experimentation

3 Tips for Making Passion-Based Learning Work Successfully [Pierce]

On 10/13/2021, in attention, collaboration, communications, creativity, digital audio, digital learning, digital photography, digital storytelling, digital video, drama/theater, education, educational games / serious games, engagement / engaging students, experimentation, homeschooling/homeschoolers, ideas, innovation, instructional design, learning, learning ecosystem, Learning Experience Design, learning preferences, lifelong learning, love of learning, more voice more choice more control, motivation, multimedia, new media literacies, participation, passions, pedagogy, play, podcasting, skills, story, storytelling, student teaching/teacher education, student-related, teachers, teaching & learning, tools, user experience (UX), vendors, vision/possibilities, writing, youth, by Daniel Christian

3 Tips for Making Passion-Based Learning Work Successfully — from thejournal.com by Dennis Pierce

Excerpt:

Passion-based learning, a form of self-directed learning in which students pursue projects of interest to them, is becoming more popular in schools — and for good reason: Educators who have set aside time for passion-based learning have discovered that students become highly engaged and motivated when learning about topics that intrigue them, while taking their learning much deeper than they would in a traditional lesson.

Passion-based learning initiatives include Genius Hour and 20time, both inspired by Google’s program that lets employees spend 20% of their time on projects of their choosing to spark innovation.

Giving all students the option to explore their interests can be challenging on a large scale. To overcome this hurdle and make the process easier for teachers, Sonora Elementary uses a new peer-to-peer learning platform called Tract, which is a collection of video content organized into self-directed learning paths.

From DSC:
I love the type of tool/app like Tract — as students can work on a variety of skills:

multimedia development
music
acting
writing/composing
digital storytelling
…and more

Such projects/tools can unleash a great deal of creativity, engagement, and positive energy. Learning becomes more relevant, enjoyable, and interesting when we can provide more choice and control to our students.

Two items from Forbes’ Billion Dollar Startups 2021 that got me to thinking again about #legaltech [Christian]

On 10/12/2021, in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, Access to Justice (A2J), Daniel S. Christian, entrepreneurship, experimentation, ideas, innovation, law schools, Legal operations, legal reform, legal technologies, legislatures / government / legal, by Daniel Christian

***

The Metaverse is Taking Over the Physical World — from interestingengineering.com by Rupendra Brahambhatt; with thanks to Dan Lejerskar for this resource
The virtual world is expanding with real world avatars and digital economy.

Excerpt:

The advent of AR, blockchain, and VR devices in the last few years has sparked the development of the metaverse. Moreover, the unprecedented growth of highly advanced technologies in the gaming industry, which offer immersive gameplay experiences, not only provides us a glimpse of how the metaverse would look like but also indicates that we are closer than ever to experience a virtual world of our own.

What is the metaverse?

The Metaverse is Taking Over the Physical World Source: Kelvin Han/Unsplash

A metaverse is a group of persistent, shared 3D virtual environments where you (in the form of your digital avatar) can visit places, shop for products, subscribe to services, work with your colleagues, play games, and even customize the scenes around you to meet your personal tastes and requirements, and the digital assets you own. So essentially, a metaverse is a virtual world or worlds, that would allow you to go inside the digital world — to be in rather than on the digital space.

From DSC:
Again I wonder….on the legal side of things…how will this impact what lawyers, judges, legislators, general counsels, and more need to know? Along these lines see:

What Skills Do Lawyers Need to Excel in a New Era of Business? — from jdsupra.com

To do this well, legal department heads and the lawyers and professionals in the department will have to learn, and practice, some new skills: embracing technology, project management, change management, and adaptability.
…
The first, and likely most obvious, skill an attorney needs in a rapidly evolving business environment is a firm grasp on existing and emerging technology. There are two important categories of technology to consider—the first is legal technology and the second is broader technology trends.

8 ways to keep learning and developing new skills while at home [Austin]

On 10/09/2021, in 24x7x365 access, adult learning, Alternatives, business, career development, cloud-based computing / apps / other cloud-related, communities of practice, computer science, creativity, digital learning, experimentation, health, ideas, languages and translation, learning, learning ecosystem, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, learning preferences, lifelong learning, love of learning, MBA, MOOCs -- Massive Open Online Courses, more voice more choice more control, music, online learning, online media, platforms, programming, tools, training / L&D, UK, United States, universities, vendors, virtual field trips, vision/possibilities, web-based collaboration, by Daniel Christian

8 ways to keep learning and developing new skills while at home — from babbel.com by Alice Austin
Being stuck inside doesn’t have to mean an end to personal development. Here’s how to keep learning new things while staying at home.

