professional wordpress themes

Review of higher ed adaptive learning products [Vander Ark]

On 04/04/2013, in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, dangers of the status quo, future of higher education, game-changing environment, personalized/customized learning, reinvent, by Daniel Christian

Review of higher ed adaptive learning products — from gettingsmart.com by Tom Vander Ark

Excerpt:

Last week we reviewed an EdGrowth white paper, A Case for Accelerating Adaptive Learning in HigherEd. Yesterday EdGrowth released a second paper that includes 8 profiles of adaptive learning providers.

 

Also see:


.

ADAPTIVE LEARNING IN HIGHER EDUCATION:  A REALITY CHECK
Education Growth Advisors Report Makes Case for Accelerating Adaptive Learning in Higher Education

STAMFORD, CT (March 13, 2013) — Today, the higher education marketplace is thick with companies and organizations claiming to have “personalized learning” or “adaptive learning” capabilities.  Companies are using this language in their sales and marketing efforts, creating confusion for institutions as they grapple with determining an approach to personalized learning that matches their students’ and instructors’ needs.  But if one cuts through the clutter, adaptive learning may be one key capable of actually unshackling higher education from the “Iron Triangle” of cost, access and quality, according to a white paper by Education Growth Advisors.  The white paper, entitled “Learning to Adapt:  A Case for Accelerating Adaptive Learning in Higher Education”, funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, explores the current adoption, opportunities, barriers, advancements, solutions and case studies of adaptive learning in higher education.

 

Also see:

If you enjoyed this article, please consider sharing it!

Tagged with: • • • • • •  

My thoughts on the future of higher education [Christian]

On 03/25/2013, in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, change, dangers of the status quo, Daniel S. Christian, digital learning, education technology, emerging technologies, engagement / engaging students, face-to-face, future of higher education, game-changing environment, higher education, human-computer interaction (HCI), innovation, intelligent systems, intelligent tutoring, internet, learning agents, learning ecosystem, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, lifelong learning, machine-to-machine communications, marketplaces, mirroring and/or multiple devices, mobile learning, MOOCs -- Massive Open Online Courses, multi-touch, multimedia, Near Field Communication (NFC), new business models, new media literacies, online learning, online tutoring, pace of change, personalized/customized learning, social learning / networks, streams of content, TVs, ubiquitous learning, virtual tutoring, by Daniel Christian

My thoughts on the future of higher education -- March 2013 by Daniel Christian

 

Also, the PDF file of this article is here.

.

From DSC:
Though the title of this article I wrote says 10 years, it may be more or less (and given the pace of change, I would lean towards sooner rather than later).  

If you haven’t read Christensen’s/Horn’s/Johnson’s work re: disruption — such as Disrupting Class and/or The Innovator’s Dilemma — it would be worth your time to do so. They are right on the mark. What they have been asserting is happening within higher education.  The article briefly addresses face-to-face learning and hybrid learning as well.  Readers of this blog will know that I have been pressing for higher ed to reinvent itself in order to stay relevant. There is danger in the status quo, especially when the conversation continues to move away from traditional higher education.

See other perspectives out at evoLLLution.com as well.

 

 

If you enjoyed this article, please consider sharing it!

Tagged with: • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •  

Princeton Review founder’s startup Noodle acquires Lore to build an education marketplace around search [Empson]

On 03/18/2013, in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, innovation, marketplaces, personalized/customized learning, by Daniel Christian

Princeton Review founder’s startup Noodle acquires Lore to build an education marketplace around search — from techcrunch.com by Rip Empson

Excerpt:

Last summer, we told you about the launch of Noodle Education, a startup co-founded and led by John Katzman, perhaps better known as a co-founder of The Princeton Review and 2U (formerly 2tor). The startup is on a mission to bring a Netflix-style recommendation engine to the fragmented and noisy world of education. Not unlike Google, Noodle Education wants to organize the world’s learning platforms and aggregate the huge amount of educational info out their on the Web into a learning-centric, personalized search and recommendation engine.

