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Improving the Exit Ticket (How about an Entrance Ticket instead?)

On 11/09/2022, in assessment, education, instructional design, learning, Learning Experience Design, learning theories, memory, pedagogy, student-related, teachers, teaching & learning, United States, by Daniel Christian

Improving the Exit Ticket — from theeffortfuleducator.com by Blake Harvard

Excerpts (emphasis DSC):

So, how can the exit ticket be improved upon? How can it be a more effective assessment of learning?

Allow time for forgetting. The main problem with the traditional usage of the exit ticket is that there’s no time to forget, which leads to the measuring of performance and not learning.

Opt for an entrance ticket. Instead of assessing the day’s lesson as they leave, provide students with an index card (or sticky note or whatever) on their way in the next day and assess their knowledge then. Asking those same questions twenty-four hours after the lesson is much more indicative of their true level of understanding.

From DSC:
Though not quite related to the item above, it does have to do with instructional design:

Instructional Design Mock Interview with Alyssa Clark and Min Tang — from devlinpeck.com

Post-Conference LMS Market News [Hill]

On 11/09/2022, in adjunct faculty, Canvas - and other Instructure-related items, CMS/LMS, colleges, community colleges, education technology, faculty/staff, higher education, instructional design, IT in HE, learning ecosystem, platforms, tools, United States, universities, vendors, by Daniel Christian

Post-Conference LMS Market News — from philonedtech.com by Phil Hill

Excerpt:

Educause used to be THE EdTech conference, and the LMS market news tended to deliberately coincide with the fall event – with vendors releasing news that week. The conference competition has heated up and Educause is now one among several EdTech conferences, but it does tend to remain the premier event in North American higher ed in terms of combined exhibitor booths and marketing presence.

Having seen so many LMS vendors at #Edu22 (Instructure Canvas, Google Classroom sort of, D2L Brightspace, Anthology Learn, Open LMS, Sakai, and Cypher Learning), it is worth collecting some items in one place after the conference, organized this time around market wins of significance.

DSC: Will this become a trend within higher education (i.e., more transparent, accurate pricing)?

On 11/09/2022, in business side of he, change, changing business models, colleges, community colleges, cost of getting a degree, Daniel S. Christian, future of higher education, higher education, new business models, United States, universities, by Daniel Christian

From DSC:
Will this become a trend within higher education (i.e., more transparent, accurate pricing)?

Why so many colleges have been resetting their tuition — from highereddive.com by Lilah Burke
Colby-Sawyer College is reducing its prices by 60% so tuition more accurately reflects what students pay. Other institutions are doing the same.

Excerpt:

Starting next academic year, Colby-Sawyer College will be decreasing tuition, but it’s not just shaving a few hundred dollars off its sticker price. The college is cutting its price from $46,364 to $17,500, a drop of more than 60%.

The move, said President Susan Stuebner, is intended to make more students consider attending the private New Hampshire college.

“We really recognize the need for transparency in pricing and we’re trying to align the published price more closely with what students currently pay,” she said.

But for Stuebner at Colby-Sawyer, the choice was clear.

“The pattern of higher education being on this trajectory of high-price, high-discount has just gotten so confusing for families. We’re really doing a disservice to them,” she said. “And they’re starting to push back.”

University system to explore “sprint degrees”

On 11/09/2022, in business side of he, career development, change, changing business models, experimentation, higher education, ideas, learning ecosystem, Learning Experience Design, United States, universities, vision/possibilities, by Daniel Christian

University system to explore ‘sprint degrees’ https://t.co/rfIYG6PlNR

— Daniel Christian (he/him/his) (@dchristian5) November 9, 2022

From DSC:
And while I’m adding Tweets here…

Kim: Has higher education traveled a similar stratified road as Disney?

