NVIDIA Virtual Meetings AI Tech — from theawesomer.com
With the increased need for video calls these days, those with low-bandwidth connections may experience poor video quality. This tech being developed at NVIDIA dramatically reduces bandwidth needs by sending a fixed image, then using an AI-controlled avatar to track and replicate their facial movements in real-time.
On 10/08/2020,
in 24x7x365 access, adjunct faculty, adult learning, Canvas - and other Instructure-related items, CMS/LMS, colleges, communities of practice, community colleges, content development, aggregation, repositories, corporate universities / corporate training, Daniel S. Christian, digital learning, distance education, education technology, faculty/staff, higher education, human-computer interaction (HCI), ideas, instructional design, K-12 related, law schools, Learning Experience Design, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, online learning, productivity / tips and tricks, remote teaching and learning, streams of content, student teaching/teacher education, student-related, teachers, teaching & learning, teaching online, tools, universities, usability, user experience (UX), user interface design, vendors,
by Daniel Christian
From DSC:
Put yourself in the place of the conscientious/thorough learner. If you come into a course on Canvas & see Quizzes, Assignments, Discussion Boards, as well as other items listed on the Course Navigation Bar — in addition to the Modules selection — you might find yourself going to check many of those selections Every. Single. Day.
Graphically speaking:
(DSC purchased this image from Getty Images)
From DSC:
By the way, this is why RSS feeds and feed aggregators were implemented. Have updates/content flow to the person, instead of the person wasting time trying to find what’s been updated on 100+ websites.
On 09/08/2020,
in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, A/V -- audio/visual, adjunct faculty, Adobe, adult learning, Apple, Bring your own device (BYOD), cloud-based computing / apps / other cloud-related, collaboration, colleges, communications, communities of practice, community colleges, content development, aggregation, repositories, corporate / business world, corporate universities / corporate training, cost of getting a degree, creativity, Daniel S. Christian, digital audio, digital learning, digital video, distance education, education, education technology, engagement / engaging students, faculty/staff, future, global / globalization, Google, higher education, human-computer interaction (HCI), ideas, innovation, instructional design, interactivity, IT in HE, law schools, learning, learning ecosystem, Learning Experience Design, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, lifelong learning, microlearning, Microsoft, multimedia, New "Amazon.com" of Higher Education, online learning, online media, online tutoring, participation, pedagogy, platforms, remote teaching and learning, second screen apps, smart/connected TV, social learning / networks, social media, teachers, teaching & learning, teaching online, technologies for your home, telepresence, television, tools, United States, universities, usability, user experience (UX), using teams, vendors, videoconferencing, virtual K-12 schools, vision/possibilities, webinars,
by Daniel Christian
Per this week’s Lecture Breakers Weekly! from Dr. Barbi Honeycutt:
Break up your online lectures with the Watch Party! Here’s how you can do it:
- Pre-record your mini-lecture or find a video you want to use for your lesson.
- Instead of asking students to watch the video on their own, play it during your synchronous/live class time.
- Explain to your students that they are watching the video all at the same time and that you will be facilitating the chat and answering their questions as they watch the video together. It’s a watch party!
- Option: Take the conversation out of Zoom or your LMS. Create a hashtag for your course on Twitter and invite other experts, colleagues, or friends to join the conversation.
Instead of presenting during the synchronous class time, you can now focus completely on managing the chat, prompting discussion, and responding to students’ questions and ideas in real-time. And be sure to record and save the chat for students who couldn’t attend the live session or want to review it later.
From DSC:
This is one of the kind of things that I envisioned with Learning from the living class[room] — a next-generation, global learning platform.
Learners could be watching a presentation/presenter, but communicating in real-time with other learners. Perhaps it will be a tvOS-based app or something similar. But TV as we know it is changing, right? It continues to become more interactive and on-demand all the time. Add videoconferencing apps like Zoom, Cisco Webex Meetings, Blackboard Collaborate, Microsoft Teams, Adobe Connect and others, and you have real-time, continuous, lifelong, relevant/timely, affordable, accessible, up-to-date learning.
Also, you have TEAM-BASED learning.
