professional development

Tweeting down the classroom walls [EdSurge]

On 10/02/2013, in education reform, education technology, K-12 related, learning ecosystem, media/film, professional development, social learning / networks, social media, teachers, teaching & learning, trends, web-based collaboration, by Daniel Christian

Excerpt (emphasis DSC):

…we have become our own media. If something great happens in our classrooms, we tweet about it. If we find time-saving tricks, we share them with our professional learning network online. If our students rock our classrooms, we blog about them. We no longer need mainstream media. We are the media.

We will not be silent about the noble profession we love and work hard to improve.

Happy connected educator month! October is the month that celebrates the masses of educators tapping into the power of social media. They are getting up, looking up, reading up, and connecting up like never before.

Also see:

Job market embraces Massive Online Courses [Belkin & Porter]

On 09/27/2013, in 21st century, accreditation, business, business side of he, career development, corporate / business world, corporate universities / corporate training, cost of getting a degree, dangers of the status quo, Daniel S. Christian, disruption, distance education, education technology, elearning, emerging technologies, experimentation, future of higher education, game-changing environment, Google, higher education, innovation, learner profiles, learning ecosystem, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, lifelong learning, MOOCs -- Massive Open Online Courses, more voice more choice more control, New "Amazon.com" of Higher Education, online learning, open courseware and systems, professional development, training / L&D, vendors, workplace, by Daniel Christian

Job market embraces Massive Online Courses — from online.wsj.com by Douglas Belkin and Caroline Porter
Seeking better-trained workers, AT&T, Google and other firms help design and even fund web-based college classes

Excerpt (emphasis DSC):

Big employers such as AT&T Inc. and Google Inc. are helping to design and fund the latest round of low-cost online courses, a development that providers say will open the door for students to earn inexpensive credentials with real value in the job market.

New niche certifications being offered by providers of massive open online courses, or MOOCs, are aimed at satisfying employers’ specific needs. Available at a fraction of the cost of a four-year degree, they represent the latest crack in the monopoly traditional universities have in credentialing higher education.

…

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology, along with its MOOC partner edX, is starting a course sequence called the XSeries, and plans to ask for input from a consortium of about 50 companies, including United Parcel Service Inc., Procter & Gamble Co. and Wal-Mart Stores Inc. For up to $700, students will be able to take a test and earn a “verified certificate” in subjects like computer science and supply-chain management.

Meanwhile, companies such as Yahoo Inc. have begun reimbursing employees who take certified courses from Coursera, another MOOC provider.

Almost half the jobs Americans thought were safe will soon be done by robots [Frey & Osborne]

On 09/25/2013, in 21st century, Asia, career development, corporate / business world, future, professional development, robotics, United States, workplace, by Daniel Christian

Almost half the jobs Americans thought were safe will soon be done by robots — from qz.com by Carl Frey and Michael Osborne

Excerpt:

Commentators today are less optimistic. “How Technology Wrecks the Middle Class,” a recent New York Times Column by David Autor and David Dorn, captures an observation made by several commentators: technology has turned on labor.

…

The threat of computerization has historically been largely confined to routine manufacturing tasks involving explicit rule-based activities such as part construction and assembly. But a look at 700 occupation types (pdf) in the US suggests that 47% are at risk from a threat that once only loomed for a small proportion of workers.

From DSC:
What does — or should — this mean for K-12? For higher education? For the corporate world? For curricula? Skills? Values? How can we pivot NOW to help our students survive/thrive in this quickly-changing world?

Addendum on 9/27/13:

Robots May Revolutionize China’s Electronics Manufacturing — wsj.com by Paul Mozur and Eva Dou
Machines in Pipeline to Supplant Workers as Pay Soars and People Age

Wharton puts first-year MBA courses online for free [Lavelle]

On 09/17/2013, in career development, MBA, MOOCs -- Massive Open Online Courses, New "Amazon.com" of Higher Education, new business models, online learning, professional development, by Daniel Christian

Wharton puts first-year MBA courses online for free — from businessweek.com by Louis Lavelle

Excerpt:

Getting a Wharton MBA involves taking off from work for two years, moving to Philadelphia, and spending about $200,000 on tuition and expenses. Now, with the addition of three new courses on the online learning platform Coursera, you can get much of the course content for free.

