IT in HE

Tech conferences are going virtual, and it feels like Netflix content on demand — from .marketwatch.com by Jon Swartz

Excerpt:

Such is the new world of tech conferences in the age of COVID-19. They’ve gone all-digital, like Build and GTC Digital, and may never be the same. Absent a vaccine, the days of thousands of people herded into hotel ballrooms and convention centers like cattle, sharing cabs and eating in cramped quarters, are gone.

Far from crippling the tech industry, however, virtual shows could lead to democratization of what had once been an exclusive, pricey privilege for tech movers and shakers. In the new climate, consumers have free access to valuable technical content whenever they wish to view it.

“Last year, I paid several thousand dollars to attend, and if I was late for a session, I couldn’t rewind it. This year, I could.”

From DSC:
I, for one, am glad that we made the investments in the telecommunications and networking infrastructures, in the PCs, Macs, laptops, tablets, other items in the #edtech realm, as well as investing in a variety of technologies through the years. Given the need to move online due to the Coronavirus, I’d say such investments offered many a solid ROI throughout K-12, higher education, as well as in the corporate world. But I realize that not everyone has access to these things…which is something we must work on as a nation.

But had we not made those investments, where we would be now?

Also see:

Teaching during COVID-19: Why We’re Fortunate — from er.educause.edu by Gardner Campbell

Not in the Future—Now — from er.educause.edu by John O’Brien

Excerpts:

…technology can no longer be seen as a utility working quietly in the background. Now more than ever, technology is a strategic asset that is vital to the success of every higher education institution.
…
Digital transformation (Dx) can no longer be considered an aspirational concept. It must be understood as an imperative. And that well-worn, precious notion of campus technology professionals doing work that is noticed only when there is an outage? This too is a thing of the past.
…
[Technology] is not just a lifeline that got us through a tricky situation. It is and must increasingly be understood as an integral, strategic part of the successful college or university. Not in the future. Now.

Higher Ed Needs a Long-Term Plan for Virtual Learning [DeVaney, Shimshon, Rascoff, & Maggioncalda]

On 05/20/2020, in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, adjunct faculty, adult learning, collaboration, colleges, community colleges, content development, aggregation, repositories, cost of getting a degree, dangers of the status quo, Daniel S. Christian, digital learning, distance education, education, education technology, elearning, engagement / engaging students, face-to-face, future of higher education, game-changing environment, generational differences, higher education, human-computer interaction (HCI), ideas, innovation, instructional design, IT in HE, law schools, learner profiles, learning, learning agents, learning ecosystem, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, learning hubs & pods & microschooling, learning preferences, learning spaces, more voice more choice more control, New "Amazon.com" of Higher Education, new business models, online learning, online media, online tutoring, personalized/customized learning, platforms, reinvent, society, staying relevant, student-related, surviving, teaching & learning, teaching online, technologies for your home, technology (general), tools, traditional / tradition, United States, universities, user experience (UX), vision/possibilities, web-based collaboration, by Daniel Christian

Higher Ed Needs a Long-Term Plan for Virtual Learning — from Harvard Business Review by James DeVaney, Gideon Shimshon, Matthew Rascoff, and Jeff Maggioncalda

Excerpts:

The staggering impact of Covid-19 on education systems around the world is unlike anything we have seen in the post-war era. More than 1.6 billion students have been affected, representing over 91% of all students in the world. Unsurprisingly, demand for online learning has skyrocketed. In the last 30 days, there were 10.3 million enrollments in courses on Coursera, up 644% from the same period last year.
…
As the emergency subsides but normal fails to return, higher ed institutions need to do more. There’s a good likelihood that virtual learning — in some capacity — will need to be a part of education for the foreseeable future. Higher ed institutions need a response framework that looks beyond the immediate actions. They have to prepare for an intermediate period of transition and begin future-proofing their institutions for the long term.

Some of the potential scenarios for higher ed in the fall — what’s our/your plans?

