learning preferences

Re: college admissions: Hhmmm….here’s an interesting idea.

On 12/16/2020, in Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, business side of he, colleges, community colleges, data related items, future of higher education, higher education, ideas, innovation, intelligent systems, learner profiles, learning agents, learning preferences, liberal arts, universities, by Daniel Christian

Can Algorithms Save College Admissions? — from chronicle.com by Brian Rosenberg
We’ve tried a system based on competition long enough. It isn’t working.

Excerpt (emphasis DSC):

Here is an alternative and much more radical proposal: What if we replaced the current and longstanding admissions process among private colleges with a match process, similar to what has for years been used to match medical-school graduates with residency and fellowship positions? What if, in other words, we used data and algorithms instead of travel, merit aid, and free food to drive college admissions?

From DSC:
Love the “What if…” thinking here and the spirit of innovation behind it. I wonder if AI and cloud-based learner profiles might play into something like this in the future…?

Also see:

7 Ways To Make College Admissions More Equitable — from stradaeducation.org by Patty Reinert Mason and Jeff Selingo
Is it time to reconsider early-decision applications, legacy preferences, and reliance on feeder high schools?
Selingo offers these practical steps colleges and universities can take to make admissions more equitable:

Eliminate early-decision applications.
Be upfront about what you’re looking for in this year’s incoming class so students and parents have the information they need.
Be transparent about what it costs to study at your school.
Look beyond traditional “feeder high schools” for recruitment, creating opportunity for a more diverse group of students.
Reduce preferences given to athletes and legacies.
Rethink application requirements to put more emphasis on high school coursework and grades and less on extracurriculars, recommendations, and essays.
Expand the size of freshman classes.

Also see:

Attention Administrators: More Flexibility in Online/Course Schedules Results in Higher Enrollment — from fierceeducation.comby Jacqueline Renfrow

Teaching with Amazon Alexa — from Sylvia Martinez

Excerpt:

Alexa is a voice-activated, cloud-based virtual assistant, similar to Siri on Apple devices, or Google Assistant. Alexa is an umbrella name for the cloud-based functionality that responds to verbal commands. Alexa uses artificial intelligence to answer questions or control smart devices, and has a range of “skills” — small programs that you can add to increase Alexa’s capabilities.

Many teachers are experimenting with using smart devices like Alexa in the classroom. Like most other Amazon features and products, Alexa is primarily designed for home use, anticipating that users will be household members. So in thinking about Alexa in a classroom, keeping this in mind will help determine the best educational uses.

Alexa is most often accessed in three ways…

What might this new concept/setup look like in smart classrooms of the future? [Christian]

On 12/09/2020, in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, A/V -- audio/visual, Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, blended learning, Canvas - and other Instructure-related items, cloud-based computing / apps / other cloud-related, CMS/LMS, colleges, community colleges, corporate / business world, corporate universities / corporate training, Daniel S. Christian, digital learning, education technology, emerging technologies, experimentation, face-to-face, future, higher education, human-computer interaction (HCI), hybrid learning, ideas, innovation, intelligent systems, IT in HE, K-12 related, law schools, learning ecosystem, Learning Experience Design, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, learning hubs & pods & microschooling, learning preferences, learning spaces, more voice more choice more control, multimedia, personalized/customized learning, platforms, productivity / tips and tricks, smart/connected TV, teachers, teaching & learning, technologies for your home, telecommunications, telelegal, telemedicine / telehealth / virtual health, telepresence, television, tools, training / L&D, United States, universities, usability, user experience (UX), vendors, videoconferencing, virtual field trips, virtual K-12 schools, Virtual Reality (VR) / worlds / learning, virtual tutoring, vision/possibilities, voice recognition / voice enabled interfaces, web-based collaboration, by Daniel Christian

A new category of devices from Cisco -- the Webex Desk Hub

From DSC:
In yesterday’s webexone presentations, Cisco mentioned a new device category, calling it the Webex Desk Hub. It gets at the idea of walking into a facility and grabbing any desk, and making that desk you own — at least for that day and time. Cisco is banking on the idea that sometimes people will be working remotely, and sometimes they will be “going into the office.” But the facilities will likely be fewer and smaller — so one might not have their own office.

