personalized/customized learning

IBM, Fluor and the University of South Carolina Team to Create Innovation Center [finance.yahoo.com]

On 11/25/2014, in analytics, career development, collaboration, computer science, innovation, IT in HE, personalized/customized learning, by Daniel Christian

IBM, Fluor and the University of South Carolina Team to Create Innovation Center — from finance.yahoo.com
Public-private partnership will center on analytics and higher education solutions

Excerpt:

COLUMBIA, S.C., Nov. 21, 2014 /PRNewswire/ — IBM (NYSE: IBM), the University of South Carolina (USC) and Fluor Corporation (FLR) today announced the formation of the Center for Applied Innovation. The Center will provide application services to both public and private sector organizations across North America with specialties in the areas of analytics and higher education industry solutions. As part of the initiative, the organizations will collaborate on tailored IT curricula and advanced analytic techniques for personalized learning

“The Center for Applied Innovation is the realization of the University of South Carolina’s vision to advance higher education through strong, public-private partnerships,” USC President Harris Pastides said. “Through this collaboration with IBM and Fluor, USC students will have unique opportunities to learn both in and outside the classroom and further hone their IT skills. By using advanced technologies and data analytics the collaboration will help students, educators and others in higher education make intelligent decisions that improve the student experience and enhance student achievement.”

The collaboration is part of an ongoing effort to expand student skills and understanding of applied computing to meet the growing demand for highly skilled IT professionals and business leaders. IBM and USC will develop internship opportunities that better link the classroom with career pathways as well as curricula to build analytics skills that support businesses both locally and across North America. IBM will work with the Darla Moore School of Business as well as USC’s College of Engineering and Computing to team with companies in the region on analytics solutions to their most pressing business challenges.

The University of Texas System makes bold move into competency-based education — from utsystem.edu

Excerpt:

AUSTIN – The University of Texas System will be the first in the nation to launch a personalized, competency-based education program system-wide aimed at learners from high school through post-graduate studies.

What sets the UT System approach apart from other competency-based programs is a focus on offering personalized and adaptive degrees and certificates that are industry-aligned and – via technology developed by the UT System – can systematically improve success, access and completion rates in areas of high employment demand.

“Competency-based programs allow students to advance through courses, certifications and degrees based on their ability to master knowledge and skills rather than time spent in a classroom,” said Chancellor Francisco G. Cigarroa, M.D. “All students are held to clearly defined and rigorous expectations, but each follows a customized path to success that responds and adapts based on individual learning strengths, challenges and goals. And students can earn credit for prior learning and move at their own speed.”

…

To support and power its new competency-based educational pathway, the UT System is working with education technology innovators to create a state-of-the-art, “mobile-first” stack of technologies and services called TEx, which stands for Total Educational Experience.

.

From DSC:
First of all, I noted an interesting — and much needed within higher ed — title/position: The chief innovation officer for the Institute of Transformational Learning.

Let’s break that one down a second.

In 20102, The University of Texas’ Board of Regents had a vision that learning needs to be transformed and they created an institute for it — supplying $50 million to support some key mandates:

To make a University of Texas-quality education more accessible and affordable.
To improve student learning outcomes and dramatically increase the number of Texans with a college degree and other advanced educational credentials.

So not only did this board show vision, but also boldness — they put their $$ where they mouth was to support their vision. Innovation was key to this institute, so they created a CIO position, whereby the I stood for Innovation, not Information.

Surely, the level of willingness to experiment in the U of Texas system runs higher than at many other institutions of higher education. So I congratulate them on their culture to be willing to experiment…to adapt…to change. If successful, such programs should help more people obtain the degrees they need to make a living, make a life, make a contribution.*

* A great slogan from Davenport University

Also see:

Need-to-Know-News: GradSkills Program, Competency-Based Education Gets its Own LMS, & College Rankings — from onlinelearninginsights.wordpress.com by Debbie Morrison

Excerpt:

LMS for Competency Based Education
Readers may not be too interested in reading about Learning Management System news; often LMSs are considered a necessary evil to faculty and teachers of education institutions. However, news last week shared by Phil Hill over at e-literate is worthy of attention—the launch of a LMS platform geared to competency based education (CBE) programs. The new LMS launched by Helix has a different approach than traditional LMS providers. It’s not catering to an institution, but to a method of teaching and learning—CBE. Interesting.

