Microsoft

How I use Minecraft to help kids with autism [Duncan]

On 02/14/2022, in 24x7x365 access, 3D, A/V -- audio/visual, active learning, attention, communications, communities of practice, creativity, digital learning, digital storytelling, distance education, education, education reform, education technology, educational games / serious games, Emotion, engagement / engaging students, ethics, hearts -- matters of the heart, homeschooling/homeschoolers, ideas, K-12 related, learning ecosystem, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, learning preferences, library / librarians, love of learning, Metaverse, Microsoft, morals/values, neurodivergent/special needs, online learning, online media, parents/guardians, participation, passions, platforms, play, productivity / tips and tricks, psychology, remote teaching and learning, social learning / networks, storytelling, student teaching/teacher education, student-related, teachers, teaching online, technologies for your home, tools, UK, United States, vendors, web-based collaboration, youth, by Daniel Christian

How I use Minecraft to help kids with autism — from ted.com by Stuart Duncan; with thanks to Dr. Kate Christian for this resource

Description:

The internet can be an ugly place, but you won’t find bullies or trolls on Stuart Duncan’s Minecraft server, AutCraft. Designed for children with autism and their families, AutCraft creates a safe online environment for play and self-expression for kids who sometimes behave a bit differently than their peers (and who might be singled out elsewhere). Learn more about one of the best places on the internet with this heartwarming talk.

Below are two excerpted snapshots from Stuart’s presentation:

22 Augmented Reality Trends to Keep an Eye on for 2022 [Emrich]

On 02/04/2022, in 21st century, 3D, 5G, A/V -- audio/visual, Apple, Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, Augmented Reality (AR), Blockchain, Canada, computer science, content development, aggregation, repositories, copyright/ownership/NFTs, creativity, cryptocurrencies, digital audio, digital video, emerging technologies, Facebook / Meta Platforms, future, Google, ideas, immersion, innovation, interactivity, internet, marketing/social marketing, marketplaces, Microsoft, platforms, programming, society, telecommunications, tools, trends, United States, vendors, Virtual Reality (VR) / worlds / learning, vision/possibilities, wearables, web-based collaboration, Web3, XR - extended reality, by Daniel Christian

22 Augmented Reality Trends to Keep an Eye on for 2022 — from linkedin.com by Tom Emrich

Excerpts:

#1 Metaverse remains at peak hype as the next iteration of the Internet feels so close but is actually much further away

#2 The smartphone continues to become an even more powerful augmented reality machine with advancements in chips, displays and connectivity

#3 Early consumer smartglasses reinforce the need for smartphones rather than attempt to replace them

The metaverse is defined differently by different people but for me, the metaverse is an aha moment. It is a realization by industry that the next wave of computing is comprised of a stack of emerging technologies (including blockchain, AI, IoT, AR and VR) that will all work together to create a fundamental shift in our relationship with technology.

Kudos @amylameyer and @tomemrich for an awesome conversation about #XR trends to look for in 2022!
Watch on demand on at https://t.co/iDUt5u5WQR

(if new – first register at https://t.co/NGOBSHi3Bh) #AWENiteSF https://t.co/eqc8wbThKV

— Ori Inbar (@comogard) February 1, 2022

Also see:

Augmented Reality is the Future of Online Shopping — from time.com by Megan McCluskey

Why Wall Street thinks the metaverse will be worth trillions [Warner]

On 01/28/2022, in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, 3D, 5G, A/V -- audio/visual, Asia, Augmented Reality (AR), business, change, changing business models, content development, aggregation, repositories, copyright/ownership/NFTs, corporate / business world, cryptocurrencies, emerging technologies, engagement / engaging students, experimentation, future, future of higher education, game-changing environment, generational differences, innovation, Metaverse, Microsoft, platforms, society, streams of content, technologies for your home, telecommunications, United States, videoconferencing, Virtual courts and law firms, virtual field trips, virtual K-12 schools, Virtual Reality (VR) / worlds / learning, virtual tutoring, vision/possibilities, visualizing information, wearables, web-based collaboration, Web3, workplace, XR - extended reality, by Daniel Christian

