United States

LERs Are Hot. What Are States Going To Do With Them?

Governors and state leaders are concerned about the current labor shortage, occurring during a time when many skilled workers are underemployed or even unemployed. Skills-based approaches to hiring and recruiting can shift that dynamic—making pathways to good careers accessible to a wider segment of the workforce and opening up new pools of talent for employers. They do so by focusing on what workers know and can do, not on the degrees or credentials they’ve earned.

That’s the theory. But a lot hinges on how things actually play out on the ground.

Technology will play a key role, and many states have zeroed in on learning and employment records—essentially digital resumes with verified records of people’s skills, educational experiences, and work histories—as an essential tool. A lot of important work is going into the technical design and specifications.

This project, on the other hand, aims to take a step back and look at the current state of play when it comes to the use cases for LERs. Just a few of the key questions:

How might employers, education providers, government agencies, and workers themselves actually use them? Will they?
In what areas do state policymakers have the most influence over key stakeholders and the most responsibility to invest?
What actions are needed now to ensure that LERs, and skills-based hiring more broadly, actually widen access to good jobs—rather than setting up a parallel system that perpetuates many of today’s inequities?

34 Big Ideas that will change our world in 2024 — from linkedin.com

Excerpts:

6. ChatGPT’s hype will fade, as a new generation of tailor-made bots rises up
11. We’ll finally turn the corner on teacher pay in 2024
21. Employers will combat job applicants’ use of AI with…more AI
31. Universities will view the creator economy as a viable career path

Announcing a new podcast: Online Education Across the Atlantic [Hill & Morgan]

On 12/06/2023, in education technology, global / globalization, online learning, podcasting, professional development, UK, United States, by Daniel Christian

New Podcast and An Update on TPS — from onedtech.philhillaa.com by Phil Hill (and Glenda Morgan)
Announcing a new podcast: Online Education Across the Atlantic

Morgan and I are working to ensure that our coverage of EdTech and online education is more global in nature, avoiding the pitfall of looking only in the US bubble. Yesterday’s post on the OEB conference is one example of this scope.

We’re happy to announce that we are working with UK-based Neil Mosley, who is one of our favorite writers on EdTech, on a new podcast. Online Education Across the Atlantic intentionally takes a broader view of education trends, and it is available with Apple, Spotify, Google, or any of your favorite podcast players. The links below go to Apple, but you can use your favorite with the links above.

When Educators and Employers Work Together, Students Succeed [Fuller & Raman]

On 12/06/2023, in career development, collaboration, colleges, community colleges, corporate / business world, corporate universities / corporate training, Daniel S. Christian, experimentation, faculty/staff, higher education, ideas, instructional design, skills, student-related, United States, universities, workplace, by Daniel Christian

When Educators and Employers Work Together, Students Succeed — from hbsp.harvard.edu by Joseph Fuller and Manjari Raman

(Emphasis below from DSC)

Last year, in “The Partnership Imperative,” we put forth a set of more than 40 best practices that employers and educators can use to develop a close collaboration. As part of that effort, we identified three main goals and laid out strategies for achieving each.

Partner with each other to offer training and education that is aligned with industry needs. (DSC: Similar to how Instructional Designers want alignment with learning objectives, learning activities, and assessments of learning.)
Establish relationships with each other that result in the recruitment and hiring of students and graduates.
Make supply-and-demand decisions that are informed by the latest data and trends.

From DSC:
Under #1, their strategies include:

Cocreate and regularly update college curriculums so that they reflect relevant technical and foundational skills based on industry needs. Codesign programs that fit with students’ lives and industry hiring cycles. Incorporate classroom experiences that simulate real-world settings and scenarios.

I see AI being able to identify what those changing, currently sought-after, and foundational skills are based on industry needs (which shouldn’t be hard, and vendors like Microsoft are already doing this by combing through the posted job descriptions on their platforms). These findings/results will help build regularly updated learning playlists and should provide guidance to learning-related organizations/groups/individuals/teams on what content to develop and offer (i.e., courses/learning modules/micro-learning-based streams of content, other).