Excerpt:

Free Code Camp has been assembling a long list of courses that span multiple disciplines, from Data Science and Business to Personal Development and Art. They’re all Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs), and they allow you to take university-created online classes through providers such as Coursera or Udacity.

So that class you missed out your first time going to college? Now would be the time to go back and really enjoy it.

There are tons of online tutorials on YouTube and many apps that can help you hone your skills. Yousician is an app that provides video tutorials to learn piano, guitar, bass and ukulele. There are other apps that specialize in one area, like Flowkey for piano, or SingTrue for vocals. Whatever instrument you have lying around, there are definitely resources out there for you to improve your skills.

Common Anxieties in Beginning HyFlex: Learning to Teach a HyFlex Class — from hyflexlearning.org by Brian Beatty

Excerpt:

Not surprisingly, one of the biggest anxieties – FEARS – for many faculty considering or implementing a HyFlex approach for the first time is learning how to do so, and to do so effectively the very first time. No one likes to feel like they aren’t equipped to do the work they are required (or challenged) to do; perhaps especially teachers who are normally in full control of their classrooms and the activities that take place in them. When you are planning to teach HyFlex, it may seem like you are planning for CHAOS, or at least planning to lose control over the class environment(s), the teaching process, and ultimately student learning. Let’s address those concerns one at a time, but briefly.

If we assume you are an effective classroom teacher, then a common design path that I usually recommend is to start with your plans for an effective classroom experience and work to translate those to the other modes, accessing expert guidance as needed (such as, instructional designers, online course design books, your colleagues). What are the learning outcomes (or instructional objectives) for the classroom? How will those translate into the online mode(s) you are planning? What about the instructional content and associated activities for the classroom? How do those translate? What about plans for assessment? Start with what you know, and are confident with, and then layer in approaches for the other modes.

AI+ alumni + real-world practitioners + accreditation agencies = outcomes for next year [Christian]

On 10/06/2021, in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, accreditation, adjunct faculty, adult learning, analytics, Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, assessment, Canvas - and other Instructure-related items, career development, cloud-based computing / apps / other cloud-related, CMS/LMS, collaboration, colleges, communications, communities of practice, community colleges, competency-based learning/education, content development, aggregation, repositories, corporate / business world, corporate universities / corporate training, credentialing, curriculum, Daniel S. Christian, data related items, emerging technologies, entrepreneurship, experimentation, faculty, future, future of higher education, game-changing environment, higher education, human-computer interaction (HCI), ideas, innovation, instructional design, intelligent systems, law schools, leadership, learning, learning ecosystem, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, Legal operations, legislatures / government / legal, lifelong learning, Michigan, New "Amazon.com" of Higher Education, new business models, online learning, platforms, professional development, reinvent, smart/connected TV, society, surviving, technologies for your home, tools, training / L&D, United States, universities, vision/possibilities, vocational / trades, by Daniel Christian

AI+ alumni + real-world practitioners + accreditation agencies = outcomes for next year -- by Daniel S. Christian

Learning from the living class room

Could AR and/or VR enable a massive 3D-based type of “Voicethread?” [Christian]

On 09/28/2021, in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, 3D, A/V -- audio/visual, Augmented Reality (AR), 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, digital audio, digital learning, digital photography, digital storytelling, digital textbooks, digital video, distance education, e-books, education technology, educational games / serious games, emerging technologies, engagement / engaging students, entrepreneurship, experimentation, higher education, homeschooling/homeschoolers, human-computer interaction (HCI), ideas, innovation, instructional design, interface design, internet, IT in HE, K-12 related, learning, learning ecosystem, Learning Experience Design, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, learning hubs & pods & microschooling, learning preferences, learning spaces, multimedia, new media literacies, online learning, participation, platforms, presentations, productivity / tips and tricks, second screen apps, smart classrooms, smart/connected TV, social learning / networks, streams of content, student-related, teaching online, technologies for your home, telelegal, telemedicine / telehealth / virtual health, telepresence, tools, training / L&D, United States, virtual field trips, Virtual Reality (VR) / worlds / learning, virtual tutoring, vision/possibilities, visualizing information, voice recognition / voice enabled interfaces, web-based collaboration, writing, XR - extended reality, by Daniel Christian

From DSC:
What if we could quickly submit items for a group to discuss, annotate, and respond to — using whichever media format is available/preferable for a person — like a massive 3D-based Voicethread? What if this type of discussion could be contributed to and accessed via Augmented Reality (AR) and/or via Virtual Reality (VR) types of devices?

