Social media as a learning tool: Five suggested sses for the classroom — from frontierinternet.com; with thanks to Laura Tscholl, Communications Specialist | The Gateway for this resource
On 11/08/2018,
in 21st century, active learning, adjunct faculty, blogs / blogging, Bring your own device (BYOD), cloud-based computing / apps / other cloud-related, collaboration, colleges, communications, community colleges, creativity, digital learning, education, education technology, engagement / engaging students, faculty, higher education, ideas, instructional design, internet, iPad, iPhone, IT in HE, journalism, K-12 related, learning, learning ecosystem, learning from the living [class] room, Lifelong learning, online learning, participation, pedagogy, personalized/customized learning, platforms, PLNs, practice, productivity / tips and tricks, social learning / networks, social media, society, staying relevant, strategy, streams of content, student teaching/teacher education, student-related, teachers, teaching & learning, Technologies for your home, tools, twitter, universities, vendors, web-based collaboration, writing, youth,
by Daniel Christian
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On 11/05/2018,
in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, active learning, algorithms, Artificial Intelligence / Machine Learning / Deep Learning, bots, business side of he, colleges, community colleges, corporate / business world, cost of getting a degree, dangers of the status quo, Daniel S. Christian, future, future of higher education, game-changing environment, global / globalization, ideas, innovation, intelligent systems, internet, Law Schools, leadership, learning, learning ecosystem, learning from the living [class] room, MBA, new business models, organizational change, pace of change, reinvent, society, staying relevant, strategy, student-related, surviving, training / L&D, universities, vendors, vision, Walmart of Education --> New Amazon.com of Higher Education, workplace,
by Daniel Christian
The global companies that failed to adapt to change. — from trainingmag.com by Professor M.S. Rao, Ph.D.
Excerpt:
Eastman Kodak, a leader for many years, filed for bankruptcy in 2012. Blockbuster Video became defunct in 2013. Similarly, Borders — one of the largest book retailers in the U.S. — went out of business in 2011. Why did these companies, which once had great brands, ultimately fail? It is because they failed to adapt to change. Additionally, they failed to unlearn and relearn.
…
Former GE CEO Jack Welch once remarked, “If the rate of change on the outside exceeds the rate of change on the inside, the end is near.” Thus, accept change before the change is thrust on you.
…
Leaders must adopt tools and techniques to adapt to change. Here is a blueprint to embrace change effectively:
- Keep the vision right and straight, and articulate it effectively.
- Create organizational culture conducive to bring about change.
- Communicate clearly about the need to change.
- Enlighten people about the implications of the status quo.
- Show them benefits once the change is implemented.
- Coordinate all stakeholders effectively.
- Remove the roadblocks by allaying their apprehensions.
- Show them small gains to ensure that entire change takes place smoothly without any resistance.
From DSC:
Though I’m not on board with all of the perspectives in that article, institutions of traditional higher education likely have something to learn from the failures of these companies….while there’s still time to change and to innovate.
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On 10/23/2018,
in 21st century, A/V -- audio/visual, algorithms, analytics, Artificial Intelligence / Machine Learning / Deep Learning, augmented reality, Blockchain, bots, business, career development, change, cloud-based computing / apps / other cloud-related, cognitive computing, computer science, corporate / business world, data mining, emerging technologies, ethics, future, human-computer interaction (HCI), ideas, immersion, innovation, intelligent systems, interaction design, machine-to-machine communications, Mixed reality, morals/values, Natural Language Processing (NLP), platforms, programming, smart classrooms, society, strategy, technology (general), tools, trends, usability, user experience (UX), vendors, virtual reality / worlds / learning, voice recognition / voice enabled interfaces, workplace, XR - extended reality,
by Daniel Christian
Gartner: Immersive experiences among top tech trends for 2019 — from campustechnology.com by Dian Schaffhauser
Excerpt:
IT analyst firm Gartner has named its top 10 trends for 2019, and the “immersive user experience” is on the list, alongside blockchain, quantum computing and seven other drivers influencing how we interact with the world. The annual trend list covers breakout tech with broad impact and tech that could reach a tipping point in the near future.
