more voice more choice more control

Will IBM’s Watson — or a similar set of technologies — be a key ingredient of our future MOOCs? [Christian]

On 09/05/2013, in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, blended learning, career development, corporate / business world, corporate universities / corporate training, cost of getting a degree, Daniel S. Christian, data related items, digital learning, disruption, global / globalization, health, heutagogy, higher education, homeschooling/homeschoolers, human-computer interaction (HCI), hybrid learning, IBM, ideas, innovation, instructional design, intelligent systems, intelligent tutoring, interactivity, internet, IT in HE, K-12 related, lifelong learning, marketing/social marketing, 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, passions, personalized/customized learning, professional development, research, second screen apps, smart/connected TV, social learning / networks, social media, society, storytelling, strategy, streams of content, teaching online, technologies for your home, training / L&D, trends, ubiquitous learning, United States, using teams, vendors, videoconferencing, virtual K-12 schools, virtual tutoring, vision/possibilities, web-based collaboration, workplace, by Daniel Christian

From DSC:
IBM Watson continues to expand into different disciplines/areas, which currently include:

Healthcare
Finance
Customer Service

But Watson is also entering the marketing and education/research realms.

I see a Watson-type-of-tool as being a key ingredient for future MOOCs and the best chance for MOOCs to morph into something very powerful indeed — offloading the majority of the workload to computers/software/intelligent tutoring/learning agents, while at the same time allowing students to connect with each other and/or to Subject Matter Experts (SME’s) as appropriate.

The price of education could hopefully come way down — depending upon the costs involved with licensing Watson or a similar set of technologies — as IBM could spread out their costs to multiple institutions/organizations. This vision represents another important step towards the “Walmart of Education” that continues to develop before our eyes.

Taking this even one step further, I see this system being available to us on our mobile devices as well as in our living rooms — as the telephone, the television, and the computer continue to converge. Blended learning on steroids.

What would make this really powerful would be to provide:

The ability to create narratives/stories around content
To feed streams of content into Watson for students to tap into
Methods of mining data and using that to tweak algorithms, etc. to improve the tools/learning opportunities

Such an architecture could be applied towards lifelong learning opportunities — addressing what we now know as K-12, higher education, and corporate training/development.

.

Adobe launches a new learning service – KnowHow [Adobe.com]

On 08/30/2013, in Adobe, digital audio, digital learning, digital photography, digital storytelling, digital textbooks, digital video, education technology, elearning, more voice more choice more control, multimedia, online learning, professional development, programming, workplace, by Daniel Christian

Adobe launches a new learning service – KnowHow — from blogs.adobe.com; with thanks to Dr. Tony Karrer (@elearningPosts) for posting this on Twitter

Excerpt:

If you have been learning through video playlists and always thought:

Wouldn’t it be great it I could scribble notes on top of the video? <– From DSC: Idea for future “textbooks”?
Why not add text in the context of the video I am learning from? <– For future “textbooks”…?
Why can’t I go back and forth between videos easily? <– For future “textbooks”…?

You are not alone.

Also see:

From DSC:
What if the objects you touched you just wanted to know more about…? This could tie into educationally-related applications at that point!

What types of innovative learning experiences can be crafted as “TV” becomes more interactive, participatory, and engaging? [Christian]

On 08/21/2013, in 21st century, A/V -- audio/visual, Apple, colleges, community colleges, corporate universities / corporate training, Daniel S. Christian, digital learning, education technology, emerging technologies, engagement / engaging students, game-changing environment, Google, higher education, homeschooling/homeschoolers, human-computer interaction (HCI), ideas, informal learning, innovation, interactivity, interface design, internet, K-12 related, learning ecosystem, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, learning spaces, lifelong learning, media/film, MOOCs -- Massive Open Online Courses, more voice more choice more control, multimedia, New "Amazon.com" of Higher Education, new business models, online learning, online media, participation, personalized/customized learning, second screen apps, smart/connected TV, social learning / networks, student-related, teaching & learning, technologies for your home, technology (general), telecommunications, telepresence, television, training / L&D, transmedia, user experience (UX), user interface design, videoconferencing, virtual field trips, virtual K-12 schools, Virtual Reality (VR) / worlds / learning, virtual tutoring, vision/possibilities, web-based collaboration, webinars, workplace, by Daniel Christian

From DSC:
The massive convergence of the telephone, the television, and the computer continues. How that media gets to us is also changing (i.e. the cord cutting continues).