If you enjoyed this article, please consider sharing it!

Tagged with: • • • • •  

Items re: multi-screen media — eventually this trend/convergence enables “Learning from the Living [Class] Room”

On 03/15/2013, in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, A/V -- audio/visual, analytics, Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, business, convergence, corporate / business world, corporate universities / corporate training, cost of getting a degree, dangers of the status quo, Daniel S. Christian, digital learning, digital storytelling, digital textbooks, digital video, disruption, education technology, educational games / serious games, elearning, emerging technologies, engagement / engaging students, Europe, game-changing environment, global / globalization, human-computer interaction (HCI), innovation, intelligent systems, intelligent tutoring, interactivity, internet, languages and translation, learning agents, learning ecosystem, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, learning preferences, machine-to-machine communications, media/film, mirroring and/or multiple devices, mobile learning, mobile technologies, MOOCs -- Massive Open Online Courses, multimedia, Near Field Communication (NFC), new business models, new media literacies, online learning, online media, online tutoring, passions, personalized/customized learning, play, real-world assignments, second screen apps, social learning / networks, social media, society, storytelling, streams of content, student-related, technologies for your home, telepresence, television, training / L&D, transmedia, trends, TVs, ubiquitous learning, UK, using teams, vendors, videoconferencing, virtual field trips, virtual K-12 schools, Virtual Reality (VR) / worlds / learning, virtual tutoring, vision/possibilities, web-based collaboration, webinars, by Daniel Christian

PayWizard launches first dedicated payment and subscriber management solution for TV and media industry — from PayWizard

Excerpt:

London, 21 February 2013 – PayWizard, specialists in payment and subscription management, has launched the TV and media industry’s first dedicated, end to end payment and subscription solution. The integrated solution brings together a strong heritage in the Pay-TV market with a deep understanding of the challenges TV operators and media companies face in monetising the multiplatform world.

Using its award-winning modular Payment and Subscription platform, PayWizard combines payment processing, intelligent subscriber management technology and real-time customer service operations to tailor-make solutions that enhance the consumer experience across all screens.

With 16.8 billion video-enabled devices set to be in the global marketplace by 2015, content owners are facing the challenge of enhancing existing services while creating compelling experiences that embrace new routes to market. PayWizard’s comprehensive set of products and services has enabled clients, such as the UK’s biggest commercial broadcaster, ITV, to address these commercial challenges by enabling new monetisation strategies to drive revenue and profitability.

 

Also see:

.

ConnectedTVSummit-London-2013

 

.

 

Nagra-Kudelskidotcom-March2013

 

.

civolution-march2013

.

Also see:

 

From DSC:
See the categories listed above for the items/topics/disciplines/trends that are relevant here.

 

Addendum:

Check this out!

Massive Open Online Course offered by UMass Boston to feature the first adaptive MOOC technology
Enables students to be taught according to individual learning strategies

Excerpt from email:

(Boston, MA) – February 27, 2013 – If you’ve ever been in a course and struggled because you just aren’t “getting it,” the reason might be less your ability than the way in which the material is being presented.

New technology is now allowing online course environments to analyze how individual students learn, customizing instruction to individualized learning strategies. The College of Advancing and Professional Studies (CAPS) at the University of Massachusetts Boston has teamed up with USDLA 21st Century Sponsor, Synaptic Global Learning (SGL), to use the new learning management system, Adaptive Mobile Online Learning (AMOL), to deliver the first adaptive Massive Online Open Course (a-MOOC) ever offered. The course launches March 25.

PhilipsSmartTV-March2013

If you enjoyed this article, please consider sharing it!