On 05/12/2020, in adjunct faculty, blended learning, career development, change, changing business models, colleges, community colleges, dangers of the status quo, education technology, face-to-face, faculty, future, future of higher education, game-changing environment, health, higher education, hybrid learning, ideas, innovation, instructional design, internet, IT in HE, law schools, learning, learning ecosystem, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, learning preferences, Michigan, more voice more choice more control, New "Amazon.com" of Higher Education, online learning, online media, online tutoring, teaching & learning, teaching online, United States, universities, web-based collaboration, by Daniel Christian

Fall Scenario #13: A HyFlex Model — from insidehighered.com by Edward Maloney and Joshua Kim

Excerpt:

In a HyFlex course, courses are delivered both in person and online at the same time by the same faculty member. Students can then choose for each and every class meeting whether to show up for class in person or to join it online. The underlying design ethos behind the HyFlex Model is flexibility and student choice.
…
To do it well, then, a lot of things need to line up, including the technology, the course design, the focus on pedagogy and the engagement of the students. Many schools that wish to scale the HyFlex Model across the curriculum for the fall semester will likely need to make a significant investment in classroom technology.

Also see the other scenarios from Kim and Maloney at:

Problems planning for a Post-Pandemic Campus this fall — from bryanalexander.org by Bryan Alexander
How will campuses try to return to face-to-face education? What does it mean now to plan for a Post-Pandemic Campus this fall?

Excerpt:

In April I published three scenarios for colleges and universities may approach the fall 2020 semester in the wake of COVID-19, based on different ways the pandemic might play out. I followed that up with real world examples of each scenario, as different institutions subsequently issued announcements about their plans. To recap, they are:

COVID Fall: today’s “remote instruction” continues and develops for the rest of calendar 2020.
Toggle Term: campuses are ready and able to switch between online and in-person instruction as circumstances change.
Post-Pandemic Campus: colleges and universities return in the fall to the traditional face-to-face mode after COVID-19’s danger has ebbed to a certain level.

6 ways college might look different in the fall — from npr.com by Elissa Nadworny

Excerpt:

What will happen on college campuses in the fall? It’s a big question for families, students and the schools themselves.

A lot of what happens depends on factors outside the control of individual schools: Will there be more testing? Contact tracing? Enough physical space for distancing? Will the coronavirus have a second wave? Will any given state allow campuses to reopen?

For all of these questions, it’s really too early to know the answers. But one thing is clear: Life, and learning for the nation’s 20 million students in higher education, will be different.

“I don’t think there’s any scenario under which it’s business as usual on American college campuses in the fall,” says Nicholas Christakis, a sociologist and physician at Yale University.

If law schools can’t offer in-person classes this fall, what will they do instead? — from abajournal.com by Stephanie Francis Ward

DC: Ouch! Likely a major game-changer — esp given the current landscape of #HigherEducation. [Christian]

On 05/07/2020, in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, A/V -- audio/visual, Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, career development, change, changing business models, colleges, community colleges, content development, aggregation, repositories, corporate / business world, corporate universities / corporate training, cost of getting a degree, credentialing, dangers of the status quo, Daniel S. Christian, design, digital audio, digital learning, digital video, disruption, distance education, education, education reform, education technology, educational games / serious games, elearning, emerging technologies, engagement / engaging students, experimentation, future, future of higher education, game-changing environment, generational differences, higher education, human-computer interaction (HCI), ideas, innovation, instructional design, intelligent systems, intelligent tutoring, IT in HE, law schools, leadership, learner profiles, learning, learning ecosystem, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, learning hubs & pods & microschooling, learning preferences, New "Amazon.com" of Higher Education, new business models, online learning, online media, online tutoring, pace of change, platforms, reinvent, remote teaching and learning, society, staying relevant, strategy, student-related, surviving, teaching & learning, teaching online, tools, traditional / tradition, training / L&D, United States, universities, user experience (UX), vendors, vision/possibilities, youth, by Daniel Christian

DC: Ouch! Likely a *major game-changer* — esp given the current landscape of #HigherEducation. If traditional institutions of higher ed want to survive, they better take #onlinelearning far more seriously & research/develop excellent learning experiences.https://t.co/ijmorKMbTv

— Daniel Christian (@dchristian5) May 6, 2020

From DSC:
Readers of this blog will know that I’m a big fan of online learning. That said, I realize it’s not for everyone. Our son, who is studying to become an actor, hates it.