In that case, you can plug in your smart device, and things are set up the way they would be if you did have that space as a permanent office.

Applying this concept to the smart classrooms of the future, what might that concept look like for classrooms? A faculty member or a teacher could walk into any room that supports such a setup, put in their personal smart device, and the room conditions are instantly implemented:

The LMS comes on
The correct class — based on which day it is and then on the particular time of day it is — is launched
The lights are dimmed to 50%
The electric window treatments darken the room
The projector comes on and/or the displays turn on
Etc.

Some scenes from a wonderful, artistic, creative “Bitmoji Classroom” [Clay, Young, Thomas, Smith, Koch, & Verddugo]

On 11/29/2020, in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, A/V -- audio/visual, active learning, animation, art, attention, collaboration, content development, aggregation, repositories, Daniel S. Christian, design, digital audio, digital learning, digital storytelling, digital video, distance education, education, education technology, educational games / serious games, engagement / engaging students, Google, graphics, homeschooling/homeschoolers, human-computer interaction (HCI), ideas, innovation, instructional design, interactivity, K-12 related, learning, learning ecosystem, Learning Experience Design, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, learning hubs & pods & microschooling, learning preferences, love of learning, mathematics, more voice more choice more control, multimedia, neurodivergent/special needs, online learning, online media, parents/guardians, platforms, professional development, reading, remote teaching and learning, science, STEAM-related, student teaching/teacher education, student-related, teachers, teaching & learning, teaching online, tools, United States, vendors, videoconferencing, virtual field trips, virtual K-12 schools, Virtual Reality (VR) / worlds / learning, virtual tutoring, vision/possibilities, web-based collaboration, writing, youth, by Daniel Christian

From DSC:
Our oldest daughter showed me a “Bitmoji Classroom” that her mentor teacher — Emily Clay — uses as her virtual classroom. Below are some snapshots of the Google Slides that Emily developed based on the work of:

Kayla Young (@bitmoji.kayla)
MaryBeth Thomas
Ms. Smith
Karen Koch
The First Grade Creative — by C. Verddugo

My hats off to all of these folks whose work laid the foundations for this creative, fun, engaging, easy-to-follow virtual classroom for a special education preschool classroom — complete with ties to videoconferencing functionalities from Zoom. Emily’s students could click on items all over the place — they could explore, pursue their interests/curiosities/passions. So the snapshots below don’t offer the great interactivity that the real deal does.

Nice work Emily & Company! I like how you provided more choice, more control to your students — while keeping them engaged!

A snapshot of a Bitmoji Classroom created by Emily Clay

From DSC:
I also like the idea of presenting this type of slide (immediately below, and students’ names have been blurred for privacy’s sake) prior to entering a videoconferencing session where you are going to break out the students into groups. Perhaps that didn’t happen in Emily’s class…I’m not sure, but in other settings, it would make sense to share one’s screen right before sending the students to those breakout rooms and show them that type of slide (to let them know who will be in their particular breakout group).

The students in the different breakout sessions could then collaboratively work on Google Docs, Sheets, or Slides and you could watch their progress in real-time!

A snapshot of a Bitmoji Classroom created by Emily Clay

$A snapshot of a Bitmoji Classroom created by Emily Clay$

A snapshot of a Bitmoji Classroom created by Emily Clay

Also see:

Educators Turn to Bitmoji to Build Community and Engagement — from edutopia.org by Emelina Minero
Both fun and practical, Bitmoji classrooms are adding some levity to fall planning this year.

Maths mastery through stop-motion animation — from innovatemyschool.com by Rachel Cully

Do you want your learners to be resilient, confident mathematicians with secure conceptual understanding and a love of Maths? Well, come with me to a land of stories and watch the magic unfold.

Also see:

Another good resource of interactive math games to use with students in class — from educatorstechnology.com
The 8 best free online homeschool math curriculums — from makeuseof.com by Shari Talbot
These free online math programs can help enhance your child’s homeschool education.

