Excerpt:

Implementing UDL with a Focus on Accessibility
UDL is a proven methodology that benefits all students, but when instructors embrace universal design, they need to consider how their decisions will affect students with disabilities.

Some key considerations to keep in mind:

Instructional materials should not require a certain type of sensory perception.
A presentation that includes images should have accurate alternative text (also called alt text) for those images.
Transcripts and captions should be provided for all audio content.
Color alone should not be used to convey information, since some students may not perceive color (or have different cultural understandings of colors).
Student presentations should also follow accessibility guidelines. This increases the student’s workload, but it’s an excellent opportunity to teach the importance of accessibility.

Homeschooling high school with interest-led learning — from raisinglifelonglearners.com by Colleen Kessler

Excerpt:

There is a misconception that interest-led learning is not appropriate for a high school education in your homeschool. The good news is that all the same benefits of interest-led learning still apply in the middle and high school years.
…
Think of an interest-led homeschool as one that functions more as a college than a high school. Just as a college student declares a major and the bulk of their study is in that topic area with supplemental general education, your interest-led high school can function the same way.

Allowing interests to guide the educational path you take in your high school has tremendous benefits including:

- Less resistance
- Less learner anxiety
- Increased self-confidence in learning
- More in-depth studies in topics of interest
- Self-motivated learning that can be applied in later college and career settings

TL;DR: Women prefer text contributions over talk in remote classes — from highereddive.com by Laura Spitalniak (BTW, TL;DR: is short for “too long; didn’t read”)

Dive Brief (emphasis DSC):

Female students show a stronger preference for contributing to remote classes via text chat than their male counterparts, according to peer-reviewed research published in PLOS One, an open-access journal.
Researchers also found all students were more likely to use the chat function to support or amplify their peers’ comments than to diminish them.
Given these findings, the researchers suggested incorporating text chats into class discussions could boost female participation in large introductory science classrooms, where women are less likely to participate than men.

“10 Must Read Books for Learning Designers” [Garg] + “10 must-read tech books for 2023” [Sanders]

On 11/29/2022, in adjunct faculty, Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, Bias | Diversity Equity & Inclusion (DE&I), cloud-based computing / apps / other cloud-related, colleges, community colleges, computer science, corporate universities / corporate training, data related items, education, emerging technologies, ethics, faculty/staff, future, higher education, human-computer interaction (HCI), instructional design, K-12 related, learning, learning ecosystem, Learning Experience Design, learning theories, memory, Microsoft, pedagogy, personalized/customized learning, productivity / tips and tricks, research, student-related, teachers, teaching & learning, technology (general), training / L&D, universities, by Daniel Christian

10 Must Read Books for Learning Designers — from linkedin.com by Amit Garg

Excerpt:

From the 45+ #books that I’ve read in last 2 years here are my top 10 recommendations for #learningdesigners or anyone in #learninganddevelopment

Speaking of recommended books (but from a more technical perspective this time), also see:

10 must-read tech books for 2023 — from enterprisersproject.com by Katie Sanders (Editorial Team)
Get new thinking on the technologies of tomorrow – from AI to cloud and edge – and the related challenges for leaders

Empty Classrooms, Abandoned Kids: Inside America’s Great Teacher Resignation [Walton & Pollock]

On 11/29/2022, in career development, Design Thinking, education, education reform, K-12 related, staying relevant, student-related, teachers, UK, United States, youth, by Daniel Christian

Empty Classrooms, Abandoned Kids: Inside America’s Great Teacher Resignation— from nytimes.com; video by Agnes Walton and Nic Pollock

Excerpt:

A survey of National Education Association members at the beginning of the year revealed an unsettling truth: More than half of the respondents said they were looking for a way out. That’s an astounding number of unhappy teachers. If they all quit, it would leave millions of students in the lurch.

But were these just empty threats? At the start of this school year, we spoke to over 50 educators in almost 20 states to find out. The picture they painted was far bleaker than we could have imagined: Empty classrooms, kids in crisis, and teachers who can’t survive another day on the job — that’s the reality of American education today.

And from the UK, see the following:
The word OUCH! comes to my mind here — for this item from the UK and from the above item from the US. The politicians are going to need to back off and let the teachers do their jobs. Or we may not have many people who want to go into teaching anymore. The current situation is not only bad for the teachers, it’s bad for the youth/students.