Are test prep courses, paid admissions counselors, legacy preferences and luxury private campus residence halls the Genie+ and Lightning Lane of higher education?https://t.co/KM8I7Xo4Nw

— Daniel Christian (he/him/his) (@dchristian5) November 9, 2022

In one giant classroom, four teachers manage 135 kids – and love it [Morton]

On 11/09/2022, in accessibility / UDL, change, collaboration, education, experimentation, ideas, instructional design, K-12 related, learning ecosystem, Learning Experience Design, more voice more choice more control, neurodivergent/special needs, teachers, teaching & learning, United States, using teams, by Daniel Christian

In one giant classroom, four teachers manage 135 kids – and love it — from hechingerreport.org by Neal Morton
Schools in Mesa, Arizona, piloted a team teaching model to combat declining enrollment and teacher shortages; now the approach is spreading

Excerpts (emphasis DSC):

Five years ago, faced with high teacher turnover and declining student enrollment, Westwood’s leaders decided to try something different. Working with professors at Arizona State University’s teachers college, they piloted a classroom model known as team teaching. It allows teachers to voluntarily dissolve the walls that separate their classes across physical or grade divides.

Here, more than 130 freshmen at Westwood High School learn in one giant classroom overseen by four teachers.

Team teaching is taking hold in Mesa, Arizona’s largest school district. Here, more than 130 freshmen at Westwood High School learn in one giant classroom overseen by four teachers. Credit: Matt York/Associated Press

By giving teachers more opportunities to collaborate and greater control over how and what they teach, Mesa’s administrators hoped to fill staffing gaps and boost teacher morale and retention. Initial research suggests the gamble could pay off.

Also see:

Educator shortages are a real crisis — especially in special education — from k12dive.com
Administrators are straining under the pressure of finding qualified personnel to meet federal requirements on specialized instruction and related services.

The Council of Administrators of Special Education is keenly aware of the shortage of qualified teachers, specialized instructional support personnel and administrators to fill vacancies in school districts across the country, with shortages particularly acute in special education. We hear daily from administrators citing the impossibility of finding qualified personnel to meet mandates of the federal law requiring specialized instruction and related services for children with disabilities.

How can colleges better serve students with autism? [Spitalniak]

On 11/09/2022, in accessibility / UDL, Bias | Diversity Equity & Inclusion (DE&I), colleges, community colleges, Emotion, engagement / engaging students, higher education, neurodivergent/special needs, psychology, student-related, United States, universities, user experience (UX), by Daniel Christian

How can colleges better serve students with autism? — from by Laura Spitalniak
Professor Sarah Howorth says her program at the University of Maine helps bridge the gap between high school and college for students with autism.

Excerpts:

In 2019, Howorth led the pilot for the University of Maine’s Step Up to College, a program meant to model how colleges can effectively support students with autism spectrum disorder.
…
There are so many myths and misunderstandings out there about what a person with autism is like. Autism is not necessarily associated with cognitive impairment. I have a 16-year-old son who is on the autism spectrum. He is also very intelligent, and he’s definitely college bound. There’s a lot of kids out there like him on the autism spectrum.

Individuals on the spectrum bring a lot to communities, whether that be university campuses, or high schools or businesses. Oftentimes, we focus on the challenges they face, but I think they have many, many more strengths than challenges.

Look at things from a Universal Design for Learning perspective. The things that you offer for students with autism on college campuses, like peer mentors, will help all students.

Also relevant/see:

The Intersection of Autism and Trauma — from aane.org by Janet Barbieri
Exclusion and Trauma — from aane.org by Brenda Dater

So what can we do to decrease the exclusion and bullying that leads to trauma? We need to create activities and spaces where autistic people can be their authentic selves and be accepted without having to mask to fit in. We need to eradicate the isolation that is so commonplace by creating supportive communities that are truly safe and inclusive.

