distance education

Alternative Credentials, Scaled Degrees, and the New Higher Ed Matthew Effect — from insidehighered.com by Joshua Kim
The potential impact of elite-branded affordable online certificates and degrees on regionally-branded tuition-dependent colleges and universities.

Excerpt:

I pulled those quotes from the 8/10/20 IHE article At Home, Workers Seek Alternative Credentials. Given the crazy times, I’m not sure if that article is getting the attention across higher ed that it deserves. Everyone is entirely focused on the near-term challenges of academic continuity during the pandemic. And that is the right place to be focusing. You can’t plan for the long-term when the short-term is so unstable.

But today, I’m going to ask you to do just that. If you can, step back from thinking about COVID-19 and what is happening to your school in the fall, and give some thought to the medium-to-long-term impact of the rise of alternative credentials and scaled degrees to your institution.

First, let me ask you a question. How does your school balance its books? Where does the money come from?

DC: For those involved in Theatre, here’s to such innnovation in the future!

On 08/21/2020, in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, active learning, attention, career development, change, collaboration, colleges, communities of practice, community colleges, computer science, content development, aggregation, repositories, creativity, Daniel S. Christian, digital audio, digital learning, digital storytelling, digital video, distance education, drama/theater, education, education technology, educational games / serious games, elearning, engagement / engaging students, future, higher education, ideas, innovation, interaction design, interactivity, interface design, learning ecosystem, liberal arts, media/film, multimedia, music, online learning, participation, platforms, programming, project-based learning, real-world assignments, remote teaching and learning, society, storytelling, student-related, surviving, United States, universities, user experience (UX), user interface design, using teams, Virtual Reality (VR) / worlds / learning, vision/possibilities, web design and production, web-based collaboration, writing, XR - extended reality, by Daniel Christian

From edsurge.com today:

THOROUGHLY MODERN MEDIA: This spring, a college theater course about women’s voting rights aimed to produce a new play about the suffrage struggle. When the pandemic scuttled those plans, professors devised a new way to share suffragist stories by creating an interactive, online performance set in a virtual Victorian mansion. And their students were not the only ones exploring women’s voting rights as the country marks the 100th anniversary of the Nineteenth Amendment.

…which linked to:

The Pandemic Made Their Women’s Suffrage Play Impossible. But the Show Went on— Virtually — from edsurge.com by Rebecca Koenig

Excerpts:

Then the pandemic hit. Students left Radford and Virginia Tech. Live theater was canceled.

But the class wasn’t.

“Neither of us ever said, ‘Forget it,’” Hood says. “Our students, they all wanted to know, ‘What are we doing?’ We came to them with this insane idea.”

They would create an interactive, online production staged in a virtual Victorian mansion.
…
“Stage performance is different than film or audio. If you just have audio, you only have your voice. Clarity, landing sentences, really paying attention to the structure of a sentence, becomes important,” Nelson says. “Students got a broader sense of the skills and approaches to different mediums—a crash course.”

From DSC:
Talk about opportunities for interdisciplinary learning/projects!!! Playwrights, directors, actors/actresses, set designers, graphic designers, fine artists, web designers and developers, interactivity/interface designers, audio designers, video editors, 3D animators, and more!!!

Let’s use television to minimize the learning gaps that will otherwise be experienced by many students this next year! [Christian]

On 08/19/2020, in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, A/V -- audio/visual, Amazon, Apple, collaboration, communications, content development, aggregation, repositories, convergence, creativity, Daniel S. Christian, digital audio, digital learning, digital storytelling, digital video, distance education, education, engagement / engaging students, game-changing environment, homeschooling/homeschoolers, ideas, innovation, instructional design, internet, K-12 related, learning, learning ecosystem, Learning Experience Design, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, learning hubs & pods & microschooling, media/film, microlearning, multimedia, parents/guardians, participation, passions, platforms, policy, political science, remote teaching and learning, social learning / networks, society, sociology, staying relevant, STEAM-related, storytelling, strategy, streams of content, student-related, surviving, teachers, teaching & learning, technologies for your home, television, tools, TVs, United States, user experience (UX), vendors, vision/possibilities, youth, by Daniel Christian

From DSC:

If one doesn’t have access to the Internet, a computer, or any such mobile technology as seen in the image above…could TV become the medium through which one could be educated during this next year of the Coronavirus situation? That is, until we can develop better and more equitable policies, plans, funding, systems, infrastructures, and connectivity for all students!
After that, could we see more televisions morph into smart/connected TVs?
Could PBS, ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox, and other major networks collaborate with the U.S. Department of Education to help us educate all students?
Could the largest internet company of 2030 be an online school as Thomas Frey predicts?