Learning in the brain — from sites.google.com by Efrat Furst; with thanks to 3-Star Learning Experiences for this resource

Excerpts:

Think of working memory as the reception counter to a huge archive.

To summarize, working memory processing resources are highly limited, and yet meaningful processing is essential for storage in long-term memory. It is therefore important to use these resources effectively when learning. There are many tested and proven effective teaching strategies, but a question that often comes up is when to apply each strategy for the best results?

Learning in the brain- not new, but newly updated:
long-term memory, working memory, interactions, and related strategies –https://t.co/mtxr74egz4 pic.twitter.com/oPC6sUYlXy

— Efrat Furst (@EfratFurst) March 6, 2022

Buyer Beware: First-Year Earnings and Debt for 37,000 College Majors at 4,400 Institutions — from cew.georgetown.edu

Summary:

Did you know that in the first year after graduation you can make more money with an associate’s degree in nursing from Santa Rosa Junior College in California than with a graduate degree from some programs at Harvard University? Data from the College Scorecard reveal many more surprising details of post-college outcomes for students and families about that all-important first year after graduation. Buyer Beware: First-Year Earnings and Debt for 37,000 College Majors at 4,400 Institutions finds that first-year earnings for the same degree in the same major can vary by $80,000 at different colleges and universities. It also reveals that workers with less education can often make more than workers with more education, and that higher levels of education do not always result in higher student loan payments.

Speaking of Georgetown, also see:

Georgetown University partners with Coursera to launch an online bachelor’s completion program for adult learners — from blog.coursera.org

In the U.S. alone, more than 39 million students leave college without a degree. Black, Latino, and Native American students are overrepresented in this population.

SCS’s program is designed to help students of all backgrounds complete their degrees and unlock their earning potential. The degree’s most recent on-campus cohort is composed of 62% students of color and 40% military-connected learners. SCS is introducing this fully online degree to scale this program to learners worldwide.

Homeschooling High School With Interest-Led Learning — from raisinglifelonglearners.com by Colleen Kessler

Excerpt:

Think of an interest-led homeschool as one that functions more as a college than a high school. Just as a college student declares a major and the bulk of their study is in that topic area with supplemental general education, your interest-led high school can function the same way.

Also relevant/see:

Interest-Led Learning in the Early Years: Preschool and Beyond — from raisinglifelonglearners.com by Colleen Kessler
Interest-Led Homeschooling: Helping Your Child Find Their Interests — from raisinglifelonglearners.com by Colleen Kessler

This approach allows you to help them develop their interests, communicate that you see their interests as valuable, and it gives your child the chance to follow their own paths of interest. It’s an outstanding way to facilitate a self-motivated, self-directed learner and thinker.

Stephen Downes’ reflection on “Every Student Needs a Learning Coach” [McClennen]

On 11/20/2022, in Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, Canada, digital learning, education, education reform, Europe, experimentation, ideas, innovation, instructional design, learning ecosystem, Learning Experience Design, online learning, personalized/customized learning, productivity / tips and tricks, student-related, teaching & learning, by Daniel Christian

Stephen Downes’ reflection on “Every Student Needs a Learning Coach” — from by Nate McClennen

Excerpt (from Stephen):

The key to making this happen, I think, is to reorganize local schooling to take advantage of online (and increasingly, AI-generated) learning services, allowing in-person educators to adopt this coaching function.

Key points from Nate’s article:

As learning becomes more personalized, learning opportunities expanded and unbounded, and learning science research more robust, an updated and revised advisory role is more important than ever.
Redefining the coaching/mentor/advisor role as the educational landscape shifts is critical to ensure success for every learner.

Also relevant to using AI in education/see:

Ethical guidelines on the use of artificial intelligence (AI) and data in teaching and learning for educators

Hidden toll: Thousands of schools fail to count homeless students [DiPierro & Mitchell]

On 11/20/2022, in education, education reform, K-12 related, parents/guardians, participation, society, sociology, student-related, United States, youth, by Daniel Christian

Hidden toll: Thousands of schools fail to count homeless students — from by Amy DiPierro and Corey Mitchell
Federal law promises homeless children an equal shot at education. Many fall through the cracks

Excerpt:

A Center for Public Integrity analysis of district-level federal education data suggests roughly 300,000 students entitled to essential rights reserved for homeless students have slipped through the cracks, unidentified by the school districts mandated to help them.

Some 2,400 districts — from regions synonymous with economic hardship to big cities and prosperous suburbs — did not report having even one homeless student despite levels of financial need that make those figures improbable.

