online learning - Learning Ecosystems

A look back over 10 years of MOOCs [Highton]

On 09/02/2023, in collaboration, instructional design, learning ecosystem, Learning Experience Design, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, MOOCs -- Massive Open Online Courses, online learning, platforms, UK, vendors, by Daniel Christian

A look back over 10 years of MOOCs — from timeshighereducation.com by Melissa Highton
Lessons learned over a decade of developing and delivering massive open online courses (MOOCs)

We began developing massive open online courses (Moocs) 10 years ago. The aim was to experiment with new ways of teaching online, to research what kinds of learning and courses could be achieved, and to have fun. We were never in it for the money.

Although it was undeniably expensive at the start, a decade later, this activity has brought considerable return on that investment in terms of what we have learned, the places we have reached and the impact we have had, inside and outside our institution.

The University of Edinburgh now offers 80 online master’s courses drawn from all disciplines and 100 Moocs and microcredentials, reaching 4.7 million learners around the world.

Two items re: K-12 learning ecosystem that show the motivating power of choice

On 09/02/2023, in career development, change, changing business models, education, education reform, innovation, instructional design, K-12 related, learning, learning ecosystem, Learning Experience Design, learning preferences, more voice more choice more control, motivation, online learning, personalized/customized learning, by Daniel Christian

Build Your Own High School: Phoenix Students Choose from 500 Classes, Internships, College Courses, Career Programs & More — from the74million.org by Beth Hawkins; via Michael Horn
At Phoenix Union City, high school doesn’t refer to a building but a personalized path of experiences that teenagers create for themselves.

PXU City HS has no physical site — its 83 students create custom programs, choosing from a menu of some 500 options from Phoenix Union High School District’s bricks-and-mortar schools; its online-only program, internships; jobs; college classes; and career training programs.

But in the process, it became clear just how many high school-aged students were working, caring for siblings, filling in for their parents or significantly behind — or ahead and bored — academically.
…
If PXU City works as well for all its students as it does for Dominguez, he adds, every high school in the district ought to throw away the bell schedule and offer a truly personalized education.

‘Every day matters’: CCSD students, teachers kick off 2023-24 school year — from reviewjournal.com by Julie Wootton-Greener; via Michael Horn

There are 10 areas of study students chose from: architectural design, business administration logistics-distribution, computer science, construction technology, cybersecurity, diesel/auto technology, energy technologies, human and social services, teaching and training, and sports medicine.

Students pick a job within the program they’re working toward, but that can change, Cordia said, noting that there are hundreds of possible jobs within the automotive program.

The school received e more than 1,000 applications from interested students, he said, calling it “very humbling.”

Addendum that also involves changes within the K12 learning ecosystem:

Is the Post-Pandemic Era Ripe for Rethinking High School? — from edsurge.com by Rebecca Koenig

2023 Students and Technology Report: Flexibility, Choice, and Equity in the Student Experience — from library.educause.edu by Mark McCormack

Excerpt:

What does it mean to be a student in 2023, on the fading tail end of a global pandemic and in the midst of lingering uncertainty about the world? What do students still need from a postsecondary education, and where does technology serve as a fulcrum—for better and for worse—both opening and closing students’ paths forward through their educational journeys?

In this report we draw on data from EDUCAUSE’s 2023 Student Survey to offer higher education leaders and decision-makers key insights as they consider what these questions might mean for their particular institutions and communities.

The report explores findings across three main areas, each representing a key challenge (and opportunity) institutions are going to face now and in the future:

Supporting students on and off campus
The role of students as consumers in the educational marketplace
Equity and accessibility in teaching and learning

Students who are empowered to “choose their own adventure” with their course modality engagements are far more satisfied with their course experiences than those who don’t get to choose.