While you won’t get the full Wharton on-campus experience—or an internship, career services, or alumni network, for that matter—the new courses in financial accounting, marketing, and corporate finance duplicate much of what you would learn during your first year at the elite business school, says Don Huesman, managing director of the innovation group at Wharton.

If the corporate world starts going further down this path…

On 09/09/2013, in 21st century, dangers of the status quo, Daniel S. Christian, future of higher education, game-changing environment, higher education, MOOCs -- Massive Open Online Courses, professional development, reinvent, staying relevant, workplace, by Daniel Christian

Udacity teams up with Google, AT&T and other tech giants for Open Education Alliance— from gigaom.com by Ki Mae Heussner

Summary:

Online education startup Udacity says it’s partnering with a group of leading technology companies to better prepare students for work in the 21st century.

From DSC:
If the corporate world starts going further down this path — opting for alternatives to the historical means of filtering job candidates and for preparing their future hires — the only thing that I will be able to say with certainty is that the record will show that those of us working within higher ed didn’t learn a thing from/about:

The Internet’s affect on other industries
The disruptive power of technologies
The need to reinvent oneself — and to innovate and adapt

How MOOCs are training tomorrow’s workforce [Lapowsky]

On 09/06/2013, in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, business side of he, career development, corporate / business world, corporate universities / corporate training, experimentation, future of higher education, game-changing environment, higher education, internet, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, lifelong learning, MOOCs -- Massive Open Online Courses, professional development, training / L&D, vendors, workplace, by Daniel Christian

Excerpt:

But existing MOOC providers like Udacity and Coursera aren’t the only ones using free online education to prepare people for jobs. The Muse, a career advice and job search site, recently launched Muse University, which trains students in subjects like landing a promotion and management 101. Aquent, a Boston-based staffing company for digital marketing professionals, also recently launched a MOOC platform of its own called Aquent Gymnasium. Its first class, Coding for Designers, launched in July, and so far, more than 8,000 students have enrolled. The goal of that class, says Andrew Miller, program director of Aquent Gymnasium, is to help designers trained in the print medium understand coding well enough that they can design for a digital medium. It’s a skill, Miller says, that Aquent’s clients were clamoring for. “Most designers can make pictures, and that’s it. Nowadays, people want designers who can produce prototypes,” he says. “We’re not trying to turn designers into developers. We’re trying to turn them into designers developers want to work with.”

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

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

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

Healthcare
Finance
Customer Service

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

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

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

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

What would make this really powerful would be to provide:

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

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

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Work-based learning schemes: the future of employment [Belliveau]

On 09/03/2013, in 21st century, career development, corporate / business world, corporate universities / corporate training, cost of getting a degree, dangers of the status quo, Daniel S. Christian, education reform, future, innovation, professional development, real-world assignments, student-related, surviving, training / L&D, trends, UK, workplace, by Daniel Christian

Work-based learning schemes: the future of employment — from hrzone.com by Vincent Belliveau; with thanks to Roger Francis for Scooping this item

Excerpt (emphasis DSC):

Apprenticeships are run by colleges who partner with local organisations to offer work experience. However, businesses are now going one step further and introducing their own work placement schemes. John Lewis recently revealed plans to develop its internal vocational qualifications programme through the ‘University of John Lewis’. The scheme offers a range of work based qualifications, giving staff the opportunity to gain externally recognised credentials and progress in their career simultaneously. This is a part of a growing trend, with accountancy firms KPMG and PwC and fast food restaurants KFC and McDonalds offering similar opportunities, transforming how they recruit and develop.

These schemes are beneficial to both the organisation and the candidate. By employing new recruits, businesses do not need to compensate for the bad habits that employees may have picked up at a different organisation or at university, allowing them to shape the candidates they want. By taking the time to introduce a programme that invests in employees futures, companies such as John Lewis will build employee loyalty and by association, productivity in their organisation.

Also see:

IBM’s Department of Education — from nextcity.org by Greg Lindsay

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

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

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

Excerpt:

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

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

You are not alone.