Tagged with: • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •  

Future learning environments: professional, powerful, personal [Wheeler]

On 03/07/2013, in education technology, emerging technologies, future, learning spaces, mobile learning, personalized/customized learning, by Daniel Christian

Future learning environments: professional, powerful, personal — from learning technologies by Steve Wheeler, Associate Professor of Learning Technology, Plymouth University

Description:

We will explore future learning possibilities using new and emerging technologies. Smart mobile phones, social media and learning platforms are just the start of a rapid evolution in learning technology, and many new technologies are beginning to emerge. The so called ‘Web 2.0’ tools are socially rich and participatory, enabling users to create, organise and share their own content, and collaborate with others in their professional communities, but the next phase in the evolution of the Web is already here. We will explore concepts such as Web 3.0 and Web x.0, intelligent filtering and recommender systems and speculate on how these new tools might liberate learners further, personalising their learning experiences and enabling them to create powerful professional learning networks. We will discuss:

  • Personal and professional learning networks
  • User generated content
  • Web 3.0, Web x.0 and beyond
  • Smart mobiles, intelligent filtering and recommender systems
  • Issues and challenges for organisations
If you enjoyed this article, please consider sharing it!

Tagged with: • • • •  

Instructional design: from “packaging” to “scaffolding” [Hart]

On 03/06/2013, in collaboration, corporate / business world, corporate universities / corporate training, elearning, instructional design, learning ecosystem, personalized/customized learning, training / L&D, workplace, by Daniel Christian

Instructional design: from “packaging” to “scaffolding” — from c4lpt.co.uk by Jane Hart

 

soccap

 

Excerpt:

In my recent posts, The changing role of L&D: from “packaging” to “scaffolding” plus “social capability building” and  Towards the Connected L&D Department I wrote about the need to move from a focus on “packaging” training to “scaffolding” learning,  and I said I would talk more about what “scaffolding” looks like. For me, this is the key way for workplace learning professionals to move the learning industry into the future. In this post I’m going to look at “instructional scaffolding” but in subsequent posts, I will consider “scaffolding performance support & team collaboration” in the workplace  as well as “scaffolding professional learning“.

If you enjoyed this article, please consider sharing it!

Tagged with: • • • • • • •  

Beyond the buzz, where are MOOCs really going? [Horn & Christensen]

On 02/22/2013, in analytics, data related items, disruption, MOOCs -- Massive Open Online Courses, new business models, personalized/customized learning, by Daniel Christian

Beyond the buzz, where are MOOCs really going? — from wired.com by Michael Horn and Clayton Christensen

Excerpt:

MOOCs can be much more than marketing and edutainment. We believe they are likely to evolve into a “scale business”: one that relies on the technology and data backbone of the medium to optimize and individualize learning opportunities for millions of students.

This is very different than simply putting a video of a professor lecturing online.

If you enjoyed this article, please consider sharing it!

Tagged with: • • • • • • • •  

Some great strategies/examples showing how people build their own learning ecosystems [Horn; Jarche; Cross]

On 01/30/2013, in blended learning, blogs / blogging / vlogging, communities of practice, corporate universities / corporate training, Daniel S. Christian, face-to-face, hearts -- matters of the heart, higher education, hybrid learning, innovation, learning ecosystem, more voice more choice more control, online learning, open courseware and systems, passions, personalized/customized learning, social learning / networks, strategy, tools, workplace, by Daniel Christian

Excerpt from Beyond school choice — from Michael Horn

With the rapid growth in online and mobile learning, students everywhere at all levels are increasingly having educational choices—regardless of where they live and even regardless of the policies that regulate schools.

What’s so exciting about this movement beyond school choice is the customization that it allows students to have. Given that each student has different learning needs at different times and different passions and interests, there is likely no school, no matter how great, that can single-handedly cater to all of these needs just by using its own resources contained within the four walls of its classrooms.

…

With the choices available, students increasingly don’t need to make the tradeoff between attending a large school with lots of choices but perhaps lots of anonymity or a small school with limited choices but a deeply developed personal support structure.

 

Excerpt from Cooperating in the open — from Harold Jarche

I think one of the problems today is that many online social networks are trying to be communities of practice. But to be a community of practice, there has to be something to practice. One social network, mine, is enough for me. How I manage the connections is also up to me. In some cases I will follow a blogger, in others I will connect via Google Plus or Twitter, but from my perspective it is one network, with varying types of connections. Jumping into someone else’s bounded social network/community only makes sense if I have an objective. If not, I’ll keep cooperating out in the open.