3 Questions for Deborah Dougherty on Higher Ed’s Past and Future [Kim & Dougherty]

On 12/01/2023, in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, business side of he, changing business models, colleges, community colleges, cost of getting a degree, higher education, learning ecosystem, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, Michigan, new business models, United States, universities, vision/possibilities, by Daniel Christian

3 Questions for Deborah Dougherty on Higher Ed’s Past and Future — from insidehighered.com by Joshua Kim
A conversation with the director of the Andison Center for Teaching Excellence at Alma College about higher ed in 2060.

From DSC:
I was hoping to see a bit more from Deborah’s answer to where she sees higher education (including Alma College) might end up 35 years from now. Her answer seemed like business as usual — the status quo. Nothing will change (hopefully, in her perspective). If that’s the case, many will be shut out of higher education. We can do better. I don’t mean to bash a residential, liberal arts, collegiate experience. I worked for such an institution for 10 years! But it needs to be augmented. New business models. More access.

Butler University launches two-year college with degrees free to most students — from chalkbeat.org by MJ Slaby

Students can earn an associate degree from Butler University at no cost to them, and continue on to earn a bachelor’s degree for $10,000, thanks to a new program.

On Friday, Butler announced it is opening a new two-year college on campus that will offer associate degrees in business and allied health. The program will start enrolling students in fall 2025.

The program is focused on Indianapolis-area students from low-income backgrounds, including students who are undocumented. The university said in its Friday announcement that it wants to make college more accessible and affordable for previously underserved students, and help them navigate the college-going process.

Exploring blockchain’s potential impact on the education sector — from e27.co by Moch Akbar Azzihad M
By the year 2024, the application of blockchain technology is anticipated to have a substantial influence on the education sector

Areas mentioned include:

Credentials that are both secure and able to be verified
Records of accomplishments that are not hidden
Enrollment process that is both streamlined and automated
Storage of information that is both secure and decentralised
Financing and decentralised operations

Can new AI help to level up the scales of justice? — from gtlaw.com.au by Peter Waters, Jason Oliver, and David Baddeley

So asks a recent study by two academics from Stanford Law School, David Freeman Engstrom and Nora Freeman Engstrom, on the potential impact of AI on the civil litigation landscape in the US.

It is against this landscape, the study observes, that champions of legal tech have suggested that there is an opportunity for legal tech to “democratise” litigation and put litigation’s “haves” and “have nots” on a more equal footing, by arming smaller firms and sole practitioners with the tools necessary to do battle against their better resourced opponents, and cutting the cost of legal services, putting lawyers within reach of a wider swathe of people.

But is this a real opportunity, and will AI be key to its realisation?
…
However, while AI may reduce the justice gap between the “haves” and “have-nots” of litigation, it could also exacerbate existing inequalities.

From DSC:
While this article approaches things from the lawyer’s viewpoint, I’d like to see this question and the use of AI from the common man’s/woman’s viewpoint. Why? In order to provide FAR GREATER access to justice (#A2J) for those who can’t afford a lawyer as they head into the civil law courtrooms.

Should I take my case to court? Do I have a chance to win this case? If so, how?
What forms do I need to complete if I’m going to go to court?
When and how do I address the judge?
What does my landlord have to do?
How do I prevent myself from falling into a debt-collection mess and/or what options do I have to get out of this mess?
Are there any lawyers in my area who would take my case on a pro bono basis?
…and judges and lawyers — as well as former litigants — could add many more questions (and answers) to this list

Bottom line:
It is my hope that technology can help increase access to justice.

Also relevant/see:

Virtual Justice? Exploring AI’s impact on legal accessibility — from nortonrosefulbright.com by Chris Owen and Mary-Frances Murphy

Excerpt (emphasis DSC):

A number of products are already under development, or have been launched. One example is a project that Norton Rose Fulbright is working on, together with not-for-profit legal service Justice Connect. The scope is to develop an automated natural language processing AI model that seeks to interpret the ‘everyday’ language used by clients in order to identify the client’s legal issues and correctly diagnose their legal problem. This tool is aimed at addressing the struggles that individuals often face in deciphering legal jargon and understanding the nature of their legal issue and the type of lawyer, or legal support, they need to resolve that problem.