It could be a new 3D format that a person could essentially blow all the way up into the size of a billboard. Think, “Honey, I shrunk the kids” type of stuff.

Input devices might include:

Augmented Reality (AR) glasses
Virtual Reality (VR) headsets/glasses
Scanners
Smartphones
Tablets
Desktops and laptops
SmartTVs
Other types of input devices

For example, a person could take a picture of a document or something else and then save that image into a new file format that would be vector-based. I say a vector-based file format so that the image could be enlarged to the size of a billboard without losing any resolution (i.e., wouldn’t become grainy; the image would remain crystal clear regardless of how big the image is). I’m thinking here along the lines of “Honey, I shrunk the kids!”

Other thoughts here:

The files could be accessible online for attendees of classes or for audiences of presentations/webinars
The files could be displayed on the walls of learning/presentation spaces for marking them up
One could manipulate the 3D image if that person was using a virtual/immersive environment
Users should be able to annotate on those images and/or be able to save such annotations and notes

A question for phase II:
Could this concept also be used if virtual courts take off?

Hmmmm…just thinking out loud.

Discovery Education Collaborates with AWS to Enhance Recommendation Engine — from discoveryeducation.com

Excerpt:

SILVER SPRING, MD [On Monday,?September 27, 2021] — Discovery Education—a worldwide edtech leader supporting learning wherever it takes place — announced that it has enhanced its K-12 learning platform with Amazon Web Services (AWS) machine learning capabilities. The pioneering use of machine learning within the Discovery Education platform helps educators spend less time searching for digital resources and more time teaching.
…
Several months of planning and deep collaboration with AWS enabled Discovery Education to innovatively integrate Amazon Personalize technology into the “Just For You” area of its K-12 platform. The “Just For You” row connects educators to a unique, personalized set of resources based on the grade level taught, preferences, and assets used in the past.

“For some time, educators have desired more resources to help personalize teaching and learning. ML technology is already being used to curate our entertainment experiences, help with workforce productivity, and more, and it’s exciting to see this innovation is being integrated into classrooms,” said Alec Chalmers, Director, EdTech and GovTech Markets at AWS.

From DSC:
It looks like Amazon continues to make inroads into the education space. Team up this type of recommendation engine with an AI that’s pulling the latest skills that are needed for — and embedded within — job descriptions and you have a learning powerhouse.

Disruption ahead…?

Also see:

How Machine Learning Is Having an Impact on Education — from techlearning.com by Erik Ofgang
Discovery Education has partnered with Amazon Web Services to enhance its platform with machine learning. It’s one of many ways machine learning is being used in K-12 today.

Boston startup fights seniors’ isolation with VR [Campbell]

On 09/28/2021, in entrepreneurship, experimentation, health, hearts -- matters of the heart, society, sociology, United States, user experience (UX), vendors, Virtual Reality (VR) / worlds / learning, vision/possibilities, by Daniel Christian

Boston startup fights seniors’ isolation with VR — from bizjournals.com by Emma Campbell

Excerpts:

Social isolation is a term that more Americans have become familiar with due to the Covid-19 pandemic, but it’s a concept that was already intimately familiar to one segment of the population: the elderly.

Isolation disproportionately affects the aging population in the U.S. and can lead to significant mental and physical health issues for seniors. But there’s a Boston-based startup, Rendever, using a unique tool to fight it.

“We’ve always thought that the foundation of all human connection is shared positive experience,” Rand said. “So what we’ve done is we’ve spent the past five years building a really strong experience platform that allows people to come together, put on their headsets, and go and check off a bucket list item.”

From DSC:
Also check one of the things that Scott mentioned in his talk — Behance, a network of creatives. They consistently offer livestreams — where the learner has more choice, more control over what they learn about.

Also see:

“Seeing The Matrix” For Product Builders, Opportunities & More — by Scott Belsky • Issue #14

Twitter rolls out tipping with bitcoin, explores verifying NFT profile pics [Morse]

On 09/24/2021, in Blockchain, business, emerging technologies, entrepreneurship, experimentation, future, game-changing environment, platforms, social learning / networks, social media, tools, by Daniel Christian

Twitter rolls out tipping with bitcoin, explores verifying NFT profile pics — from mashable.com by Jack Morse
Bitcoin is coming to Twitter.

Excerpt:

Twitter is leaning into the blockchain.

The social media giant announced Thursday that, starting immediately, users around the globe will be able to post their bitcoin wallet directly into their profile — while a more limited subset will be able to more directly integrate a bitcoin payment app. The addition of cryptocurrency payments to Twitter, via Tips (formerly dubbed Tip Jar), coincides with the larger rollout of Tips to all iOS users globally, with Android access promised in the near future.