Why Wall Street thinks the metaverse will be worth trillions — from fortune.com by Bernhard Warner; resource from Ori Inbar on Twitter

Also from Ori Inbar:

China’s Big Tech leads in VR and AR patent applications. But China’s metaverse may look different from everyone else’s — from fortune.com by Yvonne Lau

Talk about engagement! Here are some fun ideas to engage your audience, class, and/or group!!! [Christian]

On 01/18/2022, in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, A/V -- audio/visual, Adobe, adult learning, attention, Canvas - and other Instructure-related items, CMS/LMS, colleges, communications, communities of practice, community colleges, content development, aggregation, repositories, corporate universities / corporate training, creativity, Daniel S. Christian, digital audio, digital learning, digital video, education technology, educational games / serious games, Emotion, engagement / engaging students, entrepreneurship, experimentation, higher education, ideas, innovation, instructional design, interactivity, IT in HE, K-12 related, law schools, learning, learning ecosystem, Learning Experience Design, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, lifelong learning, love of learning, Microsoft, multimedia, online learning, online media, participation, platforms, remote teaching and learning, smart/connected TV, teachers, teaching & learning, teaching online, technologies for your home, tools, training / L&D, user experience (UX), user interface design, using teams, vendors, videoconferencing, vision/possibilities, web-based collaboration, webinars, by Daniel Christian

From DSC:
These ideas are specially meant for you entrepreneurs and vendors out there! Including such vendors and products such as Zoom, Cisco Webex, Microsoft Teams, Adobe Connect, and others!

This idea could also be profitable and fun for CMS/LMS vendors and products such as Instructure/Canvas, Blackboard Learn, D2L, Google Classroom and others!

How might we take engagement within an online-based learning environment to an entirely different level? Well, check out these ideas!

What if learning could feature more personality? Be more fun? Have shades of game shows even!? Yet at the same time, if you are a learner who ventures into the ideas that I’m about to suggest, you had better be ready to back up and explain your perspective/position!

Here’s what I’m getting at. You know when you are messaging you can insert some fun motion graphics into your message?

Well, what about if we could select from a bank of very short video clips during a live/synchronous discussion — or during an asynchronous-based discussion board posting — that contained a famous movie clip/message? Then, if you choose to do that, you are then required to explain your perspective/position.

Video	What the video could mean
“Beam me up Scotty! There’s no intelligent life down here.”	This is ridiculous. No one’s making any sense here.
“You meddling kids.” From various bad guys on Scooby-Doo.	You’re messing with me. I don’t agree with your perspective, and here’s why.
“That does not compute.” Spock from Star Trek.	I don’t agree with your answer. That doesn’t make any sense and here’s why.
“You can’t handle the truth.” Jack Nicholson in “A Few Good Men.”	Are you sure you want to know the truth about this topic? Can you handle such a truth? This is about to get real in here.
“Do. Or do not. There is no try.” Yoda. Star Wars	Take action on something; do something.
“I’ll be back.” Arnold Schwarzenegger in various films.	I’m stepping away from my desk…but I’ll be back soon. or You may have one this round, but I’ll be back for another round.

Learners within a learning community could use entertainment and have some fun while also having to backup their position/perspective! Talk about engagement! Shooooot.

And/or…learners could be like DJ’s at radio stations — and, on the fly, select from a bank of songs, audio-based noises and sounds!

The danger here is that humor can sometimes backfire and/or offend someone. So we would need to watch the content that’s available to choose from within the repositories of media. We would want to do some serious beta testing here to make sure things stay on the fun, entertaining, and educational sides of things.

Such an approach could introduce opportunities for creativity and for honing one’s ability to think on one’s feet. Also, learners could work on their communication skills as well as their ability to debate or persuade, or to practice some critical thinking.

While more gameshow-like on the surface, if you use such media, you have to explain why you used that media.