On 08/31/2020,
in 24x7x365 access, 3D, A/V -- audio/visual, animation, attention, content development, aggregation, repositories, corporate / business world, corporate universities / corporate training, creativity, digital audio, digital learning, digital storytelling, digital video, distance education, elearning, engagement / engaging students, innovation, instructional design, interaction design, interactivity, learning, learning ecosystem, Learning Experience Design, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, training / L&D, usability, user experience (UX), user interface design,
by Daniel Christian
Best Content Awards 2020 — from elearninfo247.com by Craig Weiss
Excerpts:
Judging Areas
- Video
- Animation
- Audio Quality
- One that is very important, but way too many vendors lacked it…ADA508 or similar (depending on the country, but most countries have it) support.
- Usefulness
- Interactivity (Quality and Usability)
- Engagement
- Scenarios (if applicable)
- Description
- Objectives
What was excluded
- Assessments
And now… the awards.
On 08/26/2020,
in colleges, community colleges, content development, aggregation, repositories, corporate / business world, corporate universities / corporate training, education technology, higher education, homeschooling/homeschoolers, human-computer interaction (HCI), innovation, IT in HE, K-12 related, languages and translation, law schools, Legal operations, legal technologies, legislatures / government / legal, Microsoft, Natural Language Processing (NLP), productivity / tips and tricks, tools, usability, vendors, voice recognition / voice enabled interfaces,
by Daniel Christian
How to use Microsoft Word’s new ‘Transcribe’ tool — from thenextweb.com by Rachel Kaser; with thanks to Tim Holt for publishing this on his blog
Excerpt:
At the moment, the Transcribe tool is only available on the online version of Word, and only to Microsoft 365 subscribers. There are plans to bring it to Word mobile at some point in the future. It also only supports English, but that’s also likely to change.
So how do you actually use the Transcribe tool? Here’s how.
On 07/19/2020,
in accessibility / UDL, Apple, Augmented Reality (AR), Canvas - and other Instructure-related items, colleges, communications, content development, aggregation, repositories, corporate universities / corporate training, digital learning, education technology, IT in HE, K-12 related, law schools, learner profiles, Learning Experience Design, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, learning preferences, Mixed Reality (MR), new media literacies, online learning, online media, productivity / tips and tricks, society, teachers, teaching & learning, teaching online, tools, trends, universities, usability, user experience (UX), Virtual Reality (VR) / worlds / learning, web design and production, XR - extended reality,
by Daniel Christian
3 items from re: accessibility from BOIA.org:
- What to Expect with iOS 14’s New and Improved Accessibility Features
- Accessibility Considerations for Augmented and Virtual Reality for the Classroom and Beyond
- Why Accessibility Is a Critical Piece of Tech Trends for 2020
BOIA.org also has a nice blog, and an accessibility checker:
Some other resources:
- General Accessibility Design Guidelines from Instructure/Canvas
- Accessibility & Usability Resource Site (AURS) from Quality Matters
- Bureau of Internet Accessibility’s blog
- From the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C)’s Web Accessibility Initiative –> I
ntroduction to Web Accessibility - Accessibility Primer from Adobe
- How Colleges Can Improve Accessibility In Remote Courses — from edsurge.com by Rebecca Koenig
- Apple’s take on accessibility
- Microsoft’s take on accessibility
Addendums on 7/23/20:
7 Steps to Making Your School’s Website Accessible to All — from thejournal.com by Ali Arsan
With districts around the country relying on their websites to convey essential information to their communities, accessibility is more important than ever.
On 07/16/2020,
in 21st century, A/V -- audio/visual, analytics, Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, cloud-based computing / apps / other cloud-related, collaboration, communications, corporate / business world, corporate universities / corporate training, Daniel S. Christian, digital audio, digital learning, digital video, distance education, education technology, emerging technologies, engagement / engaging students, experimentation, Google, higher education, human-computer interaction (HCI), ideas, innovation, interactivity, IT in HE, K-12 related, law schools, learning ecosystem, Learning Experience Design, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, learning hubs & pods & microschooling, multimedia, New "Amazon.com" of Higher Education, online learning, platforms, presentations, productivity / tips and tricks, remote teaching and learning, streams of content, student-related, teaching online, technologies for your home, tools, United States, universities, usability, user experience (UX), user interface design, vendors, videoconferencing, virtual field trips, virtual K-12 schools, Virtual Reality (VR) / worlds / learning, virtual tutoring, visualizing information, web-based collaboration, webinars,
by Daniel Christian
DC: Individuals or teams can use this tool that works on top of Zoom (i.e., doesn’t require the network effect to make a diff). How might such functionality impact online-based learning?#onlinelearning#inclusion#videoconferencing https://t.co/b2IFvHpsVO
— Daniel Christian (@dchristian5) July 15, 2020
“Existing meeting interfaces had been designed with a singular goal, to simply enable virtual conversations. How could we build a meeting interface from the ground-up that intentionally facilitates engaging, productive, and inclusive conversations?”