What types of innovative learning experiences can be crafted as “TV” becomes more interactive, participatory, and engaging? What happens if technologies like WebRTC make their way into our browsers and we can videoconference with each other without having to download anything?

What doors open for for us when Google, Apple, or an Amazon.com delivers your “shows” vs. NBC/ABC/CBS/etc.?

The items below cause me to reflect on those questions…

.

Streaming devices lead the way to Smart TV — from nytimes.com by Brian Stelter

Julia Yellow

.

Is Google ready to buy its way into TV with an NFL deal? — from allthingsd.com by Peter Kafka

Excerpt:

Here’s a fun combination to ponder: The world’s most powerful media company and America’s most popular sport.

That could happen if Google buys the rights to the NFL’s Sunday Ticket package, the all-you-can-eat subscription-TV service currently owned by DirecTV.

Cord Cliff Coming: What happens to TV when Netflix streams live events? — from allthingsd.com by Ben Elowitz, CEO, Wetpaint

Addendums on 8/22/13:

CBS, Time Warner Cable, and the Disruption of TV — from newyorker.com by Ken Auletta
Netflix inks exclusive deal for first-run Weinstein films — from cnet.comThe Internet’s biggest on-demand video service will stream movies from the indie film studio before any other pay-TV providers starting in 2016, the same year it kicks off a similar Disney deal.
Vevo reportedly inks music video content deals with Apple and Samsung, Apple TV app could launch this week — from appleinsider.com by AppleInsider Staff
Music video platform Vevo is said to have signed deals with both Apple and Samsung to deliver streaming and on-demand content via set-top boxes and television sets, with a possible Apple TV debut coming as soon as this week.
Disney’s ESPN Holds Preliminary Talks for Web-Based TV –– from bloomberg.com by Christopher Palmeri & Andy Fixmer
Why Apple should buy NFL digital rights — from money.cnn.com by David Goldman
The tv of tomorrow and the living room of the future— from visual.ly <– a very solid infographic

The tv of tomorrow and the living room of the future

by beutlerink.
Explore more infographics like this one on the web’s largest information design community – Visually.

— from Walt Disney Imagineering Research & Development (“WDI R&D”)

From DSC:
Though it looks like the latest round appears to be done, what caught my eye here were the following items:

Blending the physical w/ the virtual and the platform:

The experience must take place simultaneously in a physical space and one of the following:
- Interactive Website
- Mobile (smartphone, tablet device, etc.)
- Another physical location
Other media formats and platforms are encouraged as well. Use your imagination!

Immersion

Digital storytelling

Creativity

New media literacies

Interactivity

Participation

Imagination

Questions:

How might these concepts be used in modern K-12 courses? In higher education?
How could our “textbooks” incorporate these concepts?
Which disciplines should be involved in these cross-disciplinary endeavors?

Some concepts/innovations that empower our learning ecosystems [Christian]

On 08/16/2013, in 21st century, analytics, blended learning, Daniel S. Christian, data related items, digital learning, elearning, emerging technologies, higher education, ideas, innovation, learning ecosystem, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, more voice more choice more control, motivation, New "Amazon.com" of Higher Education, online learning, student-related, by Daniel Christian

Introducing…the Learning Dashboard — from khanacademy.org on Thu, 15 Aug 2013

Excerpt:

The new learning dashboard is your personal homepage on Khan Academy. The dashboard gives you an easy way to find the best next things for you to do. It has a bunch of really cool things designed to help you learn math, and soon other subjects, really well on your own or with a coach.

From DSC:
This is the type of innovation that makes online/blended learning even more powerful/useful.

The NYT just made it way easier to remix its journalism — from by Robinson Meyer
Bringing the simple power of logic (if! then!) to the social web

Excerpt (emphasis DSC):

The New York Times has now opened a channel at the website If This, Then That (IFTTT). For journalism hackers and tinkering readers, this is fine news.