Instructional Designers as Institutional Change Agents [Bond, Lockee, & Blevins]

On 11/27/2023, in change, changing business models, colleges, community colleges, higher education, innovation, instructional design, leadership, learning, learning ecosystem, Learning Experience Design, liberal arts, reinvent, strategy, teaching & learning, United States, universities, by Daniel Christian

Instructional Designers as Institutional Change Agents — from er.educause.edu/ by Aaron Bond, Barb Lockee and Samantha Blevins

Systems thinking and change strategies can be used to improve the overall functioning of a system. Because instructional designers typically use systems thinking to facilitate behavioral changes and improve institutional performance, they are uniquely positioned to be change agents at higher education institutions.

In higher education, instructional designers are often seen as “change agents” because they help to facilitate behavioral changes and improve performance at their institutions. Due to their unique position of influence among higher education leaders and faculty and their use of systems thinking, instructional designers can help bridge institutional priorities and the specific needs of various stakeholders. COVID-19 and the switch to emergency remote teaching raised awareness of the critical services instructional designers provide, including preparing faculty to teach—and students to learn—in well-designed learning environments. Today, higher education institutions increasingly rely on the experience and expertise of instructional designers.

Figure 1. How Instructional Designers Employ Systems Thinking
.

Expanding Bard’s understanding of YouTube videos — via AI Valley

What: We’re taking the first steps in Bard’s ability to understand YouTube videos. For example, if you’re looking for videos on how to make olive oil cake, you can now also ask how many eggs the recipe in the first video requires.
Why: We’ve heard you want deeper engagement with YouTube videos. So we’re expanding the YouTube Extension to understand some video content so you can have a richer conversation with Bard about it.

Reshaping the tree: rebuilding organizations for AI — from oneusefulthing.org by Ethan Mollick
Technological change brings organizational change.

I am not sure who said it first, but there are only two ways to react to exponential change: too early or too late. Today’s AIs are flawed and limited in many ways. While that restricts what AI can do, the capabilities of AI are increasing exponentially, both in terms of the models themselves and the tools these models can use. It might seem too early to consider changing an organization to accommodate AI, but I think that there is a strong possibility that it will quickly become too late.

From DSC:
Readers of this blog have seen the following graphic for several years now, but there is no question that we are in a time of exponential change. One would have had an increasingly hard time arguing the opposite of this perspective during that time.

Nvidia’s revenue triples as AI chip boom continues — from cnbc.com by Jordan Novet; via GSV

KEY POINTS

Nvidia’s results surpassed analysts’ projections for revenue and income in the fiscal fourth quarter.
Demand for Nvidia’s graphics processing units has been exceeding supply, thanks to the rise of generative artificial intelligence.
Nvidia announced the GH200 GPU during the quarter.

Here’s how the company did, compared to the consensus among analysts surveyed by LSEG, formerly known as Refinitiv:

Earnings: $4.02 per share, adjusted, vs. $3.37 per share expected
Revenue: $18.12 billion, vs. $16.18 billion expected

Nvidia’s revenue grew 206% year over year during the quarter ending Oct. 29, according to a statement. Net income, at $9.24 billion, or $3.71 per share, was up from $680 million, or 27 cents per share, in the same quarter a year ago.

DC: Anyone surprised? This is why the U.S. doesn’t want high-powered chips going to China. History repeats itself…again. The ways of the world/power continue on.

Pentagon’s AI initiatives accelerate hard decisions on lethal autonomous weapons https://t.co/PTDmJugiE2

— Daniel Christian (he/him/his) (@dchristian5) November 27, 2023

Why Entrepreneurship Might Save Our Kids—and the Rest of Us. — from gettingsmart.com by Katie Kimbrell

Key Points (emphasis DSC):

We need to be asking our students “How did you put your ideas into the world today?”.
To be human is to be entrepreneurial.

One of my favorite mom friends asks her young school-aged kids every day, “What did you make today?”

I love how subtly subversive this question is. Not, “How was school today?” “Were you good today?” or, “How’s [insert school subject] going?” But, “How did you put your ideas out into the world today?”

That simple question understands this fundamental truth: to be human is to create, to employ our imaginations and partake in forming the world we want to live in.

Microschool in a Box: Programs Enabling the Microschool Movement — from gettingsmart.com by Nate McClennen

Key Points

Microschools are not new. In fact, they are as old as learning itself.
Funding and operations can be difficult within a microschool model. Programs and other organizations can support planning, design and implementation.