Insight: There is, and continues to be an emphasis and support ($$$) for creation of CBE programs by the Department of Education (Fain, 2014). This new LMS approach by Helix is another indicator. I predict that we’ll be hearing a lot more about CBE in the next few months with more institutions offering CBE options for students. Why it’s significant, is because CBE is a radical departure from traditional education; it does not rely upon the credit-hour or ‘seat time’ as its often referred to, but upon mastery of units of instruction.

Several institutions are already basing their model on CBE, College for America, an offshoot of Southern New Hampshire University and Capella University for instance. Purdue University is planning on offering a competency-based degree in the near future. Other universities that incorporate CBE principles—Western Governors University and Kentucky Community and Technical College System for its 2-year degree program.

Helix: View of a LMS designed for competency-based education, Phil Hill, e-literate
Competency-Based learning or Personalized Learning, The Department of Education
Daniels awards prize for competency-based degree to Purdue Polytechnic Institute, Purdue University
Experimenting with Aid, Paul Fain, Inside Higher Ed

iBeacons give visitors to the Palmer Museum of Art a customized experience [Jacobs]

On 10/27/2014, in Apple, art, creativity, Daniel S. Christian, human-computer interaction (HCI), ideas, innovation, interactivity, love of learning, machine-to-machine communications, Near Field Communication (NFC), personalized/customized learning, play, by Daniel Christian

iBeacons give visitors to the Palmer Museum of Art a customized experience — from news.psu.edu by Katie Jacobs

Excerpt:

Soon, there will be new, high-tech additions to the Palmer Museum’s galleries — small electronic devices that will be stuck to walls behind paintings, hidden under shelves or concealed in corners. You won’t be able to see them, but your mobile devices will.

The devices ares iBeacons, small transmitters created by Apple that communicate with nearby smartphones. If a visitor has the correct mobile app installed, content will be automatically sent to the phone with more information about the nearby artwork.

…

“Sometimes I’ll lead tours with visitors and focus on the works of art I think are particularly fascinating,” says Kletchka. “I thought it would be wonderful if everyone could have that experience here — they can learn more about the objects they are interested in on their own terms.”

DanielChristian-Combining-Digital-Physical-Worlds-Oct2014

Companies creating their own academies/schools: 2 recent examples

On 10/13/2014, in corporate / business world, corporate universities / corporate training, cost of getting a degree, creativity, dangers of the status quo, Daniel S. Christian, digital learning, disruption, future of higher education, game-changing environment, higher education, innovation, online learning, pace of change, personalized/customized learning, training / L&D, workplace, by Daniel Christian

From DSC:
Last week, I ran across 2 postings that involved companies creating their own platforms and methods of educating and training folks — especially for their own industry and their own business needs. They were:

A relevant aside/excerpt from Learning TRENDS by Elliott Masie – October 10, 2014 | #851 – Updates on Learning, Business & Technology

Stephen Colbert – “Appointment TV” – Carol Burnett Perspective: Last night, a fun convergence happened between the Stephen Colbert TV Show, Learning, Carol Burnnett and Appointment TV.

As you may know, MASIE Productions is co-producing Love Letters – Starring Carol Burnett starting tomorrow on Broadway. She was interviewed on the Colbert TV Show and asked about the change in how people watch and consume media and content.

Stephen Colbert noted that when her show was on decades ago, she had 50 million viewers each week for the Carol Burnett Show. Carol noted:

* Every Saturday night there were these shows on in row: Archie Bunker, MASH, Mary Tyler Moore, Bob Newhart, Carol Burnett

* She joked that, back then – in 1967 – “There was only 1 channel on TV” – though there were only a few 🙂

* But, she said that the difference was that it was “APPOINTMENT TELEVISION” – People made a plan, to sit together with family and friends, and watch a show together – as others did at the same time around the country.