And many more districts are likely undercounting the number of homeless students they do identify. In nearly half of states, tallies of student homelessness bear no relationship with poverty, a sign of just how inconsistent the identification of kids with unstable housing can be.

10 Ways to Give a Better Lecture — from cultofpedagogy.com by Jennifer Gonzalez

Excerpt:

It would be an understatement to say that lecturing is frowned upon in modern teaching. At this point it’s almost become a cliché: Don’t be the sage on the stage; be the guide on the side. Ideally, we should stick to supporting students through inquiry learning, cooperative learning, project-based learning, and so on. I have personally advocated for ALL of these approaches, over and over again. And I do believe that students need to be active in their learning.

But does that mean we dump lectures altogether? At a time when TED Talks and online courses are incredibly popular, when our students get at least some portion of their instruction through video-based, blended learning platforms, and when most people reading this have probably learned something useful or interesting in the last month from YouTube, aren’t we all learning from lectures all the time?

I’d argue that two factors have given lectures a bad name: overuse and poor execution. Let’s look at these issues one at a time.

In elementary classrooms, demand grows for play-based learning [Gilreath]

On 11/18/2022, in education, Emotion, engagement / engaging students, K-12 related, learning, learning ecosystem, Learning Experience Design, learning spaces, more voice more choice more control, play, relationships, skills, student-related, teachers, teaching & learning, United States, youth, by Daniel Christian

In elementary classrooms, demand grows for play-based learning — from hechingerreport.org by Ariel Gilreath
Play supporters point to improved literacy, fewer achievement gaps, and better motor skills for students

Excerpt:

It can be difficult to explain what play-based learning looks like, said Mara Krechevsky, senior researcher at Project Zero, an education research group in Harvard’s Graduate School of Education. Over the past seven years, Krechevsky and her research team have been working on a project called the Pedagogy of Play, studying play-based learning at schools in Boston, Denmark, South Africa and Colombia.

Through their research, Krechevsky’s group came up with three basic tenets for playful learning: students should be able to help lead their own learning, explore the unknown, and find joy. Under this framework, play time doesn’t have to be the reward for completing work and learning. Play can actually be the work, Krechevsky said.

Addendums on 11/20/22:

Want resilient and well-adjusted kids? Let them play — from hechingerreport.org by Jackie Mader
Research shows play has enormous learning and social benefits across all ages
Play is crucial for middle schoolers, too — from hechingerreport.org by Christina A. Samuels
Adolescents need unstructured time to build connections with other students and learn how to recover after failure
The complex world of pre-K play — from hechingerreport.org by Jackie Mader
Young kids benefit from play. But what should it look like?

Best webcams as well as wireless keyboards/mice for teachers and students [Edwards

On 11/17/2022, in A/V -- audio/visual, adjunct faculty, Apple, colleges, community colleges, corporate universities / corporate training, digital audio, digital learning, digital video, distance education, education, education technology, faculty/staff, higher education, homeschooling/homeschoolers, human-computer interaction (HCI), Hyflex learning, instructional design, IT in HE, K-12 related, learning ecosystem, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, learning hubs & pods & microschooling, learning spaces, liberal arts, Microsoft, multimedia, new media literacies, online learning, parents/guardians, platforms, presentations, productivity / tips and tricks, remote teaching and learning, student teaching/teacher education, student-related, teachers, teaching & learning, technologies for your home, tools, training / L&D, United States, universities, usability, vendors, videoconferencing, web-based collaboration, by Daniel Christian

Best Webcams for Teachers and Students — from techlearning.com by Luke Edwards
Get the best webcams for teachers and students to help with hybrid learning and more

The Logitech C922 Pro Stream was selected as the best overall webcam for educators by techlearning dot com

Best Wireless Keyboard and Mouse for Teachers 2022 — from techlearning.com by Luke Edwards
The best wireless keyboard and mouse for teachers keep you connected to devices while staying mobile

The Impact of Storytelling on Learning — from campustechnology.com by Ruth Reynard
The benefits of storytelling in teaching and learning are well established — and digital tools can help make stories more interactive, boost engagement, and convey ideas more effectively. Here’s how to make the most of technology and sidestep common mistakes in the use of storytelling for learning.