Given:

our current technological tools, setups, and infrastructures
the ways that we are used to doing things
our past and current educational systems
and folks’ learning preferences

…it’s hard to do some things online. I get it.

That said, I wouldn’t rule out the further significant growth and development of online-based learning experiences by any stretch of the imagination. The Coronavirus will force traditional institutions of higher education (plus many K-12 school systems as well as corporate training programs) to invest much more aggressively in the research and development of online-based learning experiences. And with AI-based tools like Otter.AI, our future virtually/digitally-based learning ecosystems could be very powerful indeed.

As but one example, consider that AI technologies — as unseen but present participants in future videoconferencing calls — will “listen” to the conversation and likely provide us with a constantly updating sidebar that will consist of beneficial resources such as:

relevant research
websites
journal articles
blog postings
former team conversations
etc.

The output from that sidebar will likely be able to be saved /downloaded just like we do with transcripts of chat sessions. The available options for such a service will be customizable, and filtering mechanisms can be turned on, or off, or be adjusted.

All of that said, it IS time to reduce the investments that are being used to create new athletic facilities and/or other new physical buildings. And it’s time to start reallocating those millions of dollars of investments into creating/developing highly-effective online-based learning experiences.

Don’t get me wrong. Going to campus is an ideal learning experience, and I hope that for everyone out there. But if the current trends continue — especially the increasing costs of obtaining a degree — that won’t be an option for a growing number of people (especially with the aftermath/ripple effects of the Coronavirus on our society).

#CostOfObtainingADegree #StudentRelated #AI #InstructionalDesign #IntelligentSystems #IntelligentTutoring #FutureOfHigherEducation #Innovation #LearningEcosystems #HigherEducation #Change #NewBusinessModels #Reinvent #StayingRelevant #Surviving

Dawn of the Age of Digital Learning [Moe & Rajendran]

On 05/06/2020, in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, adult learning, analytics, Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, Asia, blended learning, business side of he, career development, change, changing business models, colleges, community colleges, competency-based learning/education, content development, aggregation, repositories, corporate / business world, corporate universities / corporate training, cost of getting a degree, dangers of the status quo, Daniel S. Christian, digital audio, digital learning, digital video, disruption, distance education, education, education technology, elearning, emerging technologies, Europe, face-to-face, faculty, flipping -- inverted learning, future, future of higher education, game-changing environment, generational differences, higher education, homeschooling/homeschoolers, hybrid learning, ideas, India, innovation, instructional design, intelligent systems, intelligent tutoring, IT in HE, K-12 related, law schools, learning, learning ecosystem, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, learning hubs & pods & microschooling, liberal arts, lifelong learning, microlearning, MOOCs -- Massive Open Online Courses, more voice more choice more control, New "Amazon.com" of Higher Education, new business models, online learning, online media, online tutoring, organizational change, pace of change, personalized/customized learning, platforms, remote teaching and learning, social learning / networks, society, student-related, surviving, teaching & learning, teaching online, technology (general), traditional / tradition, training / L&D, trends, United States, universities, vendors, vision/possibilities, web-based collaboration, workplace, by Daniel Christian

Dawn of the Age of Digital Learning — from medium.com by Michael Moe and Vignesh Rajendran
An Acceleration of Trends That Have Been Building for Years

Excerpts:

Some of these new online learners will sink. Some will crawl out of the pool and never go back in. But we believe most will get the hang of it, like it, and will no longer be confined to the shore. Effectively, the genie is not going back in the bottle… digital learning has come of age. We have a B.C. (Before Coronavirus) world transitioning to A.D. (After Disease).
…
The Coronavirus has brought forth the Dawn of the Age of Digital Learning — a time for builders to create the platforms, tools, and technology to propel society forward.

