online learning

Nearly Half of Faculty Say Pandemic Changes to Teaching Are Here to Stay — from campustechnology.com by Rhea Kelly

Among the findings:

Fifty-one percent of faculty said they feel more positive about online learning today than pre-pandemic. Faculty were most satisfied with how efficiently they were able to communicate with students — but across the board, a majority of faculty were also satisfied with how efficiently the technology worked, how well students learned and how well students engaged in class.
Fifty-seven percent of faculty said they feel more positive about digital learning materials than pre-pandemic.
Seventy-one percent of faculty reported they make considerable use of digital materials today, compared to 25 percent pre-pandemic. And 81 percent said they expect digital material use to remain the same or increase post-pandemic.
Fifty-eight percent reported considerable use of online homework and courseware systems, more than doubling the pre-pandemic share of 22 percent. Seventy-four percent expected the use of those systems to remain the same or increase post-pandemic.
Only 8 percent of faculty said they would revert to their pre-pandemic teaching practices after the pandemic is over.

Also see:

Success of Videoconferencing Could Keep a Lot of Education Work Remote — from thejournal.com by Dian Schaffhauser

Two-thirds of people in the education sector expect to see a continuation of remote work post-pandemic. Sixty-five percent of respondents in education agreed that due to the success of remote collaboration, facilitated by videoconferencing, their organizations are considering a flexible remote working model.

DC: Yet another reason to implement/support Universal Design for Learning (UDL)

On 04/11/2021, in accessibility / UDL, adjunct faculty, Bias | Diversity Equity & Inclusion (DE&I), colleges, communities of practice, community colleges, content development, aggregation, repositories, corporate universities / corporate training, Daniel S. Christian, digital learning, distance education, education technology, elearning, faculty/staff, heutagogy, higher education, homeschooling/homeschoolers, ideas, instructional design, internet, IT in HE, K-12 related, law schools, learner profiles, learning, learning ecosystem, Learning Experience Design, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, learning preferences, multimedia, neurodivergent/special needs, online learning, online media, online tutoring, parents/guardians, pedagogy, remote teaching and learning, society, student-related, teachers, teaching & learning, teaching online, telecommunications, training / L&D, United States, universities, usability, user experience (UX), vision/possibilities, web-based collaboration, youth, by Daniel Christian

DC: Yet another reason for Universal Design for Learning’s multiple means of presentation/media:

Encourage faculty to presume students are under-connected. Asynchronous, low-bandwidth approaches help give students more flexibility in accessing course content in the face of connectivity challenges.

— as excerpted from campustechnology.com’s article entitled, “4 Ways Institutions Can Meet Students’ Connectivity and Technology Needs“

Reimagining Higher Education: The Post-Covid Classroom — from er.educause.edu by Rob Curtin
As we prepare to return to campus, many of the technologies that helped us simply survive and sustain classroom continuity will become permanently embedded in our educational methods and play a pivotal role in the refinement of practices consistent with an ongoing shift to more student-centered learning.

As learning practices continue to evolve, new remote learning and collaboration technologies, in concert with pedagogy, will be critical to enabling inclusive, personalized, and engaging hybrid learning experiences to bring students together beyond simple videoconferencing and recording of lectures.

Adjunct college faculty taking the biggest hit from pandemic job losses [Busta]

On 04/01/2021, in adjunct faculty, business side of he, career development, colleges, community colleges, dangers of the status quo, future of higher education, game-changing environment, higher education, learning ecosystem, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, marketing/social marketing, marketplaces, online learning, trends, United States, universities, by Daniel Christian

Adjunct college faculty taking the biggest hit from pandemic job losses — from highereddive.com by Hallie Busta

Dive Brief:

Higher education institutions employed 5% fewer adjunct faculty during the current academic year compared to the year before, according to the latest annual data from the College and University Professional Association for Human Resources.
All faculty groups experienced job losses during the year, though adjuncts were hit the hardest. The cuts didn’t affect the share of women and people from racial and ethnic minority groups among tenure-track faculty.
Salaries for full-time faculty posted the lowest median annual increase since 2010, at less than 1%, as colleges grappled with budget cuts and revenue loss.

