higher education

2024 EDUCAUSE Top 10: Institutional Resilience

On 10/17/2023, in adjunct faculty, Bias | Diversity Equity & Inclusion (DE&I), business side of he, colleges, community colleges, faculty, higher education, United States, universities, by Daniel Christian

2024 EDUCAUSE Top 10: Institutional Resilience — from educause.edu
.

Regional Colleges Saw Biggest Application Gains After Tuition Resets — from insidehighered.com by Kathryn Palmer
A new report compared post-reset application growth at nationally known and regional institutions.

Dozens of colleges and universities have dropped their sticker prices for tuition over the past decade, even as research has shown that tuition resets have a nominal influence on long-term enrollment increases. But a report released this week shows that regional colleges were more likely than nationally known institutions to see increases in applications after a reset.

“Students are more focused now on return on investment than they used to be,” said Devon McGee, a principal at Kennedy & Company, the higher education consulting firm that produced the report. Compared to bigger-name colleges, “A lot of these regional institutions are great liberal arts–type institutions, but they are less associated—fairly or unfairly—with preparing students for a job.”

Why hybrid learning needs hybrid faculties — from timeshighereducation.com by An Jacobs & Norma Rossi
Online courses should be integrated into everyday faculty functions to improve remote and in-person classes as well as the overall student experience

DC: Sounds like a team-based appt to me; something I’ve long advocated for. https://t.co/qkQhl98bQI

— Daniel Christian (he/him/his) (@dchristian5) October 13, 2023

The Learning & Employment Records (LER) Ecosystem Map — with thanks to Melanie Booth on LinkedIn for this resource
Driving Opportunity and Equity Through Learning & Employment Records

Imagine A World Where…

Everyone is empowered to access learning and earning opportunities based on what they know and can do, whether those skills and abilities are obtained through degrees, work experiences, or independent learning.
People can capture and communicate the skills and competencies they’ve acquired across their entire learning journey — from education, experience and service — with more ease, confidence, and clarity than a traditional resume.
Learners and earners control their information and can curate their skills to take advantage of every opportunity they are truly qualified to pursue, opening up pathways that help address systemic inequities.
Employers can tap into a wider talent pool and better match applicants to opportunities with verifiable credentials that represent skills, competencies, and achievements.

This is the world that we believe can be created by Learning and Employment Records (LERs), i.e. digital records of learning and work experiences that are linked to and controlled by learners and earners. An interoperable, well-governed LER ecosystem has the potential to transform the future of work so that it is more equitable, efficient, and effective for everyone involved— individuals, training and education providers, employers, and policymakers.

Also per Melanie Booth, see:

Research Reveals Growing Demand to Connect Academic Learning to Careers — from campustechnology.com Kristal Kuykendall
Skills-Based Learning, Certifications, Apprenticeships Top Priorities for Students, Global Survey Shows
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State of Student Success and Engagement in Higher Education — from instructure.com

Thinking with Colleagues: AI in Education [Grush & Wagner]

On 10/14/2023, in accessibility / UDL, adjunct faculty, Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, assessment, Bias | Diversity Equity & Inclusion (DE&I), change, colleges, communities of practice, community colleges, copyright/ownership/NFTs, education technology, emerging technologies, engagement / engaging students, experimentation, face-to-face, faculty, future of higher education, game-changing environment, generational differences, Google, higher education, human-computer interaction (HCI), innovation, instructional design, intelligent systems, IT in HE, K-12 related, learning, learning ecosystem, Learning Experience Design, liberal arts, Microsoft, open courseware and systems, platforms, privacy, student-related, teaching & learning, United States, universities, vendors, by Daniel Christian

Thinking with Colleagues: AI in Education — from campustechnology.com by Mary Grush
A Q&A with Ellen Wagner

Wagner herself recently relied on the power of collegial conversations to probe the question: What’s on the minds of educators as they make ready for the growing influence of AI in higher education? CT asked her for some takeaways from the process.

We are in the very early days of seeing how AI is going to affect education. Some of us are going to need to stay focused on the basic research to test hypotheses. Others are going to dive into laboratory “sandboxes” to see if we can build some new applications and tools for ourselves. Still others will continue to scan newsletters like ProductHunt every day to see what kinds of things people are working on. It’s going to be hard to keep up, to filter out the noise on our own. That’s one reason why thinking with colleagues is so very important.