From DSC:
So many of the things in this article reminded me of the things, developments, trends, needs, and possibilities that I have been tracking for years in this vision of a next-generation, global learning platform that I have entitled:

My guess is that the large, primarily online institutions/organizations will come out of this ordeal in much better shape than the majority of the traditional institutions of higher education. It won’t matter what faculty members at liberal arts institutions think about online learning. And as much as some faculty members won’t like to see or hear about it, students will no longer need for such faculty members to be sold on it. Students will come to realize that it was under those faculty members watch that their own enormous gorillas of debt were created. And they are beginning to witness and hear that it’s taking (or will take) older family members decades to pay down their debt.

So, I think that the market will decide the fate of many traditional institutions of higher education. Lifelong learners will vote with their feet — and fingers actually, by typing in a new URL — and simply move to the SNHU’s, ASU’s, UMass Online’s, WGU’s, and Liberty University’s of the world. After 5-10 years of investments in online learning, there will likely be some pretty amazing learning experiences out there.

OLC Innovate™ 2020 Conference Moves to June with All-Virtual Format

On 05/01/2020, in 24x7x365 access, active learning, adjunct faculty, Canvas - and other Instructure-related items, career development, cloud-based computing / apps / other cloud-related, CMS/LMS, collaboration, colleges, communications, community colleges, design, digital audio, digital learning, digital storytelling, digital video, distance education, education, education technology, educational games / serious games, elearning, engagement / engaging students, faculty, future of higher education, game-changing environment, higher education, ideas, innovation, IT in HE, law schools, learning, learning ecosystem, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, multimedia, online learning, online media, pedagogy, platforms, remote teaching and learning, teaching & learning, teaching online, technologies for your home, technology (general), tools, United States, universities, vendors, videoconferencing, Virtual Reality (VR) / worlds / learning, XR - extended reality, by Daniel Christian

OLC Innovate™ 2020 Conference Moves to June with All-Virtual Format — from prweb.com
Produced by the Online Learning Consortium, in partnership with MERLOT, OLC Innovate 2020 Virtual will gather digital learning leaders and practitioners, online, June 15-26, to focus on innovation in digital, blended and online learning.

Excerpt:

BOSTON (PRWEB) MAY 01, 2020
The Online Learning Consortium (OLC) announced today that its annual OLC Innovate™ Conference is moving to an all-virtual format for 2020. OLC and conference partner MERLOT will gather the digital learning community, online, June 15-26, for OLC Innovate™ 2020 Virtual Conference (#OLCInnovate). This year’s theme, “Building Bridges in Digital, Blended and Online Learning,” frames a 10-day online program that highlights inspiring innovators and thought leaders from higher education, K-12, military, health care and workforce education.

Will tools like Otter be much more integrated into our future learning ecosystems, meetings, & teleconferences?

On 04/29/2020, in Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, cloud-based computing / apps / other cloud-related, CMS/LMS, collaboration, colleges, communications, communities of practice, content development, aggregation, repositories, corporate / business world, corporate universities / corporate training, Daniel S. Christian, digital audio, digital learning, digital video, distance education, education, education technology, elearning, emerging technologies, future, future of higher education, game-changing environment, global / globalization, higher education, homeschooling/homeschoolers, human-computer interaction (HCI), ideas, innovation, instructional design, intelligent systems, intelligent tutoring, IT in HE, K-12 related, languages and translation, law schools, learning, learning agents, learning ecosystem, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, learning hubs & pods & microschooling, learning spaces, Legal operations, legal technologies, MOOCs -- Massive Open Online Courses, online learning, online media, online tutoring, platforms, presentations, productivity / tips and tricks, professional development, smart classrooms, smart/connected TV, technologies for your home, technology (general), telelegal, telemedicine / telehealth / virtual health, telepresence, tools, by Daniel Christian

Per Jeremy Caplan: “Try this easy, free transcription tool.
Transcribe Zoom calls, interviews or meetings. Or just dictate.”https://t.co/Y3nZ1s7WTm #videoconferencing #transcription #productivity #recording

— Daniel Christian (@dchristian5) April 29, 2020

With thanks to my sister, Sue Ellen Christian, for forwarding me Jeremy Caplan’s site/newsletter.

Also see:

Otter.ai Selected for AI-Powered Zoom Live Transcriptions — from prweb.com

…and this one as well:

From DSC:

Will tools like Otter be much more integrated into our future learning ecosystems, meetings, & teleconferences?

