Learning from the Living [Class] Room

Online, personalized learning considered the future for education in wake of pandemic — from purdue.edu

Excerpt:

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — COVID-19 has changed the outlook for education, highlighting the potential for online learning and the need for more personalized learning options for students, according to a Purdue University College of Education professor.

William Watson, associate professor of learning design and technology, said student education levels are more likely to be spread all along the spectrum this school year based on what educational support they received at home.

Using personalized approaches to online instruction allows learning to be based more on each student’s individual strengths, weaknesses, goals and motivations, he said.

“A personalized approach to learning supports student autonomy and the direction of each student’s learning process,” Watson said. “It values a student’s self-direction, motivation and engagement beyond simple knowledge acquisition.”

Christian: We really need a standard for loading Q’s into a memory-refreshing app

On 08/10/2020, in 24x7x365 access, cloud-based computing / apps / other cloud-related, colleges, communities of practice, community colleges, content development, aggregation, repositories, corporate / business world, corporate universities / corporate training, credentialing, Daniel S. Christian, digital learning, education, education technology, emerging technologies, heutagogy, higher education, homeschooling/homeschoolers, ideas, innovation, instructional design, intelligent systems, intelligent tutoring, internet, K-12 related, law schools, learner profiles, learning, learning agents, learning ecosystem, Learning Experience Design, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, learning preferences, learning theories, lifelong learning, love of learning, memory, microlearning, more voice more choice more control, New "Amazon.com" of Higher Education, online learning, online media, online tutoring, passions, personalized/customized learning, platforms, society, staying relevant, streams of content, student-related, teachers, teaching & learning, technologies for your home, television, tools, traditional / tradition, training / L&D, universities, usability, user experience (UX), user interface design, vendors, vision/possibilities, workplace, by Daniel Christian

From DSC:
After reading Jeff Young’s article re: learning engineering and seeing the Nudge application from Duke University...it once again occurred to me that we really need a standard for loading questions into a memory-refreshing application. Just like HyperText Markup Language (HTML) made the World Wide Web so successful and impactful, we need an easy-to-use standard for dumping questions into a personalized database of questions for each cloud-based learner profile.

After taking a module, you would be asked if you wanted to be reminded of / quizzed upon the key ideas presented therein. You would then receive periodic quizzes on those items. You can choose to opt-out of that learning module’s content at any time.

Such an application would help reduce the impact of the Ebbinghaus Forgetting Curve. This type of standard/feature would really help students and people in:

law schools, dental schools, medical schools, and seminaries
vocational programs
traditional undergraduate and graduate programs
K-12 systems
Homeschooling-based situations
Places of worship
Communities of practice — as well as lifelong learners

A person could invoke a quiz at any point, but would be quizzed at least once a day. If you missed a day, those questions would not be taken out of the pool of questions to ask you. If you got a question right, the time interval would be lengthened before you were asked that question again. But questions that you struggled with would be asked more frequently. This would also help interleave questions and aid in recall. Such spaced repetition would cause struggle from time to time, aiding in deeper learning.

How ‘Learning Engineering’ Hopes to Speed Up Education — from edsurge.com by Jeffrey R. Young

Excerpts:

Simon spent the latter part of his career as a professor at Carnegie Mellon University, making the case for bringing in a new kind of engineer to help improve teaching. He knew it would mean a major change in how instruction of complex subjects happens, moving it from a “solo sport” of a sage on the stage to a community-based one where teams build and design learning materials and experiences — and continually refine them.

Ten years ago, only about 1,300 instructional designers worked at U.S. colleges, but that has grown to more than 10,000 today.

Even so, we’re still a long way from having a mature practice of learning engineering in place. But proponents of the approach say they are beginning to build the infrastructure necessary for their moonshot of turbo-charging the speed and the quality of learning. Some learning engineers believe they can help students reach mastery of complex subject matter as much as 10 times faster than with traditional approaches.