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On 08/22/2018,
in 21st century, adult learning, business, business side of he, career development, change, changing business models, Christian education, colleges, community colleges, cost of getting a degree, credentialing, dangers of the status quo, Daniel S. Christian, digital learning, disruption, education technology, elearning, emerging technologies, face-to-face, for-profits, formal learning, future, future of higher education, game-changing environment, generational differences, Google, heutagogy, higher education, ideas, informal learning, learning, learning ecosystem, learning from the living [class] room, liberal arts, Lifelong learning, MOOCs -- Massive Open Online Courses, more choice more control, new business models, online learning, pace of change, perfect storm, platforms, real-world assignments, society, staying relevant, strategy, student-related, surviving, training / L&D, trends, universities, Walmart of Education --> New Amazon.com of Higher Education, workplace, youth,
by Daniel Christian
15 more companies that no longer require a degree — apply now — from glassdoor.com
Excerpt:
With college tuition soaring nationwide, many Americans don’t have the time or money to earn a college degree. However, that doesn’t mean your job prospects are diminished. Increasingly, there are many companies offering well-paying jobs to those with non-traditional education or a high-school diploma.
…
Google and Ernest & Young are just two of the champion companies who realize that book smarts don’t necessarily equal strong work ethic, grit and talent. Whether you have your GED and are looking for a new opportunity or charting your own path beyond the traditional four-year college route, here are 15 companies that have said they do not require a college diploma for some of their top jobs.
From DSC:
Several years ago when gas prices were sky high, I couldn’t help but think that some industries — though they were able to grab some significant profits in the short term — were actually shooting themselves in the foot for the longer term. Sure enough, as time went by, people started looking for less expensive alternatives. For example, they started buying more hybrid vehicles, more electric cars, and the sales of smaller cars and lighter trucks increased. The average fuel economy of vehicles went up (example). The goal was to reduce or outright eliminate the number of trips to the gas station that people were required to make.
These days…I wonder if the same kind of thing is happening — or about to happen — with traditional institutions of higher education*? Are we shooting ourselves in the foot?
Traditional institutions of higher education better find ways to adapt, and to change their game (so to speak), before the alternatives to those organizations gain some major steam. There is danger in the status quo. Count on it. The saying, “Adapt or die” has now come to apply to higher ed as well.
Faculty, staff, and administrators within higher ed are beginning to experience what the corporate world has been experiencing for decades.
Faculty can’t just teach what they want to teach. They can’t just develop courses that they are interested in. The demand for courses that aren’t attractive career-wise will likely continue to decrease. Sure, it can be argued that many of those same courses — especially from the liberal arts colleges — are still valuable…and I would agree with some of those arguments. But the burden of proof continues to be shifted to the shoulders of those proposing such curricula.
Also, the costs of obtaining a degree needs to come down or:
- The gorillas of debt on peoples’ backs will become a negative word of mouth that will be hard to compete against or adequately address as time goes by
- The angst towards higher ed will continue to build
- People will bolt for those promising alternatives to traditional higher ed where the graduates (badge earners, or whatever they’re going to be called) of those programs are hired and shown to be effective employees
- I hope that this isn’t the case and that it’s not too late to change…but history will likely show that higher ed shot itself in the foot. The warning signs were all over the place.
The current trends are paving the way for a next generation learning platform that will serve someone from cradle to grave.
* I realize that many in higher ed would immediately dispute that their organizations are out to grab short term profits, that they don’t operate like a business, that they don’t operate under the same motivations as the corporate world, etc. And I can see some of these folks’ points, no doubt. I may even agree with some of the folks who represent organizations who freely share information with other organizations and have motivations other than making tons of money. But for those folks who staunchly hold to the belief that higher ed isn’t a business at all — well, for me, that’s taking things way too far. I do not agree with that perspective at all. One has to have their eyes (and minds) closed to cling to that perspective anymore. Just don’t ask those folks to tell you how much their presidents make (along with other higher-level members of their administrations), the salaries of the top football coaches, or how many millions of dollars many universities’ receive for their television contracts and/or their ticket sales, or how much revenue research universities bring in from patents and so on and so forth.
Addendum on 8/24, per University Ventures e-newsletter
2. Facebook Goes Back to College (emphasis DSC)
TechCrunch report on how digital giants are buying into Last-Mile Training by partnering with Pathstream to deliver necessary digital skills to community college students.
Most good first jobs specifically require one or more technologies like Facebook or Unity — technologies that colleges and universities aren’t teaching. If Pathstream is able to realize its vision of integrating industry-relevant software training into degree programs in a big way, colleges and universities have a shot at maintaining their stranglehold as the sole pathway to successful careers. If Pathstream’s impact is more limited, watch for millions of students to sidestep traditional colleges, and enroll in emerging faster and cheaper alternative pathways to good first jobs — alternative pathways that will almost certainly integrate the kind of last-mile training being pioneered by Pathstream.
America’s colleges and universities could learn a thing or two from Leo, because they continue to resist teaching students the practical things they’ll need to know as soon as they graduate; for instance, to get jobs that will allow them to make student loan payments. Digital skills head this list, specifically experience with the high-powered software they’ll be required to use every day in entry-level positions.