 

 

From DSC:
Perhaps helping folks build their own learning ecosystems — based upon one’s gifts/abilities/passions — should be an objective for teachers, professors, instructional designers, trainers, and consultants alike. No matter whether we’re talking K-12, higher ed, or corporate training, these ever-changing networks/tools/strategies will help keep us marketable and able to contribute in a variety of areas to society.

 

 

 

Addendum on 2/5/13:

.

JayCross-LearningEcosystem2013

 

If you enjoyed this article, please consider sharing it!

Tagged with: • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •  

The object formerly known as the textbook [Young]

On 01/28/2013, in 21st century, A/V -- audio/visual, cloud-based computing / apps / other cloud-related, Daniel S. Christian, digital learning, digital textbooks, e-publishing related items (EPUB and more), human-computer interaction (HCI), innovation, intelligent systems, intelligent tutoring, interactivity, learning ecosystem, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, multimedia, new business models, online learning, personalized/customized learning, publishing, smart classrooms, trends, TVs, by Daniel Christian

The object formerly known as the textbook –– from The Chronicle by Jeff Young

.

Don't Call Them Textbooks 1

Holly Gressley for The Chronicle

 

Excerpt:

Textbook publishers argue that their newest digital products shouldn’t even be called “textbooks.” They’re really software programs built to deliver a mix of text, videos, and homework assignments. But delivering them is just the beginning. No old-school textbook was able to be customized for each student in the classroom. The books never graded the homework. And while they contain sample exam questions, they couldn’t administer the test themselves.

One publisher calls its products “personalized learning experiences,” another “courseware,” and one insists on using its own brand name, “MindTap.” For now, this new product could be called “the object formerly known as the textbook.”

 

From DSC:
Imagine how this sort of thing might fit into the “chalkboard of the future” — as applications and content flow onto the “board” from open source repositories and/or from the publishers’ cloud-based repositories of content…

.

Daniel Christian: The Chalkboard of the Future

.

or in learning from the living room…

.

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

 

Also see:

If you enjoyed this article, please consider sharing it!

Tagged with: • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •  

Reflections on “The new intelligence” by Kolowich

On 01/25/2013, in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, analytics, Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, assessment, Daniel S. Christian, data related items, education technology, educational games / serious games, emerging technologies, engagement / engaging students, experimentation, future of higher education, game-changing environment, higher education, human-computer interaction (HCI), innovation, intelligent systems, intelligent tutoring, interactivity, internet, K-12 related, learner profiles, learning agents, learning ecosystem, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, mobile learning, MOOCs -- Massive Open Online Courses, multimedia, new media literacies, personalized/customized learning, real-world assignments, simulations, social learning / networks, technologies for your home, tools, trends, TVs, using teams, vendors, virtual tutoring, by Daniel Christian

From DSC:

In real estate, one hear’s the mantra:
Location. Location. Location.

In higher education, I have it that we’ll be hearing this for a while:
Experimentation. Experimentation. Experimentation.

Consider the following reflections on Steve’ Kolowich’s solid article, The new intelligence (from InsideHigherEd.com)

Excerpt:

And for the largest public university in the country, it is hardly fiction. Arizona State University has become ground zero for data-driven teaching in higher education. The university has rolled out an ambitious effort to turn its classrooms into laboratories for technology-abetted “adaptive learning” — a method that purports to give instructors real-time intelligence on how well each of their students is getting each concept.
.

 

From DSC:
Besides being used in blended learning environments…some predictions:

  • These technologies will become integrated into what MOOCs eventually morph into and provide a significant piece of the assessment/guidance puzzle
  • Such tools will be a part of one’s future learning ecosystem
  • Such tools will be part of interactive, massively open online educationally-related games
  • Such tools will be integrated into personalized learning agents — spiders/recommendation engines that scan the web for relevant items that one needs to complete one’s cognitive gaps in a subject/topic
  • They will be accessible from your living room as well as from your mobile devices
  • They will integrate into web-based learner profiles

It’s the sort of thing I was trying to get at with this graphic from 3 years ago:
.