IFTTT is elegantly useful and usefully elegant. For a variety of sites and services (Evernote! Instagram! Dropbox!), IFTTT combines “triggers” and “actions,” so that when one thing happens on one service, something else happens on another. You can say, if I take a picture on Instagram, then automatically save it to Dropbox.

Or: If my Facebook profile picture changes, then (automatically) change my Twitter picture too.

It even connects to SMS, so you can say: If it begins to rain in my zipcode, then text me about it.

From DSC:
How might this concept be used in conjunction with digital playlists/learning? If I finished the XYZ module over here at U of X, then start ABC over here at ___.

Apple gears up for the video discovery wars — from fastcolabs.com by Michael Grothaus
Think Apple’s Matcha.tv acquisition was about its programming guide service? You’re probably wrong. There’s a new war brewing in online video: helping users find the stuff they want.

From DSC:
Instead of discovering videos only, how about discovering items along the lines of what you are trying to learn more about? i.e. Matcha.tv meets Google Alerts meets IBM’s Watson.

The Coming Big Data Education Revolution — from by Doug Guthrie
Big data, not MOOCS, will give institutions the predictive tools they need to improve outcomes for individual students

Excerpt (emphasis):

Don’t get me wrong, online learning will fundamentally transform higher education, bridging distances and creating access in ways that have not been possible before. But, in this arena, MOOCs are not a transformative innovation that will forever remake academia. That honor belongs to a more disruptive and far-reaching innovation – “big data.” A catchall phrase that refers to the vast numbers of data sets that are collected daily, big data promises to revolutionize online learning and, in doing so, higher education.

Big data in the online learning space will give institutions the predictive tools they need to improve learning outcomes for individual students. By designing a curriculum that collects data at every step of the student learning process, universities can address student needs with customized modules, assignments, feedback and learning trees in the curriculum that will promote better and richer learning.

The battle of the ecosystems: Apple, Google, Microsoft, & Amazon.com [Christian]

On 08/12/2013, in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, A/V -- audio/visual, Apple, business, changing business models, cloud-based computing / apps / other cloud-related, computer science, corporate / business world, corporate universities / corporate training, Daniel S. Christian, education technology, educational games / serious games, elearning, emerging technologies, Google, higher education, innovation, internet, IT in HE, K-12 related, learning ecosystem, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, learning spaces, media/film, Microsoft, mirroring and/or multiple devices, mobile learning, mobile technologies, more voice more choice more control, multimedia, music, new business models, online learning, online media, online tutoring, platforms, productivity / tips and tricks, programming, second screen apps, smart classrooms, smart/connected TV, social media, student-related, tablets, technologies for your home, technology (general), tools, trends, ubiquitous learning, vendors, videoconferencing, virtual K-12 schools, virtual tutoring, workplace, by Daniel Christian

The battle of the ecosystems: Apple, Google, Microsoft, & Amazon.com — by Daniel Christian with thanks to Krista Spahr, Michael Mandeville, Bill Vriesema, and Adam Tozer from Calvin College for their feedback/inputs on this.

PDF version here [1.35MB]

Also see:

A game of ecosystems: Measuring ecosystem performance — from visionmobile.com by Andreas Pappas

Addendums on 8/13/13:

Battle of the media ecosystems: Amazon, Apple, Google and Microsoft — from computerworld.com by Michael deAgonia, Preston Gralla, JR Raphael
Four large tech ecosystems are currently vying for our attention — and for our dollars. How well are they succeeding?
Apple still tops the App Store despite Google Play growth — from tapscape.com

In the beginning was the Word; now the Word is on an app — from nytimes.com by Amy O’Leary

.

Nathan Weber for The New York Times
Listeners use a Bible app during a sermon at Fellowship Missionary Baptist Church in Chicago.

Excerpt (emphasis DSC):

EDMOND, Okla. — More than 500 years after Gutenberg, the Bible is having its i-moment.

For millions of readers around the world, a wildly successful free Bible app, YouVersion, is changing how, where and when they read the Bible.

Built by LifeChurch.tv, one of the nation’s largest and most technologically advanced evangelical churches, YouVersion is part of what the church calls its “digital missions.” They include a platform for online church services and prepackaged worship videos that the church distributes free. A digital tithing system and an interactive children’s Bible are in the works.