I loved her phrase “APPOINTMENT TELEVISION”. In relates directly to Learning. Much of what we did, for decades, was “APPOINTMENT TRAINING” – a parallel to the same trend in the workplace. But, now the shift is towards many – many – more options – and viewer/learner freedom to choose when, what, how long and how often.

Also see:

Is innovation outpacing education? — from techpageone.dell.com by Dmitry Sheynin
Futurist Thomas Frey believes ‘micro-colleges’ will educate the workforce of the future.

Could the concept behind NPR One be applied towards other educational/training-related streams of content?

On 08/12/2014, in 21st century, media/film, microlearning, mobile learning, more voice more choice more control, multimedia, online learning, online media, personalized/customized learning, smart/connected TV, streams of content, by Daniel Christian

Excerpts (emphasis DSC):

NPR One is the new audio app that connects you to a stream of public radio news and stories curated for you. Informing, engaging, inspiring and surprising. From the ends of the earth to the tiniest corners of your city.

…

Your stream is thoughtfully curated…

From DSC:
Makes me wonder how this sort of service might relate to other educational/training-related services…for example, streams of curated content delivered to you via customized playlists of learning, sent to your mobile devices or your smart/connected TV. Such pull-related methods — vs. push-related methods — could be very useful and engaging.

What's the best way to deal with ever-changing streams of content? When information has shrinking half-lives?

From DSC:
With a shout out and thanks
to the Indiana Jen blog,
where I originally saw this

Could this relate to education/training as well? –> “Living social: How second screens are helping TV make fans” [nielsensocial.com]

On 08/06/2014, in cloud-based computing / apps / other cloud-related, convergence, Daniel S. Christian, digital learning, learner profiles, learning agents, learning ecosystem, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, learning hubs & pods & microschooling, learning spaces, lifelong learning, media/film, MOOCs -- Massive Open Online Courses, more voice more choice more control, multimedia, online learning, online media, online tutoring, personalized/customized learning, second screen apps, smart/connected TV, social learning / networks, social media, streams of content, technologies for your home, television, by Daniel Christian

Living social: How second screens are helping TV make fans — from nielsensocial.com

Excerpt (emphasis DSC):

Television viewing used to be an experience strictly between viewer and show, with water cooler talk coming the day after. The rise of social TV has changed that relationship, and according to a study by Nielsen, more and more Americans are quickly warming up to this new behavior. With tablets, smartphones and laptops at their side, TV viewers can follow their favorite shows, share content and connect with fellow fans before, during and after a program.

From DSC:
Instead of TV/entertainment-oriented programs, how about a service that offers cloud-based, scaffolded streams of content that are more educational/training-related in nature, complete with digital playlists of interactive content that can be offered up on the main display, while lifelong learners interact and discuss the content via their PLNs, cohorted groups of learners within their learning hubs, etc.?

Reflections on “C-Suite TV debuts, offers advice for the boardroom” [Dreier]

On 07/21/2014, in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, A/V -- audio/visual, adult learning, analytics, Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, cloud-based computing / apps / other cloud-related, collaboration, communities of practice, convergence, corporate / business world, corporate universities / corporate training, cost of getting a degree, dangers of the status quo, Daniel S. Christian, data related items, digital learning, digital storytelling, digital textbooks, digital video, disruption, distance education, education technology, educational games / serious games, elearning, emerging technologies, engagement / engaging students, future of higher education, game-changing environment, global / globalization, heutagogy, higher education, homeschooling/homeschoolers, human-computer interaction (HCI), IBM, ideas, innovation, intelligent systems, intelligent tutoring, interactivity, learner profiles, learning, learning agents, learning ecosystem, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, learning hubs & pods & microschooling, learning spaces, lifelong learning, machine-to-machine communications, mirroring and/or multiple devices, mobile learning, MOOCs -- Massive Open Online Courses, more voice more choice more control, multimedia, New "Amazon.com" of Higher Education, new business models, new media literacies, online learning, online tutoring, participation, personalized/customized learning, platforms, second screen apps, smart/connected TV, social learning / networks, streams of content, student-related, technologies for your home, telecommunications, television, training / L&D, trends, ubiquitous learning, user experience (UX), videoconferencing, web-based collaboration, by Daniel Christian