Like a mechanic...

 

Please don’t misunderstand me, the human mind is far beyond the complexity of an engine. But I still think that there will be more tools & technologies developed that will help the teachers/professors in their efforts to guide students into the knowledge of a discipline.

I beseech the corporate world to get involved more here — and not with the end goal of earning profits — but rather, with the aim of making the world a better place and giving a huge gift to the generations yet born. 

I urge the corporate world to reach into their deep pockets (1.X trillion in cash at this point in time) and team up with our youth/teachers/professors/instructional designers/programmers/etc. to develop sophisticated, educationally-related, engaging games that are relevant to the world that our youth will be growing up in; and/or create interactive simulations that provide more choice/more control to the learners. 

I urge more of the corporate world to join Knewton and Pearson and allocate some significant resources to help develop the next gen learning tools.  I’ll bet that we’ll be amazed at what can be produced! Your daughters, sons, granddaughters, and grandsons will really appreciate the work that you did for them!!!

 

 

If you enjoyed this article, please consider sharing it!

Tagged with: • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •  

Mayer & Clark – 10 brilliant design rules for e-learning [Clark]

On 01/22/2013, in design, digital learning, elearning, instructional design, learning theories, multimedia, online learning, pedagogy, personalized/customized learning, UK, by Daniel Christian

Mayer & Clark – 10 brilliant design rules for e-learning — from Donald Clark

Excerpt:

Richard Mayer and Ruth Clark are among the foremost researchers in the empirical testing of media and media mix hypotheses in online learning. Their e-Learning and the Science of Instruction (2003) covers seven design principles; multimedia, contiguity, modality, redundancy, coherence, personalisation, and practice opportunities. Clear explanations are given about the risks of ignoring these principles – with support from worked examples and case study challenges. It should be a compulsory text for online learning designers.

If you enjoyed this article, please consider sharing it!

Tagged with: • • • • • • • • •  

Two excerpts from a solid infographic out at Knewton.com

On 01/14/2013, in analytics, attention, cloud-based computing / apps / other cloud-related, education reform, education technology, educational games / serious games, emerging technologies, engagement / engaging students, K-12 related, mobile learning, open courseware and systems, personalized/customized learning, play, United States, by Daniel Christian

From DSC:
A solid infographic is out at Knewton.com — of which I want to highlight 2 portions of it (below).

This first excerpt is not to dog teachers but rather it’s meant to support them and to say that we need to change a losing game (at least a part of the solution in ed reform is to get out of the business of focusing so much on standardized tests and another part of the solution resides in the second graphic below):

 

EducationCrisis-Jan2013

 

.

EducationCrisis2-Jan2013

 

 

Also relevant see:

If you enjoyed this article, please consider sharing it!

Tagged with: • • • • • • • • • • • • • •  

Experiment: Provide more flexible/customized learning spaces [Christian]

On 01/08/2013, in accessibility / UDL, attention, Augmented Reality (AR), Daniel S. Christian, education technology, experimentation, ideas, K-12 related, learning preferences, learning spaces, learning theories, more voice more choice more control, personalized/customized learning, smart classrooms, by Daniel Christian

From DSC:
The other day, I mentioned how important it will be for institutions of higher education to increase the priority of experimentation. But, for a variety of reasons, I believe this is true for the K-12 world as well. Especially with the kindergarten/early elementary classroom in mind, I created the graphic below. Clicking on it will give you another example of the kind of experimentation that I’m talking about — whether that be in K-12 or in higher ed.

