education technology

Is Blockchain Ready for Prime Time in Education? — from er.educause.edu by Wayne Skipper

Excerpt:

This is not to say that using blockchains to store educational records is in itself a poor use of the technology. Instead, what is needed is an open technology ecosystem that combines public blockchains, private blockchains, and off-chain storage, combining the strengths of each technology to create a decentralized storage mechanism whose verification incentives are not tied to currency markets. This approach offers all the benefits of blockchain-powered record verification without the worry that external economic factors or new technologies might render education records corruptible—and without the need to trust in the continued existence of any single technology company.

In early 2018, Concentric Sky and partners BrightHive and the DXtera Institute proposed such a blockchain ecosystem, called EdRec. EdRec is a learner-centric, open standards approach to learning record storage “on the blockchain,” with self-sovereignty of learner data as its key design principle. The project’s goal is to create a privacy-focused open technology standard that any company can implement in their products.

The proposal was a winner of the US Department of Education’s Reimagining the Higher Education Ecosystem Challenge, and since then, the project has begun to attract numerous institutions and large employers that see the value of a vendor-independent, machine-readable lifelong learning profile based on open technology standards.

Our elevator pitch: Your “permanent” educational record has never been truly yours. Wouldn’t you want to control it, control access as you progress from one transition to the next, and optimize it for your desired success? We’re rewriting the rules of the game for personal education data by empowering learners with control of their own permanent education record across institutions, applications, and platforms.

From concentricsky.com

Also see:

Blockchain: What’s Not to Like? [podcast] — from er.educause.edu by David Rosenthal

From DSC:
I’ve been hoping for this for a while now…

The information below is from Deb Molfetta, Outreach Coordinator at EdDPrograms.org

EdDPrograms.org helps educators and administrators research doctoral education opportunities. Their organization’s work in education began in 2008 with projects ranging from a new teacher survival guide to their own teacher education scholarship program. More recently they realized that there weren’t any websites dedicated to professional development through Doctor of Education (EdD) programs, which is why they created their own – EdDPrograms.org. It covers a lot of ground, but here are a few sections they think administrators will appreciate:

A detailed overview of the EdD, including what to expect and how to choose a program
https://www.eddprograms.org/schools/
.
Specialized guides to EdD programs for leadership positions
https://www.eddprograms.org/schools/educational-leadership/
https://www.eddprograms.org/schools/organizational-leadership/
.
A comprehensive directory of EdD programs organized by state and delivery format. For example:
https://www.eddprograms.org/schools/online/
https://www.eddprograms.org/schools/michigan/

EdDPrograms.org is owned and operated by a group that has been creating post-secondary education resources since 2008. According to Deb, they have a history of providing students with objective, fact-based resources.

Inspiring Leaders | Anthony G. Picciano — from virtuallyinspired.org
Co-founder of CUNY Online and founding member of the Online Learning Consortium, shares his insights on his new book, “Online Education: Foundations, Planning, and Pedagogy,” building a community in an online classroom, gaming and more.

Excerpts/items mentioned in this video:

Research Initiative for Teaching Effectiveness, University of Central Florida
Reports from the Babson Survey Research Group, Babson College
2010 U.S. Dept of Education meta-analysis — older now, but still a pivotal study
Tap into what students already know; have students bring their own experiences into the topics/discussions; bring their own materials and interests
Have students own the course as much as possible
Limit the amount of lecturing — introduce humor where possible; tap into students’ interests
Chunk lecturing up into 6-8 minute pieces — then introduce some activity that forces the students to do something
The River City — Chris Dede (mainly for high school students)
MIT elude — how to deal w/ depression
Fortnite
Elegance in simplicity — clean format, where things are, streamlined –6-7 clearly-labeled buttons, I understand what I have to do here; make it simple, not complex; use techs where makes good pedagogical sense
Future: AI, nanotechnology will lead to more quantum computing, cloud computing

Quantum computing is a whole of the level of digital circuitry design. That will allow much more power, much more speed, the likes of which we have not seen in digital technology. When that comes, that opens up lots of other possibilities in applications like artificial intelligence, like robotics, like cloud computing. All of these will be significantly enhanced as we move to a quantum computing type environment. When that happens, we will see a whole other level of digital activity not just in teaching and learning but everything we do.