From DSC:
And a potentially-relevant item for the future if these trends continue:

How To Pre-Sell Your Online Course And Make Money Before You Launch It — from elearningindustry.com Kathy Alameda
In this article, I’m going to explain why pre-selling your online course is important as an online course creator.

eLearning has improved in the last 7 years… [Burns]

On 04/01/2021, in change, corporate / business world, corporate universities / corporate training, digital learning, elearning, instructional design, learning, learning ecosystem, Learning Experience Design, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, online learning, tools, training / L&D, user experience (UX), vendors, videoconferencing, web-based collaboration, by Daniel Christian

eLearning has improved in the last 7 years… — from elearningindustry.com by Mary Burns
A student in 2014 and a student in 2021 would probably have the same fundamental online learning experience. Yet online learning has changed dramatically in the last 7 years. In my 50th article, I look back at online learning and enumerate 5 drivers that have led to its improvement.

Excerpt:

COVID/remote learning has expanded our understanding of online learning. Teachers are far more adept at using technology and designing with technology to help students learn online. They know which online learning modalities—synchronous or asynchronous—work best with which eLearning platform. Students too have had a year-long internship in online learning—its tools and pedagogies.

COVID has diversified our understanding of online learning. In 2014, when I began writing for eLearning Industry, eLearning meant one thing—a class held in a virtual learning environment or Learning Management System. In 2021, online learning is any learning we do online, whether via free or fee-based subscription services (like Khan Academy and DreamBox, respectively), web conferencing, or Web 2.0 platforms (Edmodo, YouTube channels)—another overlooked candidate for this list.

And COVID has constrained our understanding of online learning. In 2014, when I began writing for eLearning Industry, eLearning was largely asynchronous and done in an LMS. In 2021, for a plurality of teachers and students across the globe, eLearning means one thing: Zoom and it means learning that is live and synchronous.

Webinar from Instructure: Building an Effective Learning Ecosystem

On 03/30/2021, in Canvas - and other Instructure-related items, cloud-based computing / apps / other cloud-related, CMS/LMS, Daniel S. Christian, distance education, education, education technology, K-12 related, learning ecosystem, learning preferences, online learning, online media, online tutoring, platforms, remote teaching and learning, teachers, technologies for your home, by Daniel Christian

Instructure: Building an Effective Learning Ecosystem — a recorded webinar from instructure.com from 3-4-21 (NOTE: You will need to provide some basic contact information to view it.)

Excerpt:

Hear from an expert panel of district leaders as they share their experiences with creating a learning ecosystem that includes integrating their learning management and assessment systems with quality benchmark and formative assessments. You will learn how a learning ecosystem has been an integral part of transforming teaching and learning during a challenging year.

Improved Student Engagement in Higher Education’s Next Normal [Glantz, Gamrat, Lenze, & Bardzell]

On 03/29/2021, in 21st century, active learning, adjunct faculty, blended learning, collaboration, colleges, communications, community colleges, digital audio, digital learning, digital video, distance education, education technology, engagement / engaging students, experimentation, faculty/staff, future of higher education, higher education, hybrid learning, ideas, instructional design, law schools, learning, learning ecosystem, Learning Experience Design, learning hubs & pods & microschooling, learning spaces, liberal arts, multimedia, online learning, pedagogy, productivity / tips and tricks, reinvent, remote teaching and learning, teaching & learning, tools, universities, user experience (UX), vendors, videoconferencing, web-based collaboration, by Daniel Christian

Improved Student Engagement in Higher Education’s Next Normal — from er.educause.edu by Ed Glantz, Chris Gamrat, Lisa Lenze and Jeffrey Bardzell
Five pandemic-introduced innovative teaching adaptations can improve student engagement in the next normal for higher education.