Learners need: More voice. More choice. More control. -- this image was created by Daniel Christian

A First Look at Teaching Preferences since the Pandemic”— from library.educause.edu/ by Muscanell

This is the first faculty research conducted by EDUCAUSE since 2019. Since then, the higher education landscape has been through a lot, including COVID-19, fluctuations in enrollment and public funding, and the rapid adoption of multiple instructional modalities and new technologies. In this report, we describe the findings of the research in four key areas:

Modality preferences and the impacts of teaching in non-preferred modes
Experiences teaching online and hybrid courses
Technology and digital availability of course components
Types of support needed and utilized for teaching

From DSC:
Polling the faculty members and getting their feedback is not as relevant and important to the future of higher education as better addressing the needs and wants of parents and students who are paying the bills. Asking faculty members what they want to post online is not as relevant as what students want and need to see online.

“It’s an example of the streamlined admissions practices that colleges across the country are using to combat the ongoing problem of low student enrollment.”

DC: But it’s not getting at the problem of *not providing enough value* for the price. https://t.co/Ye1FFep48z

— Daniel Christian (he/him/his) (@dchristian5) August 25, 2023

From DSC:
More fringe responses — versus overhauling pricing, updating curriculum, providing more opportunities to try out jobs before investing in a degree, and/or better rewarding those adjunct faculty members who are doing the majority of the teaching on many campuses.

Online college enrollment is on the rise: What brings students to virtual campuses? — from digitaljournal.com by Jill Jaracz and Emma Rubin; via GSV

Before the pandemic, online learning programs were typically for people going back to school to augment or change their career or pursuing a graduate degree to enhance their career while they work. That attitude is shifting as students juggle learning with jobs, family responsibilities, and commutes. In California, 4 in 5 community college classes were in person before the pandemic. By 2021, just 1 in 4 were in person, while 65% were online, according to the California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office.

Younger students are also opting for online classes. EducationDynamics found in 2023 that the largest share of students pursuing undergraduate or graduate degrees online is 35 or younger. That said, 35% of students pursuing online undergraduate degrees are between

Unsurprising move by the ABA. Just a reminder, the legal market is already embracing innovation whether the ABA, or lawyers, participate or not. https://t.co/MJNgqNNXVB

— Timothy B. Corcoran (@tcorcoran) August 25, 2023

***
From DSC:
Having come from various other areas of higher education back in 2017, I was *amazed* to see *how far behind* legal education was from the rest of higher ed. And this is directly tied to what the American Bar Association allows (or doesn’t allow). The ABA has done a terrible job of helping Americans deal with today’s pace of change.

“What’s the right measure of good teaching?” [McMurtrie] + other higher education-related items

On 08/18/2023, in adjunct faculty, business side of he, career development, colleges, community colleges, faculty, higher education, online learning, quality, teaching & learning, United States, universities, vocational / trades, by Daniel Christian

Teaching: What’s the right measure of good teaching? — from chronicle.com by Beth McMurtrie

There are several elements to this challenge. The first is that many campuses depend largely, if not exclusively, on student course evaluations when it comes to measuring instructional quality. And often those evaluations are not particularly well designed or substantive.
…
But even when course evaluations are better designed, I’m not sure any teaching experts would argue that they should be the exclusive measure of whether a faculty member is an effective teacher. That brings us to the second element of the challenge: What else can a college do?

Several readers offered suggestions, such as to include classroom observations, peer evaluation, and teaching portfolios — in which, say, an instructor describes their teaching philosophy and classroom practices, along with evidence that they are working to strengthen their teaching.

Why Labor Shortages on Campus-Building Staffs Are Reaching ‘Crisis Situations’ — from an email newsletter from The Chronicle of Higher Education which eventually links to this article

Who will keep the buildings open?
It’s no secret colleges have struggled to fill staff positions like administrative assistants, information-technology specialists, and admissions officers in today’s tight labor market. But many institutions are grasping for ways to fill key facilities positions that literally keep the doors open, such as custodians, electricians, carpenters, and maintenance workers, our Scott Carlson writes.

Staffing shortages strain the employees and contractors already on the payroll. Facilities-staff members are aging and often juggling project backlogs.