C-Suite TV debuts, offers advice for the boardroom — from streamingmedia.com by Troy Dreier
Business leaders now have an on-demand video network to call their own, thanks to one Bloomberg host’s online venture.

Excerpt:

Bringing some business acumen to the world of online video, C-Suite TV is launching today. Created by Bloomberg TV host and author Jeffrey Hayzlett, the on-demand video network offers interviews with and shows about business execs. It promises inside information on business trends and the discussions taking place in the biggest boardrooms.

The Future of TV is here for the C-Suite — from hayzlett.com by Jeffrey Hayzlett

Excerpt:

Rather than wait for networks or try and gain traction through the thousands of cat videos, we went out and built our own network.

See also:

Mind your own business
From the About page:
C-Suite TV is a web-based digital on-demand business channel featuring interviews and shows with business executives, thought leaders, authors and celebrities providing news and information for business leaders. C-Suite TV is your go-to resource to find out the inside track on trends and discussions taking place in businesses today. This online channel will be home to such shows as C-Suite with Jeffrey Hayzlett, MYOB – Mind Your Own Business and Bestseller TV with more shows to come.

From DSC:
The above items took me back to the concept of Learning from the Living [Class] Room.

Many of the following bullet points are already happening — but what I’m trying to influence/suggest is to bring all of them together in a powerful, global, 24 x 7 x 365, learning ecosystem:

When our “TVs” become more interactive…
When our mobile devices act as second screens and when second screen-based apps are numerous…
When discussion boards, forums, social media, assignments, assessments, and videoconferencing capabilities are embedded into our Smart/Connected TVs and are also available via our mobile devices…
When education is available 24 x 7 x 365…
When even the C-Suite taps into such platforms…
When education and entertainment are co-mingled…
When team-based educational content creation and delivery are mainstream…
When self-selecting Communities of Practice thrive online…
When Learning Hubs combine the best of both worlds (online and face-to-face)…
When Artificial Intelligence, powerful cognitive computing capabilities (i.e., IBM’s Watson), and robust reporting mechanisms are integrated into the backends…
When lifelong learners have their own cloud-based profiles…
When learners can use their “TVs” to tap into interactive, multimedia-based streams of content of their choice…
When recommendation engines are offered not just at Netflix but also at educationally-oriented sites…
When online tutoring and intelligent tutoring really take off…

…then I’d say we’ll have a powerful, engaging, responsive, global education platform.

What new affordances might be coming down the pike from our “Smart/Connected TV’s”?

On 06/03/2014, in Daniel S. Christian, digital learning, education technology, educational games / serious games, elearning, emerging technologies, higher education, homeschooling/homeschoolers, human-computer interaction (HCI), ideas, innovation, passions, personalized/customized learning, smart/connected TV, streams of content, technologies for your home, telecommunications, television, by Daniel Christian

Goodbye, TV Channels—And Hello, TV Apps — from readwrite.com by Adriana Lee
How a small change in language represents a universal shift in the television experience.

Excerpt (emphasis DSC):

But television is evolving. Increasingly, it’s all about the apps now—browsable, downloadable, interactive TV applications. You can thank the swelling ranks of streaming services and devices for that.

The software applications they’re delivering to our living rooms are growing in number and prominence. And they’re starting to eclipse the passive, one-way broadcasts we once fought over for two-way, interactive experiences that let you share democratically among multiple users (née viewers) across mobile devices and computers.

…

According to research firm NPD Group, the smart television business has begun to boom. In the beginning of 2013, there were 140 million Internet-ready TVs in American homes. By 2015, it will grow 44 percent, to 202 million. And by that time, nearly two-thirds of them will actually be connected to the Internet, compared to just 56 percent now.