Also see:

For a next gen learning platform: A Netflix-like interface to check out potential functionalities / educationally-related “apps” [Christian]

On 02/12/2019, in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, A/V -- audio/visual, adult learning, career development, cloud-based computing / apps / other cloud-related, CMS/LMS, colleges, communities of practice, community colleges, consortiums, content development, aggregation, repositories, corporate / business world, corporate universities / corporate training, cost of getting a degree, credentialing, Daniel S. Christian, digital learning, disruption, distance education, education, education technology, elearning, emerging technologies, future, future of higher education, global / globalization, heutagogy, higher education, homeschooling/homeschoolers, human-computer interaction (HCI), ideas, innovation, instructional design, intelligent systems, intelligent tutoring, internet, K-12 related, law schools, learning, learning agents, learning ecosystem, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, learning hubs & pods & microschooling, learning preferences, learning spaces, library / librarians, lifelong learning, love of learning, MBA, media/film, microlearning, MOOCs -- Massive Open Online Courses, more voice more choice more control, multimedia, Natural Language Processing (NLP), online learning, online media, online tutoring, personalized/customized learning, platforms, professional development, smart classrooms, social learning / networks, society, staying relevant, streams of content, teaching & learning, technologies for your home, technology (general), television, tools, training / L&D, transmedia, TVs, user experience (UX), user interface design, vendors, videoconferencing, virtual field trips, virtual K-12 schools, Virtual Reality (VR) / worlds / learning, virtual tutoring, vision/possibilities, web-based collaboration, by Daniel Christian

From DSC:
In a next generation learning system, it would be sharp/beneficial to have a Netflix-like interface to check out potential functionalities that you could turn on and off (at will) — as one component of your learning ecosystem that could feature a setup located in your living room or office.

For example, put a Netflix-like interface to the apps out at eduappcenter.com (i.e., using a rolling interface at first, then going to a static page/listing of apps…again…similar to Netflix).

State of Higher Ed LMS Market for US & Canada: 2018 Year-End Edition [Hill]

On 02/09/2019, in Canada, Canvas - and other Instructure-related items, CMS/LMS, colleges, community colleges, education technology, higher education, IT in HE, teaching & learning, tools, United States, universities, vendors, by Daniel Christian

State of Higher Ed LMS Market for US and Canada: 2018 Year-End Edition — from mfeldstein.com by Phill Hill

Excerpts:

The market continues to consolidate around the Big Four – Blackboard, Canvas, D2L Brightspace, and Moodle.
The Homegrown option for LMS usage is going away, at least in a statistical sense. Only a handful of schools even consider this option.

How Museums are using Augmented Reality [Coates]

On 02/09/2019, in 21st century, 3D, A/V -- audio/visual, attention, Augmented Reality (AR), digital learning, education technology, emerging technologies, XR - extended reality, by Daniel Christian

How Museums are using Augmented Reality — from museumnext.com by Charlotte Coates

Excerpt:

How can museums use augmented reality?
There are many possibilities for the use of AR in museums. The most straightforward way is to use it to add explanations of pieces. This means visitors will get more information when they view exhibitions using AR. Museums could even use it to display digital versions of artists next to their work. These 3D personas are then able to provide a narration. AR gives an opportunity to add a third dimension to displays, bringing objects or scenes to life. There are already many institutions around the world using AR. These projects bring something new to existing collections and attract wider audiences. Here are some interesting ways that museums are using augmented reality.