Excerpt (emphasis DSC):

The five teaching enhancements/adaptations discussed above—collaborative technologies for sense-making, student experts in learning and technology, back channels, digital breakout rooms, and supplemental recording—are well positioned to expand the definition of “student engagement” beyond traditional roll call and attendance tracking. Opportunities to include students at a distance have permitted inclusion of students who are reticent to speak publicly, students whose first language is not English, students with disabilities, and students less engaged through “traditional” channels. With these new conceptions of engagement in mind, we are prepared to be more inclusive of all students in the next normal of higher education.

Self-Assessment (emphasis DSC)

Turn each of your learning outcomes or objectives into a question. Then, ask each student to self-score how confident they feel about being able to demonstrate that outcome or task.

Example:
Learning outcome: Students will be able to compare bacteria vs. viruses.

Change it to a question: How confident are you in comparing bacteria vs. viruses based on today’s lesson?

Now ask students to score their confidence or ability to do this outcome using a simple scale such as: “1 = I’m not confident that I can do it” to “5 = I am very confident that I can do it.”

If equity is a priority, UDL is a must [Novak]

On 03/26/2021, in accessibility / UDL, adjunct faculty, assessment, Bias | Diversity Equity & Inclusion (DE&I), colleges, community colleges, content development, aggregation, repositories, corporate universities / corporate training, digital audio, digital learning, digital video, faculty/staff, higher education, homeschooling/homeschoolers, instructional design, K-12 related, law schools, learning, Learning Experience Design, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, learning preferences, liberal arts, more voice more choice more control, multimedia, neurodivergent/special needs, new media literacies, online learning, pedagogy, productivity / tips and tricks, teachers, teaching & learning, teaching online, Uncategorized, universities, by Daniel Christian

If equity is a priority, UDL is a must — from cultofpedagogy.com by Katie Novak

Once you identify the firm goal, ask yourself, “Based on the variability in my class, what barriers may prevent learners from working toward that goal and how can I eliminate those barriers through design?”

Excerpt:

When we design the same learning pathways for all learners, we might tell ourselves we are being fair, but in fact, single pathways are exclusionary. Beverly Daniel Tatum, author of the critically acclaimed book, Why Are All The Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria? And Other Conversations About Race, challenges us to focus on impact over intentions. It may not be our intent to exclude our learners, but the reality is that many students do not have opportunities to learn at high levels or to access curriculum and instruction that is accessible, engaging, culturally sustaining, and linguistically appropriate.

Luckily, there is a framework that rejects these one-size-fits-all solutions and empowers educators to proactively design learning experiences so all students can increase their brainpower and accelerate and own their learning. The framework is Universal Design for Learning (UDL).

UDL is a framework for designing learning experiences so students have options for how they learn, what materials they use, and how they demonstrate their learning.

From DSC:
I put together this graphic as I’m working on a Module (for Canvas) to address the topic of accessibility:

By Daniel Christian March 2021

Two items from faculty focus.com by Jenae Cohn, PhD, and Courtney Plotts, PhD:

Excerpt:

A strong sense of community begins with faculty designing and planning for the sense of community in the course. In order to build a strong sense of community within an online course, instructors should start by identifying the type of community they want to create. In other words, what is the common thread that runs through an online course: Inquiry, information giving, information gathering, and/or active listening?

Although not intuitive to all instructors, this question surrounding the idea of a sense of community is imperative for creating cohesion and a sense of belonging to a learning environment. Here are some ways that instructors might start to think about what community might mean for their class context:

Chrome now instantly captions audio and video on the web [Ian Carlos Campbell]

On 03/22/2021, in accessibility / UDL, assistive technologies, colleges, communications, community colleges, digital audio, digital learning, digital video, education technology, experimentation, Google, higher education, homeschooling/homeschoolers, human-computer interaction (HCI), innovation, instructional design, internet, IT in HE, K-12 related, law schools, learning ecosystem, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, learning preferences, liberal arts, media/film, Natural Language Processing (NLP), neurodivergent/special needs, new media literacies, online learning, student-related, teachers, teaching & learning, teaching online, tools, universities, user experience (UX), vendors, vision/possibilities, voice recognition / voice enabled interfaces, web-based collaboration, by Daniel Christian