When It Comes to Picking Edtech, Are Schools Listening to Teachers? [Tamez-Robledo]

On 11/08/2022, in collaboration, communications, education technology, innovation, instructional design, K-12 related, languages and translation, leadership, learning ecosystem, Learning Experience Design, more voice more choice more control, strategy, teachers, tools, United States, vendors, by Daniel Christian

When It Comes to Picking Edtech, Are Schools Listening to Teachers? — from edsurge.com by Nadia Tamez-Robledo

Excerpt:

But where in the conversation are the people implementing those tools: the teachers? And how much say do they—or should they—have in edtech decisions?

For both questions, as it turns out, it depends on who you ask.

In a survey released earlier this year, the edtech company Clever found that 85 percent of administrators say teachers are involved in choosing tools. When the company asked teachers, more than 60 percent said they were hardly ever—or never—involved in those choices.

As we started asking educators, administrators and experts about the issue as part of an investigation into how teachers inform the development of edtech products, everyone agreed: teacher voice should be part of edtech decisions.

So what explains the disconnect?

Addendum on 11/9/22:

Lessons from Treadmills and Owls: The Most Important Feature in Educational Technology Products — from opencontent.org by David Wiley; with thanks to Mr. Stephen Downes for this resource

Excerpt:

The primary point, of course, is this: unused features in exercise technologies and educational technologies can improve neither fitness nor learning. From this perspective, one might argue:

The most important feature in educational technology products is the nudge – the feature that persuades you to actually use the features that will improve learning.

Duolingo is a great example here. On its surface, the language learning app may appear rather straightforward. But there are some pretty sophisticated things happening behind the scenes that make your language learning more effective.

Virtual or in-person: The next generation of trial lawyers must be prepared for anything [Horres & Bashor]

On 11/06/2022, in A/V -- audio/visual, face-to-face, ideas, innovation, interaction design, interface design, Legal operations, legal reform, legal technologies, legislatures / government / legal, United States, usability, user experience (UX), using teams, videoconferencing, Virtual courts and law firms, vision/possibilities, web-based collaboration, by Daniel Christian

Virtual or in-person: The next generation of trial lawyers must be prepared for anything — from reuters.com by Stratton Horres and Karen L. Bashor

A view of the jury box (front), where jurors would sit in and look towards the judge's chair (C), the witness stand (R) and stenographer's desk (L) in court room 422 of the New York Supreme Court

Excerpt:

In this article, we will examine several key ways in which COVID-19 has changed trial proceedings, strategy and preparation and how mentoring programs can make a difference.
…
COVID-19 has shaken up the jury trial experience for both new and experienced attorneys. For those whose only trials have been conducted during COVID-19 restrictions and for everyone easing back into the in-person trials, these are key elements to keep in mind practicing forward. Firm mentoring programs should be considered to prepare the future generation of trial lawyers for both live and virtual trials.

From DSC:
I think law firms will need to expand the number of disciplines coming to their strategic tables. That is, as more disciplines are required to successfully practice law in the 21st century, more folks with technical backgrounds and/or abilities will be needed. Web front and back end developers, User Experience Designers, Instructional Designers, Audio/Visual Specialists, and others come to my mind. Such people can help develop the necessary spaces, skills, training, and mentoring programs mentioned in this article. As within our learning ecosystems, the efficient and powerful use of teams of specialists will deliver the best products and services.

Building Rural Learning Pathways to Strengthen the Future of Community [McClennen]

On 11/05/2022, in education, education reform, ideas, K-12 related, learning ecosystem, Learning Experience Design, science, teachers, United States, by Daniel Christian

Building Rural Learning Pathways to Strengthen the Future of Community — from gettingsmart.com by Nate McClennen, Guest Author

Key Points

Some rural areas continue to have durable and empowered economies.
Others need to build a new vision for prosperity while simultaneously maintaining core talent to support community infrastructure needs.
By integrating dual enrollment, credentials and CTE, high school students are better able to graduate with college credit and viable credentialed experiences to support entry into the postsecondary workforce.

Also from Getting Smart:

Science Fairs as Pathways To Passion, Problem-Solving and Careers

Key Points

Science Fairs inspire the problem-solvers that touch the future.
Science fairs provide a great opportunity to form a community and present your ideas.