A few years ago, I had hoped that Apple was going to go all-in with their tvOS platform.

SAN FRANCISCO, CA – SEPTEMBER 9: Apple CEO Tim Cook introduces the New Apple TV during a Special Event; 9/9/15.

Though it’s still early in the game, that really hasn’t happened to the extent that I had hoped. That said, more recently, I was encouraged to see this article from back in July:

Let’s ask the employees of PBS, ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox, and other networks if they would be willing to work with the U.S. Department of Education to help educate ALL students! Though educational TV is not new, I’m talking about taking things to a *whole* new level.

With that in mind, I created the following graphic:

(One might ask why I used an old television in the above graphic. I was trying to get at the idea that one might not have a lot of resources to work with.)

“We, as a nation, have to do much better on this issue! It’s not right.” [Christian]

On 08/19/2020, in Daniel S. Christian, digital learning, distance education, education, education reform, education technology, elearning, future, game-changing environment, homeschooling/homeschoolers, human-computer interaction (HCI), ideas, internet, K-12 related, leadership, learning, learning ecosystem, Learning Experience Design, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, learning spaces, legislatures / government / legal, online learning, parents/guardians, participation, platforms, policy, political science, society, staying relevant, student-related, surviving, teachers, teaching & learning, teaching online, technologies for your home, telecommunications, tools, trends, United States, usability, user experience (UX), vendors, youth, by Daniel Christian

Back-to-School Help for Students Without Internet — from by James K. Willcox
For millions of families, broadband access is a challenge. These resources can help bridge that digital divide.

Excerpt:

“If it wasn’t glaringly clear before, the pandemic has confirmed the vital importance of a broadband internet connection—one that is reliable, affordable, and in some cases, simply available,” says Jonathan Schwantes, senior policy counsel in Consumers Reports’ Washington, D.C., office. “Unfortunately, far too many Americans lack access or are unable to afford broadband.”

A new state-by-state report on America’s K-12 students by Common Sense and Boston Consulting finds that almost 16 million students and 10 percent of teachers lack adequate internet or computing devices at home. Minority households are among the most affected. Though 18 percent of white homes lack broadband, the figure rises to 26 percent for Latinx homes and 30 percent for Black homes. The percentage is even higher among Native American households.

From DSC:
Though this solid article lists some very helpful resources, we have to do much better than this as a nation! It’s not right.

My thanks to James McQueen for this resource.

With an eye towards the future…what questions should we be asking about learning experience design (#LXD)? [Christian]

On 08/19/2020, in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, 3D, A/V -- audio/visual, active learning, adjunct faculty, adult learning, attention, change, collaboration, colleges, communications, communities of practice, community colleges, competency-based learning/education, content development, aggregation, repositories, convergence, corporate / business world, corporate universities / corporate training, creativity, Daniel S. Christian, digital audio, digital learning, digital storytelling, digital textbooks, digital video, distance education, e-books, e-publishing related items (EPUB and more), education, education reform, education technology, educational games / serious games, elearning, emerging technologies, engagement / engaging students, experimentation, future, future of higher education, game-changing environment, generational differences, heutagogy, higher education, homeschooling/homeschoolers, human-computer interaction (HCI), ideas, immersion, informal learning, innovation, instructional design, intelligent systems, intelligent tutoring, IT in HE, K-12 related, law schools, learning, learning agents, learning ecosystem, Learning Experience Design, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, learning hubs & pods & microschooling, learning preferences, learning spaces, lifelong learning, love of learning, mobile learning, more voice more choice more control, motivation, online learning, online media, online tutoring, participation, passions, pedagogy, personalized/customized learning, platforms, social learning / networks, society, staying relevant, storytelling, streams of content, student-related, teachers, teaching & learning, teaching online, training / L&D, ubiquitous learning, universities, user experience (UX), using teams, videoconferencing, virtual field trips, virtual K-12 schools, Virtual Reality (VR) / worlds / learning, virtual tutoring, vision/possibilities, XR - extended reality, by Daniel Christian