How might tools like Microsoft’s new Whiteboard be used in online-based learning? In “learning pods?” [Christian]

On 07/29/2020, in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, A/V -- audio/visual, Access to Justice (A2J), active learning, adjunct faculty, art, Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, Bring your own device (BYOD), business, cloud-based computing / apps / other cloud-related, collaboration, colleges, communications, communities of practice, community colleges, content development, aggregation, repositories, corporate / business world, corporate universities / corporate training, Cost of legal services - including access, creativity, Daniel S. Christian, digital learning, education technology, emerging technologies, engagement / engaging students, experimentation, face-to-face, faculty, future, future of higher education, game-changing environment, graphics, higher education, homeschooling/homeschoolers, human-computer interaction (HCI), ideas, innovation, IT in HE, K-12 related, law schools, learning, learning ecosystem, Learning Experience Design, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, learning hubs & pods & microschooling, learning spaces, Microsoft, multimedia, online learning, online media, online tutoring, participation, platforms, presentations, productivity / tips and tricks, second screen apps, smart classrooms, smart/connected TV, social learning / networks, society, teachers, teaching & learning, teaching online, technologies for your home, technology (general), telelegal, telemedicine / telehealth / virtual health, telepresence, television, tools, transmedia, United States, universities, by Daniel Christian

Questions/reflections from DSC:

How might this be used for online-based learning?
For “learning pods” and homeschoolers out there?
Will assistants such as the Webex Assistant for Meetings (WAM) be integrated into such tools (i.e., would such tools provide translation, transcripts, closed captioning, and more)?
How might this type of tool be used in telehealth? Telelegal? In online-based courtrooms? In presentations?

#onlinelearning #collaboration #education #secondscreen #edtedh #presentations #AI #telehealth #telelegal #emergingtechnologies

NEW! “Learning Pods” / “Pandemic Pods” / “Pod learning” | Macro & micro-learning ecosystems across the country are morphing once again! [Christian]

On 07/29/2020, in blended learning, Daniel S. Christian, digital learning, education, education technology, face-to-face, game-changing environment, health, ideas, innovation, instructional design, intelligent tutoring, K-12 related, learning, learning ecosystem, Learning Experience Design, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, learning hubs & pods & microschooling, learning preferences, learning spaces, neurodivergent/special needs, New "Amazon.com" of Higher Education, online learning, online media, online tutoring, parents/guardians, personalized/customized learning, society, sociology, student teaching/teacher education, student-related, surviving, teachers, teaching & learning, technologies for your home, United States, user experience (UX), vendors, virtual tutoring, youth, by Daniel Christian

Learning ecosystems across the country — especially those involving K-12 — are morphing once again.

Have you heard about the explosive interest and potential growth involving “learning pods” — also called “pandemic pods”!?! It’s amazing to see how quickly things are changing in this fluid situation. This is another great example of how the macro-learning ecosystem for K-12 is changing — as well as the changes happening at more of a micro-level. (To see how true this is, put a Google Alert or two out there for “learning pods,” “pod learning,” and/or “pandemic pods.”)

For some information about these changes, see some of the example articles below:

Some Parents Considering ‘Pod Learning’ Instead Of Returning To Classrooms This Fall — from newyork.cbslocal.com
The Pros and Cons of Pandemic Learning Pods — from people.howstuffworks.com by Carrie Whitney
Excerpt:
What Is a Learning Pod? The idea of learning pods and micro-schools didn’t arise in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, though the concept has gained popularity because of it. Maureen O’Shaughnessy, Ed.D. published the book “Creating Micro-Schools for Colorful Mismatched Kids” in 2019. She’s also founder of the Micro-School Coalition, and believes micro-schools and learning pods should be unique and “reflect the values of the community that they serve.” Rather than acting as a specific model, the coalition serves only as an example of how to feature small classrooms with multi-age students; and innovative teaching models with personalized learning and holistic curriculums.
What are ‘micro-schools’ and ‘pandemic pods’? — from today.com by Ashley Capoot

