sociology

No Textbooks, No Lectures, and No Right Answers. Is This What Higher Education Needs? [McMurtrie]

On 12/03/2021, in colleges, community colleges, faculty, higher education, ideas, pedagogy, real-world assignments, society, sociology, student-related, teaching & learning, United States, universities, by Daniel Christian

No Textbooks, No Lectures, and No Right Answers. Is This What Higher Education Needs? — from chronicle.com by Beth McMurtrie
From DSC: Though this was back from 2/10/19, Beth recently linked to it on The Chronicle and it caught my eye due to it’s focus on solving real-world issues and problems.

Excerpts:

Tackling big problems is the point of JMU X-Labs, a four-year-old experiment in undergraduate education. Through a blend of interdisciplinary collaboration, project-based learning, and unscripted, open-ended research, each course takes students through the long and often aggravating process of developing new ways of thinking about complex problems.

They might design drones to help with environmental problems, tackle foreign-policy challenges, build autonomous vehicles, or develop medical innovations to help with the opioid crisis.

Top Resources For Students To Discover Real World Problems & Issues [Khan]

On 12/02/2021, in Africa, Asia, Canada, education, Europe, global / globalization, homeschooling/homeschoolers, ideas, India, K-12 related, Michigan, participation, passions, political science, real-world assignments, science, society, sociology, student-related, teachers, teaching & learning, UK, United States, by Daniel Christian

Top Resources For Students To Discover Real World Problems & Issues — from edtechreview.in by Saniya Khan

Are you looking for ways to help students learn about world issues: climate change, cultural diversity, biodiversity, education, water crisis, [homelessness] and more to build awareness about global issues and develop global competence?

Ohio State U. Unveils a Plan for All Students to Graduate Debt-Free [Kelderman]

On 11/26/2021, in experimentation, funding / grants, higher education, ideas, leadership, policy, society, sociology, strategy, United States, universities, by Daniel Christian

Ohio State U. Unveils a Plan for All Students to Graduate Debt-Free — from chronicle.com by Eric Kelderman

Excerpt:

Nearly half of all undergraduates at Ohio State University take out loans to help pay the costs of attending college, borrowing an average of more than $27,000. Kristina M. Johnson, the new president of the land-grant university, wants to reduce that proportion to zero.

Johnson announced a plan on Friday, at her investiture, to reach that goal within a decade.

Instead of offering students federal direct loans as part of their financial-aid packages, the university will use a combination of grants, internships, and opportunities to assist with research.

“People without family means, which includes many of the country’s minority students, start their adult lives in a financial hole,” Johnson said during her investiture speech. “I want all of our graduates to be free to say yes to every great opportunity that comes their way.”

Native American Students Build STEM Skills While Exploring Their Cultural Stories with VR/AR Design Projects [Grush & Chandrasekera]

On 11/10/2021, in 3D, Augmented Reality (AR), culture, emerging technologies, experimentation, higher education, K-12 related, society, sociology, STEAM-related, universities, Virtual Reality (VR) / worlds / learning, XR - extended reality, youth, by Daniel Christian

Native American Students Build STEM Skills While Exploring Their Cultural Stories with VR/AR Design Projects — from campustechnology.com by Mary Grush and Tilanka Chandrasekera

Excerpt:

Through a $1.5million, four-year NSF grant, Oklahoma State University researchers are leveraging their earlier work with proven, college-level design courses that incorporate VR, AR, and 3D printing technologies. But this time, they are helping underserved Native American middle school students develop STEM skills.

Here, Campus Technology talks with Principal Investigator Dr. Tilanka Chandrasekera, who is an endowed professor at OSU and director of the Mixed Reality Lab, to find out more about the grant that the NSF titled, “Engaging Native American Students in STEM Career Development Through a Culturally Responsive After School Program Using Virtual Environments and 3D Printing.”

College costs have increased by 169% since 1980—but pay for young workers is up by just 19%: Georgetown report — from cnbc.com by Abigail Johnson Hess

Excerpt:

The report, titled “If Not Now, When? The Urgent Need for an All-One-System Approach to Youth Policy,” breaks down seven trends that have made it difficult for workers to transition from education to the workforce since 1980.

“Postsecondary education policy has failed to keep higher education affordable even as formal education beyond high school has become more essential,” reads the report. “Today, two out of three jobs require postsecondary education and training, while three out of four jobs in the 1970s required a high school diploma or less. Yet while young people today need more education than ever to compete in the labor market, a college education is more expensive than in the past.”