Mary and Ellen linked to “What Is Top of Mind for Higher Education Leaders about AI?” — from northcoasteduvisory.com. Below are some excerpts from those notes:

We are interested how K-12 education will change in terms of foundational learning. With in-class, active learning designs, will younger students do a lot more intensive building of foundational writing and critical thinking skills before they get to college?

The Human in the Loop: AI is built using math: think of applied statistics on steroids. Humans will be needed more than ever to manage, review and evaluate the validity and reliability of results. Curation will be essential.
We will need to generate ideas about how to address AI factors such as privacy, equity, bias, copyright, intellectual property, accessibility, and scalability.
Have other institutions experimented with AI detection and/or have held off on emerging tools related to this? We have just recently adjusted guidance and paused some tools related to this given the massive inaccuracies in detection (and related downstream issues in faculty-elevated conduct cases)

Even though we learn repeatedly that innovation has a lot to do with effective project management and a solid message that helps people understand what they can do to implement change, people really need innovation to be more exciting and visionary than that. This is the place where we all need to help each other stay the course of change.

Along these lines, also see:

What people ask me most. Also, some answers. — from oneusefulthing.org by Ethan Mollick
A FAQ of sorts

I have been talking to a lot of people about Generative AI, from teachers to business executives to artists to people actually building LLMs. In these conversations, a few key questions and themes keep coming up over and over again. Many of those questions are more informed by viral news articles about AI than about the real thing, so I thought I would try to answer a few of the most common, to the best of my ability.

I can’t blame people for asking because, for whatever reason, the companies actually building and releasing Large Language Models often seem allergic to providing any sort of documentation or tutorial besides technical notes. I was given much better documentation for the generic garden hose I bought on Amazon than for the immensely powerful AI tools being released by the world’s largest companies. So, it is no surprise that rumor has been the way that people learn about AI capabilities.

Currently, there are only really three AIs to consider: (1) OpenAI’s GPT-4 (which you can get access to with a Plus subscription or via Microsoft Bing in creative mode, for free), (2) Google’s Bard (free), or (3) Anthropic’s Claude 2 (free, but paid mode gets you faster access). As of today, GPT-4 is the clear leader, Claude 2 is second best (but can handle longer documents), and Google trails, but that will likely change very soon when Google updates its model, which is rumored to be happening in the near future.

Re: upcoming “feature” from Microsoft: Trust is already a fragile thing. Are we sure we want this?! [Christian]

On 10/11/2023, in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, adjunct faculty, Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, change, cloud-based computing / apps / other cloud-related, colleges, communications, community colleges, computer science, content development, aggregation, repositories, corporate / business world, Daniel S. Christian, education technology, emerging technologies, faculty, higher education, human-computer interaction (HCI), ideas, innovation, instructional design, intelligent systems, languages and translation, learning ecosystem, Microsoft, productivity / tips and tricks, programming, society, the downsides of how people use tech, tools, trends, United States, universities, workplace, writing, by Daniel Christian

DC: Reminds me of an upcoming “feature” I just read about. Trust is already a fragile thing. Are we sure we want this?!

A person’s image & voice can already be mimicked. Now add their communications to the growing list as well?

“Just because we can…”https://t.co/D4t8QHmbeO

— Daniel Christian (he/him/his) (@dchristian5) October 11, 2023

Next month Microsoft Corp. will start making its artificial intelligence features for Office widely available to corporate customers. Soon after, that will include the ability for it to read your emails, learn your writing style and compose messages on your behalf.

From DSC:
As readers of this blog know, I’m generally pro-technology. I see most technologies as tools — which can be used for good or for ill. So I will post items both pro and con concerning AI.

But outsourcing email communications to AI isn’t on my wish list or to-do list.

The Public Is Giving Up on Higher Ed — from chronicle.com by Michael D. Smith
Our current system isn’t working for society. Digital alternatives can change that.

Excerpts:

I fear that we in the academy are willfully ignoring this problem. Bring up student-loan debt and you’ll hear that it’s the government’s fault. Bring up online learning and you’ll hear that it is — and always will be — inferior to in-person education. Bring up exclusionary admissions practices and you’ll hear something close to, “Well, the poor can attend community colleges.”