“This is real. This is not just a niche interest anymore.”
As school starts online, parents need to study up on ‘pandemic pods’ – and what they mean for equity — from usatoday.com by Wyatte Grantham-Philips
Excerpt:
Some families are “poding up.” Learning pods, also dubbed “pandemic pods,” are small groups of families that agree to do supplementary learning or complete at-home coursework together. Sometimes they hire a tutor. Sometimes they share the supervision among parents.
Homeschool pods are gaining traction amid worries about school reopening; here’s how parents are getting the finances to work — from USA Today by Aimee Picchi
‘Pandemic Pods’ Raise Concerns About Equity — from npr.org by Anya Kamanetz
Pediatrician Warns Learning Pods Without COVID-19 Protocols May Be Riskier Than Schools — from sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com
POD Learning. Parents, Let’s Work Together to Form Family Pods — from tapinto.net by Jessica Bush
Excerpts:
As students and parents prepare for an uncertain back-to-school season, the concept of pandemic pods has risen in popularity, and in practice. But these pods are likely to exacerbate preexisting inequality, and intensify the loaded debate over “school choice,” which has a complex history when it comes to race and class.
Pandemic pods are inequitable and inevitable — and a dream come true for the school choice movement — from businessinsider.com by Juliana Kaplan

From DSC:
Though very interesting to see what occurs here, I, too, am concerned about the inequalities and the potential for expanding the learning gaps across the country (between the folks who have the resources and those folks who do not). For example, consider that the cost ranges from $1,500 to $2,500 dollars per student — per month — in the San Francisco Bay Area. (See COVID-19 learning pods: Here’s how they work and what Bay Area schools say about them by Luz Pena.) Or see

San Diego County parents creating ‘student pods’ and hiring teachers as substitute for virtual learning — from cbs8.com by Shannon Handy
Some families can’t afford to hire outside help to aid in virtual learning

On the other side of things…maybe this will be a new area of opportunity for the student teachers and education programs out there.

Cisco Webex: Is this level of audio quality in your videoconferencing products? If not, please purchase/integrate this co’s tech. [Christian]

On 07/28/2020, in A/V -- audio/visual, business, business side of he, cloud-based computing / apps / other cloud-related, CMS/LMS, collaboration, colleges, communications, communities of practice, community colleges, corporate / business world, Daniel S. Christian, digital audio, digital learning, ideas, innovation, internet, IT in HE, K-12 related, law schools, Learning Experience Design, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, learning hubs & pods & microschooling, learning spaces, media/film, multimedia, online learning, online media, online tutoring, participation, platforms, presentations, quality, second screen apps, smart classrooms, smart/connected TV, technologies for your home, telelegal, telemedicine / telehealth / virtual health, tools, training / L&D, United States, universities, usability, user experience (UX), vendors, videoconferencing, by Daniel Christian

[DC] Cisco Webex: Is this level of audio quality in your videoconferencing products? If not, please purchase/integrate this co's tech.

"Your answer to high-quality audio for remote learning.
High-Quality Audio for Multi-User/Multi-Location Conferencing"https://t.co/XreOLVTXMj pic.twitter.com/Akut67piRe

— Daniel Christian (@dchristian5) July 28, 2020

The different Learning Objectives (LO’s) of the corporate world vs. the world of higher education: Who pays the price? [Christian]

On 07/27/2020, in adjunct faculty, Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, business, business side of he, career development, change, collaboration, colleges, communications, community colleges, content development, aggregation, repositories, corporate / business world, corporate universities / corporate training, cost of getting a degree, credentialing, curriculum, dangers of the status quo, Daniel S. Christian, faculty, future, future of higher education, game-changing environment, generational differences, higher education, ideas, instructional design, intelligent systems, Learning Experience Design, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, New "Amazon.com" of Higher Education, society, staying relevant, student-related, surviving, United States, universities, vendors, vision/possibilities, by Daniel Christian

From DSC: I’d like to thank Ryan Craig for mentioning several interesting articles and thoughts in a recent Gap Letter. At least 2-3 of the articles he mentioned got me to thinking…

With a degree no longer enough, job candidates are told to prove their skills in tests — from hechingerreport.org by Jon Marcus
Instead of relying on credentials, more employers want applicants to show their stuff

Excerpts (emphasis DSC):

Among the many frustrations ahead for millions of Americans thrown out of work by the pandemic is one that may surprise them: To get a new job, it’s increasingly likely they will have to take a test.