From DSC:
Some of the following questions came to my mind recently:

In this age of the Coronavirus, how can we think differently about learning experience design (#LXD)?
How can *teams* of people come together to reimagine what learning could look like in the future? Who might be some new players at the table? More students? Artists? Actors? More animators? More technicians and people from A/V? Specialists in XR? Corporate trainers coming together with Instructional Designers from higher ed and from K-12? #learningecosystems #future
How can we better tighten up the alignment between K-12, higher ed / vocational programs, and the corporate world?
How can we make self-directed learning more prevalent (which would release an enormous amount of energy & creativity)? #heutagogy

Maybe those aren’t even the right questions…

If not, what do you think? What questions should we be asking about learning these days?

#LXD #learningecosystems #future #lifelonglearning #onlinelearning #highereducation #K12 #corporatelearning #heutagogy

The main thing we need to remember is that this space no longer serves as an accessory to face-to-face teaching. It is now our main contact point with learners, so it needs to play different roles: communication channel, learning path, interaction platform and community space. Teachers therefore need a certain degree of freedom to design this space in the best way that suits their teaching style and philosophy as well as their course content and learning objectives.
…
What became obvious in the past months is that when it comes to teaching and learning fully online, the learning experience design aspect, including look, feel and logic of the platform from the users’ perspective- be it teachers or students-, are at least as important as the content.

(source)

Moving Law School Online: Resources for Students [Moon]

On 08/10/2020, in digital learning, distance education, law schools, learning, learning ecosystem, online learning, by Daniel Christian

Moving Law School Online: Resources for Students; as curated by Cat Moon (@inspiredcat) at @vanderbiltlaw

Excerpt:

Curated by Cat Moon @ Vanderbilt Law School in response to the nationwide move to learning online during the coronavirus pandemic. … Resources are organized under the following headings, in order: Remote Learning, Self-Care and Emotional Support, General Resources.

Some solid questions for your next student-based evaluation; #metacognition; #onlinelearning; #remotelearning

On 08/10/2020, in assessment, colleges, community colleges, digital learning, distance education, law schools, metacognition / metacognitive skills, online learning, productivity / tips and tricks, student-related, teaching & learning, teaching online, universities, by Daniel Christian

Metacognition and Learning How to Learn Online – Preparing for Fall Teaching in Physically Distanced, Hybrid, or Remote Courses — from prawfsblawg.blogs.com

Excerpt:

Here are some specific metacognition prompts that you can also use, either through polling software or reflection that students do on their own:

What helped you learn in the spring when classes went online? What practices or strategies do wish you had adopted?
If you were to do [name specific assignment] again, what would you do differently? What would you do in the same way?
Think about today’s class. What strategies did you use to prepare? How do you think they worked? What other strategies would you like to try?
What does fully preparing for class include for you? Create a list of the things you want to do on your own to understand the material before coming to class.
If you were to spend 30 minutes after class reflecting on what we learned today, what specific things would you do during this time?
What are your goals for this course in light of your larger motivation in coming to law school?
What have you done so far this semester that has helped you to achieve these goals? What specific strategies could you try to help you achieve these goals?

For the full series on preparing to teach this fall, see:

Remote & Physically Distanced Teaching

Another type of learning ecosystem (online, but from beautiful places!)

On 08/05/2020, in adjunct faculty, adult learning, colleges, community colleges, credentialing, Daniel S. Christian, digital learning, distance education, education, elearning, engagement / engaging students, faculty/staff, higher education, ideas, internet, K-12 related, law schools, learning, learning ecosystem, Learning Experience Design, learning hubs & pods & microschooling, learning spaces, lifelong learning, love of learning, more voice more choice more control, motivation, online learning, parents/guardians, participation, passions, student-related, teachers, teaching & learning, teaching online, United States, user experience (UX), vendors, vision/possibilities, workplace, by Daniel Christian

From DSC:
I instantly see the inequities involved here — as only those with the resources can choose this route. Also, one would have to be careful about how many others are around you choosing to do the same thing. (Otherwise, it defeats the purpose of social distancing, and one might as well be back in a physical classroom.)

All that said, I post this because I’m intrigued by the different ways people are enhancing their learning ecosystems. The creativity out there is wonderful to see. Learning should be fun.