EDUCAUSE COVID-19 QuickPoll Results: The Technology Workforce Authors: by Susan Grajek

On 04/29/2020, in change, colleges, community colleges, Daniel S. Christian, higher education, IT in HE, law schools, leadership, Michigan, organizational change, pace of change, technologies for your home, technology (general), telecommunications, telemedicine / telehealth / virtual health, United States, universities, by Daniel Christian

EDUCAUSE COVID-19 QuickPoll Results: The Technology Workforce — from er.educause.edu by Susan Grajek

Excerpts:

Most of the survey respondents are working remotely and getting their work done. Although the work itself hasn’t changed much, workloads have increased, especially for IT leaders and people supporting teaching and learning. Most people have the technologies they need to work and to handle sensitive data, but many are struggling to maintain their physical, social, and emotional health. On the other hand, the newfound widespread ability to work productively from home is a silver lining, and respondents hope it can continue after the severe isolation of the pandemic eases.

Higher education institutions have had to change their cultures abruptly. Many respondents observed faster decision-making, greater focus, more collaboration, and more willingness to experiment and innovate.

The toothpaste is out of the tube: remote work works and should continue.
…
Greater compassion and support for work-life balance increases workforce engagement.
…
Values to keep: focus, communication, collaboration, and transparency.
…
The pandemic is accelerating digital transformation.

From DSC:
My health and work/family balance has been impacted, big time. A double whammy for me was that our local YMCA’s all closed down while the workloads increased even more. But as someone said, our ancestors had to deal with a lot worse than this with WWI and WWII, other wars/societal impacts, etc.

I, too, hope to be able to work more from home even after our workplaces are no longer off-limits. I get a lot done, my energy is better (not having to commute 2+ hours a day), my productivity to my employer has increased due to not having to commute –> the time I was in the car is time they get productivity-wise.

From DSC:
If you are teaching from home and you have two displays (which is highly recommended)…

The link to the PDF file (below) presents a printable graphic that relays a great way to organize your applications as well as the panels within Cisco Webex. The printable graphic also relays two quick, easy, and effective methods of switching between applications.

Setting up your apps with two displays (printable graphic in this PDF file).

Accessibility-related features from Apple

On 04/26/2020, in A/V -- audio/visual, accessibility / UDL, adult learning, Apple, assistive technologies, colleges, community colleges, digital audio, education, education technology, higher education, homeschooling/homeschoolers, human-computer interaction (HCI), innovation, interactivity, interface design, IT in HE, K-12 related, law schools, learning, multimedia, neurodivergent/special needs, platforms, productivity / tips and tricks, psychology, remote teaching and learning, student teaching/teacher education, student-related, teachers, teaching & learning, teaching online, technology (general), tools, United States, usability, user experience (UX), user interface design, vendors, voice recognition / voice enabled interfaces, youth, by Daniel Christian

Accessibility-related features from Apple

A quick-start instruction manual for teaching from home [Ng]

On 04/24/2020, in 24x7x365 access, A/V -- audio/visual, adjunct faculty, colleges, community colleges, corporate / business world, corporate universities / corporate training, digital audio, digital learning, digital video, education, education technology, faculty, flipping -- inverted learning, formal learning, higher education, ideas, instructional design, IT in HE, K-12 related, law schools, learning, learning ecosystem, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, learning hubs & pods & microschooling, learning spaces, multimedia, online learning, online media, online tutoring, remote teaching and learning, tools, training / L&D, United States, universities, web-based collaboration, by Daniel Christian

A quick-start instruction manual for teaching from home — from edsurge.com by Andrew Ng

Excerpt:

How can you migrate a live, in-person class to an online setting quickly, without needing to redesign the class? If you have time to redesign the class into five-minute videos and auto-graded homework, that’s great! But if you don’t, here’s what you can do.

We will go through three quick options with increasing levels of complexity and equipment/setup needed. I recommend using the most sophisticated of these options that you feel comfortable with.

Also, see this PDF file for the full guide.