Microschools are meeting strong market demand for more personalized, more contextualized and more relevant learning for every student. Programs like ASU Prep’s Microschool in a Box make it possible for more learners to become future-ready with access to affordable, relational microschool learning.

Nate McClennen

The Science of Classroom Design — from edutopia.org by Youki Terada and Stephen Merrill
Our comprehensive, all-in, research-based look at the design of effective learning spaces.

Topics include:

Light
Ventilation and air quality
Complexity and color
Data walls
Nature, plants, and greenery
Representation
- Students can experience representation in classrooms by seeing their own or peers’ artifacts on walls and in shared virtual spaces, or by being exposed to images and references that mirror their interests, passions, and backgrounds.
Flexibility
Learning differences and neurodivergence
Heat
Acoustics/noise
Seating arrangements
Learning Zones

Addendum on 12/1/23:

Amazon aims to provide free AI skills training to 2 million people by 2025 [Sivasubramanian]

On 11/22/2023, in Amazon, Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, corporate / business world, education, platforms, programming, skills, training / L&D, United States, youth, by Daniel Christian

Amazon aims to provide free AI skills training to 2 million people by 2025 with its new ‘AI Ready’ commitment — from aboutamazon.com by Swami Sivasubramanian

Artificial intelligence (AI) is the most transformative technology of our generation. If we are going to unlock the full potential of AI to tackle the world’s most challenging problems, we need to make AI education accessible to anyone with a desire to learn.

That’s why Amazon is announcing “AI Ready,” a new commitment designed to provide free AI skills training to 2 million people globally by 2025. To achieve this goal, we’re launching new initiatives for adults and young learners, and scaling our existing free AI training programs—removing cost as a barrier to accessing these critical skills.

From DSC:
While this will likely serve Amazon just fine, it’s still an example of the leadership of a corporation seeking to help others out.

From NPR: The Student Podcast Challenge

On 11/22/2023, in digital audio, digital storytelling, K-12 related, more voice more choice more control, multimedia, podcasting, student-related, United States, youth, by Daniel Christian

We’re inviting students from around the country to make a podcast and compete for a chance to have their work featured on NPR.

Students in fifth grade through college are eligible to participate, but the rules vary depending on your grade.

Make your voice heard! Be a part of NPR’s Student Podcast Challenge!

From DSC:
The recent drama over at OpenAI reminds me of how important a few individuals are in influencing the lives of millions of people.

We have reached an agreement in principle for Sam Altman to return to OpenAI as CEO with a new initial board of Bret Taylor (Chair), Larry Summers, and Adam D’Angelo.

We are collaborating to figure out the details. Thank you so much for your patience through this.

— OpenAI (@OpenAI) November 22, 2023

The C-Suites (i.e., the Chief Executive Officers, Chief Financial Officers, Chief Operating Officers, and the like) of companies like OpenAI, Alphabet (Google), Meta (Facebook), Microsoft, Netflix, NVIDIA, Amazon, Apple, and a handful of others have enormous power. Why? Because of the enormous power and reach of the technologies that they create, market, and provide.

We need to be praying for the hearts of those in the C-Suites of these powerful vendors — as well as for their Boards.

LORD, grant them wisdom and help mold their hearts and perspectives so that they truly care about others. May their decisions not be based on making money alone…or doing something just because they can.

What happens in their hearts and minds DOES and WILL continue to impact the rest of us. And we’re talking about real ramifications here. This isn’t pie-in-the-sky thinking or ideas. This is for real. With real consequences. If you doubt that, go ask the families of those whose sons and daughters took their own lives due to what happened out on social media platforms. Disclosure: I use LinkedIn and Twitter quite a bit. I’m not bashing these platforms per se. But my point is that there are real impacts due to a variety of technologies. What goes on in the hearts and minds of the leaders of these tech companies matters.