Another item to put on my radar. [Christian]

On 01/14/2022, in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, Apple, changing business models, cloud-based computing / apps / other cloud-related, emerging technologies, ideas, internet, Microsoft, multimedia, new business models, NVIDIA, play, by Daniel Christian

DC: I need to understand this better. Are we saying NVIDIA servers — and the like — can/will replace the App Stores out there for gaming-related apps?
https://t.co/8mKvtENIoN

— Daniel Christian (he/him/his) (@dchristian5) January 13, 2022

Addendum on 1/17/22:

Fortnite Is Back On Apple iOS, for Some Users — from threstreet.com by Tony Owusu
Beta testers for Fortnite on streaming cloud gaming service GeForce Now will have access to the third-person shooter through Apple’s Safari web browser.

Frequently Asked Questions About Metaverse — from 101blockchains.com by Georgia Weston

You can also discover many other interesting use cases of the metaverse, such as creating virtual learning spaces or virtual tourism.

Also see:

Top 5 Blockchain And Crypto Projects In The Metaverse — from 101blockchains.com by Georgia Weston

How can anyone claim that MOOCs have been a failure!!!? Are you serious!?!?! [Christian]

On 12/29/2021, in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, Africa, Alternatives, Amazon, Australia, Canada, career development, changing business models, colleges, community colleges, corporate universities / corporate training, cost of getting a degree, credentialing, Daniel S. Christian, digital learning, distance education, Europe, Facebook / Meta Platforms, future of higher education, game-changing environment, generational differences, global / globalization, higher education, homeschooling/homeschoolers, India, innovation, instructional design, learning, learning ecosystem, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, learning preferences, lifelong learning, love of learning, Microsoft, MOOCs -- Massive Open Online Courses, more voice more choice more control, New "Amazon.com" of Higher Education, online learning, online media, platforms, teaching online, training / L&D, trends, UK, United States, universities, vendors, vocational / trades, by Daniel Christian

From DSC:
As the article below clearly relays, MOOCs did NOT fail! In the last decade, they have reached 220 million learners worldwide!

I don’t know the total number of graduates from the Ivy League — throughout all of the relevant institutions’ histories — but I would bet you that MOOCs have reached far more learners. And MOOCs did so in less than a decade.

And you’re going to tell me MOOCs have been a failure?!!!! Are you being serious!?!?! You can talk about completion rates all that you want to (and that misses the point, as some people sign up for MOOCs without ever intending to finish the entire course). As with other things, people get out of something what they put into that thing.

A Decade of MOOCs: A Review of Stats and Trends for Large-Scale Online Courses in 2021 — from edsurge.com by Dhawal Shah

Excerpts:

Now, a decade later, MOOCs have reached 220 million learners, excluding China where we don’t have as reliable data, . In 2021, providers launched over 3,100 courses and 500 microcredentials.
…
Originally, MOOC providers relied on universities to create courses. But that dependence is declining as more and more of the courses are created by companies every year. These corporate partners in course creation include tech giants Google, Microsoft, Amazon and Facebook.

…the majority of the new courses launched on Coursera in 2021 are not from universities anymore.
…
These mass online courses were born without a business model. Yet within a decade, MOOCs went from no revenue to bringing in well over a half a billion dollars annually.

All you need to know about Microsoft Immersive Reader [Khan]

On 11/24/2021, in 24x7x365 access, accessibility / UDL, adjunct faculty, assistive technologies, Canvas - and other Instructure-related items, CMS/LMS, colleges, communications, communities of practice, community colleges, content development, aggregation, repositories, digital audio, digital learning, education technology, faculty, higher education, homeschooling/homeschoolers, human-computer interaction (HCI), instructional design, IT in HE, K-12 related, law schools, learning, learning ecosystem, Microsoft, multimedia, Natural Language Processing (NLP), neurodivergent/special needs, online learning, online media, personalized/customized learning, platforms, productivity / tips and tricks, professional development, reading, remote teaching and learning, student teaching/teacher education, student-related, teachers, teaching & learning, vendors, voice recognition / voice enabled interfaces, writing, by Daniel Christian

All you need to know about Microsoft Immersive Reader — from edtechreview.in by Saniya Khan

Excerpt:

Microsoft Immersive Reader is a highly interactive reading tool specifically designed to help students improve their reading, understanding and grammar skills. It also makes the texts more accessible to students of all levels.