Remember: Building services were the third-most-difficult area to hire in, according to a Chronicle survey conducted earlier this year, behind information technology and dining services. Six in 10 respondents said hiring building-services staff was a serious or moderate problem.

Higher ed may be a victim of its own success. The country has emphasized college after high school over the last four decades, while trades have struggled to attract workers.

An eye-opening stat: Even with a recently renewed emphasis on the trades, the U.S. has only about 600,000 people in apprenticeships, far below the 17 million students enrolled in college.

Which Colleges Pay Off for Low-Income Students? — from edsurge.com by Nadia Tamez-Robledo

Colleges and universities that specialize in health and technology proved to serve low-income students who end up with the highest starting salaries six years after they enrolled. For this earnings data, College Scorecard does not take into account whether students graduated or not.

Hover your cursor over each bar to read details about each institution.

Brave New Classrooms — from Dr. Philippa Hardman
Why 2023-2024 will be remembered as the academic year that education embraced AI

After a rocky start, more and more evidence suggests that the academic year 2023-2024 will likely prove to be a defining year for higher education: the year higher education embraced AI.

Over the course of the next academic year, we will likely see three main changes in the world of education:

More education institutions will embrace AI & develop policies & guidance on its appropriate use at the institution, department & classroom level.
We will see a wave of assessment reform, with a new focus on the assessment of learners’ process and skills, including the effective use of AI.
To enable this chance, we will see a rapid increase in the provision of AI training for leaders, educators and administrators.

While risks and barriers to entry remain real, supported by well-rounded strategic frameworks, the education system has the potential to leverage AI reinvent itself and improve its ability to deliver on the promise to deliver real-world-relevant education.

Two-thirds of colleges are adding online programs, survey finds — from highereddive.com by Natalie Schwartz
The annual CHLOE report tracks changing student demand for virtual education and how institutions are adapting their offerings in response.

Will one of our future learning ecosystems look like a Discord server type of service? [Christian]

On 08/17/2023, in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, adult learning, Alternatives, Artificial Intelligence / Machine Learning / Deep Learning / Algorithms, cloud-based computing / apps / other cloud-related, collaboration, communications, communities of practice, competency-based learning/education, content development, aggregation, repositories, Daniel S. Christian, digital learning, distance education, education technology, educational games / serious games, elearning, emerging technologies, Emotion, engagement / engaging students, experimentation, future, global / globalization, higher education, homeschooling/homeschoolers, human-computer interaction (HCI), ideas, innovation, instructional design, intelligent systems, intelligent tutoring, 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, learning preferences, learning spaces, lifelong learning, love of learning, microlearning, multimedia, New "Amazon.com" of Higher Education, new business models, online learning, online media, online tutoring, passions, personalized/customized learning, platforms, play, simulations, skills, social learning / networks, society, streams of content, student-related, technologies for your home, universities, user experience (UX), vendors, virtual field trips, virtual K-12 schools, Virtual Reality (VR) / worlds / learning, virtual tutoring, vision/possibilities, web-based collaboration, by Daniel Christian

DC: Is the future of one of our powerful learning ecosystems more like adding your own desired groups/cohorts, topics, items, etc. to your server? Like a learning-focused type of Discord service? (https://t.co/Vq4dZamBf2)#future #learningecosystems #personalizedlearning pic.twitter.com/wVMWYBN3R1

— Daniel Christian (he/him/his) (@dchristian5) August 17, 2023

The Changing Landscape of Online Education (CHLOE), 2023
Student Demand Moves Higher Ed Toward a Multi-Modal Future

The majority of survey participants report increased student demand for online and hybrid learning juxtaposed with decreased demand for face-to-face courses and programs. Most participants also say that their institutions are aligning or working to align their strategic priorities to meet this demand. Notable findings from the 50+-page report include:

Face-to-Face enrollment is stagnant or declining.
Online and hybrid enrollment is growing.
Institutions are quickly aligning their strategic priorities to meet online/hybrid student demand.
“Quiet” quality assurance.