On one hand, our defensiveness is natural. Change is hard, and technological change that risks making traditional parts of our sector obsolete is even harder. “A professor must have an incentive to adopt new technology,” a tenured colleague recently told me regarding online learning. “Innovation adoption will occur one funeral at a time.”

But while our defense of the status quo is understandable, maybe we should ask whether it’s ethical, given what we know about the injustice inherent in our current system. I believe a happier future for all involved — faculty, administrators, and students — is within reach, but requires we stop reflexively protecting our deeply flawed system. How can we do that? We could start by embracing three fundamental principles.

1. Digitization will change higher education.
…
2. We should want to embrace this change.
…
3. We have a way to embrace this change.

I fear that we in the academy are willfully ignoring this problem. Bring up student-loan debt and you’ll hear that it’s the government’s fault. Bring up online learning and you’ll hear that it is — and always will be — inferior to in-person education. Bring up exclusionary admissions practices and you’ll hear something close to, “Well, the poor can attend community colleges.”

“Sparking online joy: five ways to keep students engaged” [Ordorica, Crolla, & Garner-Foy]

On 10/09/2023, in adjunct faculty, colleges, community colleges, education, engagement / engaging students, higher education, instructional design, interactivity, K-12 related, Learning Experience Design, microlearning, online learning, pedagogy, teaching & learning, teaching online, UK, United States, universities, by Daniel Christian

Sparking online joy: five ways to keep students engaged — from timeshighereducation.com by Andrés Ordorica, Marcello Crolla, and Lizzy Garner-Foy
Five guiding principles to use when designing and developing content for short online courses that will keep students engaged

Keeping students engaged is a big challenge and one that’s key to making a short online course successful. With a diverse audience, a variety of learning preferences and a multitude of distractions in the online space, how can you create a course that successfully retains students’ attention? Here, we explore five guiding principles for designing an online course that is engaging and enjoyable.

By offering bitesize learning, embracing variety and interactivity, infusing meaning into content, fostering a learning community and adhering to the “less is more” principle, you can create a course that captivates your audience and cultivates a lasting love for learning.

Speaking of pedagogical-related items, also see:

?this strategy. Be sure to also check out the original thread for some ideas that build on it. https://t.co/c5QaDuyDgp

— edutopia (@edutopia) October 4, 2023

Everyday Media Literacy: An Analog Guide for Your Digital Life — from routledge.com by Sue Ellen Christian

In this second edition, award-winning educator Sue Ellen Christian offers students an accessible and informed guide to how they can consume and create media intentionally and critically.

The textbook applies media literacy principles and critical thinking to the key issues facing young adults today, from analyzing and creating media messages to verifying information and understanding online privacy. Through discussion prompts, writing exercises, key terms, and links, readers are provided with a framework from which to critically consume and create media in their everyday lives. This new edition includes updates covering privacy aspects of AI, VR and the metaverse, and a new chapter on digital audiences, gaming, and the creative and often unpaid labor of social media and influencers. Chapters examine news literacy, online activism, digital inequality, social media and identity, and global media corporations, giving readers a nuanced understanding of the key concepts at the core of media literacy. Concise, creative, and curated, this book highlights the cultural, political, and economic dynamics of media in contemporary society, and how consumers can mindfully navigate their daily media use.

This textbook is perfect for students and educators of media literacy, journalism, and education looking to build their understanding in an engaging way.

Citing Significant Budget Deficits, Several Colleges Face Cuts [Lederman] + other HE-related items

On 10/09/2023, in business side of he, change, changing business models, colleges, community colleges, funding / grants, future of higher education, higher education, parents/guardians, student-related, trends, United States, universities, by Daniel Christian

US Higher Education Needs a Revolution. What’s Holding It Back? — from bloomberg.com by Tyler Cowen
Not only do professors need to change how they teach, but universities need to change how they evaluate them.

When the revolution in higher education finally arrives, how will we know? I have a simple metric: When universities change how they measure faculty work time. Using this yardstick, the US system remains very far from a fundamental transformation.

But today’s education system is dynamic, and needs to become even more so. There is already the internet, YouTube, and a flurry of potential innovations coming from AI. If professors really are a society’s best minds, shouldn’t they be working to improve the entire educational process, not just punching the equivalent of a time clock at a university?

Such a change would require giving them credit for innovations, which in turn would require a broader conception of their responsibilities.