As the number of candidates balloons while health risks make it hard for hiring managers to meet with them in person, a trend toward “pre-hiring assessments” — already under way before Covid-19 — is getting a huge new push.

Skeptical that university degrees are the best measure of whether candidates have the skills they need, employers were already looking for ways that applicants could prove it — including in fields where that was not previously required.

“It’s like try before you buy,” said Price.

PDF version here.

Also see:

College Alumni See Room for Job-Skill Improvement — from news.gallup.com by John Clark

From DSC:
There is a huge misalignment between the Learning Objectives (LO’s) that the corporate world supports — and ultimately hires by — as compared to the LO’s that faculty, provosts, & presidents support.

This happened to me a while back when I was looking for a new job. I traveled to another city — upon the company’s request (though they never lifted a finger to help me with the travel-related expenses). Plus, I dedicated the time and got my hopes up, yet again, in getting the job. But the test they gave me (before I even saw a human being) blew me away! It was meant for PhD-level candidates in Computer Science, Programming, or Statistics. It was ridiculously hard.

The article above got me to thinking….

Higher education increasingly puts a guerrilla of debt on many students’ backs, which adds to the dispiriting struggle to overcome these kinds of tests. Also, the onslaught of the Applicant Tracking Systems that students have to conquer (in order to obtain that sought after interview) further adds to this dispiriting struggle.

How can we achieve better alignment here? Students are getting left holding the bag…a situation that will likely not last much longer. If higher ed doesn’t address this situation, we shouldn’t be surprised to see a mass exodus when effective alternatives pick up steam even further. Last call to address this now before the exodus occurs.

Along these lines see:

Better Connecting College and Career — from insidehighered.com by Steven Mintz
How to improve career readiness.

Excerpt:

How can colleges best prepare students for careers in a volatile, uncertain environment? This is the question recently asked by Marie Cini, the former provost at University of Maryland University College and former president of CAEL.

Career service offices, she observes, are first and foremost job search centers: reviewing résumés, publicizing job openings and arranging interviews. What they are not about, for the most part, is career preparation, a longer and more intense process involving self-analysis, skills building and genuine insights into the job market.

How to homeschool your child during the pandemic [Hatjakes]

On 07/23/2020, in change, curriculum, education, homeschooling/homeschoolers, K-12 related, learning, learning ecosystem, Learning Experience Design, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, love of learning, more voice more choice more control, parents/guardians, passions, personalized/customized learning, student-related, teaching & learning, youth, by Daniel Christian

How to homeschool your child during the pandemic — from learningliftoff.com by AnnElise Hatjakes

Excerpts:

According to J. Allen Weston, the executive director of the National Home School Association (NHSA), parents’ interest in homeschooling has skyrocketed in the face of the coronavirus pandemic. In an interview with The Sacramento Bee, he explained that the NHSA used to receive 40-50 emails a day. Now, it is receiving thousands. More parents are exploring this option for the first time as they confront the uncertainties surrounding the 2020-2021 school year.
…
Homeschooling is an educational format in which parents are responsible for all of the instructional and administrative duties associated with schooling. Parents who homeschool their children choose the curriculum, teach that curriculum, and keep records in accordance with their respective state’s laws.

If you were to do an online search of homeschool curriculum, you might be overwhelmed by the number of results. A good place to start is with Cathy Duffy’s curriculum reviews, which is a well-known resource for homeschoolers.