InstructureCon 23 Conference Notes — from onedtech.beehiiv.com by Phil Hill

The company is increasingly emphasizing its portfolio of products built around the Canvas LMS, what they call the Instructure Unified Learning Platform. Perhaps the strongest change in message is the increased emphasis on the EdTech Collective, Instructure’s partner ecosystem. In fact, two of the three conference press releases were on the ecosystem – describing the 850 partners as “a larger partner community than any other LMS provider” and announcing a partnership with Khan Academy with its Khanmigo AI-based tutoring and teaching assistant tool (more on generative AI approach below).

Anthology Together 23 Conference Notes — from philhillaa.com by Glenda Morgan

The Anthology conference, held from July 17-19, marked the second gathering since Blackboard ceased operating as a standalone company and transformed into a brand for a product line.

What stood out was not just the number of added features but the extent to which these enhancements were driven by customer input. There has been a noticeable shift in how Anthology listens to clients, which had been a historical weakness for Blackboard. This positive change was emphasized not only by Anthology executives, but more importantly by customers themselves, even during unscripted side conversations.

D2L Fusion 23 Conference Notes — from onedtech.beehiiv.com

D2L is a slow burn company, and in the past eight years in a good way. The company started working on its move to the cloud, tied to its user experience redesign as Brightspace, in 2014. Five years later, the company’s LMS was essentially all cloud (with one or two client exceptions). More importantly, D2L Brightspace in this time period became fully competitive with Instructure Canvas, winning head-to-head competitions not just due to specialized features but more broadly in terms of general system usability and intuitive design. That multi-year transformation is significant, particularly for a founder-led company.

A cam/mic/light/teleprompter remote kit for non-tech-savvy guests, including Shure MV7 [Tépper]

On 08/05/2023, in A/V -- audio/visual, adjunct faculty, Australia, collaboration, colleges, communications, community colleges, content development, aggregation, repositories, corporate / business world, corporate universities / corporate training, digital audio, digital learning, digital video, distance education, education technology, experimentation, faculty, higher education, instructional design, IT in HE, K-12 related, law schools, media/film, mobile technologies, multimedia, new media literacies, online learning, online media, online tutoring, platforms, podcasting, productivity / tips and tricks, remote teaching and learning, teachers, teaching & learning, teaching online, technologies for your home, telelegal, telemedicine / telehealth / virtual health, telepresence, tools, training / L&D, UK, United States, universities, user experience (UX), vendors, videoconferencing, Virtual courts and law firms, virtual field trips, virtual K-12 schools, virtual tutoring, web-based collaboration, by Daniel Christian

A cam/mic/light/teleprompter remote kit for non-tech-savvy guests, including Shure MV7 — from provideocoalition.com by Allan Tépper

Excerpt (emphasis DSC):

Inspired by my recent Review: Shure MV7 dynamic hybrid studio microphone – near, far and beyond, Beaker Films of Fairfield, Connecticut, US has developed and deployed a first batch of 10 kits to capture remote conversations from different locations worldwide. Beaker Films is frequently contracted to record remote interviews or testimonials from medical professionals. For this project, Beaker Films’ clients wanted consistent, high quality audio and video, but with 3 additional challenges: they preferred to have no visible microphone in the shot, they needed a teleprompter function and the whole kit needed to be as simple as possible for non-technical guests.

…

Speaking of A/V-related items, also see:

Seven worlds one planet at the BBC Earth Experience — from inavateonthenet.net by Paul Milligan

‘Holographic’ animal-free zoo opens in Australia — from inavateonthenet.net

XR Lab opens in UK college — from inavateonthenet.net

West Suffolk College in the UK has opened its Extended Reality Lab (XR Lab), the facilities comprise of four distinct areas: an Immersion Lab, a Collaboration Theatre, a Green Room, and a Conference Room. The project was designed by architects WindsorPatania for Eastern Colleges Group.