Citing Significant Budget Deficits, Several Colleges Face Cuts — from insidehighered.com by Doug Lederman
The affected institutions include Christian Brothers, Delta State, Lane Community College, Miami University, St. Norbert and Shepherd.

Numerous colleges and universities, public and private, announced in recent days that they face significant budget deficits that will require cuts to programs and employees.

Many of the institutions appear to have been motivated by fall enrollment numbers that did not meet their expectations, in most cases representing a failure to recover from record low enrollments during the pandemic. Others cited the lingering effects on enrollment and budgets from COVID-19, exacerbated by the end of federal relief funds.

How universities can adopt a lifelong learning mindset: Lifelong learning that will last — from timeshighereducation.com by various authors
How the traditional university degree can be reimagined as a lifelong educational journey, enabling students to upskill and reskill throughout their lives

The rapid evolution of the workplace and changing skills demands are driving calls for better lifelong learning provision. For universities, this means re-examining traditional teaching practices and course design to ensure that students can benefit from continuing education throughout their careers. It requires more flexible, accessible, bite-sized learning that can be completed in tandem with other professional and personal commitments. But how can this be offered in a coherent, joined-up way without sacrificing quality? From Moocs to microcredentials, these resources offer advice and insight into how lifelong learning opportunities can be developed and improved for future generations.

The College Backlash Is Going Too Far — from theatlantic.com by David Deming; via Matthew Tower who also expresses his concerns re: this article from The Chronicle
Getting a four-year degree is still a good investment.

American higher education certainly has its problems. But the bad vibes around college threaten to obscure an important economic reality: Most young people are still far better off with a four-year college degree than without one.

Historically, analysis of higher education’s value tends to focus on the so-called college wage premium. That premium has always been massive—college graduates earn much more than people without a degree, on average—but it doesn’t take into account the cost of getting a degree. So the St. Louis Fed researchers devised a new metric, the college wealth premium, to try to get a more complete picture.

But the long-term value of a bachelor’s degree is much greater than it initially appears. If a college professor or pundit tries to convince you otherwise, ask them what they would choose for their own children.

From DSC:
David’s last quote here is powerful and likely true. But that doesn’t mean that we should disregard trying to get the cost of obtaining a degree down by 50% or more. There are still way too many people struggling with student loans — and they have been for DECADES. And others will be joining these same financial struggles — again, for DECADES to come.

Johns Hopkins aims to address teacher shortage with new master’s residency option — from hub.jhu.edu ; via Matthew Tower

The School of Education’s TeachingWell program will provide professional, financial support for applicants looking to start long-term careers in teaching

Students in TeachingWell will earn the Master of Education for Teaching Professionals in four semesters at Johns Hopkins and gain Maryland state teacher certification along with real-world teaching experience—all made stronger by ongoing mentoring, life design, and teacher wellness programs through the university.

“We will focus on teacher well-being and life-design skills that address burnout and mental health concerns that are forcing too many teachers out of the profession,” says Mary Ellen Beaty-O’Ferrall, associate professor at the School of Education and faculty director of TeachingWell. “We want teachers with staying power—effective and financially stable educators with strong personal well-being.”

How to Build Stackable Credentials — from insidehighered.com by Lindsay Daugherty , Peter Nguyen , Jonah Kushner and Peter Riley Bahr
Five actions states and colleges are taking.

Stackable credentials are a top priority for many states and colleges these days. The term can be used to mean different things, from college efforts to embed short-term credentials into their degree programs to larger-scale efforts to rethink the way credentialing is done through alternative approaches, like skills badges. The goals of these initiatives are twofold: (1) to ensure individuals can get credit for a range of different learning experiences and better integrate these different types of learning, and (2) to better align our education and training systems with workforce needs, which often require reskilling through training and credentials below the bachelor’s degree level.S

180 Degree Turn: NYC District Goes From Banning ChatGPT to Exploring AI’s Potential — from edweek.org by Alyson Klein (behind paywall)

New York City Public Schools will launch an Artificial Intelligence Policy Lab to guide the nation’s largest school district’s approach to this rapidly evolving technology.