For that matter, a few words could be interchanged to create a slightly different perspective here…

Teach from here instead

Work from here instead

Law schools should have flexibility in responding to ‘extraordinary circumstances,’ ABA House of Delegates says [Francis Ward]

On 08/04/2020, in distance education, e-books, e-publishing related items (EPUB and more), face-to-face, health, law schools, Legal operations, library / librarians, online learning, policy, remote teaching and learning, by Daniel Christian

Law schools should have flexibility in responding to ‘extraordinary circumstances,’ ABA House of Delegates says — from abajournal.com by Stephanie Francis Ward

Excerpt:

Resolutions regarding distance-education programs, the adoption of emergency policies by law schools, teach-out plans and provisional program approval were approved this week by the American Bar Association’s House of Delegates.

Also see:

12 tips for building your digital law library in the age of COVID-19 — from abovethelaw.com by Jean O’Grady
The COVID-19 pandemic is causing firms to fast forward into designing the law firm of the future.

ECAR Study of Community College Faculty and Information Technology, 2020 [Galanek & Gierdowski]

On 07/30/2020, in adjunct faculty, community colleges, digital audio, digital learning, digital video, distance education, education technology, faculty/staff, higher education, human-computer interaction (HCI), IT in HE, by Daniel Christian

ECAR Study of Community College Faculty and Information Technology, 2020 — from by Joseph Galanek and Dana C. Gierdowski
Community colleges have historically positioned themselves as institutions that respond to local and regional educational needs. Understanding community college faculty technology preferences and experiences can aid institutional efforts to increase student success.

Excerpt:

ECAR Study of Community College Faculty and Information Technology, 2020 provides community college technology and higher education leaders with recommendations for addressing the most pressing technology support and solution needs for faculty, with the goal of enriching faculty teaching experiences on campus and helping advance student success.

Zoom Launches Zoom For Home

On 07/22/2020, in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, A/V -- audio/visual, adjunct faculty, cloud-based computing / apps / other cloud-related, collaboration, colleges, communications, communities of practice, community colleges, corporate / business world, corporate universities / corporate training, digital audio, digital learning, digital video, distance education, education, education technology, future, future of higher education, game-changing environment, global / globalization, higher education, homeschooling/homeschoolers, human-computer interaction (HCI), ideas, innovation, instructional design, internet, IT in HE, K-12 related, law schools, learning, learning ecosystem, Learning Experience Design, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, learning hubs & pods & microschooling, multimedia, New "Amazon.com" of Higher Education, online learning, online tutoring, participation, platforms, productivity / tips and tricks, remote teaching and learning, second screen apps, society, teaching & learning, teaching online, technologies for your home, tools, training / L&D, TVs, United States, universities, user experience (UX), vendors, videoconferencing, virtual K-12 schools, virtual tutoring, web-based collaboration, webinars, workplace, by Daniel Christian

Zoom Launches Zoom For Home — from which-50.com

Excerpts:

Zoom Video Communications has announced Zoom for Home, which it describes as a new category of software experiences and hardware devices to support remote work use cases. The focus is on improving employee experiences to connect remotely and be productive.

Features for the all-in-one 27-inch device include: three built-in wide-angle cameras for high-resolution video; an 8-microphone array for crystal-clear audio in meetings and phone calls; and, an ultra-responsive touch display for interactive screen sharing, whiteboarding, annotating, and ideation.

Also see:

ZOOM FOR HOME – DTEN ME: VIDEO CONFERENCING JUST GOT PERSONAL — from blog.dten.com by Scott Krueckeberg
VIDEO CONFERENCE LIKE A BOSS — from blog.dten.com by Nia Celestin

From DSC:
Again, we see some further innovation in this space. The longer the Coronavirus impacts things, the further ahead the online-learning space will be catapulted. This type of device consolidates several devices into one, while making it intuitive and likely easy to annotate items on it.

Pedagogical considerations for instructional videoconferencing sessions [Major]

On 07/21/2020, in adjunct faculty, attention, collaboration, colleges, communications, community colleges, Daniel S. Christian, distance education, education technology, engagement / engaging students, higher education, ideas, innovation, instructional design, IT in HE, learning, learning ecosystem, Learning Experience Design, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, metacognition / metacognitive skills, online learning, pedagogy, platforms, presentations, productivity / tips and tricks, professional development, remote teaching and learning, student-related, teachers, teaching & learning, teaching online, telepresence, tools, universities, user experience (UX), vendors, videoconferencing, by Daniel Christian

Pedagogical considerations for instructional videoconferencing sessions — from onlinelearningconsortium.org by Amanda Major

Excerpt:

Presented here are recommendations and strategies to support educators.