…

How they connect is important. When it comes to television, “apps” are where it’s at, not ye olde “TV channels.” It’s just a shift in language, true—but it’s also a shift in thinking.

In a multi-screen future, phones don’t control TVs, TVs control phones — from foxnews.com by Alex Tretbar

Excerpt:

Right now, most “second-screen” usage is more distracting than it is enriching, but that’s about to change. Soon your tablet will spring to life when you tune into your favorite show, and you’ll have more opportunities than ever to engage. The million-dollar buzzword here is Automatic Content Recognition, or ACR. But, before we get too far into that, let’s start at the beginning: the screen itself.
…
Navin wants his apps to automatically deliver content viewers might otherwise seek out manually. This might mean recommendations, related video, social-media discussions, or even a simple plot synopsis.

What television will look like in 2025, according to Netflix — from wired.com by Issie Lapowsky

Excerpts:

People have traditionally discovered new shows by tuning into the channels that were most aligned with their interests. Love news? Then CNN might be the channel for you. If it’s children’s programming you want, Nickelodeon has you covered. And yet, none of these channels can serve 100 percent of their customers what they want to watch 100 percent of the time.

According to Hunt, this will change with internet TV. He said Netflix is now working to perfect its personalization technology to the point where users will no longer have to choose what they want to watch from a grid of shows and movies. Instead, the recommendation engine will be so finely tuned that it will show users “one or two suggestions that perfectly fit what they want to watch now.”

“I think this vision is possible,” Hunt said. “We’ve come a long way towards it, and we have a ways to go still.” He said Netflix is now devoting as much time and energy to building out that personalization technology as the company put into building the infrastructure for delivering that content in the first place.

…

“The stories we watch today are not your parents’ TV,” Hunt said, “and the stories your kids watch in 2025 will blow your mind away.”

And by the year 2025, he told his audience, everyone will own a smart TV.

TV transformed by smart thinking — from theaustralian.com.au/ by

Excerpt:

As LG puts it, your apps to the right of the cards are “the future” — what you will watch, while the display of your recently used apps, to the left of the cards, is “the past” — so the launcher is an amalgam of your past, present and future viewing activity

From DSC:
“…everyone will own a smart TV by 2025.” Well, maybe not everyone, but many of us will have access to these Internet-connected “TV’s” (if they are even called TV’s at that point).

I hope that Netflix will license those personalization technologies to other vendors or, if not, that some other vendor will create them for educationally-related purposes.

Can you imagine a personalization engine — focused on education and/or training — that could provide the scaffolding necessary for learning about many topics? i.e. digital playlists of learning. Streams of content focused on education. Such engines would remember where you left off and what you still need to review…what you have mastered and what you are still struggling with…what you enjoy learning about…your learning preferences…and more.

The Living [Class] Room -- by Daniel Christian -- July 2012 -- a second device used in conjunction with a Smart/Connected TV

Addendum:
How Samsung is enabling the future of social TV — from lostremote.com by Natan Edelsburg

What educationally-related affordances might we enjoy from these TV-related developments?

On 04/09/2014, in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, A/V -- audio/visual, active learning, analytics, Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, Bring your own device (BYOD), communications, content development, aggregation, repositories, Daniel S. Christian, data related items, digital learning, digital storytelling, digital textbooks, digital video, distance education, e-books, education technology, educational games / serious games, elearning, emerging technologies, engagement / engaging students, experimentation, flipping -- inverted learning, future, human-computer interaction (HCI), innovation, intelligent systems, intelligent tutoring, interaction design, interactivity, learning agents, learning ecosystem, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, learning hubs & pods & microschooling, learning preferences, lifelong learning, media/film, mirroring and/or multiple devices, mobile learning, MOOCs -- Massive Open Online Courses, more voice more choice more control, Near Field Communication (NFC), online learning, online media, online tutoring, participation, personalized/customized learning, platforms, play, professional development, reinvent, second screen apps, smart/connected TV, social learning / networks, social media, staying relevant, streams of content, student-related, surviving, technologies for your home, telepresence, television, training / L&D, transmedia, trends, user experience (UX), videoconferencing, virtual field trips, Virtual Reality (VR) / worlds / learning, virtual tutoring, web-based collaboration, workplace, by Daniel Christian