But talk to a college president or provost about the importance of Marketo, HubSpot, Pardot, Tableau, Adobe and Autodesk for their graduates, and they’re at a loss for how to integrate last-mile training into their degree programs in order prepare students to work on these essential software platforms.
Enter a new company, Pathstream, which just announced a partnership with tech leader Unity and previously partnered with Facebook. Pathstream supports the delivery of career-critical software skill training in VR/AR and digital marketing at colleges and universities.
Addendum on 8/24, per University Ventures e-newsletter
3. Faster + Cheaper Alternatives to College
Inside Higher Education Q&A on upcoming book A New U: Faster + Cheaper Alternatives to College.
Last-mile training is the inevitable by-product of two crises, one generally understood, the other less so. The crisis everyone understands is affordability and unsustainable levels of student loan debt. The other crisis is employability. Nearly half of all college graduates are underemployed in their first job. And we know that underemployment is pernicious and lasting. According to the recent report from Strada’s Institute for the Future of Work, two-thirds of underemployed graduates remain underemployed five years later, and half remain underemployed a decade later. So today’s students no longer buy that tired college line that “we prepare you for your fifth job, not your first job.” They know that if they don’t get a good first job, they’re probably not going to get a good fifth job. As a result, today’s students are laser-focused on getting a good first job in a growing sector of the economy.
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On 06/20/2018,
in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, adult learning, algorithms, Artificial Intelligence / Machine Learning / Deep Learning, business, career development, change, cloud-based computing / apps / other cloud-related, collaboration, colleges, communities of practice, community colleges, content development, corporate / business world, corporate universities / corporate training, credentialing, curriculum, dangers of the status quo, Daniel S. Christian, digital learning, distance education, education, education reform, education technology, emerging technologies, engagement / engaging students, experimentation, future, future of higher education, game-changing environment, heutagogy, higher education, homeschooling/homeschoolers, human-computer interaction (HCI), ideas, innovation, intelligent systems, intelligent tutoring, learning, learning ecosystem, learning from the living [class] room, learning hubs, Lifelong learning, passions, platforms, professional development, reinvent, society, staying relevant, strategy, streams of content, student-related, surviving, teaching & learning, tools, training / L&D, United States, universities, vision, Walmart of Education --> New Amazon.com of Higher Education, web-based collaboration, workplace, youth,
by Daniel Christian
Reimagining the Higher Education Ecosystem — from edu2030.agorize.com
How might we empower people to design their own learning journeys so they can lead purposeful and economically stable lives?
Excerpts:
The problem
Technology is rapidly transforming the way we live, learn, and work. Entirely new jobs are emerging as others are lost to automation. People are living longer, yet switching jobs more often. These dramatic shifts call for a reimagining of the way we prepare for work and life—specifically, how we learn new skills and adapt to a changing economic landscape.
The changes ahead are likely to hurt most those who can least afford to manage them: low-income and first generation learners already ill-served by our existing postsecondary education system. Our current system stifles economic mobility and widens income and achievement gaps; we must act now to ensure that we have an educational ecosystem flexible and fair enough to help all people live purposeful and economically stable lives. And if we are to design solutions proportionate to this problem, new technologies must be called on to scale approaches that reach the millions of vulnerable people across the country.
The challenge
How might we empower people to design their own learning journeys so they can lead purposeful and economically stable lives?
The Challenge—Reimagining the Higher Education Ecosystem—seeks bold ideas for how our postsecondary education system could be reimagined to foster equity and encourage learner agency and resilience. We seek specific pilots to move us toward a future in which all learners can achieve economic stability and lead purposeful lives. This Challenge invites participants to articulate a vision and then design pilot projects for a future ecosystem that has the following characteristics:
Expands access: The educational system must ensure that all people—including low-income learners who are disproportionately underserved by the current higher education system—can leverage education to live meaningful and economically stable lives.
Draws on a broad postsecondary ecosystem: While college and universities play a vital role in educating students, there is a much larger ecosystem in which students learn. This ecosystem includes non-traditional “classes” or alternative learning providers, such as MOOCs, bootcamps, and online courses as well as on-the-job training and informal learning. Our future learning system must value the learning that happens in many different environments and enable seamless transitions between learning, work, and life.
From DSC:
This is where I could see a vision similar to Learning from the Living [Class] Room come into play. It would provide a highly affordable, accessible platform, that would offer more choice, and more control to learners of all ages. It would be available 24×7 and would be a platform that supports lifelong learning. It would combine a variety of AI-enabled functionalities with human expertise, teaching, training, motivation, and creativity.
