— from steve-wheeler.blogspot.com

Excerpt:

The question we now need to ask is: Will there be a divide between learning that continues to rely on traditional learning spaces, compared to learning that takes place largely outside the walls of the traditional classroom? Moreover, if there is such a divide, will it be delineated by its cost effectiveness, its conceptual differences, or its pedagogical impact?

 

 — from steve-wheeler.blogspot.com

Excerpt:

Many agree that technology has a role to play in this shift in pedagogical emphasis. Students now bring their own devices into the traditional learning environment, creating their own personal networks and learning environments. They are intimately familiar with the functionality of their devices, knowing how to use them to connect to, create and organise content. They are adept at connecting to their friends and peers too, but will they be willing to power share with their professors, take on greater autonomy and assume more responsibility to direct their own learning in the future?

 

 — from steve-wheeler.blogspot.com

Excerpt:

Assessment and learning are inseparable in any good pedagogy. If the first does not fit the second, then we see a failure of that pedagogy. Far too often assessment fails to delve deeply enough, or fails to capture actual learning. If students are relying increasingly on digital technology to connect them with content, peers and tutors, and to facilitate new, distributed forms of learning, then we should endeavour to assess the learning they achieve in a relevant manner.

 

 

What If Kids Co-Created Customized Learning Pathways? — from gettingsmart.com by Tom Vander Ark

Excerpt:

New tools are making it easier to customize learning for every student. Playlists, projects, and portfolios support big blocks, maker spaces, and flex schools. One thing I appreciate about the Christensen Institute definition of blended learning is that it stresses student agency by requiring “student control over time, place, path, and/or pace.” During an EdSession in Boise tomorrow, I’ll be discussing 10 ways that students can co-create customized learning pathways.

 

The connected TV landscape: Why smart TVs and streaming gadgets are conquering the living room

The connected TV landscape: Why smart TVs and streaming gadgets are conquering the living room — from businessinsider.com.au by Mark Hoelzel

 

In the connected TV world, an app is analogous to a TV channel.

 

Some key points:

  • In total, there will be more than 759 million televisions connected to the Internet worldwide by 2018, more than doubling from 307.4 million at year-end 2013.
  • Globally, shipments of smart TVs will reach a tipping point in 2015, when they will overtake shipments of traditional TVs.
  • Two tendencies dominate the connected TV ecosystem: closed and open approaches.
  • Despite platform fragmentation, HTML5 offers at least a faint hope for increased unification between connected TVs, just as it does on mobile.
  • How will developers and operating system operators monetise smart TV apps? Media downloads, subscriptions and — to a much lesser degree — advertisements will drive the dollars. Smart TV platform operators have begun experimenting with ads.

 

GlobalNumberOfConnectedTVs

 

 

From DSC:
If in a connected TV world, an app is analogous to a TV channel…then I say let’s bring on the educationally-related, interactive, multimedia-based apps!

 

The Living [Class] Room -- by Daniel Christian -- July 2012 -- a second device used in conjunction with a Smart/Connected TV

 

A new pedagogy is emerging… and online learning is a key contributing factor — from contactnorth.ca

Excerpt:

THREE EMERGING PEDAGOGICAL TRENDS
Underlying these developments are some common factors or trends:

1.    A move to opening up learning, making it more accessible and flexible. The classroom is no longer the unique centre of learning, based on information delivery through a lecture.

2.    An increased sharing of power between the professor and the learner. This is manifest as a changing professorial role, towards more support and negotiation over content and methods, and a focus on developing and supporting learner autonomy. On the student side, this can mean an emphasis on learners supporting each other through new social media, peer assessment, discussion groups, even online study groups but with guidance, support and feedback from content experts.

3.    An increased use of technology not only to deliver teaching, but also to support and assist students and to provide new forms of student assessment.

It is important to emphasize that these are emerging pedagogical trends. More experimentation, evaluation, and research are needed to identify those that will have lasting value and a permanent effect on the system.

Impact on Student Learning
Student learning is the other key component of an emerging pedagogy, with their success as the goal of all our efforts.

  • What new demands are student making in terms of how they want to be taught and assessed and what are your responses?
  • What new roles are students taking in their online or hybrid learning and how has this changed your teaching practice?
  • What new strategies for and areas of student support are being built into course structures to facilitate effective online learning?
 