TechReport 2021: Cloud Computing [Kennedy]

On 11/18/2021, in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, cloud-based computing / apps / other cloud-related, law schools, Legal operations, legal reform, legal technologies, legislatures / government / legal, Microsoft, pace of change, trends, United States, vendors, videoconferencing, Virtual courts and law firms, by Daniel Christian

TechReport 2021: Cloud Computing — from lawtechnologytoday.org by Dennis Kennedy; with thanks to Cat Moon for this resource

Excerpt:

The 2021 ABA Legal Technology Survey Report will be important historically because it gives us the first look at how lawyers responded to the COVID-19 pandemic. Spoiler alert: we did not see anything like the movement to the cloud we expected in 2020. In fact, the 2021 results might be interpreted as another example of lawyers being late arrivals to technologies widely in use in other professions and businesses.

Nonetheless, we still expect the practice of law to be much more cloud-intensive in the near future than it is now, with courts and clients driving many of the changes. Do you think Zoom meetings, online court hearings, and other forms of online collaboration tools will really go away after what we’ve seen in the pandemic?

In the legal profession, it’s still a much different story. Legal is a lagging industry in cloud use. That said, it is still surprising that even in 2021 the reported use of cloud computing in law practice stayed flat or even declined—despite the pandemic and all the news coverage about Zoom meetings and working from home. This result is difficult to comprehend, let alone explain.

From DSC:
From my perspective, both of the items below are highly-related to each other:

Let’s Teach Computer Science Majors to Be Good Citizens. The Whole World Depends on It. — from edsurge.com by Anne-Marie Núñez, Matthew J. Mayhew, Musbah Shaheen and Laura S. Dahl

Excerpt:

Change may need to start earlier in the workforce development pipeline. Undergraduate education offers a key opportunity for recruiting students from historically underrepresented racial and ethnic, gender, and disability groups into computing. Yet even broadened participation in college computer science courses may not shift the tech workforce and block bias from seeping into tech tools if students aren’t taught that diversity and ethics are essential to their field of study and future careers.

Computer Science Majors Lack Citizenship Preparation
Unfortunately, those lessons seem to be missing from many computer science programs.

…and an excerpt from Why AI can’t really filter out “hate news” — with thanks to Sam DeBrule for this resource (emphasis DSC):

The incomprehensibility and unexplainability of huge algorithms
Michael Egnor: What terrifies me about artificial intelligence — and I don’t think one can overstate this danger — is that artificial intelligence has two properties that make it particularly deadly in human civilization. One is concealment. Even though every single purpose in artificial intelligence is human, it’s concealed. We don’t really understand it. We don’t understand Google’s algorithms.

There may even be a situation where Google doesn’t understand Google’s algorithms. But all of it comes from the people who run Google. So the concealment is very dangerous. We don’t know what these programs are doing to our culture. And it may be that no one knows, but they are doing things.

Note:Roman Yampolskiy has written about the incomprehensibility and unexplainability of AI: “Human beings are finite in our abilities. For example, our short term memory is about 7 units on average. In contrast, an AI can remember billions of items and AI capacity to do so is growing exponentially. While never infinite in a true mathematical sense, machine capabilities can be considered such in comparison with ours. This is true for memory, compute speed, and communication abilities.” So we have built-in bias and incomprehensibility at the same time.

From DSC:
That part about concealment reminds me that our society depends upon the state of the hearts of the tech leaders. We don’t like to admit that, but it’s true. The legal realm is too far behind to stop the Wild West of technological change. The legal realm is trying to catch up, but they’re coming onto the race track with no cars…just as pedestrians walking or running as fast as they can….all the while, the technological cars are whizzing by.

The net effect of all of this is that we are more dependent upon the ethics, morals, and care for their fellow humankind (or not) of the C-Suites out there (especially Facebook/Meta Platforms, Google, Microsoft, Amazon, Google, and Apple) than we care to admit. Are they producing products and services that aim to help our societies move forward, or are they just trying to make some more bucks? Who — or what — is being served?