…

This month, the app reached 100 million downloads, placing it in the company of technology start-ups like Instagram and Dropbox.

‘Shake Up’ for Higher Ed — from insidehighered.com by Scott Jaschik

Excerpt:

President Obama vowed Wednesday that he would soon unveil a plan to promote significant reform in higher education — with an emphasis on controlling what colleges charge students and families.

“[I]n the coming months, I will lay out an aggressive strategy to shake up the system, tackle rising costs, and improve value for middle-class students and their families. It is critical that we make sure that college is affordable for every single American who’s willing to work for it,” said Obama, in a speech at Knox College.

…

“Families and taxpayers can’t just keep paying more and more and more into an undisciplined system where costs just keep on going up and up and up. We’ll never have enough loan money, we’ll never have enough grant money, to keep up with costs that are going up 5, 6, 7 percent a year. We’ve got to get more out of what we pay for,” Obama said.

From DSC:
At a $175 billion per year support for postsecondary education, if the Federal Government starts redirecting this flow of $$$…I’ll bet we’ll see some change…and rather quickly I might add.

The Walmart of Education (as predicted back in December 2008) is now here, but I don’t think we’ve seen anything yet. To what will we change? At least one major piece of the answer to that question is that we will see the continued — but increasing — use of teams of specialists that will be commissioned to create low-cost, highly-engaging content. Though expensive to create originally, such teams will more than make their money back because of the massive number of students such “courses” will serve.

From the Walmart of Education page on 4/11/09:

…I wanted to offer another idea that might help fund engaging, multimedia-based, online-based learning materials:
(NOTE: The figures I use are not accurate, but rather, they are used for illustration purposes only.)

Let’s reallocate funds towards course development, and then let’s leverage those learning materials throughout the world!

Reallocate funds to course development, and bring costs WAAAAYYYY down and ACCESS WAAAYYY UP!

.

For students: Bring costs waaaayyyyy down and access waaayyy up!

Plus, no more defaulted loans, students could experience richer content, students wouldn’t have to wait as much on financial aid decisions. There would be fewer financial aid headaches; and the resources devoted to figuring out & processing financial aid could be reduced. The issue will be how an institution can differentiate itself in such a new world…but that issue will have to be dealt with in the future anyway.

Reflections on “How to make online courses massively personal” [Peter Norvig]

On 07/25/2013, in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, active learning, Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, Daniel S. Christian, data related items, digital learning, education technology, elearning, emerging technologies, engagement / engaging students, future of higher education, game-changing environment, higher education, human-computer interaction (HCI), ideas, innovation, intelligent systems, intelligent tutoring, internet, learning agents, learning ecosystem, learning preferences, love of learning, MOOCs -- Massive Open Online Courses, more voice more choice more control, multimedia, new business models, online learning, online media, online tutoring, participation, personalized/customized learning, professional development, reinvent, social learning / networks, streams of content, student-related, teaching & learning, training / L&D, ubiquitous learning, using teams, web-based collaboration, by Daniel Christian

How to make online courses massively personal — from scientificamerican.com by Peter Norvig
How thousands of online students can get the effect of one-on-one tutoring

Excerpt (emphasis DSC):

Educators have known for 30 years that students perform better when given one-on-one tutoring and mastery learning—working on a subject until it is mastered, not just until a test is scheduled. Success also requires motivation, whether from an inner drive or from parents, mentors or peers.

Will the rise of massive open online courses (MOOCs) quash these success factors? Not at all. In fact, digital tools offer our best path to cost-effective, personalized learning.

I know because I have taught both ways.

…

Inspired by Nobel laureate Herbert Simon’s comment that “learning results from what the student does and thinks and only from what the student does and thinks,” we created a course centered on the students doing things and getting frequent feedback. Our “lectures” were short (two- to six-minute) videos designed to prime the attendees for doing the next exercise. Some problems required the application of mathematical techniques described in the videos. Others were open-ended questions that gave students a chance to think on their own and then to hash out ideas in online discussion forums.

…

That is why a properly designed automated intelligent tutoring system can foster learning outcomes as well as human instructors can, as Kurt van Lehn found in a 2011 meta-analysis in Educational Psychologist.