CONTENTS

Content discovery and synchronization
With access to rich data about their subscribers and what they do, operators can improve recommendation, encourage social TV and exploit second screen synchronization.
Recordings get more personal
One of the next big steps in multiscreen TV is giving people access to their personal recordings on every screen. This is the moment for nPVR to finally make its entrance.
Evolving the User Experience
As service providers go beyond household level and address individuals, the role of log-ins or context will become important. There is a place for social TV and big data.
The role of audio in personalization
Audio has a huge impact on how much we enjoy video services. Now it can help to personalize them. ‘Allegiance’ based audio choices are one possibility.
Making advertising more targeted
Addressable advertising is in its infancy but has a bright future, helping to fund the growth of on-demand and multiscreen viewing.

Some excerpts from this report:

Good content should be matched by good content discovery , including recommendations. The current state-of -the-art is defined by Netflix.

…

Today’s TV experience is worlds apart from the one we were talking about even five years ago. We’ve witnessed exponential growth in services such as HD and have moved from a model in which one screen is watched by many, to many screens (and devices) being available to the individual viewer, what is today called TV Everywhere. Having multiscreen access to content is driving the demand for a more personalised experience, in which the viewer can expect to see what they want, where, and when. While video on-demand (VOD) has been a great method for delivering compelling content to viewers, it is not always a truly seamless TV-like experience, and traditionally has been limited to the living room. The growing demand for the personalised experience is driving seismic change within the TV industry, and we’ve seen great strides made already, with time-shifted TV and nPVR as just two examples of how we in the industry can deliver content in the ways viewers want to watch. The next step is to move towards more advanced content discovery, effectively creating a personalised channel or playlist for the individual user.

…

As the tools become available to deliver personalized experiences to consumers, content owners can better create experiences that leverage their content. For example, for sports with multiple points of action, like motor racing, multiple camera angles and audio feeds will allow fans to follow the action that is relevant to their favourite racing team. And for movies, access to additional elements such as director’s commentaries, which have been available on Blu-ray discs for some time, can be made available over broadcast networks.

From DSC:
Some words and phrases that come to my mind:

Personalization.
Data driven.
Content discovery and recommendation engines (which could easily relate to educational playlists)
Training on demand
Learning agents
Web-based learner profiles
Learning hubs
What MOOCs morph into
More choice. More control.
Virtual tutoring
Interactivity and participation
Learning preferences
Lifelong learning
Reinventing oneself
Streams of content
Learning from The Living [Class] Room

If the NY Public Library can do this with books, why can’t a smart TV-based service offer this for educationally-related materials?

On 03/26/2014, in convergence, Daniel S. Christian, digital learning, ideas, innovation, learning ecosystem, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, library / librarians, mirroring and/or multiple devices, MOOCs -- Massive Open Online Courses, online learning, personalized/customized learning, second screen apps, streams of content, vision/possibilities, by Daniel Christian

New York Public Library partners with Zola to offer algorithmic book recommendations — from gigaom.com by Laura Hazard Owen
The New York Public Library will offer book recommendations to readers through its website via a new partnership with NYC-based startup Zola Books.

Excerpt:

Visitors to the New York Public Library’s website will have a new way to decide what to read next: The library is partnering with New York-based startup Zola Books to offer algorithm-based recommendations to readers. The technology comes from Bookish, the book discovery site that Zola acquired earlier this year.

From DSC:
If the New York Public Library can do this with books, why can’t a smart TV-based service offer this sort of functionality for educationally-related materials? (Or a second screen-based application?) What if MOOCs integrated this sort of recommendation engine and then accessed/delivered the digitally-based content to you? Some serious personalized/customized micro-learning.