The Leader’s Blindspot: How to Prepare for the Real Future — from preview.mailerlite.io by the AIEducator
The Commonly Held Belief: AI Will Automate Only Boring, Repetitive Tasks First

The Days of Task-Based Views on AI Are Numbered
The winds of change are sweeping across the educational landscape (emphasis DSC):

Multifaceted AI: AI technologies are not one-trick ponies; they are evolving into complex systems that can handle a variety of tasks.
Rising Expectations: As technology becomes integral to our lives, the expectations for personalised, efficient education are soaring.
Skill Transformation: Future job markets will demand a different skill set, one that is symbiotic with AI capabilities.

Teaching: How to help students better understand generative AI — from chronicle.com by Beth McMurtrie
Beth describes ways professors have used ChatGPT to bolster critical thinking in writing-intensive courses

Kevin McCullen, an associate professor of computer science at the State University of New York at Plattsburgh, teaches a freshman seminar about AI and robotics. As part of the course, students read Machines of Loving Grace: The Quest for Common Ground Between Humans and Robots, by John Markoff. McCullen had the students work in groups to outline and summarize the first three chapters. Then he showed them what ChatGPT had produced in an outline.

“Their version and ChatGPT’s version seemed to be from two different books,” McCullen wrote. “ChatGPT’s version was essentially a ‘laundry list’ of events. Their version was narratives of what they found interesting. The students had focused on what the story was telling them, while ChatGPT focused on who did what in what year.” The chatbot also introduced false information, such as wrong chapter names.

The students, he wrote, found the writing “soulless.”

7 Questions with Dr. Cristi Ford, VP of Academic Affairs at D2L — from campustechnology.com by Rhea Kelly

In the Wild West of generative AI, educators and institutions are working out how best to use the technology for learning. How can institutions define AI guidelines that allow for experimentation while providing students with consistent guidance on appropriate use of AI tools?

To find out, we spoke with Dr. Cristi Ford, vice president of academic affairs at D2L. With more than two decades of educational experience in nonprofit, higher education, and K-12 institutions, Ford works with D2L’s institutional partners to elevate best practices in teaching, learning, and student support. Here, she shares her advice on setting and communicating AI policies that are consistent and future-ready.

AI Platform Built by Teachers, for Teachers, Class Companion Raises $4 Million to Tap Into the Power of Practice — from prweb.com

“If we want to use AI to improve education, we need more teachers at the table,” said Avery Pan, Class Companion co-founder and CEO. “Class Companion is designed by teachers, for teachers, to harness the most sophisticated AI and improve their classroom experience. Developing technologies specifically for teachers is imperative to supporting our next generation of students and education system.”

7 Questions on Generative AI in Learning Design — from campustechnology.com by Rhea Kelly
Open LMS Adoption and Education Specialist Michael Vaughn on the challenges and possibilities of using artificial intelligence to move teaching and learning forward.

The potential for artificial intelligence tools to speed up course design could be an attractive prospect for overworked faculty and spread-thin instructional designers. Generative AI can shine, for example, in tasks such as reworking assessment question sets, writing course outlines and learning objectives, and generating subtitles for audio and video clips. The key, says Michael Vaughn, adoption and education specialist at learning platform Open LMS, is treating AI like an intern who can be guided and molded along the way, and whose work is then vetted by a human expert.

We spoke with Vaughn about how best to utilize generative AI in learning design, ethical issues to consider, and how to formulate an institution-wide policy that can guide AI use today and in the future.

10 Ways Technology Leaders Can Step Up and Into the Generative AI Discussion in Higher Ed — from er.educause.edu by Lance Eaton and Stan Waddell

Offer Short Primers on Generative AI
Explain How to Get Started
Suggest Best Practices for Engaging with Generative AI
Give Recommendations for Different Groups
Recommend Tools
Explain the Closed vs. Open-Source Divide
Avoid Pitfalls
Conduct Workshops and Events
Spot the Fake
Provide Proper Guidance on the Limitations of AI Detectors

ChatGPT meets Pixar’s 22 Rules of Storytelling.