CJP to create virtual studio for Solent University — from inavateonthenet.net

Systems integrator CJP Broadcast Service Solutions, has won a tender to build a virtual production environment for Solent University in the UK.

The new facilities, converted from an existing studio space, will provide students on the film production courses with outstanding opportunities to develop their creative output.

Learning Experience — from inavateemea.com by Tim Kridel

“Some of the stuff we’re doing is creating templates and workflows that capture multiple feeds: not just the teacher, [but also] the white board, an overhead camera,” Risby says.

“The student can then go in and pick what they look at, so it’s more interactive. You might be watching it the first time to listen to the lecturer, but you might watch the second time to concentrate on the experiment. It makes the stream more valuable.”

The Cambrian Explosion of AI Edtech Is Here [Sarlin, Morin, & Kornell] + several other items re: using AI within our learning ecosystems

On 06/26/2023, in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, Artificial Intelligence / Machine Learning / Deep Learning / Algorithms, change, colleges, community colleges, computer science, content development, aggregation, repositories, digital learning, education technology, emerging technologies, experimentation, faculty, future, game-changing environment, higher education, human-computer interaction (HCI), innovation, instructional design, intelligent systems, intelligent tutoring, IT in HE, K-12 related, learning, learning ecosystem, Learning Experience Design, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, lifelong learning, online learning, open courseware and systems, personalized/customized learning, platforms, teachers, teaching & learning, tools, training / L&D, universities, vendors, by Daniel Christian

The Cambrian Explosion of AI Edtech Is Here — from edtechinsiders.substack.com by Alex Sarlin, Sarah Morin, and Ben Kornell

Excerpt:

Our AI in Edtech Takeaways

After chronicling 160+ AI tools (which is surely only a small fraction of the total), we’re seeing a few clear patterns among the tools that have come out so far- here are 10 categories that are jumping out!

Virtual Teaching Assistants:
Virtual Tutors:
AI-Powered Study Tools:
Educational Content Creation:
Educational Search:
Auto-generated Learning Paths:
AI-Powered Research:
Speak to Characters:
Grammar and Writing:
AI Cheating Detection:

Ready or not, AI is here — from the chronicle.com’s The Edge, by Goldie Blumenstyk

Excerpt:

“I don’t usually get worked up about announcements but I see promise in JFF’s plans for a new Center for Artificial Intelligence & the Future of Work, in no small part because the organization bridges higher ed, K-12 education, employers, and policymakers.”

Goldie Blumenstyk

Goldie’s article links to:

Jobs for the Future Launches New Center for Artificial Intelligence & the Future of Work — from archive.jff.org
Center launches as JFF releases preliminary survey data which finds a majority of workers feel they need new skills and training to prepare for AI’s future impact.

Excerpt:

BOSTON June 14, 2023 —Jobs for the Future (JFF), a national nonprofit that drives transformation in the U.S. education and workforce systems, today announced the launch of its new Center for Artificial Intelligence &the Future of Work. This center will play an integral role in JFF’s mission and newly announced 10-year North Star goal to help 75 million people facing systemic barriers to advancement work in quality jobs. As AI’s explosive growth reshapes every aspect of how we learn, work, and live, this new center will serve as a nexus of collaboration among stakeholders from every part of the education-to-career ecosystem to explore the most promising opportunities—and profound challenges—of AI’s potential to advance an accessible and equitable future of learning and work.

OpenAI Considers ‘App Store’ For ChatGPT — from searchenginejournal.com by; with thanks to Barsee at AI Valley for this resource
OpenAI explores launching an ‘app store’ for AI models, potentially challenging current partners and expanding customer reach.

Highlights:

OpenAI considers launching an ‘app store’ for customized AI chatbots.
This move could create competition with current partners and extend OpenAI’s customer reach.
Early interest from companies like Aquant and Khan Academy shows potential, but product development and market positioning challenges remain.