From DSC:
A potential learning scenario in the future:

“Learning Agent, go find me a MOOC (or what the MOOC will morph into) about ________.”
Similar to a Google Alert, the Learning Agent returns some potential choices. I select one.
.
Once there… “System, let’s begin.” I begin taking the online-based course — which is stocked full of a variety of media, some interactive, that I get to choose from for each module/item based upon my personal preferences — and the intelligent tutoring system kicks in and responses at relevant points based upon my questions, answers, responses. The system uses AI, data mining, learning analytics, to see how I’m doing. It tracks this for each student. Humans regularly review the data to begin noticing patterns and to tweak the algorithms based upon these patterns.
.
If at any time I find the responses from the automated intelligent tutoring system confusing or weak, I will:
- Make note of why I’m confused or disagree with the response (via an online-based form entry on the page; this feedback gets instantly sent to the Team of Specialists in charge of the “course.” They will use it to tweak the course/algorithms.)
- Ask to speak with a person, at which point I am asked to choose whether my inquiry would best be handled by a Subject Matter Expert (SME) at $___/hour/request (more expensive price) or by an entry-level tutor (at a lower $___/hour/request). I then enter into a videoconference-based tutoring session with them, and they can access my records and even take over my screen (if I let them). Once I get my questions answered, I return to the course and continue.

From DSC:
A twist on the above scenario would be if a cohorted group of people — not age-based — met in a physical place/room and were able to bounce ideas off of each other before anyone ante’d up for additional expenses by contacting a tutor and/or an SME. They could even share the expenses of the “call” (so-to-speak).

From DSC:
The way we interact with digital video may never be the same again. Consider the following developments/items:

.

Touchcast.com

.

How TouchCast plans to disrupt TV watching

.

TouchCast: a television studio in your iPad — from agbeat.com by Jennifer Walpole .

interlude.fm

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Interactive video startup Interlude raises $16m from Intel, Sequoia and other big names — from thenextweb.com by Robin Wauters

.

Flixmaster.com

.

cinematique.com:

What is MTEVIDEO?
The Motion Touch Enabled Video platform allows you touch on the things that interest you as they move within video, adding them to your personal boutique so you can learn, shop, and share from any MTEVIDEO whenever you want.

With Cinematique’s ‘touch-enabled’, shoppable videos, product placement might not be so bad — from techcrunch.com by Anthony Ha

From DSC:
I sure hope that we can use these sorts of tools, concepts, and technologies within the educational/training-related realms! More choice. More control. Participation. Interactivity. Engagement.

Here’s why the TV apps economy will be a $14 billion business [Wolf]

On 06/25/2013, in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, A/V -- audio/visual, analytics, animation, Apple, Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, blended learning, Bring your own device (BYOD), business, business side of he, changing business models, cloud-based computing / apps / other cloud-related, collaboration, communications, communities of practice, computer science, content development, aggregation, repositories, convergence, corporate / business world, corporate universities / corporate training, cost of getting a degree, Daniel S. Christian, digital audio, digital learning, digital storytelling, digital textbooks, digital video, distance education, e-books, e-publishing related items (EPUB and more), e-readers, education, education technology, educational games / serious games, elearning, emerging technologies, engagement / engaging students, entrepreneurship, experimentation, future of higher education, game-changing environment, heutagogy, higher education, human-computer interaction (HCI), innovation, interactivity, internet, IT in HE, K-12 related, learning agents, learning ecosystem, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, learning preferences, learning spaces, lifelong learning, machine-to-machine communications, marketing/social marketing, marketplaces, mirroring and/or multiple devices, mobile learning, more voice more choice more control, multi-touch, multimedia, music, New "Amazon.com" of Higher Education, new business models, new media literacies, online learning, online media, online tutoring, open courseware and systems, passions, personalized/customized learning, play, podcasting, professional development, programming, reinvent, second screen apps, smart classrooms, smart/connected TV, social learning / networks, staying relevant, storytelling, streams of content, student-related, tablets, teaching & learning, technologies for your home, telepresence, training / L&D, transmedia, trends, ubiquitous learning, videoconferencing, virtual field trips, virtual K-12 schools, Virtual Reality (VR) / worlds / learning, virtual tutoring, vision/possibilities, web-based collaboration, webinars, workplace, by Daniel Christian

Here’s why the TV apps economy will be a $14 billion business — from forbes.com by Michael Wolf

.