The Living [Class] Room -- by Daniel Christian -- July 2012 -- a second device used in conjunction with a Smart/Connected TV

DIY and IDEO Inspire the Next Generation of Innovators — from IDEO.com

The ultimate summer camp. The perfect snack for a picky eater? Why are we designing things for our kids when only they can truly know what they want? DIY and IDEO ask kids to tackle these challenges and more, to develop their inner innovator. Bonus: they get a Scout-style patch for their efforts.

DIY is a place for kids to go online to learn new skills and meet others who share their interests. Kids take photos or videos of the stuff they make, assemble personal portfolios on the site, and ultimately build their creative confidence.

IDEO is proud to have collaborated with DIY to launch the “Innovator” skill: 12 challenges that help kids understand people, identify problems, and create novel solutions. We hope these challenges help inspire a new generation of design thinkers. Posted: March 21, 2014

From DSC:
A brief review of this site turns up several interesting things:

Students can explore areas, disciplines, topics that they are passionate about — or they might discover some things that turn into a passion for them; this could be hugely helpful as students see “what’s out there” for them to head towards (career-wise).
Students can submit their own creations
The format of the site is very visual, enticing…drawing one in to see what’s behind each area and to see what other students have contributed
It employs social learning
It employs badging — students can earn badges on their way to mastering a topic
Students can build their own portfolios and show those portfolios to the world!

Some recent postings on their blog:

Reflections on “TVs are becoming the next app battleground” [Adler]

On 03/01/2014, in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, A/V -- audio/visual, active learning, analytics, Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, Australia, Bring your own device (BYOD), changing business models, cloud-based computing / apps / other cloud-related, collaboration, communications, communities of practice, convergence, cost of getting a degree, Daniel S. Christian, digital audio, digital learning, digital storytelling, digital textbooks, digital video, disruption, global / globalization, India, informal learning, innovation, intelligent systems, intelligent tutoring, interactivity, internet, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, learning hubs & pods & microschooling, media/film, mobile learning, mobile technologies, MOOCs -- Massive Open Online Courses, more voice more choice more control, motivation, multimedia, Near Field Communication (NFC), New "Amazon.com" of Higher Education, new business models, online learning, online media, online tutoring, participation, personalized/customized learning, platforms, second screen apps, smart classrooms, smart/connected TV, social learning / networks, social media, streams of content, student-related, technologies for your home, television, by Daniel Christian

TVs are becoming the next app battleground — from by Emily Adler

Excerpt:

The app store phenomenon, centered on smartphones and tablets, has been the biggest story in software for the past five years.

Its next logical destination: the living room, via smart TVs and set-top boxes connected to the Internet.

…

The smart TV app revolution is inevitable: People spend four hours in front of their TVs in the U.S., and 63% of all global ad spending goes to TVs. The old guard, represented by cable and entertainment conglomerates, will not be able to fend off improvements like those that apps are bringing to mobile phones.
.
The smart TV revolution will not just be led by new TVs with built-in Internet connections, it will also result from consumer adoption of less expensive game consoles or set-top boxes like Roku and Apple TV, which transform traditional TVs into smart TVs with access to app stores. At least 20% of U.S. consumers already have their TVs connected in one of these ways.

From DSC:

Keep an eye on the convergence of the telephone, the television, and the computer.
.
Start thinking of ways that you could provide learning/educationally-based experiences with second screen apps. What would that experience look and act like?
.
If such “channels” come to fruition — and happen to coincide with MOOCs and advances in cognitive computing (such as IBM’s Watson) — the word disruption comes to mind.
.
The trick, then, will be to offer streams of content that are relevant, and up-to-date.
.
Such a platform could be used in learning hubs throughout the world, as well as in hybrid/blended classrooms — while also addressing lifelong learners from their living rooms.
.
Such a platform could take Communities of Practice to an entirely new level.