13 industries soon to be revolutionized by artificial intelligence [Forbes Technology Council]

On 01/30/2019, in 21st century, Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, business, corporate / business world, education, education technology, emerging technologies, health, internet, IT in HE, nursing, trends, United States, workplace, by Daniel Christian

13 industries soon to be revolutionized by artificial intelligence — from forbes.com by the Forbes Technology Council

Excerpt:

Artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) have a rapidly growing presence in today’s world, with applications ranging from heavy industry to education. From streamlining operations to informing better decision making, it has become clear that this technology has the potential to truly revolutionize how the everyday world works.

While AI and ML can be applied to nearly every sector, once the technology advances enough, there are many fields that are either reaping the benefits of AI right now or that soon will be. According to a panel of Forbes Technology Council members, here are 13 industries that will soon be revolutionized by AI.

Two articles regarding Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the K-12 classroom

On 01/26/2019, in 21st century, Amazon, Apple, Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, bots, computer science, curriculum, digital learning, education, education technology, emerging technologies, engagement / engaging students, Google, K-12 related, online learning, teachers, United States, youth, by Daniel Christian

Online curricula helps teachers tackle AI in the classroom — from educationdive.com by Lauren Barack

Dive Brief:

Schools may already use some form of artificial intelligence (AI), but hardly any have curricula designed to teach K-12 students how it works and how to use it, wrote EdSurge. However, organizations such as the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) are developing their own sets of lessons that teachers can take to their classrooms.
Members of “AI for K-12” — an initiative co-sponsored by the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence and the Computer Science Teachers Association — wrote in a paper that an AI curriculum should address five basic ideas:
- Computers use sensors to understand what goes on around them.
- Computers can learn from data.
- With this data, computers can create models for reasoning.
- While computers are smart, it’s hard for them to understand people’s emotions, intentions and natural languages, making interactions less comfortable.
- AI can be a beneficial tool, but it can also harm society.
These kinds of lessons are already at play among groups including the Boys and Girls Club of Western Pennsylvania, which has been using a program from online AI curriculum site ReadyAI. The education company lent its AI-in-a-Box kit, which normally sells for $3,000, to the group so it could teach these concepts.

AI curriculum is coming for K-12 at last. What will it include? — from edsurge.com by Danielle Dreilinger

Excerpt:

Artificial intelligence powers Amazon’s recommendations engine, Google Translate and Siri, for example. But few U.S. elementary and secondary schools teach the subject, maybe because there are so few curricula available for students. Members of the “AI for K-12” work group wrote in a recent Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence white paper that “unlike the general subject of computing, when it comes to AI, there is little guidance for teaching at the K-12 level.”

But that’s starting to change. Among other advances, ISTE and AI4All are developing separate curricula with support from General Motors and Google, respectively, according to the white paper. Lead author Dave Touretzky of Carnegie Mellon has developed his own curriculum, Calypso. It’s part of the “AI-in-a-Box” kit, which is being used by more than a dozen community groups and school systems, including Carter’s class.

Provosts count more on online programs [Lederman]

On 01/25/2019, in adjunct faculty, colleges, community colleges, digital learning, distance education, education technology, faculty/staff, higher education, leadership, learning ecosystem, online learning, STEAM-related, teaching & learning, by Daniel Christian

Provosts count more on online programs — from insidehighered.com by Doug Lederman
More say they will increase emphasis on and allocate “major funds” to online offerings. Survey also finds solid but not spectacular support for open educational resources, and that backing for competency-based programs is more philosophical than practical.

Excerpt:

Increasing numbers of college and university chief academic officers plan to expand their online offerings and make major allocations of funds to online programs, a new survey by Inside Higher Ed shows.

The 2019 Survey of College and University Chief Academic Officers, published today by Inside Higher Ed in conjunction with Gallup, finds that 83 percent of provosts say they will increase their emphasis on expanding online programs and offerings. That figure has edged up slightly in recent years, from 79 percent in 2016.