Also see:

Infographic: What Really Happens to Our Students? — from eab.com by Ed Venit; with thanks to Bryan Alexander for this resource out on LinkedIn
Constructing an Estimate of Outcomes for 100 Students Who Start a Bachelor Degree

This is what true strength and confidence look like

On 11/05/2021, in communications, Emotion, faith, global / globalization, hearts -- matters of the heart, leadership, relationships, religion, society, sociology, by Daniel Christian

From DSC:
This is what true strength and confidence look like. That is, the LORD doesn’t mind putting complaints, issues, pleas, anger, frustration, sadness, and similar emotions in His Word. I guess that’s part of relationships…part of communications. To me, that’s true strength.

DC: Saw it last night w/ our daughters. This would a great movie for middle schoolers & high schoolers to see & discuss. I enjoyed it. The impact of social media, algorithms, Silicon Valley personalities/dynamics, privacy & data-related issues, friendship. https://t.co/LAqvNuqUnk

— Daniel Christian (he/him/his) (@dchristian5) October 25, 2021

Why inexperienced workers can’t get entry-level jobs — from bbc.com by Kate Morgan; with thanks to Ryan Craig for this resource

Excerpt:

As anyone who’s graduated from university or applied for their first job in recent years can attest to, something new – and alarming – has happened to entry-level jobs: they’ve disappeared.

A recent analysis of close to 4 million jobs posted on LinkedIn since late 2017 showed that 35% of postings for “entry-level” positions asked for years of prior relevant work experience. That requirement was even more common in certain industries. More than 60% of listings for entry-level software and IT Services jobs, for instance, required three or more years of experience. In short, it seems entry-level jobs aren’t for people just entering the workforce at all.

“Internships are now the entry level,” he says. “Most of the students in college are doing or trying to do internships, and now it’s increasingly common to do more than one.”

From DSC:
I love the idea of internships. (In my days in college, internships were reserved mainly for engineers; few of us had them back then.)

But with an eye on the cost of obtaining a degree, internships should be PAID internships. That is, interns should receive decent/proper compensation. I’m concerned that businesses will take advantage of free labor here (though that’s less likely given the tight labor market I suppose). But businesses have taken advantage of free labor in the past. “It takes a village…”

Also see:

Virtual work is here to stay. Here’s how colleges can help students land remote internships. — from highereddive.com by Natalie Schwartz
The pandemic disrupted the world of work — and internships. But colleges and employers responded by trying new strategies online.

American Landmark Partners with Millionaire Mastermind Academy to Launch Real Estate Accelerator Program for Minority Women

On 09/28/2021, in Alternatives, entrepreneurship, learning ecosystem, society, sociology, by Daniel Christian

The Millionaire Mastermind Academy, a nonprofit organization that aims to end poverty through entrepreneurship for minority women worldwide, and American Landmark Apartments, one of the country’s fastest-growing multifamily owner-operators in the country, are teaming up to help minority women entrepreneurs develop career skills in real estate and property management while further diversifying the industry.

The newly launched Millionaire Mastermind Academy Real Estate Accelerator Program is a 12-week program that equips and empowers minority women to combat poverty by equipping them with sustainable real estate and property management skills and experience. The program includes college-level business training, access to real estate licensing, training in property management and Fair Housing laws, as well as apprenticeship and mentorship opportunities.

Through its application process, Millionaire Mastermind Academy will select approximately 25 qualifying women to participate in the program, which runs from September 28^th to December 21^st, 2021, and consists of both virtual education and two in-person weekend intensives. The in-person training will be held at the American Landmark Training facility in Tampa, Fla.

Boston startup fights seniors’ isolation with VR [Campbell]

On 09/28/2021, in entrepreneurship, experimentation, health, hearts -- matters of the heart, society, sociology, United States, user experience (UX), vendors, Virtual Reality (VR) / worlds / learning, vision/possibilities, by Daniel Christian

Boston startup fights seniors’ isolation with VR — from bizjournals.com by Emma Campbell

Excerpts:

Social isolation is a term that more Americans have become familiar with due to the Covid-19 pandemic, but it’s a concept that was already intimately familiar to one segment of the population: the elderly.

Isolation disproportionately affects the aging population in the U.S. and can lead to significant mental and physical health issues for seniors. But there’s a Boston-based startup, Rendever, using a unique tool to fight it.

“We’ve always thought that the foundation of all human connection is shared positive experience,” Rand said. “So what we’ve done is we’ve spent the past five years building a really strong experience platform that allows people to come together, put on their headsets, and go and check off a bucket list item.”