How AI will change Education: Part I | Transcend Newsletter #59 [Arenaza]

On 11/05/2022, in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, art, Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, assessment, assistive technologies, bots, change, colleges, community colleges, content development, aggregation, repositories, copyright/ownership/NFTs, creativity, education, education technology, emerging technologies, future, future of higher education, game-changing environment, generational differences, higher education, homeschooling/homeschoolers, human-computer interaction (HCI), ideas, innovation, instructional design, intelligent systems, intelligent tutoring, IT in HE, K-12 related, languages and translation, law schools, learning, learning ecosystem, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, lifelong learning, platforms, reading, teachers, teaching & learning, the downsides of how people use tech, tools, training / L&D, United States, universities, vendors, vision/possibilities, writing, youth, by Daniel Christian

How AI will change Education: Part I | Transcend Newsletter #59 — from transcend.substack.com by Alberto Arenaza; with thanks to GSV’s Big 10 for this resource

Excerpt:

You’ve likely been reading for the last few minutes my arguments for why AI is going to change education. You may agree with some points, disagree with others…

Only, those were not my words.

An AI has written every single word in this essay up until here.

The only thing I wrote myself was the first sentence: Artificial Intelligence is going to revolutionize education. The images too, everything was generated by AI.

Why Now Is The Time To Overhaul K-12 Education — from forbes.com by Phyllis Lockett and Michael Horn

Excerpts:

If you take a team approach, then one adult works with students on their social-emotional learning and how they connect to their learning. And another leverages data to create small group opportunities based on the learning objective. And another connects learning to real world projects and helps students build social capital in the community, which also creates a more permeable classroom that’s open to the outside world. Or there could be other ways the teams are structured to best support the student.

For all the plans in the past to “reinvent” K-12 education, none have questioned the fundamentals of time-based instruction. It’s no surprise then that the system produces the outcomes it does. Not every child needs exactly 180 days to master the knowledge and skills required for a third grader. Conversely, some kids need more time. It’s an arbitrary system that cuts off learning for children based on a calendar, yet doesn’t provide a different pathway forward for them that’s productive. In our current system, time is fixed and learning is variable, then students are labeled and sorted accordingly.

Michael Horn

From DSC:
This quote…

The answer is for district leaders to create independent teams of educators in which they are shielded from traditional day to day pressures and have the explicit license to do things differently. They can give these new “schools within schools” the resources they need without encumbering them by the old ways of doing things.

…makes me think of a graphic I did a while back about the need for more Trim Tabs within our learning ecosystems:

Washington State U Student Workers Vote to Unionize [Flaherty]

On 11/05/2022, in adjunct faculty, career development, faculty/staff, higher education, teaching & learning, United States, universities, by Daniel Christian

Washington State U Student Workers Vote to Unionize — from insidehighered.com by Colleen Flaherty

Excerpt:

Graduate and undergraduate teaching and research assistants at Washington State University voted to form a union affiliated with the United Auto Workers, they announced Thursday.

From DSC:
I virtually attended the Law 2030 Conference (Nov 3-4, 2022). Jennifer Leonard and staff from the University of Pennsylvania’s Carey Law School put together a super conference! It highlighted the need for change within the legal industry. A major shout out to Jennifer Leonard, Theodore Ruger (Law School Dean), and others!

I really appreciate Jen’s vision here, because she recognizes that the legal industry needs to involve more disciplines, more specialists, and others who don’t have a JD Degree and/or who haven’t passed the Bar. On Day 1 of the conference (in the afternoon), Jen enlisted the help of several others to use Design Thinking to start to get at possible solutions to our entrenched issues.

America, our legal system is being tightly controlled and protected — by lawyers. They are out to protect their turf — no matter the ramifications/consequences of doing so. This is a bad move on many lawyers part. It’s a bad move on many Bar Associations part. Lawyers already have some major PR work to do — but when America finds out what they’ve been doing, their PR problems are going to be that much larger. I’d recommend that they change their ways and really start innovating to address the major access to justice issues that we have in the United States.