Reflections on “For Southern New Hampshire, the future of the campus may be online” [Busta]

On 04/23/2020, in changing business models, content development, aggregation, repositories, cost of getting a degree, dangers of the status quo, Daniel S. Christian, future, future of higher education, game-changing environment, higher education, IT in HE, law schools, learning, learning ecosystem, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, learning preferences, lifelong learning, more voice more choice more control, New "Amazon.com" of Higher Education, online learning, parents/guardians, reinvent, society, staying relevant, student-related, surviving, traditional / tradition, United States, universities, vision/possibilities, web-based collaboration, by Daniel Christian

For Southern New Hampshire, the future of the campus may be online — from educationdive.com by Hallie Busta
The president of the online giant talked with Education Dive about its decision to move all freshmen online this fall and bigger plans to reshape instruction.

Excerpts:

The university hopes to introduce a variety of online, hybrid and/or project-based programs in the fall of 2021. By that point, it also aims to have reduced tuition for campus programs from $31,000 to $10,000 — a 61% cut that makes the cost equivalent to what online students pay.

LEBLANC: Let’s imagine campuses can’t open for the whole year. To stay on pace, students typically would need to complete 10 courses. For us, if you enroll online, those courses are about $1,000 each. There’s your $10,000. I don’t know what version of taking undergraduates and keeping them fully online justifies me charging them more than I do the 130,000 students who are paying $1,000 a course. It simply reflects what we charge now.

While this announcement got a lot of attention, I know a lot of my colleagues are thinking very hard about how to reinvent their institutions to be meaningful again in a world that looks very different than it did just three months ago.

From DSC:
The successful education providers of the future — and by that I mean those organizations who can educate the masses, not the elite — will be those who can significantly reduce the price of obtaining the skills and knowledge that someone needs to remain marketable and relevant in the workplace. For. Sixty. Years.

4 items on Instructure’s to-do list after the sale of the Canvas LMS provider [Millward]

On 04/21/2020, in business, business side of he, Canvas - and other Instructure-related items, CMS/LMS, colleges, community colleges, higher education, IT in HE, K-12 related, law schools, platforms, teaching online, tools, United States, universities, vendors, by Daniel Christian

4 items on Instructure’s to-do list after the sale of the Canvas LMS provider — from edsurge.com by Wade Tyler Millward

Excerpt:

Even without a pandemic, Instructure faced a transformative 2020. The learning management system provider—best known for its Canvas product popular among colleges—is officially under private equity ownership.

35+ initiatives to get more women into cybersecurity [Zaharia]

On 04/11/2020, in Asia, Australia, business, Canada, career development, collaboration, computer science, corporate / business world, corporate universities / corporate training, credentialing, Europe, global / globalization, ideas, India, internet, IT in HE, society, STEAM-related, training / L&D, UK, United States, vendors, workplace, by Daniel Christian

35+ initiatives to get more women into cybersecurity — from comparitech.com by Andra Zaharia; with thanks to Karen Reinhart for this resource
With a gender imbalance in the cybersecurity field, there are lots of initiatives that aim to get women more involved. We discuss the cybersecurity gender gap and reveal more than 35 initiatives that are helping to close it.

Excerpts:

Aside from that, there are other benefits to gender-balanced infosec teams including:

Helping to bring different perspectives to the table
Changing the status quo to improve internal and external perceptions
Providing learning and growth opportunities

While the gender divide in cybersecurity is clear, thankfully many women (and men) in the industry recognize the issue and are taking steps to close the gap. From the US to Ukraine, a plethora of initiatives across the globe help to attract girls and women to careers in cybersecurity and assist those already in the field.

Below is a list of some of the best initiatives I’ve discovered, including information about who each initiative serves and how to get involved. You’ll also find advice from representatives of some of the organizations aimed at helping women who are starting out in their cybersecurity careers.

Learning Ecosystems

Tech conferences are going virtual, and it feels like Netflix content on demand [Swartz]

Some of the potential scenarios for higher ed in the fall — what’s our/your plans?

EDUCAUSE COVID-19 QuickPoll Results: The Technology Workforce Authors: by Susan Grajek

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