How to turn ChatGPT into the ultimate storyteller (I shouldn’t be giving this prompt away for free): pic.twitter.com/hFt3QTHd9o

— The AI Solopreneur (@aisolopreneur) October 4, 2023

Canva and Adobe are going hard with it re: the use of AI

On 10/09/2023, in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, adjunct faculty, Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, colleges, communications, community colleges, content development, aggregation, repositories, corporate universities / corporate training, design, digital photography, digital video, education technology, emerging technologies, engagement / engaging students, experimentation, faculty, graphics, higher education, homeschooling/homeschoolers, human-computer interaction (HCI), innovation, instructional design, intelligent systems, IT in HE, K-12 related, liberal arts, maker movement, multimedia, online media, photography, platforms, productivity / tips and tricks, skills, student teaching/teacher education, student-related, teachers, teaching & learning, teaching online, technologies for your home, tools, training / L&D, United States, universities, vendors, visualizing information, web design and production, by Daniel Christian

Canva’s new AI tools automate boring, labor-intensive design tasks — from theverge.com by Jess Weatherbed
Magic Studio features like Magic Switch automatically convert your designs into blogs, social media posts, emails, and more to save time on manually editing documents.

Canva launches Magic Studio, partners with Runway ML for video — from bensbites.beehiiv.com by Ben Tossell

Here are the highlights of launched features under the new Magic Studio:

Magic Design – Turn ideas into designs instantly with AI-generated templates.
Magic Switch – Transform content into different formats and languages with one click.
Magic Grab – Make images editable like Canva templates for easy editing.
Magic Expand – Use AI to expand images beyond the original frame.
Magic Morph – Transform text and shapes with creative effects and prompts.
Magic Edit – Make complex image edits using simple text prompts.
Magic Media – Generate professional photos, videos and artworks from text prompts.
Magic Animate – Add animated transitions and motion to designs instantly.
Magic Write – Generate draft text and summaries powered by AI.

Adobe Firefly

Addendums on 10/11/23:

We released a new model ?

!!! Firefly Image 2 !!!!

As a scientist I am in disbelief that such model is possible with a small dataset as we had.

We compensated artists for training it.

We worked very hard on it. Please, enjoy! #AdobeMax https://t.co/j2TUiiyjN7 pic.twitter.com/gqABThSBWZ

— Kris Kashtanova (@icreatelife) October 10, 2023

Adobe Releases New AI Models Aimed at Improved Graphic Design — from bloomberg.com
New version of Firefly is bigger than initial tool, Adobe says Illustrator, Express programs each get own generative tools

A few hours ago, Adobe released Firefly 2, their new AI image generator.

But how good is it?

I compared it to Midjourney & DALL-E 3 across 10 very different image categories so you don’t have to.

Here are the results:

— Chase Lean (@chaseleantj) October 11, 2023

College Cost Transparency Press Release

On 10/07/2023, in Bias | Diversity Equity & Inclusion (DE&I), business side of he, colleges, community colleges, cost of getting a degree, higher education, United States, universities, by Daniel Christian

College Cost Transparency Press Release — from collegeprice.org
Hundreds of Colleges and Universities Commit to Student Cost Transparency

WASHINGTON, D.C, SEPTEMBER 26, 2023 — The College Cost Transparency Initiative (CCT) — a task force composed of the leaders of 10 higher education associations representing college presidents, financial aid offices, and admissions and school counselors — today announced that more than 360 institutions of higher education have voluntarily committed to follow a set of principles and standards that ensure transparency, clarity, and understanding around communicating student financial aid offers. Together, these institutions serve more than 3.8 million college students in the United States.

The monumental commitment comes as lawmakers, think tanks, and government entities continue to scrutinize the financial aid offers that colleges and universities present to students. The principles and standards recommended by the CCT respond to the needs of students and families in a nuanced and careful manner.

As AI Chatbots Rise, More Educators Look to Oral Exams — With High-Tech Twist [Young]

On 10/06/2023, in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, A/V -- audio/visual, Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, Australia, bots, colleges, community colleges, content development, aggregation, repositories, digital audio, digital learning, education, education technology, emerging technologies, experimentation, future, future of higher education, game-changing environment, higher education, ideas, innovation, instructional design, intelligent systems, intelligent tutoring, IT in HE, K-12 related, learning, learning ecosystem, Learning Experience Design, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, multimedia, Natural Language Processing (NLP), platforms, productivity / tips and tricks, teachers, teaching & learning, teaching online, United States, universities, vendors, vision/possibilities, voice recognition / voice enabled interfaces, by Daniel Christian

As AI Chatbots Rise, More Educators Look to Oral Exams — With High-Tech Twist — from edsurge.com by Jeffrey R. Young

To use Sherpa, an instructor first uploads the reading they’ve assigned, or they can have the student upload a paper they’ve written. Then the tool asks a series of questions about the text (either questions input by the instructor or generated by the AI) to test the student’s grasp of key concepts. The software gives the instructor the choice of whether they want the tool to record audio and video of the conversation, or just audio.