From DSC:
I see the following items in the classrooms/learning spaces/”learning hubs” of the future:

  • iBeacon-like technology, quickly connecting the physical world with the online world (i.e. keep an eye on the Internet of Things/Everything  in the classroom); this may take place via wearable technology or via some other means of triggering events
  • Remote presence
  • Access to Artifical Intelligence (AI)-based resources
  • Greatly enhanced Human Computer Interactions (HCI) such as gesture-based interactions as well as voice and facial recognition
  • Interactive walls
  • BYOD baked into almost everything (requiring a robust networking infrastructure)
  • More makerspaces (see below for examples)
  • Tables and chairs (all furniture really) are on wheels to facilitate room configuration changes
  • Setups that facilitate collaborative/group work

 

 


Below are some other recent items on this topic:


 

To Inspire Learning, Architects Reimagine Learning Spaces — from MindShift by Allison Arieff

 

MakerLab_web

Excerpt:

As K–12 schools refocus on team-based, interdisciplinary learning, they are moving away from standardized, teach-to-test programs that assume a one-size-fits-all approach to teaching. Instead, there is a growing awareness that students learn in a variety of ways, and the differences should be supported. The students often learn better by doing it themselves, so teachers are there to facilitate, not just to instruct. Technology is there as a tool and resource, not as a visual aid or talking head.

 

 

3D printers and laser cutters?… it’s the classroom of the future — from standard.co.uk by Miranda Bryant

 

 

Rethinking our learning spaces — from rtschuetz.blogspot.com by Robert Schuetz

 

ClassroomMoveableFurnitureITESMCCM 02
CC Wikimedia – Thelmadatter

Excerpt:

Heutagogy, unlike pedagogy, focuses on self-directed learning. As learning and education become more heutaogical, shouldn’t our learning spaces accommodate this shift? What are the features and characteristics that define a modern learning space? Notice, that I have not used the word classroom. Several days of researching this topic has challenged my thinking on the concept of classroom. This verbiage has been replaced with terms like; ideation lab, innovation space, maker pods, gamer zone, and learning sector. The concept of specific learning zones is not new.

 

The first School in the Cloud opens in the UK — from blog.ted.com by Sarah Schoengold; with thanks to Lisa Duty (@LisaDuty1) for  posting this resource on Twitter

 

A group of students explores a question at the Killingworth School in the Cloud.

A group of students explores a question at the Killingworth School in the Cloud,
as a volunteer member of the “Granny Cloud” gives them guidance from the screen.

“SOLE” –> Stands for “Self-Organized Learning Environment.”

 

Excerpt:

Sugata Mitra has opened the doors of the world’s first School in the Cloud.

Located inside George Stephenson High School in Killingworth, England, this one-room learning lab is a space where students can embark on their own learning adventures, exploring whatever questions most intrigue them. Students even designed the interior of the space — which has colorful beanbags scattered throughout and (very appropriately) fluffy clouds painted on the walls.

The Killingworth School in the Cloud is run by a committee of 12-year-old students, who manage a schedule to let different classes and groups use the lab in time slots before, during and after school.

 

Also see:

SelfOrganizedLearningEnvironments-Dec2013

 

Also see:

 

 


 

The Living [Class] Room -- by Daniel Christian -- July 2012 -- a second device used in conjunction with a Smart/Connected TV

 


 

 

 

 

Addendum:

 

Top 10 Characteristics of a 21st Century Classroom

Top 10 Characteristics of a 21st Century Classroom

Excerpt:

As education advances with the help of technology, it becomes very clear that the modern day classroom needs are very different from the conventional classroom needs.

The evolved 21st century classroom is a productive environment in which students can develop the skills they will require in the workplace and teachers are facilitators of their learning. The focus of a 21st century classroom is on students experiencing the environment they will enter as modern day workers and developing their higher order thinking skills, effective communication skills, collaboration skills, making them adept with using technology and all other skills that they will need in the 21st century workplace.

 

 

Four radically different models in higher ed worth considering — from onlinelearninginsights.wordpress.com by Debbie Morrison

Excerpt:

Yet there are few models in practice that offer face-to-face education experiences that are truly transformational. However, I suggest the four models presented here are worth pondering; two created from scratch, and two that changed within an existing framework.

To reiterate, the institutions discussed here are not virtual schools, each provides face-to-face undergraduate learning experiences where technology is leveraged to facilitate learning. The schools are also committed to teaching foundational subjects—courses from the humanities, yet each provides unique learning experiences that challenge the traditional model in some way.  Each institution takes a different approach, though all encourage learners to choose a learning path, to be self-directed, to follow their interests, and establish their own learning goals. All seek to engage young people in learning, prepare students to think critically and to guide them to find their passion.