Could/would an AI — working with a cloud-based learner profile — help here? [Christian]

On 11/10/2020, in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, active learning, adult learning, Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, attention, curriculum, Daniel S. Christian, digital learning, education, education technology, educational games / serious games, elearning, emerging technologies, engagement / engaging students, experimentation, global / globalization, higher education, homeschooling/homeschoolers, human-computer interaction (HCI), hybrid learning, ideas, innovation, instructional design, intelligent systems, intelligent tutoring, interaction design, interactivity, IT in HE, K-12 related, law schools, learner profiles, learning, learning agents, learning ecosystem, Learning Experience Design, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, learning preferences, learning spaces, lifelong learning, love of learning, more voice more choice more control, neurodivergent/special needs, New "Amazon.com" of Higher Education, online learning, online tutoring, passions, personalized/customized learning, platforms, professional development, psychology, reinvent, staying relevant, student teaching/teacher education, student-related, teachers, teaching & learning, training / L&D, user experience (UX), virtual K-12 schools, youth, by Daniel Christian

Temperament-Inclusive Pedagogy: Helping Introverted and Extraverted Students Thrive in a Changing Educational Landscape — from onlinelearningconsortium.org by Mary R. Fry

Excerpt (emphasis DSC):

So how do we take these different approaches to learning into account and foster a classroom environment that is more inclusive of the needs of both extraverts and introverts? Let’s first distinguish between how extraverts and introverts most prefer to learn, and then discuss ways to meet the needs of both. Extraverts tend to learn through active and social engagement with the material (group work, interactive learning experiences, performing and discussing). Verbalizing typically helps extraverts to think through their ideas and to foster new ones. They often think quickly on their feet and welcome working in large groups. It can be challenging for extraverts to generate ideas in isolation (talking through ideas is often needed) and thus working on solitary projects and writing can be challenging.

In contrast, introverts thrive with solitary/independent work and typically need this time to sort through what they are learning before they can formulate their thoughts and articulate their perspectives. Introverted learners often dislike group work (or at least the group sizes and structures that are often used in the classroom (more on this in a moment)) and find their voice drowned out in synchronous discussions as they don’t typically think as fast as their extroverted counterparts and don’t often speak until they feel they have something carefully thought out to share. Introverted learners are often quite content, and can remain attentive, through longer lectures and presentations and prefer engaging with the material in a more interactive way only after a pause or break.

From DSC:
Could/would a next-generation learning platform that has some Artificial Intelligence (AI) features baked into it — working in conjunction with a cloud-based learner profile — be of assistance here?

That is, maybe a learner could self-select the type of learning that they are: introverted or extroverted. Or perhaps they could use a sliding scaled to mix learning activities up to a certain degree. Or perhaps if one wasn’t sure of their preferences, they could ask the AI-backed system to scan for how much time they spent doing learning activities X, Y, and Z versus learning activities A, B, and C…then AI could offer up activities that meet a learner’s preferences.

(By the way, I love the idea of the “think-ink-pair-share” — to address both extroverted and introverted learners. This can be done digitally/virtually as well as in a face-to-face setting.)

All of this would further assist in helping build an enjoyment of learning. And wouldn’t that be nice? Now that we all need to learn for 40, 50, 60, 70, or even 80 years of our lives?

After the Pandemic, a Revolution in Education and Work Awaits [Friedman]

On 11/06/2020, in 21st century, Alternatives, business side of he, change, changing business models, corporate / business world, corporate universities / corporate training, dangers of the status quo, digital learning, education, future, future of higher education, game-changing environment, generational differences, higher education, ideas, innovation, instructional design, K-12 related, law schools, leadership, learning, learning ecosystem, Learning Experience Design, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, learning hubs & pods & microschooling, learning preferences, lifelong learning, more voice more choice more control, online learning, pace of change, passions, platforms, reinvent, society, sociology, staying relevant, surviving, training / L&D, United States, universities, by Daniel Christian

After the Pandemic, a Revolution in Education and Work Awaits — from nytimes.com by Thomas Friedman
Providing more Americans with portable health care, portable pensions and opportunities for lifelong learning is what politics needs to be about post-Nov. 3.