A more significant rise has occurred in the proportion of academic officers anticipating a “major allocation of funds” to online programs. The survey asks provosts to assess the likelihood of increased funds to several categories of programs, including professional programs, STEM fields and the arts and sciences. As seen in the chart below, the share of provosts agreeing or strongly agreeing they would allocate major funds to online programs has grown to 56 percent this year from 46 percent four years earlier.

6 key trends to 21st century teaching — from edsurge.com

Excerpt:

It’s popular these days to complain that college teaching hasn’t changed in hundreds of years. And sure, it’s possible to find some professors on any campus holding yellowed lecture notes, or clinging to dusty chalk. But the reality is that the internet and digital technologies have already brought profound changes to instructional styles and tools in higher education.

So what are the new teaching approaches catching on at today’s campuses? And what are the broader cultural changes around college teaching?

We set out to answer those questions over the past year, with a series of articles and interviews exploring what teaching in the 21st century looks like. Some show the nuances of the challenges of teaching with technology by telling stories of innovative professors, including how a water agency official who teaches an online community college course got started in creating open educational resources when her class was incorporated into a zero-cost textbook degree program. Others dive into research on the culture of teaching, like a talk with an anthropologist studying how professors react to (and sometimes resist) research on teaching practices.

Amazon has 10,000 employees dedicated to Alexa — here are some of the areas they’re working on [Hartmans]

On 01/23/2019, in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, Amazon, Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, bots, Bring your own device (BYOD), business, Canvas - and other Instructure-related items, career development, cloud-based computing / apps / other cloud-related, CMS/LMS, computer science, corporate / business world, corporate universities / corporate training, Daniel S. Christian, digital audio, digital learning, education technology, emerging technologies, experimentation, future, game-changing environment, global / globalization, homeschooling/homeschoolers, human-computer interaction (HCI), ideas, innovation, intelligent systems, intelligent tutoring, interactivity, internet, K-12 related, law schools, learning, learning agents, learning ecosystem, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, learning spaces, lifelong learning, microlearning, mobile learning, Natural Language Processing (NLP), Near Field Communication (NFC), personalized/customized learning, platforms, productivity / tips and tricks, smart classrooms, society, technologies for your home, tools, training / L&D, trends, TVs, United States, using teams, vendors, vision/possibilities, voice recognition / voice enabled interfaces, workplace, by Daniel Christian

Amazon has 10,000 employees dedicated to Alexa — here are some of the areas they’re working on — from businessinsider.com by Avery Hartmans

Summary (emphasis DSC):

Amazon’s vice president of Alexa, Steve Rabuchin, has confirmed that yes, there really are 10,000 Amazon employees working on Alexa and the Echo.
Those employees are focused on things like machine learning and making Alexa more knowledgeable.
Some employees are working on giving Alexa a personality, too.

From DSC:
How might this trend impact learning spaces? For example, I am interested in using voice to intuitively “drive” smart classroom control systems:

“Alexa, turn on the projector”
“Alexa, dim the lights by 50%”
“Alexa, open Canvas and launch my Constitutional Law I class”

EdGuards News: A helpful news resource about education & technology with a shift towards cybersecurity

On 01/23/2019, in colleges, community colleges, education, education technology, higher education, IT in HE, K-12 related, student-related, tools, United States, universities, vendors, by Daniel Christian

EdGuards News: A helpful news resource about education and technology with a shift towards cybersecurity; with thanks to Amy Lynn for this resource and the item below as well

NOTE:

EdGuards provides security scanning solutions and services for PeopleSoft, Ellucian, and other systems.

Also see:

Higher Education Cyber Attacks History — from edguards.com (from June 15, 2018)
This article covers the most notorious cyber attacks performed on educational institutions from 2002 to 2018.

DC: What will Human Computer Interaction (HCI) look like when we have ~1GBps average download speeds?