Some relevant items:

Navigating Attention-Driving Algorithms, Capturing the Premium of Proximity for Virtual Teams, & New AI Devices — from implactions.com by Scott Belsky

Excerpts (emphasis DSC):

No doubt, technology influences us in many ways we don’t fully understand. But one area where valid concerns run rampant is the attention-seeking algorithms powering the news and media we consume on modern platforms that efficiently polarize people. Perhaps we’ll call it The Law of Anger Expansion: When people are angry in the age of algorithms, they become MORE angry and LESS discriminate about who and what they are angry at.
…
Algorithms that optimize for grabbing attention, thanks to AI, ultimately drive polarization.
…
The AI learns quickly that a rational or “both sides” view is less likely to sustain your attention (so you won’t get many of those, which drives the sensation that more of the world agrees with you). But the rage-inducing stuff keeps us swiping.

Our feeds are being sourced in ways that dramatically change the content we’re exposed to.

And then these algorithms expand on these ultimately destructive emotions – “If you’re afraid of this, maybe you should also be afraid of this” or “If you hate those people, maybe you should also hate these people.”
…
How do we know when we’ve been polarized? This is the most important question of the day.
…
Whatever is inflaming you is likely an algorithm-driven expansion of anger and an imbalance of context.

WOW!!! “The [OpenAI] board no longer has confidence in [Sam Altman’s] ability to continue leading OpenAI.”

On 11/17/2023, in Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, change, corporate / business world, Daniel S. Christian, ethics, hearts -- matters of the heart, leadership, morals/values, United States, vendors, by Daniel Christian

OpenAI announces leadership transition — from openai.com
Chief technology officer Mira Murati appointed interim CEO to lead OpenAI; Sam Altman departs the company. Search process underway to identify permanent successor.

Excerpt (emphasis DSC):

The board of directors of OpenAI, Inc., the 501(c)(3) that acts as the overall governing body for all OpenAI activities, today announced that Sam Altman will depart as CEO and leave the board of directors. Mira Murati, the company’s chief technology officer, will serve as interim CEO, effective immediately.
…
Mr. Altman’s departure follows a deliberative review process by the board, which concluded that he was not consistently candid in his communications with the board, hindering its ability to exercise its responsibilities. The board no longer has confidence in his ability to continue leading OpenAI.

…
As a part of this transition, Greg Brockman will be stepping down as chairman of the board and will remain in his role at the company, reporting to the CEO.

From DSC:
I’m not here to pass judgment, but all of us on planet Earth should be at least concerned with this disturbing news.

AI is one of the most powerful set of emerging technologies on the planet right now. OpenAI is arguably the most powerful vendor/innovator/influencer/leader in that space. And Sam Altman is was the face of OpenAI — and arguably for AI itself. So this is a big deal.

What concerns me is what is NOT being relayed in this posting:

What was being hidden from OpenAI’s Board?
What else doesn’t the public know?
Why is Greg Brockman stepping down as Chairman of the Board?

To whom much is given, much is expected.

Also related/see:

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman ousted, shocking AI world — from washingtonpost.com by Gerrit De Vynck and Nitasha Tiku
The artificial intelligence company’s directors said he was not ‘consistently candid in his communications with the board’

Altman’s sudden departure sent shock waves through the technology industry and the halls of government, where he had become a familiar presence in debates over the regulation of AI. His rise and apparent fall from tech’s top rung is one of the fastest in Silicon Valley history. In less than a year, he went from being Bay Area famous as a failed start-up founder who reinvented himself as a popular investor in small companies to becoming one of the most influential business leaders in the world. Journalists, politicians, tech investors and Fortune 500 CEOs alike had been clamoring for his attention.

OpenAI’s Board Pushes Out Sam Altman, Its High-Profile C.E.O. — from nytimes.com by Cade Metz

Sam Altman, the high-profile chief executive of OpenAI, who became the face of the tech industry’s artificial intelligence boom, was pushed out of the company by its board of directors, OpenAI said in a blog post on Friday afternoon.

From DSC:
Updates — I just saw these items

After learning today’s news, this is the message I sent to the OpenAI team: https://t.co/NMnG16yFmm pic.twitter.com/8x39P0ejOM

— Greg Brockman (@gdb) November 18, 2023

.
Sam Altman fired as CEO of OpenAI — from theverge.com by Jay Peters
In a sudden move, Altman is leaving after the company’s board determined that he ‘was not consistently candid in his communications.’ President and co-founder Greg Brockman has also quit.