 

DanielChristianJan2013-ExperimentsInCustomizedLearningSpaces

 

From DSC:
I’m trying to address the students that are more easily distracted and, due to how their minds process information, have a harder time focusing on the task at hand.  In fact, at times, all of the external stimuli can be overwhelming. How can we provide a learning environment that’s more under the students’ control? i.e. How can we provide “volume knobs” on their auditory and visual channels?

Along these lines, I’m told that some theaters have sensory-friendly film showings — i.e. with different settings for the lights and sound than is typically offered.

Also see — with thanks going out to Ori Inbar (@comogard) for these:
.

 

A relevant addendum on 1/10/12:

TryBeingMe-Jan2013

 

If you enjoyed this article, please consider sharing it!

Tagged with: • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •  

Experiment: Build and evaluate the impact of more educationally-related second screen apps [Christian]

On 01/08/2013, in 21st century, A/V -- audio/visual, analytics, Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, Asia, Bring your own device (BYOD), cloud-based computing / apps / other cloud-related, convergence, corporate / business world, corporate universities / corporate training, Daniel S. Christian, data related items, digital learning, disruption, e-publishing related items (EPUB and more), education technology, educational games / serious games, elearning, emerging technologies, engagement / engaging students, experimentation, future, game-changing environment, innovation, interactivity, internet, learning agents, learning ecosystem, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, machine-to-machine communications, mirroring and/or multiple devices, mobile learning, MOOCs -- Massive Open Online Courses, multimedia, Near Field Communication (NFC), online learning, online media, online tutoring, participation, personalized/customized learning, platforms, second screen apps, smart classrooms, social learning / networks, technologies for your home, telepresence, television, transmedia, trends, TVs, vision/possibilities, by Daniel Christian

From DSC:
In this series of periodic postings re: experimentation (see here and here), this week’s Consumers Electronics Show prompts me to think about different types of experiments, prompting such questions as:
.

  • When will we see more educationally-related second screen apps?
    .
  • How might this type of setup dovetail with MOOCs provided by institutions of higher education? With MOOCs offered by the corporate world?
    .
  • What sorts of technologies will weave their way into what could be offered here?
    (The following possibilities come to my mind: Artificial Intelligence (AI), learning agents, recommendation engines, course or topic playlists, web-based learner profiles, data mining/analytics, videoconferencing, educational gaming, virtual tutoring, BYOD, and/or cloud-based computing. Other…?)
    .
  • Will Internet-enabled marketplaces and exchanges — between learners and teachers — become commonplace?
    .
  • Will technologies involved with endeavors like IBM’s Watson or with Knewton be deployed in this kind of convergent environment? If so, what sorts of doors/job opportunities/new skillsets would that open up or require?
    .

.

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

 

.

Some relevant items on this include:

Flingo reveals Samba, a first of its kind dual interactive TV and second screen platform — from pandodaily.com byasdf

Excerpt:

This week at CES in Las Vegas (the Consumer Electronics Show), San Francisco-based Flingo will release the latest version of its platform, dubbed Samba, aimed at changing this. Samba will make four-year-old Flingo one of the first to offer a combined Interactive TV and Second Screen experience.

“We saw a surge of Smart TV and tablet adoption in 2012, but realized that a seamless TV experience across all screens was missing,” says Flingo co-founder and CEO Ashwin Navin, formerly of BitTorrent. “Samba will blur the lines between linear television and the Web.”

Flingo is unique in that it uses video, not audio to identify what content is being viewed…

…

Samba offers viewers the ability to actively engage with programming in real-time through their primary screen. This can take the form of polls, social conversations, recommendations, or consumption of related media. In the case of Second Screens, aka internet-connected laptops, tablets, and smartphones used simultaneously while watching TV, the company can offer an even wider array of complementary content and engagement, such as aggregated social feeds relating to live programming or an ability to watch past episodes of a live show. This can all be delivered across multiple screens, in concert.