It could be that what comes out of this challenge will lay the groundwork for a future, massive new learning platform.
![The Living [Class] Room -- by Daniel Christian -- July 2012 -- a second device used in conjunction with a Smart/Connected TV](http://danielschristian.com/learning-ecosystems/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/The-Living-Class-Room-Daniel-S-Christian-July-2012.jpg)
Also see:
- Office of Edtech Wants Help Making Sense of All Those Higher Ed Providers — from edsurge.com by Sydney Johnson
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On 05/23/2018,
in assessment, attention, blended learning, colleges, community colleges, corporate universities / corporate training, Daniel S. Christian, education, engagement / engaging students, face-to-face, higher education, hybrid learning, ideas, K-12 related, learning, learning ecosystem, learning theories, Lifelong learning, memory, online learning, productivity / tips and tricks, research, strategy, student-related, teachers, teaching & learning, teaching online,
by Daniel Christian
“Retrieval practice” is a learning strategy where we focus on getting information out. Through the act of retrieval, or calling information to mind, our memory for that information is strengthened and forgetting is less likely to occur. Retrieval practice is a powerful tool for improving learning without more technology, money, or class time.
On this website (and in our free Retrieval Practice Guide), we discuss how to use retrieval practice to improve learning. Established by nearly 100 years of research, retrieval practice is a simple and powerful technique to transform teaching and learning.
In order to improve learning, we must approach it through a new lens – let’s focus not on getting information “in,” but on getting information “out.”
What is retrieval practice?
Retrieval practice is a strategy in which bringing information to mind enhances and boosts learning. Deliberately recalling information forces us to pull our knowledge “out” and examine what we know.For instance, recalling an answer to a science question improves learning to a greater extent than looking up the answer in a textbook. And having to actually recall and write down an answer to a flashcard improves learning more than thinking that you know the answer and flipping the card over prematurely.
Often, we think we’ve learned some piece of information, but we come to realize we struggle when we try to recall the answer. It’s precisely this “struggle” or challenge that improves our memory and learning – by trying to recall information, we exercise or strengthen our memory, and we can also identify gaps in our learning.
Note that cognitive scientists used to refer to retrieval practice as “the testing effect.” Prior research examined the fascinating finding that tests (or short quizzes) dramatically improve learning. More recently, researchers have demonstrated that more than simply tests and quizzes improve learning: flashcards, practice problems, writing prompts, etc. are also powerful tools for improving learning.
Whether this powerful strategy is called retrieval practice or the testing effect, it is important to keep in mind that the act of pulling information “out” from our minds dramatically improves learning, not the tests themselves. In other words retrieval is the active process we engage in to boost learning; tests and quizzes are merely methods to promote retrieval.
Also on that site:
Learn more about this valuable book with our:
- Summaries of each chapter in Make it Stick
- Sketchnotes by Krystyna Gadd and Mary Kemper
- Recommended research articles by leading experts
Also on that site:
Excerpt from the Interleaved Mathematics Practice guide (on page 8 of 13):
Interleaved practice gives students a chance to choose a strategy.
When practice problems are arranged so that consecutive problems cannot be solved by the same strategy, students are forced to choose a strategy on the basis of the problem itself. This gives students a chance to both choose and use a strategy.…
Interleaved practice works.
In several randomized control studies, students who received mostly interleaved practice scored higher on a final test than did students who received mostly blocked practice.
From DSC:
Speaking of resources regarding learning…why don’t we have posters in all of our schools, colleges, community colleges, universities, vocational training centers, etc. that talk about the most effective strategies to learn about new things?
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On 04/20/2018,
in 21st century, business, corporate / business world, future, global / globalization, IBM, ideas, innovation, leadership, platforms, reinvent, staying relevant, strategy, surviving, vision, workplace,
by Daniel Christian
Incumbents Strike Back: Insights from the Global C-suite Study — by the IBM Institute for Business Value
Excerpts:
Dancing with disruption
Incumbents hit their stride
We explore the forces at play in shaping the current competitive environment, the opportunities emerging, and how a balance between stability and dynamism favors the Reinventors.
Trust in the journey
The path to personalization
Here we show how the Reinventors as design thinkers are testing their assumptions and re-orienting their organizations to engage their customers and create bonds based on trust.
Orchestrating the future
The pull of platform business models
This section reveals the step change in capability that occurs as organizations scale their partner networks in new ways. We chart how organizations will need to reconsider their value propositions and allocation of resources to own or participate in platforms.
Innovation in motion
Agility for the enterprise
We delineate how leaders are liberating their employees to experiment and innovate, get up close to customers and thrive in an ever-evolving ecosystem of dynamic teams and partnerships.