As you saw at Microsoft Ignite this week, we’re continuing to rapidly innovate for this era of AI, with over 100 announcements across the full tech stack – from AI systems, models, and tools in Azure, to Copilot. Most importantly, we’re committed to delivering all of this to our…

— Satya Nadella (@satyanadella) November 17, 2023

“edX & Jobs for the Future Offer Free MicroBachelors Programs” [Lucariello] + other items re: higher education in general

On 11/17/2023, in colleges, community colleges, higher education, K-12 related, learning ecosystem, MOOCs -- Massive Open Online Courses, trends, United States, universities, vendors, by Daniel Christian

Unpacking 3 major trends in ed tech and for-profit education — from highereddive.com by Natalie Schwartz
CEOs of major companies recently told investors how they fared in their most recent financial quarters, offering insight into the broader higher ed sector.

Education companies double down on degree programs
…
These programs allow Coursera users to count open courses they complete on the platform toward credit for degree programs. Students can also be admitted to degree programs based on their performance in these courses,Maggioncalda said.

Coursera recently announced it had built several of these pathways to master’s degrees offered by Illinois Tech. Coursera users can now complete professional certificates offered on the website — including from Google, IBM and Meta — as credit toward these programs.

Report Finds Students Struggling with Being Prepared for Courses and Increasingly Turning to Generative AI, Social Media to Study — from campustechnology.com by Kate Lucariello

In its second annual 2023 “Study Trends Report,” McGraw Hill found that college students were feeling unprepared for their courses, but also that they have turned to generative AI and social media to study and would like more learning resources in a similar format.

The study, conducted by Morning Consult between July 18 and Aug. 11, 2023, surveyed 500 undergraduate college students and 200 college instructors. Some of the key findings include:

The Plot To Kill Shop Class — by Ryan Craig

I suspect College Board may be trying to repent for its original sin: killing vocational education. Now known as career and technical education (CTE), America’s college-or-bust mentality has long relegated CTE to a shadowy corner of high school.
…
But make no mistake: the College Board’s fingerprints are on the weapon that killed CTE. College Board launched Advanced Placement courses in 1955 with 500 students across 18 elite schools like Andover, Bronx Science, and Newton High School. The original idea was guiltless: more challenging curricula for gifted and talented students to accelerate the development of leaders and win the Cold War. But it soon became clear that AP’s primary purpose would be to give students a leg up in competitive college admissions; as early as 1960, Exeter worried about “a dangerous tendency to regard advanced placement teachers and students as an elite worthy of special praise.”

When College Board’s primary source of revenue (and profits) is AP courses and demand for AP is driven by a weighted GPA formula that discriminates against all other forms of education, any attempt to create a level playing field between career discovery and college is window dressing: CTE theater. College Board knows which side its bread is buttered on (hint: it’s in its name).

2U, USC Curtail Online Partnership — from insidehighered.com by Doug Lederman
Southern California and the online program manager will part ways on master’s degrees that became a target of scrutiny because of their high price.

Which makes it fitting, perhaps, that Thursday 2U and USC announced that that they would largely wind down their 15-year partnership, which in the eyes of consumer advocates and some journalists had come to exemplify how involving companies intimately in the delivery of education could undermine, rather than expand, access and affordability to higher education.

edX and Jobs for the Future Offer Free MicroBachelors Programs — from campustechnology.com by Kate Lucariello

Three MicroBachelor programs are currently available:

Statistics Fundamentals and Mathematics and Statistics Fundamentals from The London School of Economics;
Marketing Essentials and Business and Professional Communication for Success from Doane University; and
Full Stack Application Development from IBM.

PROOF POINTS: Professors say high school math doesn’t prepare most students for their college majors — from hechingerreport.org

Learning Ecosystems

Learning and Employment Records [National Governors Association]

Announcing a new podcast: Online Education Across the Atlantic [Hill & Morgan]

3 Questions for Deborah Dougherty on Higher Ed’s Past and Future [Kim & Dougherty]

Can new AI help to level up the scales of justice? [Waters, Oliver, & Baddeley]

Instructional Designers as Institutional Change Agents [Bond, Lockee, & Blevins]

Categories

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From DSC: The recent drama over at OpenAI reminds me of how important a few individuals are in influencing the lives of millions of people.

Categories

Tags

From DSC:
The recent drama over at OpenAI reminds me of how important a few individuals are in influencing the lives of millions of people.