friendly; just use your finger (or a stylus) to draw, paint, select colours, erase and lots more.

Google’s virtual reality field trips are available to everyone — from engadget.com by Jon Fingas
Students can also use Google Cast to share their screens across the classroom.

10 very good new educational web tools — from educatorstechnology.com

Excerpt:

Below is a collection of some new educational web tools and mobile apps to try out in your instruction. The purpose is to keep you updated about the new releases in the EdTech world and empower you with the necessary technology to take your teaching and learning to the next level. Some of the things you can do with these applications include: Learn English pronunciation from native speakers, easily save web content to Google, search YouTube without having to stop the video playing, learn basic math skills through challenging games and activities, unshare sent files in Gmail, create interactive and engaging videos by adding polls, short questions and quizzes, create beautiful presentations and animations using drawn images and stick figures and many more.

Teaching with digital timelines — from Derek Bruff

Excerpt:

This year the Center for Teaching hosted a few educational technology working groups for faculty, staff, and students interested in exploring ways particular technologies might meet their instructional goals. One of the groups investigated the use of digital timeline tools, like Tiki-Toki and TimelineJS, that facilitate the creation of online, multimedia, interactive, and collaborative timelines. I had used such tools in my own teaching, having asked my 2010 writing seminar students to create a class timeline on the history of cryptography, and I was eager to talk with other instructors about the potential of student-produced timelines.

Top 5 AI virtual assistants: Now and into the future — from interestingengineering.com

Excerpt:

In Silicon Valley and elsewhere there’s currently an AI arms race going on. The first wave of this race is centered around artificial virtual assistants that are poised to become our new digital best friends in the very near future. While many people are familiar with Apple’s popular AI virtual assistant, Siri, there are four other main players in the AI virtual assistant space.

From DSC:
Twitter is also a tool that you should consider putting in your toolbox — or in your students’ toolboxes. Consider how it was used here –> This Henry VIII Twitter Account Is The Best Way To Learn About Brexit | @KngHnryVIII tells it like it is (and like how it was in the 1500s).

Heuristic Media is working on 37 apps, 1 for each Shakespeare play — with The Tempest as its pilot app.

Addendum on 6/30/16:

A Good Infographic Featuring 30 Web Tools for Teacher Librarians — from educatorstechnology.com
.
7 Apps for Student Creators — from edutopia.org by Monica Burns
.
Introducing the new mobile app for Microsoft Flow — from flow.microsoft.com with thanks to Mr. Michael Haan, Technology Integration Specialist/Purchasing w/ Calvin Information Technology, for this resource

Stanford’s virtual reality lab cultivates empathy for the homeless — from kqed.org by Rachael Myrow

Excerpt:

The burgeoning field of Virtual Reality — or VR as it is commonly known — is a vehicle for telling stories through 360-degree visuals and sound that put you right in the middle of the action, be it at a crowded Syrian refugee camp, or inside the body of an 85-year-old with a bad hip and cataracts. Because of VR’s immersive properties, some people describe the medium as “the ultimate empathy machine.” But can it make people care about something as fraught and multi-faceted as homelessness?

A study in progress at Stanford’s Virtual Human Interaction Lab explores that question, and I strapped on an Oculus Rift headset (one of the most popular devices people currently use to experience VR) to look for an answer.

A new way of understanding homelessness
The study, called Empathy at Scale, puts participants in a variety of scenes designed to help them imagine the experience of being homeless themselves.

Blackboard announces partnerships with IBM & Amazon | IBM Watson to come into play

On 06/28/2016, in Amazon, Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, bots, cloud-based computing / apps / other cloud-related, collaboration, digital learning, education technology, higher education, human-computer interaction (HCI), IBM, innovation, K-12 related, vendors, by Daniel Christian

Blackboard Partners with IBM and Amazon Web Services (AWS) – North America Customer Announcement

Date Published: Jun 27,2016
Product: Collaborate, ANGEL, Learn, CE/Vista, Xythos, Moodlerooms, Analytics, Open Content
Article No.: 000042385

Announcement Details:
We are excited to share some news with you about Blackboard’s new partnership with IBM and Amazon Web Services (AWS) which will have far-reaching and lasting impacts for the education technology industry. This communication will provide details on how this will benefit our customers and other business partners.

This partnership will enable us to accelerate our focus on developing innovative educational products and services that serve the needs of our customers. And it will open the door for us to develop novel solutions benefiting the education ecosystem. There are two parts to this partnership that will benefit you:

Selection of AWS as our strategic cloud platform and partnership with IBM for operations and infrastructure management

We will partner with IBM in the operations and infrastructure management of Blackboard’s data centers. We have also selected AWS as our cloud services provider and entered into an agreement with IBM to manage our cloud services environments. This partnership will enable Blackboard to focus on what we do best – developing innovative educational products and services – while relying on the world-class data hosting and operational capabilities of IBM and AWS.