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On 04/18/2018,
in business, change, collaboration, communications, corporate / business world, IT in HE, listening, strategy, Using teams, workplace,
by Daniel Christian
12 bad communication habits to break in IT — from enterprisersproject.com by Carla Rudder
Do you start conversations on the wrong note? Deliver the right message at the wrong time? CIOs share the communication traps that hold individuals and teams back
Excerpt:
Time and time again, CIOs and IT leaders tell us that communication is key to driving great business results. Whether IT leaders are grappling with digital transformation, trying to improve DevOps results, or leading IT culture change, communication often becomes a make-or-break factor in their ability to succeed.
But, like other “soft skills” and emotional intelligence competencies, communication skills aren’t easy to master. And over time, many people fall into bad communication habits that never get repaired.
We asked business and IT leaders to share some of the worst communication practices that hold individuals and teams back. If you are working on increasing transparency between IT and other teams, consider this your checklist for what NOT to do. Also, if you’re a rising IT leader who wants to shine in the eyes of the CIO, listen up…
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On 04/16/2018,
in change, changing business models, computer science, content development, corporate universities / corporate training, experimentation, face-to-face, future of higher education, game-changing environment, generational differences, higher education, ideas, learning ecosystem, Lifelong learning, Michigan, MOOCs -- Massive Open Online Courses, new business models, online learning, platforms, programming, reinvent, society, staying relevant, strategy, student-related, surviving, training / L&D, trends, United States, universities, workplace,
by Daniel Christian
Transforming the Postsecondary Professional Education Experience — from by Mary Grush & Thomas Finholt
Excerpt:
So, among other factors currently influencing change, those are the predominate ones. I’ll sum it up this way: The tried-and-true residential model has worked so far, but a number of factors are forcing transformation: emerging technologies, new expectations about when learning will occur in a student’s lifespan, and the introduction of a whole new population of students that had never been imagined before.
…
Grush: What are your latest efforts or experiments in new professional education offerings that you see as part of this transformation? When did you make a start and what impacts do you see so far?
Finholt: The biggest transformation for us to date has been our entry into the MOOC space. That movement began with a few small trials, but it’s now rapidly expanding and may include, ultimately, full degree offerings. I would describe our period of experimentation with MOOCs to have started in 2013, gaining especially significant momentum in the past two years. Over the next couple of years, our efforts will expand even more dramatically, if we elect to offer fully online degrees. As a measure of the magnitude of impact of MOOCs so far, one of our MOOC specializations in the Python programming language is among the most popular offerings on Coursera — I believe that it has reached more than a million learners at this point. A significant fraction of those learners have opted to sit for an exam to get a certificate in Python programming.
One is, as announced at the March 6th Coursera meeting, that we have joined in a partnership with Coursera and the University of Michigan’s Office of Academic Innovation to design and get approved, a brand-new online master’s degree in Applied Data Science.
From DSC:
Mary and Thomas’ solid article reminds me of a graphic I put together a while back:
“The process of obtaining postgraduate credentials is becoming something that one works on over the entire span of one’s career… Working professionals will have an array of punctuated intervals, if you will — periods of time when they work intensively to update their credentials.” (source)
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On 04/07/2018,
in creativity, ideas, innovation, leadership, organizational change, pedagogy, productivity / tips and tricks, psychology, strategy, vision,
by Daniel Christian
Better Brainstorming — from hbr.org by Hal Gregersen
Excerpt:
Brainstorming for questions, not answers, wasn’t something I’d tried before.
…
Underlying the approach is a broader recognition that fresh questions often beget novel—even transformative—insights. Consider this example from the field of psychology: Before 1998 virtually all well-trained psychologists focused on attacking the roots of mental disorders and deficits, on the assumption that well-being came down to the absence of those negative conditions. But then Martin Seligman became president of the American Psychological Association, and he reframed things for his colleagues. What if, he asked in a speech at the APA’s annual meeting, well-being is just as driven by the presence of certain positive conditions—keys to flourishing that could be recognized, measured, and cultivated? With that question, the positive psychology movement was born.
…
Brainstorming for questions rather than answers makes it easier to push past cognitive biases and venture into uncharted territory.
…
The methodology I’ve developed is essentially a process for recasting problems in valuable new ways. It helps people adopt a more creative habit of thinking and, when they’re looking for breakthroughs, gives them a sense of control. There’s actually something they can do other than sit and wait for a bolt from the blue. Here, I’ll describe how and why this approach works. You can use it anytime you (in a group or individually) are feeling stuck or trying to imagine new possibilities. And if you make it a regular practice in your organization, it can foster a stronger culture of collective problem solving and truth seeking.
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