Excerpt:

According to new research published this week, the TV apps economy is forecasted to reach $14 billion by 2017.

…

Take for example today’s news that Apple will begin selling video advertisements served by iAd through iTunes Radio loaded on Apple TVs. This is only the first move for Apple in this space, and others like Samsung and Google are already investing heavily in connected TV app advertising.

From DSC:
Why post this? Because:

It lays out future directions/careers related to Programming, Computer Science, Data Mining, Analytics, Marketing, Telecommunications, User Experience Design, Digital and Transmedia Storytelling, and more
.
It leads to “Learning from the Living [Class] Room”

.

From DSC:
And if this does take off,
$14 billion won’t begin to capture the profits from this new industry.
It will be far larger than that.

Relevant addendum on 6/27/13:

The future of cinema is on demand — from bitrebels.com by Ben Warner (From DSC: Having just paid $32 for 4 people — 3 of whom were kids — to see Monsters U, I believe it!)
.

Via: [The Verge] Image Credits: [Venture Beat] [Home Theater]

Heads up Jony Ive! You need to see this brilliant concept for the Apple TV! Superb work by Sam Beckett!

On 05/31/2013, in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, A/V -- audio/visual, analytics, Apple, Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, attention, changing business models, cloud-based computing / apps / other cloud-related, convergence, cost of getting a degree, creativity, Daniel S. Christian, digital audio, digital learning, digital storytelling, digital textbooks, digital video, disruption, e-books, e-publishing related items (EPUB and more), education technology, educational games / serious games, elearning, emerging technologies, engagement / engaging students, experimentation, future of higher education, game-changing environment, Google, higher education, homeschooling/homeschoolers, human-computer interaction (HCI), IBM, innovation, instructional design, intelligent systems, intelligent tutoring, interaction design, interactivity, interface design, internet, learning agents, learning ecosystem, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, learning spaces, lifelong learning, love of learning, machine-to-machine communications, media/film, Microsoft, mirroring and/or multiple devices, mobile learning, mobile technologies, MOOCs -- Massive Open Online Courses, more voice more choice more control, multi-touch, multimedia, Near Field Communication (NFC), New "Amazon.com" of Higher Education, new business models, new media literacies, online learning, online media, online tutoring, personalized/customized learning, platforms, second screen apps, simulations, smart classrooms, smart/connected TV, social learning / networks, social media, streams of content, tablets, teaching & learning, technologies for your home, technology (general), telepresence, television, transmedia, trends, ubiquitous learning, user experience (UX), user interface design, using teams, videoconferencing, virtual field trips, virtual K-12 schools, Virtual Reality (VR) / worlds / learning, virtual tutoring, vision/possibilities, web-based collaboration, webinars, by Daniel Christian

.

From DSC:
Now picture this from the educational standpoint — and what MOOCs could morph into. The foundation for some serious learning power (from the living room) seems to be developing!

Streams of content/learning channels/cloud-based applications that each of us can create and make available.

Voice recognition, learning analytics, machine-to-machine communications, transmedia and more! Wow!

.

Thanks Professor William K.S. Wang for your work re: predicting the unbundling of higher education

On 05/29/2013, in future of higher education, game-changing environment, higher education, more voice more choice more control, trends, by Daniel Christian

I’m grateful for the following comments on this blog from Professor William K.S. Wang from earlier today:

I have published three articles on the unbundling of higher education (the first in 1975; most are available through an internet search): “The Unbundling of Higher Education,” 1975 Duke Law Journal 53. “The Dismantling of Higher Education,” published in two parts in 29 Improving College and… Read more University Teaching 55 (1981) and 29 Improving College and University Teaching 115 (1981) “The Restructuring of Legal Education Along Functional Lines,” 17 Journal of Contemporary Legal Issues 331 (2008)(discusses legal education, but applies to higher education generally); abstract below

THE RESTRUCTURING OF LEGAL EDUCATION, by William K.S. Wang

ABSTRACT

Currently, law schools tie together five quite distinct services in one package, offered to a limited number of students. These five functions are: (1) impartation of knowledge, (2)counseling/placement, (3) credentialing (awarding grades and degrees), (4) coercion, and (5) club membership. Students do not have the opportunity to pay for just the services they want, or to buy each of the five services from different providers.