This partnership does not affect our Transact customers.

This partnership offers customers many benefits. It will enable us to accelerate our focus on developing innovative educational products and services that serve the needs of our customers. Furthermore, we will leverage IBM’s experience, scale, and tools with the goal of delivering the highest quality of service possible to our customers. This includes stringent service level agreements intended to ensure that Blackboard customers receive the most reliable and resilient hosting services available in the marketplace. In addition, this partnership allows for enhanced technical, organizational and physical security measures to safeguard Blackboard customer data. We will also leverage the power of the AWS ecosystem to accelerate product development and deployment; further improving customer experience in the future.

Our relationship with Amazon and IBM is integrated. There are no gaps in accountability for delivering reliable services to our clients. And its backed by a comprehensive and robust set of service level commitments to deliver highly available and responsive services for you.

Exclusive partnership to co-develop cognitive education solutions utilizing Watson

Blackboard and IBM have entered into an exclusive agreement to develop cognitive educational solutions for the K-12 and higher education markets. The partnership will combine Blackboard’s expertise in developing innovative education products in use by millions around the world, with the power of IBM Watson’s cognitive computing technology to create exclusive solutions to address some of the most pressing problems in education.

IBM Watson is a technology platform that uses natural language processing and machine learning to reveal insights from large amounts of unstructured data. In short, it can help to ‘hyper personalize’ the educational experience.

To sum it up, we’re tremendously excited about partnering with IBM and Amazon to deliver extraordinary capability to our customers. And we’re excited by what’s on the horizon for Blackboard and our customers as we continue to focus on delivering innovative products that address some of the most pressing challenges in education.

To learn more about our partnership, check out our press release on Blackboard.com. We’ll also provide further details in the weeks ahead through webinars and at BbWorld.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

1. Why did Blackboard select IBM and AWS as their partners?
We spent considerable time selecting our partners, and we’re confident in what both IBM and Amazon will deliver for our customers. IBM is one of the world’s top infrastructure management organizations, and is uniquely positioned because of its experience and work in the education space. AWS is the clear leader in cloud services, with the largest global cloud infrastructure footprint, the most well-developed ecosystem, tremendous momentum and rate of innovation.Both companies share our values and dedication to maintaining the privacy of customer data, and both have invested heavily in world-class security programs to keep your data safe in accordance with global standards and regulations.

2. Will the partnership extend to infrastructure provision and management for Blackboard’s Transact customers?
No. Transact will continue to operate as today with no changes.

3. How can I learn more about this partnership between Blackboard and IBM and the benefits to me?
In order to provide you with an opportunity to ask questions and learn more about this partnership and how it will benefit you, we have planned for several sessions at BbWorld, and have scheduled a series of customer webinars. BbWorld is scheduled for July 12-14 and the webinars will be scheduled in July and August.

4. Will this change in responsibility affect who I call if I have a question or issue?
No. Your support will continue to be handled by the same Blackboard team that exists today.

5. Will I see any changes as a result of the partnership? Yes. We expect that you will see operational improvements starting in the 3-6 month timeframe. These include improved system availability and accelerated response time to issues.

6. What does this mean for Security and Privacy?
IBM and AWS share our focus on providing highly secure environments and experiences. This partnership will provide an enhanced data security program and robust technical, organizational and physical security measures to protect customer data, including student data. Further, our agreement with IBM and AWS contains detailed provisions intended to safeguard data in North American markets in specific consideration of applicable privacy laws and regulations. These provisions include geographic restrictions on the location and transfer of customer data, and encryption standards, to comply with applicable law.

7. Does this partnership mean that I will need to move out of my existing Learn hosted environment?
No. While in time many customers are planning to transition their Learn deployment to our cloud environment, customers who are currently running Learn 9.1 in our managed hosting datacenters will not be required to move.

8. What about other Blackboard applications besides Learn?
Many other Blackboard applications are already delivered in a software-as-a-service model using Blackboard-managed datacenters. Over the coming years, IBM and Blackboard will work together to move these applications from Blackboard datacenters to AWS. Any migration plan will be developed in full consideration of giving customers an uninterrupted service and user experience.

9. What about the current SaaS deployment for Blackboard Learn?
There is no impact. Learn SaaS already runs on AWS.

10. What is IBM Watson?
IBM Watson is a technology platform that uses natural language processing and machine learning to reveal insights from large amounts of unstructured data. In short, it can help to ‘hyper personalize’ the educational experience.

Watson gained a level of fame in 2011 when the team put their technology up against two of Jeopardy’s greatest champions in the history of the game. It was an exciting two-day match that resulted in Watson beating out the competition – not just from right answers, but also from using the right strategy for wagers to win the game.