Chrome now instantly captions audio and video on the web — from theverge.com by Ian Carlos Campbell
The accessibility feature was previously exclusive to some Pixel and Samsung Galaxy phones

Excerpt:

Google is expanding its real-time caption feature, Live Captions, from Pixel phones to anyone using a Chrome browser, as first spotted by XDA Developers. Live Captions uses machine learning to spontaneously create captions for videos or audio where none existed before, and making the web that much more accessible for anyone who’s deaf or hard of hearing.
…
Chrome’s Live Captions worked on YouTube videos, Twitch streams, podcast players, and even music streaming services like SoundCloud in early tests run by a few of us here at The Verge. Google also says Live Captions will work with audio and video files stored on your hard drive if they’re opened in Chrome. However, Live Captions in Chrome only work in English, which is also the case on mobile.

Video Captions Benefit Everyone [Gernsbacher]

On 03/19/2021, in A/V -- audio/visual, accessibility / UDL, adjunct faculty, adult learning, assistive technologies, colleges, community colleges, corporate universities / corporate training, digital video, education, education technology, higher education, instructional design, K-12 related, languages and translation, law schools, learning, Learning Experience Design, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, liberal arts, media/film, multimedia, neurodivergent/special needs, new media literacies, online learning, online media, online tutoring, pedagogy, productivity / tips and tricks, research, student teaching/teacher education, student-related, teachers, teaching & learning, training / L&D, universities, youth, by Daniel Christian

Video Captions Benefit Everyone — from ncbi.nlm.nih.gov by Morton Ann Gernsbacher

Excerpts:

Video captions, also known as same-language subtitles, benefit everyone who watches videos (children, adolescents, college students, and adults). More than 100 empirical studies document that captioning a video improves comprehension of, attention to, and memory for the video. Captions are particularly beneficial for persons watching videos in their non-native language, for children and adults learning to read, and for persons who are D/deaf or hard of hearing. However, despite U.S. laws, which require captioning in most workplace and educational contexts, many video audiences and video creators are naïve about the legal mandate to caption, much less the empirical benefit of captions.

More than 100 empirical studies, listed in the appendix, document the benefits of captions.
…
With so many studies documenting the benefits of captions, why does everyone not always turn on the captions every time they watch a video? Regrettably, the benefits of captions are not widely known. Some researchers are unaware of the wide-ranging benefits of captions because the empirical evidence is published across separate literatures (deaf education, second-language learning, adult literacy, and reading acquisition). Bringing together these separate literatures is the primary purpose of this article.

Will holographic displays change what we mean by web-based collaborations, communications, presentations? Plus several other relevant Q’s [Christian]

On 03/18/2021, in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, 3D, A/V -- audio/visual, active learning, collaboration, communications, computer science, content development, aggregation, repositories, corporate / business world, corporate universities / corporate training, Daniel S. Christian, digital audio, digital learning, digital storytelling, distance education, drama/theater, education technology, educational games / serious games, emerging technologies, Emotion, engagement / engaging students, entrepreneurship, experimentation, future of higher education, game-changing environment, higher education, human-computer interaction (HCI), ideas, innovation, interface design, law schools, learning, learning ecosystem, Learning Experience Design, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, learning hubs & pods & microschooling, learning spaces, media/film, online learning, online media, online tutoring, participation, platforms, society, storytelling, streams of content, teaching online, telelegal, telemedicine / telehealth / virtual health, tools, training / L&D, user experience (UX), vendors, vision/possibilities, web-based collaboration, webinars, by Daniel Christian

ARHT Media Inc.
Access The Power Of HoloPresence | Hologram Technology | Holographic Displays | Hologram Events

Excerpt:

ARHT Media mounted a holographic display at the event in Vancouver and had Sunlife’s executive captured and transmitted live as a hologram to the event from our Toronto studio. He was able to see the audience and interact with them in realtime as if he was attending the event and present in the room.