[CA] State Bar Proposes Allowing “Paraprofessionals” to Practice Law [Chalmers]

On 09/24/2021, in Access to Justice (A2J), change, legal reform, legal technologies, legislatures / government / legal, society, sociology, United States, by Daniel Christian

[CA] State Bar Proposes Allowing “Paraprofessionals” to Practice Law — from acbanet.org by Tiela Chalmers

Excerpt (emphasis DSC):

The [CA] State Bar currently has committees working on two proposals that would, if approved, have huge impact on the legal profession. Both committees are working on amending the legal regulatory system to address ways to expand the resources available to those needing legal help. One committee is looking particularly at tech solutions, including permitting Artificial Intelligence solutions that would automate answers to legal questions. But this blog post will focus on the one that is farther along in development – permitting “paraprofessionals” to practice some types of law, with various restrictions.

Also see:

California Paraprofessional Program Working Group — from calbar.ca.gov

Excerpt:

The State Bar’s recently published California Justice Gap Study: Measuring the Unmet Civil Legal Needs of Californians, found that 55 percent of Californians experience at least one civil legal problem in their household each year, and Californians received no or inadequate legal help for 85 percent of these problems. A lack of knowledge about what constitutes a legal issue and concerns about legal costs lead many Californians to deal with problems on their own rather than seek legal help. A thoughtfully designed and appropriately regulated paraprofessionals program is an important component of the solution to the access to legal services crisis in California by expanding the pool of available and affordable legal service providers.

In the US, the AI Industry Risks Becoming Winner-Take-Most [Johnson]

On 09/13/2021, in 21st century, Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, computer science, dangers of the status quo, data related items, emerging technologies, ethics, morals/values, platforms, programming, society, sociology, the downsides of how people use tech, trends, United States, vendors, by Daniel Christian

In the US, the AI Industry Risks Becoming Winner-Take-Most — from wired.com by Khari Johnson
A new study illustrates just how geographically concentrated AI activity has become.

Excerpt:

A NEW STUDY warns that the American AI industry is highly concentrated in the San Francisco Bay Area and that this could prove to be a weakness in the long run. The Bay leads all other regions of the country in AI research and investment activity, accounting for about one-quarter of AI conference papers, patents, and companies in the US. Bay Area metro areas see levels of AI activity four times higher than other top cities for AI development.

“When you have a high percentage of all AI activity in Bay Area metros, you may be overconcentrating, losing diversity, and getting groupthink in the algorithmic economy. It locks in a winner-take-most dimension to this sector, and that’s where we hope that federal policy will begin to invest in new and different AI clusters in new and different places to provide a balance or counter,” Mark Muro, policy director at the Brookings Institution and the study’s coauthor, told WIRED.

Also relevant/see:

“Algorithms are opinions embedded in code.”

Untold provides educational video content to engage students in history learning [educatorstechnology.com]

On 09/12/2021, in art, digital learning, education technology, engagement / engaging students, history, homeschooling/homeschoolers, K-12 related, legislatures / government / legal, society, sociology, teachers, United States, vendors, youth, by Daniel Christian

Untold provides educational video content to engage students in history learning — from educatorstechnology.com

Excerpt:

Untold is a platform that provides educational resources to engage students in history learning. The site offers a free collection of animated videos that shed light on alternative historical perspectives highlighting those stories and events that do not normally make it into the mainstream history textbooks. As they interact with these resources, students develop critical thinking skills required to help them evaluate and question the validity and authenticity of the information and news they deal with on a daily basis.

Untold materials are provided for free for teachers and students.

US Justice Needs Data Reveals No Americans Unaffected by Justice Crisis [Cornett]

On 09/03/2021, in Access to Justice (A2J), legal reform, legislatures / government / legal, society, sociology, United States, by Daniel Christian

US Justice Needs Data Reveals No Americans Unaffected by Justice Crisis — from legaltechmonitor.com by Logan Cornett

Excerpt:

It’s no secret that the United States is deeply embroiled in a justice crisis. According to the World Justice Project’s Rule of Law Index, the U.S. ranks 30th out of the world’s 37 high-income countries on the civil justice factor and 22nd on the criminal justice factor. Numerous studies have shone light on aspects of the crisis—some focusing on how it impacts low-income Americans, others homing in on the crisis’s effects in specific geographic regions. Now, with the new report from IAALS’ and HiiL’s joint US Justice Needs project, we have data from more than 10,000 surveyed individuals that illuminates the contours of the justice crisis in this country.

Learning Ecosystems

Ohio State U. Unveils a Plan for All Students to Graduate Debt-Free [Kelderman]

College costs have increased by 169% since 1980—but pay for young workers is up by just 19%: Georgetown report [Johnson Hess]

This is what true strength and confidence look like

American Landmark Partners with Millionaire Mastermind Academy to Launch Real Estate Accelerator Program for Minority Women

Boston startup fights seniors’ isolation with VR [Campbell]

[CA] State Bar Proposes Allowing “Paraprofessionals” to Practice Law [Chalmers]

US Justice Needs Data Reveals No Americans Unaffected by Justice Crisis [Cornett]

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