See how Watson beat the Jeopardy leaders in this short video.

How does Watson work? Watch this educational video.

11. Are there any definitive plans for the cognitive education solutions developed with Watson that I need to plan for at my institution?
We are in the early stages of this relationship. Blackboard and the Watson Education team are starting the process of scoping out the solutions that will bring the most value to K-12 and higher education. We plan to communicate our progress and solicit your input as we move forward.

12. What if I have more questions about this partnership?
There are three ways you can get answers to your questions:

Attend one of the multiple sessions planned for BbWorld.
Attend one of the online webinars will be schedule in the coming weeks.
Contact your Account Executive or Customer Success Advocate.

Addendum on 6/29/16:

Blackboard Inc. and IBM Enter Strategic Relationship to Develop Cognitive Solutions and Manage Infrastructure Operations
Excerpt:
IBM and Blackboard will work collaboratively to develop cognitive educational solutions utilizing the capabilities of both companies to advance learner success. The companies will combine Blackboard’s expertise in developing innovative education products used by millions of people around the world with the power of IBM Watson’s cognitive computing technology. The new solutions will offer greater support for teachers and students to address their collaborative needs in the classroom and help students complete and achieve their educational goals.

Amazon unveils online education service for teachers [Singer]

On 06/27/2016, in Amazon, digital learning, open courseware and systems, teachers, tools, vendors, by Daniel Christian

Amazon unveils online education service for teachers — from nytimes.com by Natasha Singer

Excerpt:

Just ahead of the back-to-school season, Amazon is making a major foray into the education technology market for primary and secondary schools, a territory that Apple, Google and Microsoft have heavily staked out.

On Monday morning, Amazon said that it would introduce an online marketplace with tens of thousands of free lesson plans, worksheets and other instructional materials for teachers in late August or early September.

Called Amazon Inspire, the education site has features that may seem quite familiar to frequent Amazon shoppers. Search bar at the top of the page? Check. User reviews? Check. Star ratings for each product? Check.

Interesting thought: “The future of online learning will happen via messaging services.” [Daily Bits Of]

On 06/22/2016, in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, adjunct faculty, adult learning, Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, bots, change, changing business models, colleges, communications, community colleges, corporate / business world, corporate universities / corporate training, digital learning, elearning, emerging technologies, faculty, future, higher education, homeschooling/homeschoolers, human-computer interaction (HCI), IBM, ideas, informal learning, innovation, intelligent systems, intelligent tutoring, interactivity, IT in HE, K-12 related, learning ecosystem, microlearning, new business models, online learning, social learning / networks, social media, streams of content, teachers, training / L&D, workplace, youth, by Daniel Christian

What the bot revolution could mean for online learning — from huffingtonpost.com by Daily Bits Of

Excerpt:

We’re embracing the bot revolution
With these limitations in mind, we embrace the bot movement. In short, having our bite-sized courses delivered via messaging platforms will open up a lot of new benefits for our users.

The courses will become social.
It will become easier to consume a course via a channel that fits best for the course.
The courses will become more interactive.
Bots will remove some of the friction

The future of online learning will happen via messaging services.

Also relevant here:

From DSC:
By posting such items, I’m not advocating that we remove teachers, professors, trainers, coaches, etc. from the education/training equations. Rather, I am advocating that we use technology as tools for educating and training people — and using technologies to help people of all ages grow, and reinvent themselves when necessary. Such tools should be used to help our overworked teachers, professors, trainers, etc. of the world in delivering excellent, effective elearning experiences for our students/employees.

“UX to LX: The Rise of Learner Experience Design” [Kilgore] — plus — “Ten skills you need to be a UX unicorn” [Ward]

On 06/21/2016, in 21st century, attention, career development, colleges, community colleges, digital learning, education technology, elearning, engagement / engaging students, experimentation, higher education, instructional design, learning, learning preferences, online learning, user experience (UX), using teams, by Daniel Christian

UX to LX: The Rise of Learner Experience Design — from edsurge.com by Whitney Kilgore

Excerpt:

Instructional design is now approaching a similar transition. Most student consumers have yet to experience great learning design, but the commoditization of online learning is forcing colleges and universities to think differently about how they construct digital courses. Courseware is enabling the development of new modalities and pedagogical shifts. An abundance of data now enables instructional designers to decode learning patterns. As a result, we are witnessing the growth of a new field: Learner Experience Design.