The tool then uses AI to transcribe the audio from each student’s recording and flags areas where the student answer seemed off point. Teachers can review the recording or transcript of the conversation and look at what Sherpa flagged as trouble to evaluate the student’s response.

“The Enemy Within: Former College Presidents Offer Warnings” [Rosowsky]

On 10/04/2023, in business side of he, change, colleges, community colleges, future of higher education, game-changing environment, higher education, law schools, pace of change, United States, universities, by Daniel Christian

The Enemy Within: Former College Presidents Offer Warnings — from forbes-com.cdn.ampproject.org by David Rosowsky; via Robert Gibson on LinkedIn

Excerpt (emphasis DSC):

Brian Mitchell, former president of Bucknell University and Washington & Jefferson College, draws on his experience to offer insight in his newest Forbes contribution. He also offers a stern warning: “Boards, administrators, and faculty must wake up to the new realities they now face… the faculty can no longer live in a world that no longer exists… institutional change will happen at a speed to which they are unaccustomed and potentially unwilling to accept.” President Mitchell then goes on to offer some immediate steps that can be taken. Perhaps the most important is to “abandon the approach to governance where trustees are updated in their periodic board meetings.”

Incremental change is possible, but transformational change may not be.

Therein lies the conundrum about which Rosenberg writes in his new book. Higher ed’s own systems are inhibiting needed transformational change.

Also just published was the book, “Whatever It Is, I’m Against It: Resistance to Change in Higher Education” by Brian Rosenberg, former president of Macalester College. Articles on Rosenberg’s observations, analysis, and cautions have appeared this month in both The Chronicle of Higher Education and Inside Higher Ed, the two leading higher education publications in the US.

Addendum on 10/6/23:

Higher Education as Its Own Worst Enemy — from insidehighered.com/ by Susan H. Greenberg
In a wide-ranging discussion about his new book, Brian Rosenberg explains how shared governance, tenure and other practices stifle change on college campuses.

He argues that the institutions designed to foster critical inquiry and the open exchange of ideas are themselves staunchly resistant to both.

The other would be some serious thinking about pedagogy and how students learn. Because the research is there if people were willing to take it seriously and think about ways of providing an education that is not quite as reliant upon lots of faculty with Ph.D.s. Is that easy to do? No, but it is something that I think there should at least begin to be some serious discussions about.
…
Shared governance is one of those things that if you ask any college president off the record, they’ll probably express their frustration, then they’ll go back to their campus and wax poetic about the wonders of shared governance, because that’s what they have to do to survive.

Shift to Self-assessment [Tucker]

On 10/02/2023, in assessment, higher education, homeschooling/homeschoolers, ideas, instructional design, K-12 related, learning ecosystem, Learning Experience Design, pedagogy, teachers, teaching & learning, by Daniel Christian

Shift to Self-assessment — from catlintucker.com by Dr. Catlin Tucker

Who decided that grading and assessment should be the exclusive responsibility of teachers? Why do we sideline students when it comes to assessment?

Self-assessment is a powerful strategy that encourages students to become more invested in their learning journeys. It is a process where students evaluate their work, reflecting on what they’ve learned, how well they’ve understood complex concepts, how much progress they’ve made toward mastering key skills, and where they may need to invest time and energy to improve their concept knowledge and skill set (Siegesmund, 2016). Self-assessment shifts the focus from a grade-centric perspective to a learning-centric one. For those of us who want to encourage students to adopt a growth mindset, believing they can always improve and develop with practice and hard work, self-assessment is a critical piece of that puzzle (Wang, Zepeda, Qin, Del Toro & Binning, 2021).

Learning Ecosystems

2024 EDUCAUSE Top 10: Institutional Resilience

“Regional Colleges Saw Biggest Application Gains After Tuition Resets” [Palmer] + “Why hybrid learning needs hybrid faculties” [Jacobs & Rossi]

The Learning & Employment Records (LER) Ecosystem Map

The Public Is Giving Up on Higher Ed [Smith]

College Cost Transparency Press Release

“The Enemy Within: Former College Presidents Offer Warnings” [Rosowsky]

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