Excerpts:

Research.com provides a lot of helpful information on digital storytelling, including a breakdown of the tools and media used to tell stories or present ideas: audio capture devices (e.g. microphones and voice recorders), image capture devices (such as digital cameras and scanners), computers (with multimedia capabilities and ample storage), and digital media software (for creating and editing image, video, and audio).
…
While digital tools evolve rapidly, there are several useful tools listed for teachers and students by Med Kharbach (2022). These include:

- StoryboardThat – this storyboard design tool helps to support good design and planning for effective storytelling.
- Canva – this provides already developed templates to use in any story design and development.
- Adobe Spark – useful if you are already familiar with Adobe products.

5 items re: higher education

On 11/15/2022, in business side of he, change, colleges, community colleges, higher education, learning ecosystem, lifelong learning, student-related, surviving, United States, universities, by Daniel Christian

When Colleges Close, Students Aren’t Likely to Re-Enroll — from insidehighered.com by Johanna Alonso
Data from the National Student Clearinghouse show that fewer than half of students attending an institution that closes transfer to another institution.

Excerpt:

The study, produced by the National Student Clearinghouse and the State Higher Education Executive Officers Association, followed 143,215 students who were enrolled in 467 institutions that closed between July 1, 2004, and June 30, 2020. Those that closed generally enrolled larger populations of students of color than institutions that remained open—55 percent versus 46.4 percent—and more Pell Grant recipients as well.

Just under half the students whose institutions closed—47.1 percent—re-enrolled at another college or university. Of those who re-enrolled, only 36.8 percent went on to earn a credential; 52.9 percent dropped out, and 10.4 percent were still enrolled as of February 2022. Students of color, male students and non-traditional-aged students were the least likely to re-enroll and complete a credential.

“Once it becomes likely an institution will close, states need to ensure teach-out agreements are in place to provide all students with a pathway for completing their credentials,” the study reads. “Additionally, states need to thoroughly vet the teach-out institutions to ensure they are capable of completing the terms of the teach-out agreement and are financially viable.”

When Campuses Close, Most of Their Students Are Stuck Without the Credentials They Wanted — from chronicle.com by Katherine Mangan

Excerpt:

Nearly three-quarters of the students whose colleges closed between 2004 and 2020 were stranded without adequate warning or plans to help them finish their degrees, and fewer than half of those students ended up re-enrolling in any postsecondary programs, according to a report released Tuesday.

Hardest hit were Black and Hispanic students enrolled in for-profit institutions. “Their schools’ closing effectively closed the doors on the students’ educational dreams,” Doug Shapiro, executive director of the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center, said in a briefing with reporters.

The research center worked with the State Higher Education Executive Officers Association, also known as SHEEO, on a series of three reports that will examine the impact of college closures on students and how states can better protect those whose education plans are disrupted.

‘Universities must engage in lifelong learning’ – UNESCO — from thepienews.com by Helen Packer
The future of universities depends on their ability to provide ‘lifelong learning’ that equips non-traditional students with in-demand skills, UNESCO warned last week.

Excerpt:

David Atchoarena, director of the UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning, called on universities to engage with continuing and adult education at the first Global Lifelong Learning Summit held in Singapore in November.

“As we face salient changes in citizenship, climate change, health and wellbeing, among others, more countries are seeing the increasing importance of lifelong learning and are putting measures and strategies to make it a reality,” said Atchoarena, later adding that universities should “really define their mission so that they play their role”.

New Study Details Challenges Facing Native Students, and How to Address Them — from the74million.org by Angelique Albert
Albert: From funding for tuition to housing, food aid and financial literacy training, what schools can do to make education truly affordable

Excerpt:

A newly released National Study on College Affordability for Indigenous Students brings much-needed visibility to this disparity, which has long been ignored in the public dialogue about educational access. The report provides comprehensive data and a fresh set of powerful personal testimonies that illuminate how Native students experience the many facets of funding their college education. It offers recommendations for making higher education more financially accessible to Native students, such as providing aid for non-tuition expenses.

New Report on Re-Enrolling Adult Learners — from insidehighered.com by Sara Weissman

Excerpt:

A new report offers guidance to community college leaders seeking to re-enroll adult learners who earned academic credits but left college without a degree or credential.

The report, released today, was produced by InsideTrack, a nonprofit organization that helps institutions enroll students and improve academic outcomes through coaching. The report notes that community colleges lost almost 830,000 students nationally since spring 2020, according to National Student Clearinghouse Research Center data. Meanwhile, there are currently 39 million Americans who attended some college but never graduated.

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