 

A new world of work – 3 key thoughts from the new “A Life of Jobs” blog — from alifeofjobs.com by Jane Hart & Harold Jarche

Excerpt (emphasis DSC):

  1. There’s no such thing as a “job for life”; it’s now a matter of “a life of jobs”.
    .
  2. Your current skills will be out of date in 5 years. What you learned yesterday is already the past.
    .
  3. Your employer will train you to do your existing job but is unlikely to develop you professionally, so that you are ready for the next job.

 

 

From DSC:
These 3 items support the notion that we are no longer running 440’s or 880’s — we are running marathons now (i.e. no more 4 years of college and then get a job for 30-40 years; we’re into lifelong learning now.)  These thoughts also bring to my mind the idea of self-directed learning.

 

 

Learning from the Living (Class) Room [Grush & Christian]

CampusTechnology-12-5-13-DSCLivingClassRoom

 

Learning in ‘the Living [Class] Room’
From campustechnology.com by Mary Grush and Daniel Christian
Convergent technologies have the ability to support streams of low-cost, personalized content, both at home and in college.

 

Next-gen schools thriving in Detroit — from GettingSmart.com

Excerpts:

  1. Student Centered:
    Designed to meet the diverse learning needs of each student every day
  2. High Expectations:
    Committed to ensuring that every student will meet clearly defined, rigorous standards that will prepare them for success in college and career
  3. Self Pacing and Mastery Based Credit:
    Enables students to move at their own optimal pace and receive credit when they demonstrate mastery of the material   <— From DSC: More choice, more control.
  4. Blending Instruction:
    Optimizes teacher- and technology- delivered instruction in group and individual work
  5. Student Ownership:
    Empowers students with skills, information, and tools they need to manage their own learning
  6. Scalable:
    Designed to serve many more students if it demonstrates impact
  7. Financial Sustainability:
    Sustainable on public per-pupil revenue within four years

 

 

Blended learning -- the best of both worlds

 

Blended/hybrid learning: Combining the best of both worlds

 

 

A proposal for Apple, Google, IBM, Microsoft, and any other company who wants to own the future living room [Christian]

DanielChristian-A-proposal-to-Apple-MS-Google-IBM-Nov182013

 

 

 

“The main obstacle to an Apple television set has been content. It has mostly failed to convince cable companies to make their programming available through an Apple device. And cable companies have sought to prevent individual networks from signing distribution deals with Apple.”

Apple, closer to its vision for a TV set, wants
ESPN, HBO, Viacom, and others to come along

qz.com by Seward, Chon, & Delaney, 8/22/13

 

From DSC:
I wonder if this is because of the type of content that Apple is asking for. Instead of entertainment-oriented content, what if the content were more focused on engaging, interactive, learning materials? More on educational streams of content (whether we — as individuals — create and contribute that content or whether businesses do)?

Also see:

 

internet of things

 

Excerpt (emphasis DSC):

The communications landscape has historically taken the form of a tumultuous ocean of opportunities. Like rolling waves on a shore, these opportunities are often strong and powerful – yet ebb and flow with time.

Get ready, because the next great wave is upon us. And, like a tropical storm, it is likely to change the landscape around us.

As detailed by analyst Chetan Sharma, this particular wave is the one created by the popularity of over-the-top (OTT) solutions – apps that allow access to entertainment, communication and collaboration over the Internet from smartphones, tablets and laptops, rather than traditional telecommunications methods. Sharma has coined this the mobile “fourth wave” – the first three being voice, messaging (SMS) and data access, respectively – and it is rapidly washing over us.

 

Addendum on 11/25:

 

SmartTVFeatures

 

 

 

 

“Learning in the Living [Class] Room” — as explained by Daniel Christian [Campus Technology]

Learning from the Living [Class] Room  — from Campus Technology by Daniel Christian and Mary Grush; with a huge thanks also going out to Mr. Steven Niedzielski (@Marketing4pt0) and to Mr. Sam Beckett (@SamJohnBeck) for their assistance and some of the graphics used in making these videos.

From DSC:
These 4 short videos explain what I’m trying to relay with a vision I’m entitling, Learning from the Living [Class] Room.  I’ve been pulse checking a variety of areas for years now, and the pieces of this vision continue to come into fruition.  This is what I see Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) morphing into (though there may be other directions/offshoots that they go in as well).

After watching these videos, I think you will see why I think we must move to a teambased approach.

(It looks like the production folks for Campus Technology had to scale things way back in terms of video quality to insure an overall better performance for the digitally-based magazine.) 