We hope you find these pedagogical considerations for faculty holding a synchronous class session via a video conferencing tool as timely, practical, and rewarding. The intent is to allay your anxieties about offering quality instruction to your students; thereby, helping you to adapt quickly to this new situation.

The ending points of your content delivery should make a lasting impression. Try these ideas:

- Wrap-up your session with a Parking Lot designed as a quadrant (see below), use a shared document and include the following quadrant headings/questions so students can respond in real time:

Also see the idea of a learning journal here.

Florida educators file lawsuit to protect health and well-being of students, educators and communities — from feaweb.org, with thanks to Staci Maiers for this resource

Excerpt:

TALLAHASSEE — Along with educators and parents, the Florida Education Association filed suit Monday against Gov. Ron DeSantis, Commissioner Richard Corcoran, the Florida Department of Education, the Florida State Board of Education and Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Gimenez to safeguard the health and welfare of public school students, educators and the community at large. The lawsuit intends to stop the reckless and unsafe reopening of public school campuses as coronavirus infections surge statewide.

Also see:

COVID-19 language in waivers for extracurriculars heighten reopening safety concerns — from educationdive.com by Naaz Modan

Here’s how colleges should help close the digital divide in the COVID-Era [Brownlee]

On 07/17/2020, in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, Bring your own device (BYOD), colleges, community colleges, content development, aggregation, repositories, cost of getting a degree, digital learning, distance education, economics, education, education reform, education technology, future, higher education, ideas, internet, learning ecosystem, Learning Experience Design, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, liberal arts, online learning, online media, online tutoring, participation, reinvent, remote teaching and learning, social learning / networks, society, sociology, student-related, surviving, teaching online, technologies for your home, telecommunications, tools, trends, United States, universities, vendors, vision/possibilities, youth, by Daniel Christian

Here’s how colleges should help close the digital divide in the COVID-Era — from edsurge.com by Dr. Mordecai I. Brownlee

Excerpt:

One key problem prevalent in many low-socioeconomic communities around the nation—like San Antonio, which now has the highest poverty rate of the country’s 25 largest metro areas—is the digital divide. Digital divide is a term used to describe the gap present in society between those who have access to the internet and technology and those who don’t.

It speaks directly to a primary challenge facing our education system in this COVID-era: Some students and families have the means to succeed in a remote learning environment, and others do not.

Macro.io — another example of the forthcoming innovation in online-based meetings & learning

On 07/16/2020, in 21st century, A/V -- audio/visual, analytics, Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, cloud-based computing / apps / other cloud-related, collaboration, communications, corporate / business world, corporate universities / corporate training, Daniel S. Christian, digital audio, digital learning, digital video, distance education, education technology, emerging technologies, engagement / engaging students, experimentation, Google, higher education, human-computer interaction (HCI), ideas, innovation, interactivity, IT in HE, K-12 related, law schools, learning ecosystem, Learning Experience Design, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, learning hubs & pods & microschooling, multimedia, New "Amazon.com" of Higher Education, online learning, platforms, presentations, productivity / tips and tricks, remote teaching and learning, streams of content, student-related, teaching online, technologies for your home, tools, United States, universities, usability, user experience (UX), user interface design, vendors, videoconferencing, virtual field trips, virtual K-12 schools, Virtual Reality (VR) / worlds / learning, virtual tutoring, visualizing information, web-based collaboration, webinars, by Daniel Christian

DC: Individuals or teams can use this tool that works on top of Zoom (i.e., doesn’t require the network effect to make a diff). How might such functionality impact online-based learning?#onlinelearning #inclusion #videoconferencing https://t.co/b2IFvHpsVO

— Daniel Christian (@dchristian5) July 15, 2020

“Existing meeting interfaces had been designed with a singular goal, to simply enable virtual conversations. How could we build a meeting interface from the ground-up that intentionally facilitates engaging, productive, and inclusive conversations?”

Learning Ecosystems

Alternative Credentials, Scaled Degrees, and the New Higher Ed Matthew Effect [Kim]

Moving Law School Online: Resources for Students [Moon]

ECAR Study of Community College Faculty and Information Technology, 2020 [Galanek & Gierdowski]

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