Parse higher-education job postings and descriptions, and it’s evident that LX design is, as a discipline, among the fastest growing fields in education. But what exactly makes for great learning design, and how can instructional designers ensure they remain competitive in this new era of student-centric education?
…
The transition to digital content has made entirely new layers of student data available. Learners now leave a digital footprint that allows designers to understand how students are interacting with course materials and for how long. LX designers can develop course pathways that connect student challenges to specific sections of content. For the first time, faculty have insights into time on task—before, during and after class. Ready access to student behavior data is helping institutions develop powerful predictive analytics, and LX designers are leading the field to make more and better informed choices on content delivery to help students better understand the critical concepts.

The groundswell of data and learning technology shows no sign of slowing down, and a LX designer’s job will grow more complex alongside it. Learner experience designers must rise to the challenge, so universities can deliver online courses that captivate and resonate with each unique student.

Ten skills you need to be a UX unicorn — from medium.com by Conor Ward

Excerpt:

So if the discipline of UX is not about improving how things LOOK, but instead how they WORK, then of course UX Design includes a multitude of varied deep specialisms and expertise. How could it not?

Well, thats where the mythical part of this discussion comes in, many UX designers out there still believe very strongly (and for good reason) that this multi skilled ‘specialist-generalist’ cannot exist.

They could well be correct in their current circumstances. For example if their company does not work like this, then how could they? Especially if their company is an agency, and their access to users is limited or non-existent.

My own experience is that we must strive towards unicorn-ism. I have created and curated a fantastic team of UX Unicorns (yes a group of unicorns is called a blessing, Google says so) and more importantly together with my colleagues and bosses we have created the environment for them to survive and thrive.

From DSC:
The above two articles get at a piece of what I was trying to relay out at The EvoLLLution.com. And that is, the growing complexities of putting digitally-based materials online — with a high degree of engagement, professionalism, and quality — require the use of specialists. One person simply can’t do it all anymore. In fact, User Experience Designers and Learner Experience Designers are but a couple of the potential players at the table.

Specialists central to high-quality, engaging online programming [Christian]

On 06/20/2016, in 21st century, adjunct faculty, analytics, Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, attention, Augmented Reality (AR), bots, changing business models, colleges, communications, community colleges, content development, aggregation, repositories, convergence, dangers of the status quo, Daniel S. Christian, data related items, design, digital audio, digital learning, digital photography, digital storytelling, digital textbooks, digital video, distance education, e-publishing related items (EPUB and more), education technology, educational games / serious games, elearning, emerging technologies, engagement / engaging students, faculty, future of higher education, game-changing environment, higher education, human-computer interaction (HCI), ideas, innovation, instructional design, intelligent systems, intelligent tutoring, interaction design, interactivity, interface design, learning ecosystem, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, lifelong learning, Michigan, Mixed Reality (MR), mobile learning, multimedia, online learning, pace of change, pedagogy, personalized/customized learning, social learning / networks, student-related, teaching & learning, teaching online, transmedia, trends, United States, universities, usability, user experience (UX), user interface design, using teams, Virtual Reality (VR) / worlds / learning, web design and production, web-based collaboration, writing, by Daniel Christian

Specialists central to high-quality, engaging online programming — from EvoLLLution.com (where the LLL stands for lifelong learning) by Daniel Christian

Excerpts:

Creating high-quality online courses is getting increasingly complex—requiring an ever-growing set of skills. Faculty members can’t do it all, nor can instructional designers, nor can anyone else. As time goes by, new entrants and alternatives to traditional institutions of higher education will likely continue to appear on the higher education landscape—the ability to compete will be key.

…

For example, will there be a need for the following team members in your not-too-distant future?

Human Computer Interaction (HCI) Specialists: those with knowledge of how to leverage Virtual Reality (VR), Augmented Reality (AR), and Mixed Reality (MR) in order to create fun and engaging learning experiences (while still meeting the learning objectives)
Data Scientists
Artificial Intelligence Integrators
Cognitive Computing Specialists
Intelligent Tutoring Developers
Learning Agent Developers
Algorithm Developers
Personalized Learning Specialists
Cloud-based Learner Profile Administrators
Transmedia Designers
Social Learning Experts

If the future of TV is apps, and if bots are the new apps, does that mean that the future of TV is bots…?

On 06/16/2016, in 21st century, Apple, bots, Daniel S. Christian, digital learning, ideas, Microsoft, smart/connected TV, tools, trends, usability, user experience (UX), user interface design, vendors, by Daniel Christian

From DSC:
If the future of TV is apps > and if bots are the new apps > does that mean that the future of TV is bots…?

bots-are-loving-you-9-638

Learning Ecosystems

Stanford’s virtual reality lab cultivates empathy for the homeless [Myrow]

Amazon unveils online education service for teachers [Singer]

“UX to LX: The Rise of Learner Experience Design” [Kilgore] — plus — “Ten skills you need to be a UX unicorn” [Ward]

If the future of TV is apps, and if bots are the new apps, does that mean that the future of TV is bots…?

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