From DSC:
My answer to the question “Is Accreditation a Barrier to Innovation?” would be “Yes, it is.” But admittedly, maybe that’s because I work for a law school these days…and in the legal education realm (as controlled by the American Bar Association), there is YET to be a fully 100% online-based Juris Doctor (JD) degree that I’m aware of. There are some schools that have applied for “variances,” but we’re talking 20+ years after institutions of higher education introduced online-based learning! Those programs who have applied for variances are under an incredible amount of scrutiny by the American Bar Association, that’s for sure. So the legal realm is NOT doing well with innovation.

But in regards to other areas of higher ed and its accrediting bodies…I’m sorry, but you can’t tell me that the run-up in the price of higher education over the last several decades had nothing to do with HE’s accrediting bodies and either their support of — or their lack of support of — those organizations who were trying to introduce something new.

But along these lines, I’d like to hear from folks like:

Burck Smith from Straighterline on his perspectives and his company’s experiences with the various accrediting bodies that Straighterline has had to deal with. His insights here would carry a significant impact/weight for me.
Or perhaps someone like James DeVaney from University of Michingan’s Center for Academic Innovation or Joshua Kim who writes about higher education and edtech/online learning
Or folks like Mary Grush or Rhea Kelly at CampusTechnology.com
Surveying organizations who could speak for a massive group of students/learners/employees
…and/or other folks who are either trying to innovate within the existing systems, have heard from both sides of the table here, and/or have tried and failed to innovate within the existing structures

We’ll see if institutions of traditional higher education can reinvent themselves in order to stay relevant and survive (especially colleges and universities…not so much the community colleges). The accreditation bodies will have a large part in whether this happens…or not.

Along these lines…let’s see what happens to the growth of alternatives to those types of institutions as well.

OPINION: Meet certificates and “microcredentials” — they could be the future of higher education — from hechingerreport.org by Arthur Levine and Scott Van Pelt
In years to come, they will become prevalent — and possibly preferred — to college degrees

Excerpt:

What is new is that we are calling them badges and microcredentials and using them primarily to certify specific skills, such as cross-cultural competency, welding and conversational Spanish.

So what are they? Microcredentials are certifications of mastery; badges verify the attainment of specific competencies.

No matter what we are calling them, they may be here to stay.

We now live in a time that is more open to rethinking college and university credentials. We are witnessing experimentation with competency-based education, through which students earn credits by demonstrating skills instead of spending time in courses. We are also seeing discussion of free or reduced tuition, along with subscription pricing that lets students take as many courses as they like for one low cost.

Also see:

Can an AI tutor teach your child to read? — from hechingerreport.org by Jackie Mader
Some AI reading programs are boosting early literacy skills

Excerpt:

Artificial intelligence has been used for years in education to monitor teaching quality, teach classes, grade assignments and tailor instruction to student ability levels. Now, a small but growing number of programs are attempting to use AI to target reading achievement in the early years — a longstanding struggle for America’s schools.

“In a truly connected campus, time, space and location should be absolutely irrelevant.” [Karbhari]

On 09/08/2021, in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, business side of he, change, changing business models, cloud-based computing / apps / other cloud-related, CMS/LMS, collaboration, colleges, communications, community colleges, content development, aggregation, repositories, experimentation, face-to-face, future, future of higher education, game-changing environment, generational differences, higher education, ideas, innovation, instructional design, IT in HE, learning, learning agents, learning ecosystem, Learning Experience Design, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, learning hubs & pods & microschooling, learning preferences, learning spaces, platforms, smart classrooms, smart/connected TV, United States, universities, vendors, vision/possibilities, by Daniel Christian

In a truly connected campus, time, space and location should be absolutely irrelevant. “We should be able to build a digital twin of space and services and we need to think about things that are physical and digital – ‘phygital’,” he pointed out. https://t.co/cyud0rigZl

— Daniel Christian (he/him/his) (@dchristian5) September 8, 2021

Learning Ecosystems

Two items from Forbes’ Billion Dollar Startups 2021 that got me to thinking again about #legaltech [Christian]

The Metaverse is Taking Over the Physical World [Brahambhatt]

8 ways to keep learning and developing new skills while at home [Austin]

Common Anxieties in Beginning HyFlex: Learning to Teach a HyFlex Class [Beatty]

Boston startup fights seniors’ isolation with VR [Campbell]

“In a truly connected campus, time, space and location should be absolutely irrelevant.” [Karbhari]

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