This article proposes an “unbundled” system in which the five services presently performed by law schools would be rendered by many different kinds of organizations, each specializing in only one function or an aspect of one function. Unbundling of legal education along functional lines would substantially increase student options and dramatically increase competition and innovation by service providers. This offers the hope of making available more individualized and better instruction and giving students remarkable freedom of choice as to courses, schedules, work-pace, instructional media, place of residence, and site of learning. Most importantly, this improved education would be available on an “open admissions” basis at much lower cost to many more individuals throughout the nation, or even the world.

In order to explain how to restructure the existing law school system, this article will discuss the five educational services presently performed by law schools, the disadvantages of tying these services together, a hypothetical unbundled world of legal education, the advantages of the unbundled system, answers to some possible objections to the system, and some recent developments in the use of technology and distance learning in law schools.

The main theme of this article is the advantage of unbundling. A more modest sub-theme is the benefit of use of technology and distance learning.

Also see:

Unbundling. . . and Reinforcing the Hierarchy? — from insidehighered.com by Margaret Andrews
.
Foundations of Strategy, Part 3: Technology — from insidehighered.com by Margaret Andrews
Excerpt:
Interestingly, this was predicted awhile back, in a 1981 article titled “The Dismantling of Higher Education,” by William K.S. Wang (Improving College and University Teaching, Volume 29, Number 2, Spring 1981, pages 55-69). In the article, Wang discusses five primary services performed by traditional universities – imparting information, counseling, credentialing, coercion, and club membership – and how they are currently performed by traditional universities. . . and how they might be replaced. Here is a brief synopsis of Wang’s idea:

.

Also relevant/see:

Video and the learning playlist — from TrainingIndustry.com by Kaliym Islam
Excerpt:
You sign up for a course in order learn something new. The first half of the course contains background and overview information that is of no value to you. The next 25% goes over topics that you already know, while the next 15% finally provides you with the information or practice that you were looking for. But, the final 10% of the course simply recaps everything that was already covered. While you do derive some value from the experience, it comes at the expense of time wasted on the 85% of the course that didn’t.
…
Imagine how the learning experience would be different if there was an environment that allowed you to preview and extract small or “micro” learning objects from any course or curriculum that existed within that learning ecosystem.

From DSC:
More choice. More control. That’s one piece of the puzzle — i.e. where higher education is heading.

DanielChristian-The-unbundling-of-higher-education

Google and SAP offer courses

On 05/29/2013, in change, changing business models, corporate / business world, dangers of the status quo, Daniel S. Christian, digital learning, elearning, Google, learning ecosystem, MOOCs -- Massive Open Online Courses, more voice more choice more control, online learning, workplace, by Daniel Christian

.

SAP launches MOOC style online courseware — from technorati.com by Adi Gaskell

Excerpt:

Last year I looked at the impact of Massive Online Open Courses and other forms of online learning were having on learning in the workplace.

So it’s interesting to read that software giant SAP are to launch their own MOOC style platform.

The site, called Open.SAP.com, aims to offer employees and other people interested in the SAP environment, a range of courses on topics that the company believe are key to success in the SAP world.

For instance, the first module available is an introduction to software development on SAP HANA. SAP recommend that people spend around 5 hours per week for six weeks on the course, which has thus far attracted around 20,000 students.

.

Mapping with Google

Excerpt (emphasis DSC):

Discover new ways to navigate the world around you with Google Maps and Google Earth.

Improve your use of new and existing features of Google’s mapping tools.

Choose your own path. Complete a project using Google Maps, Google Earth, or both, and earn a certificate of completion.

Learning Ecosystems

Adobe launches a new learning service – KnowHow [Adobe.com]

See it. Like it. Touch it. Buy it. Some sharp interactive video tech by AVD Digital Media.

In the beginning was the Word; now the Word is on an app [O’Leary]

Reflections on ‘Shake Up’ for Higher Ed [Jaschik]

Thanks Professor William K.S. Wang for your work re: predicting the unbundling of higher education

Google and SAP offer courses

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