Zoom Launches Zoom For Home

On 07/22/2020, in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, A/V -- audio/visual, adjunct faculty, cloud-based computing / apps / other cloud-related, collaboration, colleges, communications, communities of practice, community colleges, corporate / business world, corporate universities / corporate training, digital audio, digital learning, digital video, distance education, education, education technology, future, future of higher education, game-changing environment, global / globalization, higher education, homeschooling/homeschoolers, human-computer interaction (HCI), ideas, innovation, instructional design, internet, IT in HE, K-12 related, law schools, learning, learning ecosystem, Learning Experience Design, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, learning hubs & pods & microschooling, multimedia, New "Amazon.com" of Higher Education, online learning, online tutoring, participation, platforms, productivity / tips and tricks, remote teaching and learning, second screen apps, smart/connected TV, society, teaching & learning, teaching online, technologies for your home, tools, training / L&D, United States, universities, user experience (UX), vendors, videoconferencing, virtual K-12 schools, virtual tutoring, web-based collaboration, webinars, workplace, by Daniel Christian

Zoom Launches Zoom For Home — from which-50.com

Excerpts:

Zoom Video Communications has announced Zoom for Home, which it describes as a new category of software experiences and hardware devices to support remote work use cases. The focus is on improving employee experiences to connect remotely and be productive.

Features for the all-in-one 27-inch device include: three built-in wide-angle cameras for high-resolution video; an 8-microphone array for crystal-clear audio in meetings and phone calls; and, an ultra-responsive touch display for interactive screen sharing, whiteboarding, annotating, and ideation.

Also see:

ZOOM FOR HOME – DTEN ME: VIDEO CONFERENCING JUST GOT PERSONAL — from blog.dten.com by Scott Krueckeberg
VIDEO CONFERENCE LIKE A BOSS — from blog.dten.com by Nia Celestin

From DSC:
Again, we see some further innovation in this space. The longer the Coronavirus impacts things, the further ahead the online-learning space will be catapulted. This type of device consolidates several devices into one, while making it intuitive and likely easy to annotate items on it.

7 Things You Should Know About the HyFlex Course Model — from library.educause.edu

Excerpt:

What is it? The hybrid flexible, or HyFlex, course format is an instructional approach that combines face-to-face (F2F) and online learning. Each class session and learning activity is offered in-person, synchronously online, and asynchronously online. Students can decide—for each class or activity—how to participate. As Brian Beatty notes in Hybrid-Flexible Course Design, the result is “a student-directed, multi-modal learning experience.” The HyFlex approach provides students autonomy, flexibility, and seamless engagement, no matter where, how, or when they engage in the course. Central to this model is the principle that the learning is equivalent, regardless of the mode. The approach was developed with a focus on student flexibility, but the benefits also extend to faculty. For example, an instructor, along with some students, could “attend” class remotely, while other students join physically from a room on campus.

Pedagogical considerations for instructional videoconferencing sessions [Major]

On 07/21/2020, in adjunct faculty, attention, collaboration, colleges, communications, community colleges, Daniel S. Christian, distance education, education technology, engagement / engaging students, higher education, ideas, innovation, instructional design, IT in HE, learning, learning ecosystem, Learning Experience Design, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, metacognition / metacognitive skills, online learning, pedagogy, platforms, presentations, productivity / tips and tricks, professional development, remote teaching and learning, student-related, teachers, teaching & learning, teaching online, telepresence, tools, universities, user experience (UX), vendors, videoconferencing, by Daniel Christian

Pedagogical considerations for instructional videoconferencing sessions — from onlinelearningconsortium.org by Amanda Major

Excerpt:

Presented here are recommendations and strategies to support educators.

We hope you find these pedagogical considerations for faculty holding a synchronous class session via a video conferencing tool as timely, practical, and rewarding. The intent is to allay your anxieties about offering quality instruction to your students; thereby, helping you to adapt quickly to this new situation.

The ending points of your content delivery should make a lasting impression. Try these ideas:

- Wrap-up your session with a Parking Lot designed as a quadrant (see below), use a shared document and include the following quadrant headings/questions so students can respond in real time:

Also see the idea of a learning journal here.

More [colleges & U’s] are expected to make the switch in the coming weeks. [Bauer-Wolf]

On 07/20/2020, in business side of he, change, colleges, community colleges, future of higher education, game-changing environment, higher education, IT in HE, law schools, leadership, learning, learning ecosystem, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, online learning, universities, by Daniel Christian

Why some colleges embraced a virtual fall sooner than others — from educationdive.com by Jeremy Bauer-Wolf; July 20, 2020
More schools are expected to make the switch in the coming weeks.