No job, no K-12 school, no university, no factory, no office will be spared.

Excerpt:

Your children can expect to change jobs and professions multiple times in their lifetimes, which means their career path will no longer follow a simple “learn-to-work’’ trajectory, as Heather E. McGowan, co-author of “The Adaptation Advantage,” likes to say, but rather a path of “work-learn-work-learn-work-learn.”

“Learning is the new pension,” Ms. McGowan said. “It’s how you create your future value every day.”

The most critical role for K-12 educators, therefore, will be to equip young people with the curiosity and passion to be lifelong learners who feel ownership over their education.

Engagement = acquiring and keeping your learners’ attentions. Attention is the gatekeeper to further learning. [Christian]

On 11/05/2020, in A/V -- audio/visual, adjunct faculty, adult learning, animation, Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, attention, colleges, community colleges, corporate universities / corporate training, Daniel S. Christian, digital audio, digital learning, digital storytelling, digital textbooks, distance education, education, engagement / engaging students, faculty, graphics, higher education, homeschooling/homeschoolers, ideas, instructional design, K-12 related, law schools, learning, Learning Experience Design, learning preferences, learning theories, liberal arts, love of learning, media/film, memory, metacognition / metacognitive skills, more voice more choice more control, motivation, online learning, online tutoring, participation, passions, platforms, remote teaching and learning, simulations, student teaching/teacher education, student-related, teachers, teaching & learning, teaching online, training / L&D, universities, by Daniel Christian

From DSC:
Many people talk about engagement when they discuss learning, and with good reason. It seems to me that what they are really getting at is the topic of getting and maintaining someone’s *attention.* Attention is the gatekeeper to further learning. I wonder if some of the next generation learning platforms that employ some level of Artificial Intelligence (AI)-enabled features, will look to a learner’s preferences (as stored in their cloud-based learner’s profile) in order to help gain/maintain such attention.

And this also helps explain why allowing more learner agency — i.e., more choice, more control — in pursuing their own interests and passions really helps: A motivated learner is paying closer attention to what’s going on.

Attention is the gatekeeper to further learning.

From DSC:
And along these lines, that’s one of the key reasons I’d like to see more involvement from the Theatre Departments, Computer Science Departments, and from those involved with creative writing across the land — in terms of helping develop content for remote and online-based education. Actors, actresses, set designers, costumer designers, audio/video editors, programmers/software developers, and more who could collaborate on these kinds of ideas.

Last comment on this. I don’t mean that we should present our classes like many advertisements do (i.e., running a thousand images by me within 30 seconds). But changing things up periodically — both visually and audibly — can help regain/reset your students’ attentions.

New benchmarking tool for higher ed seeks to address workplace soft skills gap — from chieflearningofficer.com by Elizabeth Loutfi
Quality Assurance Commons’ new Employability Self-Assessment will support higher education programs as they develop proficiency in teaching eight 21st century soft skills critical to today’s employers.

Excerpt:

A new assessment tool created for higher education institutions to track and measure the career success of their graduates was launched this week by nonprofit organization Quality Assurance Commons. The tool, which is called the Employability Self-Assessment, helps institutions identify the key skills employers want in candidates in the current and post-pandemic workplace.

The ESA has already been piloted at 20 colleges and universities and is being implemented at eight higher education institutions in the Connecticut State Colleges & Universities System, according to a company press release.

According to the report, the top three missing soft skills reported by employers were problem solving, critical thinking, innovation and creativity; ability to deal with complexity and ambiguity; and communication.

From DSC:
Hmmm…do our current ways of doing things get students to that point? Are the ways in which we structure our educational systems facilitating the development of those skills? Apparently not. What needs to change? For me, it’s offering “More choice. More control.” to the students. And watch the energy, curiosity, and enjoyment of learning greatly increase.