To watch these videos in a higher resolution, please use these links:


  1. What do you mean by “the living [class] room”?
  2. Why consider this now?
  3. What are some examples of apps and tech for “the living [class] room”?
  4. What skill sets will be needed to make “the living [class] room” a reality?

 

 


Alternatively, these videos can be found at:


 

DanielSChristianLearningFromTheLivingClassRoom-CampusTechnologyNovember2013

.

 

 

Citrix-Mobile-Education-10-31-13

 

 

Citrix-Mobile-Education-TOC-10-31-13

 

Description:

Education is at a tipping point. From the rising cost of a college education and the financial pressures upon local districts and state agencies to fund K-12 schools and programs, to the questions of how to employ mobile technologies and leverage social platforms to support the growing trend toward mobile, collaborative learning models, educators face an almost overwhelming set of challenges. While there are no easy answers to these and other issues, Citrix believes strongly that online learning technologies can help enhance and extend the teaching and learning process and provide greater, more wide-spread access to education to students. We are committed to developing and delivering learning solutions that will meet the evolving needs of teachers and students in this changing landscape. We hope that our sponsorship of this ebook and other projects will help you, the reader, gain a better understanding of the opportunities that online learning technologies provide, increase your mastery of these solutions, and enable you to put them to productive use. We look forward to working with you as we explore new and effective ways to help teachers teach and learners learn.

CaIlin Pitcher
Product Line Director, Collaboration, Citrix

 

Comments/disclosure from DSC:
I do not work for Citrix — I have been at Calvin College since
March 2007.  I was not paid to develop/contribute this piece.

I’d like to thank David Rogelberg for his work on this project.

 

 

 

Teaching how to learn — from phys.org

Excerpt:

Medicine is a constantly changing field. With each passing year, new diseases and treatments continue to be discovered, and some of what has been “known” in medicine is proven wrong. Doctors must keep their knowledge and skills up to date after completing medical school and clinical training, medical educators say, but many often lack access to the training necessary to identify learning needs, or craft plans to fill knowledge gaps on their own.

Citing a growing body of evidence, education leaders at Harvard Medical School said at Medical Education Day 2013 that the issue will be addressed by shifting the focus of HMS’s standard medical education curriculum from simply transferring factual knowledge to students to fostering more independent learning and problem solving.

That, in turn, means faculty members must develop new skills to help transform medical students into lifelong learners.

“We want students to develop skills and habits of mind that encourage lifelong, self-directed learning, but we don’t do a lot to prepare them for that,” said Richard Schwartzstein, director of the Academy at Harvard Medical School and Ellen and Melvin Gordon Professor of Medical Education at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, who served as the day’s course director.

 

Smart Machines: IBM’S Watson and the era of cognitive computing — from cup.columbia.edu by John E. Kelly III, Director of IBM Research, and Steve Hamm, writer at IBM and former business and technology journalist

Excerpt (emphasis DSC):

Computers today are brilliant idiots. They have tremendous capacities for storing information and performing numerical calculations-far superior to those of any human. Yet when it comes to another class of skills, the capacities for understanding, learning, adapting, and interacting, computers are woefully inferior to humans; there are many situations where computers can’t do a lot to help us.

But the goal is not to replicate human brains or replace human thinking with machine thinking. Rather, in the era of cognitive systems, humans and machines will collaborate to produce better results, each bringing its own skills to the partnership. The machines will be more rational and analytic-and, of course, possess encyclopedic memories and tremendous computational abilities. People will provide judgment, intuition, empathy, a moral compass, and human creativity.

 

 

 

 

From DSC:
Consider what Watson “read in” to come up with some recommendations:

 

Watson

 

Addendum on 10/14/13 (emphasis DSC):

Watson is being used to assist with the treatment of cancer patients. According to an article from medicalnewstoday.com, Watson is “revolutionizing cancer care and research and speeding up progress for patients.”

In that same article, it mentions that, so far, Watson has ingested:

  • Over 600,000 pieces of medical evidence
  • 2,000,000 pages of text from 42 academic journals and clinical trials based on oncology research
  • A huge number of patients’ records spanning decades of cancer treatment history, including medical records and patient outcomes. Watson can sift through 1.5 million pieces of such records and provide doctors with evidence-based treatment options within seconds.

One of IBM’s General Managers who works with Watson said:

“breakthrough capabilities bring forward the first in a series of Watson-based technologies, which exemplifies the value of applying big data and analytics and cognitive computing to tackle the industry’s most pressing challenges.”

 
© 2024 | Daniel Christian