One of the highlights for me was listening to the powerful, well-thought-out presentation from Michigan’s Chief Justice Bridget McCormack — it was one of the best I’ve ever heard at a conference! She mentioned the various stakeholders that need to come to the table — which includes law schools/legal education. I also appreciated Jordan Furlong’s efforts to deliver a 15-minute presentation (virtual), which it sounded like he worked on most of the night when he found out he couldn’t be there in person! He nicely outlined the experimentation that’s going on in Canada.

Here’s the recording from Day 1:

Jeff Selingo’s comments this week reminded me that those of us who have worked in higher education for much of our careers also have a lot of work to do as well.

Addendum on 11/8/22:

“Using Virtual Reality for Career Training” + “AI interviews in VR prepare students for real jobseeking”

On 11/03/2022, in 24x7x365 access, A/V -- audio/visual, animation, Canada, career development, communications, education, education technology, Europe, human-computer interaction (HCI), immersion, innovation, instructional design, intelligent systems, intelligent tutoring, interaction design, interactivity, Learning Experience Design, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, multimedia, participation, pedagogy, platforms, presentations, productivity / tips and tricks, real-world assignments, simulations, skills, student-related, teachers, teaching & learning, technologies for your home, tools, United States, user experience (UX), vendors, Virtual Reality (VR) / worlds / learning, vision/possibilities, vocational / trades, workplace, XR - extended reality, youth, by Daniel Christian

Using Virtual Reality for Career Training — from techlearning.com by Erik Ofgang
The Boys & Girls Clubs of Indiana have had success using virtual reality simulations to teach students about career opportunities.

a Woman with a virtual reality set on occupies one half of the screen. The other shows virtual tools that she is controlling.

Excerpts:

Virtual reality can help boost CTE programs and teach students about potential careers in fields they may know nothing about, says Lana Taylor from the Indiana Alliance of Boys & Girls Clubs of America.
…
One of those other resources has been a partnership with Transfer VR to provide students access to headsets to participate in career simulations that can give them a tactile sense of what working in certain careers might be like.

“Not all kids are meant to go to college, not all kids want to do it,” Taylor says. “So it’s important to give them some exposure to different careers and workforce paths that maybe they hadn’t thought of before.”

AI interviews in VR prepare students for real jobseeking — from inavateonthenet.net

80% of professors at Ph.D.-granting universities attended the same handful of colleges [Spitalniak]

On 11/03/2022, in faculty/staff, higher education, learning ecosystem, society, sociology, United States, universities, by Daniel Christian

80% of professors at Ph.D.-granting universities attended the same handful of colleges — from highereddive.com by Laura Spitalniak

Dive Brief:

Just 20.4% of U.S. institutions account for 80% of tenured and tenure-track faculty at Ph.D.-granting universities, giving prestigious colleges disproportionate influence over the spread of ideas, academic norms and culture.
That’s according to new research published in Nature, a peer-reviewed journal. It concluded that academia “is characterized by universally extreme inequality in faculty production.”
Just over one in eight domestically trained faculty were educated at five doctoral institutions: the University of California, Berkeley, Harvard University, the University of Michigan, the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Stanford University. The same five universities trained more faculty than all non-U.S. universities combined.

Learning Ecosystems

DSC: Will this become a trend within higher education (i.e., more transparent, accurate pricing)?

University system to explore “sprint degrees”

Virtual or in-person: The next generation of trial lawyers must be prepared for anything [Horres & Bashor]

Washington State U Student Workers Vote to Unionize [Flaherty]

Lawyers already have some major PR work to do — but when America finds out what they’ve been doing, their PR problems are going to be that much larger. [Christian]

80% of professors at Ph.D.-granting universities attended the same handful of colleges [Spitalniak]

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