Fostering Student Creativity with Green-Screen Videos [Webb & Mangram]

On 10/10/2020, in A/V -- audio/visual, adjunct faculty, art, attention, colleges, communications, community colleges, content development, aggregation, repositories, creativity, digital audio, digital learning, digital storytelling, digital video, distance education, education, education technology, engagement / engaging students, experimentation, higher education, homeschooling/homeschoolers, ideas, innovation, instructional design, IT in HE, K-12 related, learning, learning ecosystem, Learning Experience Design, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, learning preferences, love of learning, maker movement, multimedia, new media literacies, online learning, online media, online tutoring, participation, passions, second screen apps, smart classrooms, smart/connected TV, student teaching/teacher education, student-related, teachers, teaching & learning, teaching online, tools, universities, vendors, by Daniel Christian

Fostering Student Creativity with Green-Screen Videos — from teachingprofessor.com by Jason Webb and Jeff Mangram

Excerpt:

Educators have come to realize that videos are highly effective and engaging ways to create online course content. One of the most engaging forms uses a green-screen backdrop to project images or videos behind or next to the speaker. Barbara Oakley used this technique in her famous course Learning How to Learn, where she brought in images to illustrate and amplify her message during course videos. Take a look at this example and consider the fact that Oakley shot the videos in her basement using only a couple hundred dollars’ worth of supplies. Today most colleges already have green-screen studios set up for marketing or other uses.

The pandemic pushed universities online. The change was long overdue. [Gallagher & Palmer]

On 10/07/2020, in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, adjunct faculty, Alternatives, analytics, Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, business, business side of he, career development, change, changing business models, cloud-based computing / apps / other cloud-related, colleges, community colleges, competency-based learning/education, corporate / business world, cost of getting a degree, credentialing, curriculum, data related items, faculty, future of higher education, game-changing environment, generational differences, higher education, ideas, instructional design, IT in HE, law schools, learning, learning ecosystem, Learning Experience Design, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, learning hubs & pods & microschooling, learning preferences, liberal arts, MOOCs -- Massive Open Online Courses, more voice more choice more control, New "Amazon.com" of Higher Education, online learning, Uncategorized, United States, universities, by Daniel Christian

The pandemic pushed universities online. The change was long overdue. — from hbr-org.cdn.ampproject.org by Sean Gallagher and Jason Palmer; with thanks to Mike Mathews for his posting on LinkedIn re: this item

Excerpt:

A number of elite institutions — such as Princeton University, Williams College, Spelman College, and American University — have substantially discounted tuition for their fully online experience in an historically unprecedented fashion, highlighting pricing pressures and opening up Pandora’s box. This comes after a decade of growth in postsecondary alternatives, including “massively open online courses” (MOOCs), industry-driven certification programs, and coding bootcamps.

This moment is likely to be remembered as a critical turning point between the “time before,” when analog on-campus degree-focused learning was the default, to the “time after,” when digital, online, career-focused learning became the fulcrum of competition between institutions.

[Re: online-based learning] The Ford Model T from 1910 didn’t start out looking like a Maserati Gran Turismo from 2021! [Christian]

On 09/28/2020, in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, attention, change, colleges, communications, communities of practice, community colleges, competency-based learning/education, consortiums, content development, aggregation, repositories, corporate universities / corporate training, creativity, Daniel S. Christian, design, digital audio, digital learning, digital photography, digital storytelling, digital video, distance education, e-publishing related items (EPUB and more), education, education reform, education technology, educational games / serious games, elearning, emerging technologies, engagement / engaging students, engineering, entrepreneurship, expectations, experimentation, future, future of higher education, game-changing environment, global / globalization, higher education, human-computer interaction (HCI), innovation, instructional design, intelligent systems, intelligent tutoring, IT in HE, K-12 related, law schools, learning, learning agents, learning ecosystem, Learning Experience Design, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, learning hubs & pods & microschooling, learning preferences, learning spaces, learning theories, lifelong learning, media/film, mobile learning, mobile technologies, MOOCs -- Massive Open Online Courses, more voice more choice more control, multimedia, New "Amazon.com" of Higher Education, online learning, online media, online tutoring, open courseware and systems, pace of change, platforms, reinvent, remote teaching and learning, smart/connected TV, society, teaching & learning, teaching online, technologies for your home, technology (general), telecommunications, tools, training / L&D, transmedia, United States, universities, user experience (UX), using teams, vendors, virtual field trips, virtual K-12 schools, Virtual Reality (VR) / worlds / learning, virtual tutoring, vision/possibilities, web-based collaboration, webinars, workplace, XR - extended reality, by Daniel Christian