Also see:

Reflections on “Four facts about the emerging contingent workforce” [MacKay]

On 08/29/2013, in 21st century, career development, Daniel S. Christian, learning ecosystem, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, lifelong learning, professional development, workplace, by Daniel Christian

Four facts about the emerging contingent workforce — from switchandshift.com by Carleen MacKay; with thanks to Donna Svei (@AvidCareerist) for tweeting this

Excerpts (emphasis DSC):

Like it or not, the shift to a contingent workforce is absolute and irrevocable for many at all levels of experience. Taken together, professionals and non-professionals, it is estimated that 1 in 3 people (42 million) now work as contingent workers. Other experts estimate that by 2020, up to 50% of the workforce will be contingent.

Lesson: The changes in the workplace are structural, not cyclical. Certain jobs are gone forever and others are on the chopping block of time. Your task is to stay ahead of future changes.

…

The opportunity to contribute is driven by the alignment between current knowledge and market-driven demand. Opportunities are not limited by any particular career choice nor are they limited by degree. However, if you are to do well in the contingent world, you need to remain on the cutting-edge just as organizations must. Lifetime learning, a once-upon-a-time buzz phrase, is now a reality for those who would enjoy the fruits of the tree of knowledge.

Lesson: To the learners go the rewards.

From DSC:
Consider the graphic from the above article:

With these current, massive changes to the workforce like this…will our current level of responsiveness within institutions of higher education be able to get us there?

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

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

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

Excerpt (emphasis DSC):

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

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

I know because I have taught both ways.

…

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

…

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

From DSC:
A potential learning scenario in the future:

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

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

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

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

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

.

Excerpt:

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

…

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

From DSC:
Why post this? Because:

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

.

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

Relevant addendum on 6/27/13:

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

Recorded presentations now available for the recent Kaltura Video Summit for Enterprise and Education 2013

On 06/17/2013, in digital video, professional development, webinars, by Daniel Christian

The recorded presentations for the Kaltura Video Summit for Enterprise and Education 2013 are now available for on-demand viewing at:

www.KalturaVideoSummits.com

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Can I borrow that robot for a minute? Using remotely-controlled devices to bring distance learners into face-to-face classrooms! [Daniel Christian]

On 06/11/2013, in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, A/V -- audio/visual, accessibility / UDL, active learning, assistive technologies, Bring your own device (BYOD), communications, corporate / business world, corporate universities / corporate training, Daniel S. Christian, digital audio, digital learning, digital video, distance education, education technology, emerging technologies, engagement / engaging students, experimentation, face-to-face, future of higher education, game-changing environment, higher education, homeschooling/homeschoolers, human-computer interaction (HCI), ideas, innovation, internet, IT in HE, K-12 related, learning ecosystem, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, learning spaces, lifelong learning, mirroring and/or multiple devices, multimedia, new business models, online learning, online tutoring, personalized/customized learning, professional development, reinvent, robotics, smart classrooms, social learning / networks, staying relevant, student-related, tablets, technology (general), telepresence, television, training / L&D, ubiquitous learning, user experience (UX), videoconferencing, virtual field trips, vision/possibilities, web-based collaboration, webinars, workplace, by Daniel Christian

From DSC:

What if you want to allow some remote students to come on into your face-to-face classroom?
.
What if you want to allow those remote students to be seen and communicated with at eye level?
.
What if you want Remote Student A to join Group 1, and Remote Student B to join Group 2?
.

Well…how about using one of these devices in order to do so!

New video collaboration robot: TelePresence gets moving — from cisco.com by Dave Evans

Excerpt:

That is why Cisco’s new joint effort with iRobot—demonstrated publicly this week for the first time—is so exciting: We’ve created a mobile Cisco TelePresence unit that brings collaboration to you—or, conversely, brings you to wherever you need to collaborate. Called iRobot Ava 500, this high-definition video collaboration robot combines Cisco TelePresence with iRobot’s mobility and self-navigation capabilities, enabling freedom of movement and spontaneous interactions with people thousands of miles away.

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iRobot Ava™ 500 Video Collaboration Robot — published on Jun 10, 2013
iRobot and Cisco have teamed to bring the Ava 500 video collaboration robot to market. The robot blends iRobot’s autonomous navigation with Cisco’s TelePresence to enable people working off-site to participate in meetings and presentations where movement and location spontaneity are important. The new robot is also designed to enable mobile visual access to manufacturing facilities, laboratories, customer experience centers and other remote facilities.

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Double Robotics Double