 

Also see:

Smart TV Alliance adds Panasonic and IBM to its fold, lays bare new SDK features -- Sean Buckley

 

Also see:

 

samsung smart tv ces 2013

 

Kevin Smith/Business Insider

 

More tangentially, but still relevant:

  • McGraw-Hill to debut adaptive e-book for students — from blogs.wsj.com by Shalini Ramachandran
    Excerpt:
    The SmartBook…works like this: All readers essentially see the same textbook as they read for the first five minutes. But as a reader answers review questions placed throughout the chapter, different passages become highlighted to point the reader to where he or she should focus attention.

 

If you enjoyed this article, please consider sharing it!

Tagged with: • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •  

A network of remote-controlled, mobile, videoconferencing-based sorts of devices [hooked up to voice translation engines] that students could travel the world with! [Christian]

On 12/13/2012, in 21st century, A/V -- audio/visual, blogs / blogging / vlogging, career development, Daniel S. Christian, digital audio, digital learning, digital video, education technology, emerging technologies, engagement / engaging students, game-changing environment, global / globalization, homeschooling/homeschoolers, human-computer interaction (HCI), ideas, innovation, learning ecosystem, machine-to-machine communications, metacognition / metacognitive skills, mirroring and/or multiple devices, mobile learning, mobile technologies, more voice more choice more control, multimedia, online learning, participation, passions, personalized/customized learning, professional development, real-world assignments, robotics, student-related, videoconferencing, web-based collaboration, by Daniel Christian

“Mom! Check out what I did at school today!”

If you’re a parent, don’t you love to hear the excitement in your son’s or daughter’s voice when they bring home something from school that really peaked their interest? Their passions?

I woke up last night with several ideas and thoughts on how technology could help students become — and stay — engaged, while passing over more control and choice to the students in order for them to pursue their own interests and passions. The idea would enable students to efficiently gain some exposure to a variety of things to see if those things were interesting to them — perhaps opening a way for a future internship or, eventually, a career.

The device I pictured in my mind was the sort of device that I saw a while back out at Double Robotics and/or at Suitable Technologies:

.

doublerobotics dot com -- wheels for your iPad

 

 

Remote presence system called Beam -- from Suitable Technologies - September 2012

 

The thoughts centered on implementing a growing network of such remote-controlled, mobile, videoconferencing-based sorts of devices, that were hooked up to voice translation engines.  Students could control such devices to pursue things that they wanted to know more about, such as:

  • Touring the Louvre in Paris
  • Being backstage at a Broadway musical or checking out a live performance of Macbeth
  • Watching a filming of a National Geographic Special in the Fiji Islands
  • Attending an IEEE International Conference in Taiwan
  • Attending an Educause Conference or a Sloan C event to get further knowledge about how to maximize your time studying online or within a hybrid environment
  • Touring The Exploratorium in San Francisco
  • Touring the Museum of Science & Industry in Chicago
  • Being a fly on the wall during a Senate hearing/debate
  • Seeing how changes are made in the assembly lines at a Ford plant
  • Or perhaps, when a student wheels their device to a particular area — such as the front row of a conference, the signal automatically switches to the main speaker/event (keynote speakers, panel, etc. via machine-to-machine communications)
  • Inviting guest speakers into a class: pastors, authors, poets, composers, etc.
  • Work with local/virtual teams on how to heighten public awareness re: a project that deals with sustainability
  • Virtually head to another country to immerse themselves in another country’s language — and, vice versa, help them learn the students’ native languages

For accountability — as well as for setting aside intentional time to process the information — students would update their own blogs about what they experienced, heard, and saw.  They would need to include at least one image, along with the text they write about their experience.  Or perhaps a brief/edited piece of digital video or audio of some of the statements that they heard that really resonated with them, or that they had further questions on.  The default setting on such postings would be to be kept private, but if the teacher and the student felt that a posting could/should be made public, a quick setting could be checked to publish it out there for others to see/experience.

Real world. Engaging. Passing over more choice and control to the students so that they can pursue what they are passionate about.

 

 

 

If you enjoyed this article, please consider sharing it!

Tagged with: • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •  
Previous Entries Next Entries
© 2025 | Daniel Christian