From DSC:

Will holographic displays change what we mean by web-based collaboration?
Will this be a part of the future learning ecosystems inside of higher education? Inside of the corporate training world? Inside the world of events and webinars?
How will this type of emerging technology impact our communications? Levels of engagement?
Will this type of thing impact telehealth? Telelegal?
How will this impact storytelling? Media? Drama/acting? Games?
Will the price come down to where online and blended learning will use this type of thing?
Will streams of content be offered by holographic displays?

Moving Online Learning from Challenge to Opportunity — from campustechnology.com by Dr. Mark Lombardi
The future of higher education means breaking down classroom walls, embracing digital tools and engaging students with creativity and innovation.

Excerpt (emphasis DSC):

Similarly, Maryville criminology professor Geri Brandt, working in concert with our learning designers and on-site production studio, used 360-degree camera technology to stage a virtual, explorable, interactive crime scene. Extending this online experience further, the criminology department created a “choose your own adventure” virtual experience, where each student response or choice in an investigation leads to a different outcome.

Creativity and innovation on this scale are only possible when faculty work with a talented team of learning design professionals who can translate a vision of interactive and immersive learning into a new student experience. Designing and delivering this active learning ecosystem integrated in online and on-ground learning takes a team of committed professionals and the courage to make it happen.

What if students could choose to learn in environments that are fully immersive, deeply enriching and profoundly meaningful to their courses of study? We encourage our students to explore the world beyond the campus, but what happens when the world is your campus?

Reflections on “Telemedicine likely to change how we receive health care post-pandemic” [Hicks]

On 03/18/2021, in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, A/V -- audio/visual, Access to Justice (A2J), Alternatives, change, corporate universities / corporate training, Daniel S. Christian, digital learning, education technology, expectations, experimentation, future, game-changing environment, health, law schools, learning ecosystem, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, learning hubs & pods & microschooling, Legal operations, legal reform, legal technologies, legislatures / government / legal, online learning, remote teaching and learning, society, surviving, teaching online, technologies for your home, telecommunications, telelegal, telemedicine / telehealth / virtual health, training / L&D, trends, TVs, United States, user experience (UX), vendors, videoconferencing, by Daniel Christian

Telemedicine likely to change how we receive health care post-pandemic — from mlive.com by Justin Hicks

A patient sits in the living room of her apartment in New York City during a telemedicine video conference with a doctor. (Mark Lennihan/AP)AP

Excerpt:

As we look to the post-pandemic future, medical experts believe telemedicine will be here to stay as another option to increase access to care, reduce costs, and free up doctors to spend more time with patients who need in-person care.

“When I think about the pandemic, one thing that didn’t change about our lifestyles is people are busy,” Lopez said. “I think we’ll still see growth in overall visits because of the fact that people want access to care and when you lower the cost, it should go up.”

From DSC:
A friend of mine said that he is doing most of his practice now via the telehealth route (and has been for many months now). Then, recently, when I was at the lab, the knowledgeable woman who assisted me said that she thought virtual health was definitely going to stick. Many doctors and nurses will be using virtual means vs. physical visits she said.

Expectations get involved here — for education, for the legal field, and for other arenas.

Learning Ecosystems

Nearly Half of Faculty Say Pandemic Changes to Teaching Are Here to Stay [Kelly]

Adjunct college faculty taking the biggest hit from pandemic job losses [Busta]

eLearning has improved in the last 7 years… [Burns]

Improved Student Engagement in Higher Education’s Next Normal [Glantz, Gamrat, Lenze, & Bardzell]

Will holographic displays change what we mean by web-based collaborations, communications, presentations? Plus several other relevant Q’s [Christian]

Reflections on “Telemedicine likely to change how we receive health care post-pandemic” [Hicks]

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