On 01/23/2019, in 21st century, Asia, Augmented Reality (AR), Australia, Canada, collaboration, communications, convergence, corporate / business world, corporate universities / corporate training, education technology, elearning, emerging technologies, Europe, future, human-computer interaction (HCI), ideas, India, innovation, intelligent systems, internet, IT in HE, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, machine-to-machine communications, Mixed Reality (MR), online learning, platforms, society, technologies for your home, technology (general), telecommunications, telepresence, tools, trends, UK, United States, user experience (UX), vendors, Virtual Reality (VR) / worlds / learning, web-based collaboration, webinars, XR - extended reality, by Daniel Christian

What is 5G? Everything you need to know — from techradar.com by Mike Moore
The latest news, views and developments in the exciting world of 5G networks.

Excerpt:

What is 5G?
5G networks are the next generation of mobile internet connectivity, offering faster speeds and more reliable connections on smartphones and other devices than ever before.

Combining cutting-edge network technology and the very latest research, 5G should offer connections that are multitudes faster than current connections, with average download speeds of around 1GBps expected to soon be the norm.

The networks will help power a huge rise in Internet of Things technology, providing the infrastructure needed to carry huge amounts of data, allowing for a smarter and more connected world.

With development well underway, 5G networks are expected to launch across the world by 2020, working alongside existing 3G and 4G technology to provide speedier connections that stay online no matter where you are.

So with only a matter of months to go until 5G networks are set to go live, here’s our run-down of all the latest news and updates.

From DSC:
I wonder…

What will Human Computer Interaction (HCI) look like when ~1GBps average download speeds are the norm?
What will the Internet of Things (IoT) turn into (for better or for worse)?
How will Machine-to-Machine (M2M) Communications be impacted?
What will that kind of bandwidth mean for XR-related technologies (AR VR MR)?

Per Jon Bergmann:

We now know exactly what we need to do to effectively reach every student, so we are kicking off 2019 with a new series to help you reflect on each element daily.

The series is called “Do This, Not That.” In less than 90 seconds daily, we’ll cover one of the elements in the Global Elements of Effective Flipped Learning and point to things you’ll want to start doing, stop doing, or continue doing to reach every student in every class every day.

Here’s the first 60-second episode.

The series as of today includes these videos/topics:

#1 Explain How – Global Elements of Effective Flipped Learning (2019)

#2 Microconversations – Global Elements of Effective Flipped Learning 2019

#3 Embracing Failure in Education – Global Elements of Effective Flipped Learning (2019)

#4 Choice of Utilization- Global Elements of Effective Flipped Learning (2019)

#5 Differentiation – Global Elements of Effective Flipped Learning (2019)

#6 Use Bloom’s Taxonomy to Plan – Global Elements of Effective Flipped Learning (2019)

#7 Barriers to Change – Global Elements of Effective Flipped Learning (2019)

#8 Chunk Media – Global Elements of Effective Flipped Learning (2019)

#9 Appropriate Media – Global Elements of Effective Flipped Learning 2019

#10 Big Ideas – Global Elements of Effective Flipped Learning (2019)

Addendum on 1/21/19:

Survey: Online, blended dominate today’s learning environments [Kelly]

On 01/17/2019, in adjunct faculty, blended learning, digital learning, education technology, expectations, faculty/staff, flipping -- inverted learning, higher education, hybrid learning, learning ecosystem, online learning, pedagogy, platforms, student-related, teaching & learning, teaching online, universities, by Daniel Christian

Survey: Online, Blended Dominate Today’s Learning Environments — from campustechnology.com by Rhea Kelly
In our latest Teaching with Technology Survey, the vast majority of faculty members said they teach in either a fully online or blended format.

However, that doesn’t mean those instructors blend every course. When we asked faculty how many of their classes are blended, 29 percent said they teach all blended classes, while 45 percent blend some of their classes. Six percent said they plan to use the blended model in the next year or are exploring the option.

Learning Ecosystems

How Museums are using Augmented Reality [Coates]

DC: What will Human Computer Interaction (HCI) look like when we have ~1GBps average download speeds?

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