On 07/11/2020,
in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, A/V -- audio/visual, adjunct faculty, adult learning, Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, blended learning, cloud-based computing / apps / other cloud-related, colleges, communications, communities of practice, community colleges, content development, aggregation, repositories, corporate / business world, corporate universities / corporate training, Daniel S. Christian, digital audio, digital learning, digital storytelling, digital textbooks, distance education, education, education technology, elearning, emerging technologies, faculty/staff, flipping -- inverted learning, higher education, homeschooling/homeschoolers, human-computer interaction (HCI), hybrid learning, ideas, innovation, instructional design, intelligent systems, intelligent tutoring, K-12 related, law schools, learning, learning ecosystem, Learning Experience Design, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, memory, metacognition / metacognitive skills, microlearning, multimedia, New "Amazon.com" of Higher Education, online learning, online media, online tutoring, platforms, presentations, productivity / tips and tricks, remote teaching and learning, teachers, teaching & learning, teaching online, tools, training / L&D, universities, usability, user experience (UX), vendors, videoconferencing, virtual K-12 schools, vision/possibilities, webinars, workplace,
by Daniel Christian
From DSC:
As I’ve been listening to some sermons on my iPhone, I end up taking visual snapshots of the times that they emphasize something. Here are some examples:
Which got me to thinking…while tools like Panopto* give us something along these lines, they don’t present to the student what the KEY POINTS were in any given class session.
So professors — in addition to teachers, trainers, pastors, presenters, etc. — should be able to quickly and easily instruct the software to create a visual table of contents of key points based upon which items the professor favorited or assigned a time signature to. I’m talking about a ONE keystroke or ONE click of the mouse type of thing to instruct the software to take a visual snapshot of that point in time (AI could even be used to grab the closest image without someone’s eyes shut). At the end of the class, there are then just a handful of key points that were made, with links to those time signatures.
At the end of a course, a student could easily review the KEY POINTS that were made throughout the last ___ weeks.
****
But this concept falls apart if there are too many things to remember. So when a professor presents the KEY POINTs to any given class, they must CURATE the content. (And by the way, that’s exactly why pastors normally focus on only 3-4 key points…otherwise, it gets too hard to walk away with what the sermon was about.)
****
One could even build upon the table of contents. For example…for any given class within a law school’s offerings, the professor (or another team member at the instructions of the professor) could insert links to:
- Relevant chapters or sections of a chapter in the textbook
- Journal articles
- Cases
- Rules of law
- Courts’ decisions
- Other
****
And maybe even:
- That’s the kind of “textbook” — or learning modules — that we’ll move towards creating in the first place.
. - That’s the form of learning we’ll see more of when we present streams of up-to-date content to folks using a next-generation learning platform.
. - Future webinars could piggyback off of this concept as well. Dive as deep as you want to into something…or just take away the main points (i.e., the Cliff notes/summaries) of a presentation.
At the end of the day, if your communication isn’t in a digital format, there is no playback available. What’s said is said…and gone.
* The functionality discussed here would take a day’s worth of work for a developer at Panopto (i.e., give a presenter a way to favorite existing TOC items and/or to assign a time signature to slots of time in a recording) — but it would save people and students sooooo much time. Such functionality would help us stay up-to-date — at least at a basic level of understanding — on a variety of topics.
On 07/08/2020,
in attention, colleges, community colleges, corporate / business world, corporate universities / corporate training, creativity, Daniel S. Christian, digital audio, digital learning, digital video, distance education, education technology, engagement / engaging students, higher education, innovation, law schools, Learning Experience Design, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, online learning, platforms, play, presentations, tools, training / L&D, universities, usability, user experience (UX), user interface design, vendors, videoconferencing, web-based collaboration,
by Daniel Christian
We’re all sick of Zoom. This new app gives it a Weekend Update-style makeover — from fastcompany.com by Lilly Smith
More SNL. Less wondering if you’re screensharing properly.