The Rise of AI: New Rules for Super T Professionals and Next Steps for EdLeaders — from gettingsmart.com by Tom Vander Ark

Key Points

The rise of artificial intelligence, especially generative AI, boosts productivity in content creation–text, code, images and increasingly video.
Here are six preliminary conclusions about the nature of work and learning.

Wonder Tools: AI to try — from wondertools.substack.com by Jeremy Caplan
9 playful little ways to explore AI

Excerpt:

Create a personalized children’s story ? | Schrodi
Collaborate with AI on a free customized, illustrated story for someone special. Give your story’s hero a name, pick a genre (e.g. comedy, thriller), choose an illustration style (e.g. watercolor, 3d animation) and provide a prompt to shape a simple story. You can even suggest a moral. After a minute, download a full-color PDF to share. Or print it and read your new mini picture book aloud.
Generate a quiz ? | Piggy
Put in a link, a topic, or some text and you’ll get a quiz you can share, featuring multiple-choice or true-false questions. Example: try this quick entrepreneurship quiz Piggy generated for me.

3 Questions for Coursera About Generative AI in Education — from insidehighered.com by Joshua Kim
How this tech will change the learning experience, course creation and more.

Excerpt (emphasis DSC):

Q: How will generative AI impact teaching and learning in the near and long term?

Baker Stein: One-on-one tutoring at scale is finally being unlocked for learners around the world. This type of quality education is no longer only available to students with the means to hire a private tutor. I’m also particularly excited to see how educators make use of generative AI tools to create courses much faster and likely at a higher quality with increased personalization for each student or even by experimenting with new technologies like extended reality. Professors will be able to put their time toward high-impact activities like mentoring, researching and office hours instead of tedious course-creation tasks. This helps open up the capacity for educators to iterate on their courses faster to keep pace with industry and global changes that may impact their field of study.

Another important use case is how generative AI can serve as a great equalizer for students when it comes to writing, especially second language learners.

What do higher education students want from online learning? — from mckinsey.com by Felipe Child, Marcus Frank, Jonathan Law, and Jimmy Sarakatsannis
What over 7000 students across 17 countries value most in online education

Shocking, But Not Shocking [Hill]

On 06/16/2023, in business side of he, change, changing business models, collaboration, colleges, community colleges, education technology, faculty, higher education, learning ecosystem, online learning, United States, universities, vendors, by Daniel Christian

Shocking, But Not Shocking — from onedtech.beehiiv.com by Phil Hill
Wiley announces plans to sell its OPM business

Excerpt:

Just under three months ago Pearson, one of the “Big Four” of in the Online Program Management (OPM) space, announced the sale of its OPM business. Today, another of the four is also getting out of the business (the others are Wiley, 2U/edX, and Academic Partnerships).
…
Why the Sale?
The immediate issue from an OPM perspective is that Wiley University Services has been losing revenue with no signs of returning to growth.

Online learning: Is it worth trying? — from social-and-emotional-learning.educationtechnologyinsights.com by Dr. Miko Nino

From DSC:
Dr. Nino makes several solid points in this article. The article won’t let me copy/paste some excerpts for you, but I would encourage you to look at it.

I would add a few things:

The huge advantage of online-based learning is that a significant amount of learning-related data is automatically captured and doesn’t need to be manually entered (if such manually entered data ever does get entered…which most of it doesn’t).
Learners have much more control over the pacing within the digital realm — i.e., which media they want to use as well as stopping/fast-forwarding/rewinding certain kinds of media.
Most people are now required to be lifelong learners — where convenience and time-savings become very important factors in continuing one’s education
And finally, as AI and other technologies continue to make their way forward, it will be hard to beat online-based and/or hybrid-based learning.

Learning Ecosystems

A look back over 10 years of MOOCs [Highton]

“Unsurprising move by the ABA. Just a reminder, the legal market is already embracing innovation whether the ABA, or lawyers, participate or not.” [Corcoran]

“What’s the right measure of good teaching?” [McMurtrie] + other higher education-related items

Universities are rethinking their streaming strategies. [Kridel]

Shocking, But Not Shocking [Hill]

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