Excerpt:

These colleges aren’t likely to be exceptions for much longer, as higher ed experts predict the trickle of schools staying online will become a flood as the pandemic persists.

“I expect a bunch of colleges to announce their actual fall setup within 72 hours of each other in the next two weeks,” said Robert Kelchen, an associate professor of higher education at Seton Hall University. “It just takes a few colleges to lead the way and then their competitor institutions will follow.”

Also see:

Colleges walk back their fall plans as coronavirus cases spike — from educationdive.com by Natalie Schwartz; July 16, 2020

Dive Brief:

As the pandemic worsens, more colleges are ditching plans for in-person instruction this fall in favor of a mostly virtual term.
At least six colleges have announced in the past week that they’re planning for a remote term after previously indicating they might bring students back to campus.
They join others including the University of Southern California, which changed its fall plans at the beginning of July. Higher education experts expect more reversals to follow over the next few weeks.

Florida educators file lawsuit to protect health and well-being of students, educators and communities — from feaweb.org, with thanks to Staci Maiers for this resource

Excerpt:

TALLAHASSEE — Along with educators and parents, the Florida Education Association filed suit Monday against Gov. Ron DeSantis, Commissioner Richard Corcoran, the Florida Department of Education, the Florida State Board of Education and Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Gimenez to safeguard the health and welfare of public school students, educators and the community at large. The lawsuit intends to stop the reckless and unsafe reopening of public school campuses as coronavirus infections surge statewide.

Also see:

COVID-19 language in waivers for extracurriculars heighten reopening safety concerns — from educationdive.com by Naaz Modan

Several resources re: accessibility

On 07/19/2020, in accessibility / UDL, Apple, Augmented Reality (AR), Canvas - and other Instructure-related items, colleges, communications, content development, aggregation, repositories, corporate universities / corporate training, digital learning, education technology, IT in HE, K-12 related, law schools, learner profiles, Learning Experience Design, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, learning preferences, Mixed Reality (MR), new media literacies, online learning, online media, productivity / tips and tricks, society, teachers, teaching & learning, teaching online, tools, trends, universities, usability, user experience (UX), Virtual Reality (VR) / worlds / learning, web design and production, XR - extended reality, by Daniel Christian

3 items from re: accessibility from BOIA.org:

BOIA.org also has a nice blog, and an accessibility checker:

Some other resources:

General Accessibility Design Guidelines from Instructure/Canvas
Accessibility & Usability Resource Site (AURS) from Quality Matters

Addendums on 7/23/20:

7 Steps to Making Your School’s Website Accessible to All — from thejournal.com by Ali Arsan
With districts around the country relying on their websites to convey essential information to their communities, accessibility is more important than ever.

Zooming in on Gen Z [McKinney]

On 07/18/2020, in business, career development, change, corporate / business world, corporate universities / corporate training, generational differences, learner profiles, learning, learning ecosystem, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, learning preferences, society, student-related, training / L&D, United States, videoconferencing, youth, by Daniel Christian

Zooming in on Gen Z — from trainingmag.com by Scott McKinney
How L&D can cater to this rising generation’s intuitive worldview and desires.

Excerpt:

As the 60-plus million members of Generation Z enter the workplace, adapting training programs to connect with them is mission-critical.

Gen Zers—born in the mid-1990s and raised in the 2000s—will account for more than 20 percent of working adults by the end of 2020, according to a report from software-based learning management system provider Docebo. Their preferences are more in line with Gen Xers than the Millennials, despite their technology fluency. They’re the first generation raised entirely in the Digital Age but—surprisingly—prefer face-to-face communication with their peers.

Here’s a look at how L&D departments can zoom in on this rising generation’s intuitive worldview and desires in a constantly changing and COVID-19-challenged world.

Learning Ecosystems

More [colleges & U’s] are expected to make the switch in the coming weeks. [Bauer-Wolf]

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