The software engineers and software architects are involved here big time as well. “Just because we can doesn’t mean we should.” But that perspective is sometimes in short supply.

Radar trends to watch: November 2021 — from oreilly.com by Mike Loukides
Developments in AI, Security, Quantum Computing, and More

LinkedIn rolls out its freelance services marketplace globally after picking up 2M users in smaller US beta

On 11/02/2021, in career development, entrepreneurship, global / globalization, Microsoft, platforms, workplace, by Daniel Christian

LinkedIn rolls out its freelance services marketplace globally after picking up 2M users in smaller US beta — from techcrunch.com by Ingrid Lunden

Excerpt:

LinkedIn, the Microsoft-owned platform for those connecting with others in their fields of work and those looking for work, has been known best in recruitment for sourcing candidates and advertising job openings for permanent work. Now, to complement that, LinkedIn is opening up a new front in the job market for freelancers.

Today it is taking the wraps off its Service Marketplace, a new feature that will let people advertise themselves for short-term engagements to those looking to hire people for such roles, competing against the likes of Fiverr and Upwork for sourcing skilled knowledge workers.

Microsoft announces plan to cut cybersecurity workforce shortage in half by 2025 [Feiner]

On 11/01/2021, in collaboration, community colleges, corporate / business world, funding / grants, higher education, IT in HE, learning ecosystem, Microsoft, United States, by Daniel Christian

Microsoft announces plan to cut cybersecurity workforce shortage in half by 2025 — from cnbc.com by Lauren Feiner

Excerpt:

Microsoft will partner with community colleges across the U.S. and provide free resources in an attempt to help end a shortage in cybersecurity workers, the company announced Thursday.
The company believes it can help train and recruit 250,000 people into the cybersecurity workforce by 2025.
Microsoft also believes the effort will help diversify the cybersecurity workforce.

Mental Canvas will unleash some serious creativity!

Also see:

Mental Canvas: App for drawing in 3D — from microsoft.com in Germany; Google translated the excerpt below:

When I first saw Mental Canvas in action, I was instantly impressed. Drawings are created in 3D in the app. You can even fly through your own sketches and comics. Mental Canvas offers teachers completely new possibilities to design blackboard pictures, to illustrate content and to try out creative things. The tutorials and examples immediately make you want to draw in three dimensions. Mental Canvas is currently available as a free download. In this blog article you will get to know the app.

Zoom product updates showcase the art of the possible for hybrid work — from diginomica.com by Derek du Preez
Zoom’s annual conference – Zoomtopia – kicked off with a number of impressive product updates that highlight how we should be thinking about the future of hybrid work.

Excerpt:

Zoom CEO Eric Yuan kicked off the collaboration vendor’s annual conference – Zoomtopia – with a swathe of product updates that effectively showcase how we should be thinking about the future of hybrid work.
…
What’s clear is that Zoom is thinking well beyond its video call roots and is creating a platform that’s an effective place for people to get work done. Upcoming integrations with the likes of Google Drive and Dropbox are just part of this.

Features such as being able to continuously access and collaborate on content in a meeting, whether that be chats or files, whilst also having call transcriptions instantly accessible within the Zoom client after a call is completed, and having access to Zoom Whiteboard to create visual presentations – and being able to do this wherever you are – gives you an idea of how the vendor is thinking about making remote work as seamless and productive as possible.

From DSC:
The intense competition between vendors like Zoom, Cisco, Microsoft, and others will only benefit all of us in the longer term. Here’s to innovation! Online learning may never be the same again. For that matter, learning may never be the same again.

Learning Ecosystems

Why Wall Street thinks the metaverse will be worth trillions [Warner]

Another item to put on my radar. [Christian]

Frequently Asked Questions About Metaverse [Weston]

How can anyone claim that MOOCs have been a failure!!!? Are you serious!?!?! [Christian]

TechReport 2021: Cloud Computing [Kennedy]

LinkedIn rolls out its freelance services marketplace globally after picking up 2M users in smaller US beta

Microsoft announces plan to cut cybersecurity workforce shortage in half by 2025 [Feiner]

Mental Canvas is a game-changer for 2D/3D designers! Check this out!

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