Addendum/also see:

The connected TV landscape: Why smart TVs and streaming gadgets are conquering the living room

On 02/07/2014, in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, A/V -- audio/visual, Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, Bring your own device (BYOD), business side of he, changing business models, cloud-based computing / apps / other cloud-related, collaboration, communications, communities of practice, convergence, corporate / business world, corporate universities / corporate training, cost of getting a degree, Daniel S. Christian, digital learning, disruption, distance education, education, education technology, educational games / serious games, elearning, emerging technologies, experimentation, game-changing environment, global / globalization, heutagogy, higher education, human-computer interaction (HCI), hybrid learning, ideas, innovation, intelligent systems, intelligent tutoring, K-12 related, learner profiles, learning agents, learning ecosystem, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, learning hubs & pods & microschooling, learning spaces, lifelong learning, machine-to-machine communications, mirroring and/or multiple devices, mobile learning, 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, personalized/customized learning, second screen apps, smart/connected TV, social learning / networks, streams of content, technologies for your home, telepresence, television, training / L&D, transmedia, trends, user experience (UX), videoconferencing, virtual field trips, virtual K-12 schools, Virtual Reality (VR) / worlds / learning, virtual tutoring, web-based collaboration, by Daniel Christian

The connected TV landscape: Why smart TVs and streaming gadgets are conquering the living room — from businessinsider.com.au by Mark Hoelzel

In the connected TV world, an app is analogous to a TV channel.

Some key points:

In total, there will be more than 759 million televisions connected to the Internet worldwide by 2018, more than doubling from 307.4 million at year-end 2013.
Globally, shipments of smart TVs will reach a tipping point in 2015, when they will overtake shipments of traditional TVs.
Two tendencies dominate the connected TV ecosystem: closed and open approaches.
Despite platform fragmentation, HTML5 offers at least a faint hope for increased unification between connected TVs, just as it does on mobile.
How will developers and operating system operators monetise smart TV apps? Media downloads, subscriptions and — to a much lesser degree — advertisements will drive the dollars. Smart TV platform operators have begun experimenting with ads.

From DSC:
If in a connected TV world, an app is analogous to a TV channel…then I say let’s bring on the educationally-related, interactive, multimedia-based apps!

What to do when your kids find their “passion” [Juliani]

On 01/27/2014, in creativity, Daniel S. Christian, engagement / engaging students, entrepreneurship, experimentation, Google, love of learning, more voice more choice more control, motivation, participation, passions, personalized/customized learning, workplace, by Daniel Christian

what to do when your kids find their “passion” — from teachmama.com by author, teacher, and ‘learning addict’, A.J. Juliani

Excerpt:

As a high school English teacher I was able to answer this question of “What Next?” when I ran a “20% Project” with my students three years ago. The project was simple. It is based on the “20 percent time” Google employees have to work on something other than their job description. It has been well documented, and Google has exponentially grown as a company while giving this 20 percent time.

After we came back from winter break I gave them this handout:

The 20% Project

1. For the rest of the year, 20% of your time in my class will be spent working on something you want to work on.

2. It has to be some type of learning, and you have to document it (journal etc).

3. You’ll present your accomplishments to the class twice (and will not be graded on it).

4. That’s it. Have fun. Find your passion. Explore it. Enjoy learning what you want.

From DSC:

Another example of how we can learn from — and apply things from — each others’ worlds — K-12, higher ed, the corporate world.
Another example how “more choice/more control” impacts intrinsic motivation!
This is the sort of thing that should help kids become more entrepreneurial as well…perhaps even starting their own freelancing gigs!

Learning Ecosystems

IBM, Fluor and the University of South Carolina Team to Create Innovation Center [finance.yahoo.com]

iBeacons give visitors to the Palmer Museum of Art a customized experience [Jacobs]

Companies creating their own academies/schools: 2 recent examples

Could the concept behind NPR One be applied towards other educational/training-related streams of content?

What new affordances might be coming down the pike from our “Smart/Connected TV’s”?

If the NY Public Library can do this with books, why can’t a smart TV-based service offer this for educationally-related materials?

What to do when your kids find their “passion” [Juliani]

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