From DSC:
Per Wikipedia, this is a 1910 Model T that was photographed in Salt Lake City:

From DSC:
The Ford Model T didn’t start out looking like a Maserati Gran Turismo from 2021! Inventions take time to develop…to be improved…for new and further innovations and experiments to take place.

Thinking of this in terms of online-based learning, please don’t think we’ve reached the end of the road for online-based learning.

The truth is, we’ve barely begun our journey.

Two last thoughts here

1 ) It took *teams* of people to get us to the point of producing a Maserati like this. It will take *teams* of people to produce the Maserati of online-based learning.

2) In terms of online-based learning, it’s hard to say how close to the Maserati that we have come because I/we don’t know how far things will go. But this I do know: We have come a looooonnnnnggggg ways from the late 1990s! If that’s what happened in the last 20 years — with many denying the value of online-based learning — what might the next 5, 10, or 20 years look like when further interest, needs, investments, etc. are added? Then add to all of that the momentum from emerging technologies like 5G, Augmented Reality, Mixed Reality, Virtual Reality, Artificial Intelligence, bots, algorithms, and more!

From DSC:
To drive the point home, here’s an addendum on late 9/29/20:

Mercedes-Benz Shares Video of Avatar Electric Car Prototype — interestingengineering.com by Fabienne Lang
The German car company shared footage of the breathtaking vehicle prototype.

How to Maintain Peace in Your School Pod — from nytimes.com by Katherine Cusumano
‘It’s important to approach this with the idea that there’s no ideal situation. If there were, we’d all be doing it.’

Excerpt:

Most disagreements, according to Waine Tam, a founder of Selected for Families, an online service that matches families and slearning pods with qualified teachers, “tend to come up front.” Having frank discussions early on might make finding suitable podmates and forming a pod more difficult — but they can also contribute to the long-term success of the group, if you approach them with sensitivity and flexibility.

DIY Checklist to Set Up Your In-Home Learning Pod — from families.getselected.com

Olympia parents form ‘co-op style’ learning pods to support kids without a price tag — from theolympian.com vby Katie Hayes

Unschooling: The New School — from risingkashmir.com
The term unschooling was coined in the 1970s and used by educator John Holt, who is regarded as the father of unschooling

Unschooled kids pursue Self-Directed Learning as they are free to choose what they want to learn and who they want to learn from
Unschooling is becoming a trend in urban India with Bengaluru and Pune leading the chart
Learning is entirely interest driven not dictated or directed by an external curriculum, by teachers or by parents
Socialization, development and isolation are some of the demerits of unschooling
Unschooling community is not claiming that their education model is better than regular schools but say that the latter is fundamentally flawed
An individual’s calibre is what makes him/her a creator of circumstances or a creature of circumstances

How to Engage Students (and Identify Them) — from thejournal.com by Dian Schaffhauser

Excerpt (emphasis DSC):

“The lessons that created the most engaging experiences for students often were a combination of opportunities that encouraged discussion, gave students learning choices and allowed students to create. These elements are immensely transferable both in the online and in-person classroom and can facilitate a positive learning environment, whether in a synchronous or asynchronous setting.”

The report is available with an email address through the GoGuardian website.

Purdue Shares Look Inside HyFlex Classroom — from campustechnology.com by Rhea Kelly

Excerpt:

He started blending both face-to-face and online instruction in his classrooms weeks before Purdue officially shifted to remote learning last spring.

Mentzer wanted his students to be able to participate in class remotely in real time or physically attend on any given day, according to a university news story.
…
“If students are unable to come to class for a period of time because they are in isolation or quarantined, they can complete the requirements online and continue progressing in the course,” she noted.

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