From DSC:
If the #Coronavirus situation continues, this is the type of R&D / innovation that I think we’ll see more of — especially as it relates to online-based learning.
On 07/02/2020,
in Apple, Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, Asia, Australia, Blockchain, Bring your own device (BYOD), business, business side of he, Canada, Canvas - and other Instructure-related items, change, changing business models, cloud-based computing / apps / other cloud-related, CMS/LMS, collaboration, colleges, communications, communities of practice, community colleges, content development, aggregation, repositories, convergence, corporate / business world, corporate universities / corporate training, cost of getting a degree, creativity, Daniel S. Christian, design, digital learning, digital storytelling, digital textbooks, digital video, distance education, e-books, e-publishing related items (EPUB and more), e-readers, education, education reform, education technology, elearning, emerging technologies, engagement / engaging students, Europe, experimentation, formal learning, future, future of higher education, game-changing environment, generational differences, global / globalization, higher education, homeschooling/homeschoolers, human-computer interaction (HCI), ideas, immersion, India, informal learning, innovation, instructional design, intelligent systems, intelligent tutoring, interaction design, interactivity, interface design, internet, IT in HE, K-12 related, law schools, learner profiles, learning, learning agents, learning ecosystem, Learning Experience Design, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, learning hubs & pods & microschooling, learning preferences, learning spaces, lifelong learning, love of learning, microlearning, Mixed Reality (MR), mobile learning, mobile technologies, MOOCs -- Massive Open Online Courses, more voice more choice more control, motivation, multimedia, Natural Language Processing (NLP), New "Amazon.com" of Higher Education, new business models, online learning, online media, online tutoring, pace of change, participation, passions, personalized/customized learning, platforms, play, reinvent, remote teaching and learning, second screen apps, simulations, smart classrooms, smart/connected TV, social learning / networks, society, streams of content, student-related, teaching online, technologies for your home, technology (general), telecommunications, telelegal, telemedicine / telehealth / virtual health, telepresence, television, tools, training / L&D, transmedia, trends, UK, Uncategorized, United States, universities, usability, user experience (UX), user interface design, using teams, vendors, videoconferencing, virtual field trips, virtual K-12 schools, Virtual Reality (VR) / worlds / learning, virtual tutoring, vision/possibilities, visualizing information, voice recognition / voice enabled interfaces, wearables, web-based collaboration, webinars, workplace, XR - extended reality, youth,
by Daniel Christian
From DSC:
The article below got me to thinking about designing learning experiences and what our learning experiences might be like in the future — especially after we start pouring much more of our innovative thinking, creativity, funding, entrepreneurship, and new R&D into technology-supported/enabled learning experiences.
LMS vs. LXP: How and why they are different — from blog.commlabindia.com by Payal Dixit
LXPs are a rising trend in the L&D market. But will they replace LMSs soon? What do they offer more than an LMS? Learn more about LMS vs. LXP in this blog.
Excerpt (emphasis DSC):
Building on the foundation of the LMS, the LXP curates and aggregates content, creates learning paths, and provides personalized learning resources.
Here are some of the key capabilities of LXPs. They:
- Offer content in a Netflix-like interface, with suggestions and AI recommendations
- Can host any form of content – blogs, videos, eLearning courses, and audio podcasts to name a few
- Offer automated learning paths that lead to logical outcomes
- Support true uncensored social learning opportunities
So, this is about the LXP and what it offers; let’s now delve into the characteristics that differentiate it from the good old LMS.
From DSC:
Entities throughout the learning spectrum are going through many changes right now (i.e., people and organizations throughout K-12, higher education, vocational schools, and corporate training/L&D). If the first round of the Coronavirus continues to impact us, and then a second round comes later this year/early next year, I can easily see massive investments and interest in learning-related innovations. It will be in too many peoples’ and organizations’ interests not to.
I highlighted the bulleted points above because they are some of the components/features of the Learning from the Living [Class] Room vision that I’ve been working on.
Below are some technologies, visuals, and ideas to supplement my reflections. They might stir the imagination of someone out there who, like me, desires to make a contribution — and who wants to make learning more accessible, personalized, fun, and engaging. Hopefully, future generations will be able to have more choice, more control over their learning — throughout their lifetimes — as they pursue their passions.
