videoconferencing

Improving Digital Inclusion & Accessibility for Those With Learning Disabilities [Kreisa]

On 04/17/2021, in accessibility / UDL, adjunct faculty, adult learning, assistive technologies, Bias | Diversity Equity & Inclusion (DE&I), business, colleges, communications, community colleges, content development, aggregation, repositories, corporate / business world, corporate universities / corporate training, digital learning, education, education technology, faculty/staff, formal learning, heutagogy, higher education, homeschooling/homeschoolers, instructional design, K-12 related, law schools, learning, Learning Experience Design, learning preferences, media/film, more voice more choice more control, multimedia, Natural Language Processing (NLP), neurodivergent/special needs, online learning, online media, online tutoring, parents/guardians, participation, policy, productivity / tips and tricks, professional development, quality, remote teaching and learning, society, student teaching/teacher education, student-related, teachers, teaching & learning, teaching online, technologies for your home, tools, training / L&D, universities, usability, user experience (UX), user interface design, videoconferencing, virtual tutoring, vision/possibilities, visualizing information, voice recognition / voice enabled interfaces, web design and production, web-based collaboration, workplace, youth, by Daniel Christian

Improving Digital Inclusion & Accessibility for Those With Learning Disabilities — from inclusionhub.com by Meredith Kreisa
Learning disabilities must be taken into account during the digital design process to ensure digital inclusion and accessibility for the community. This comprehensive guide outlines common learning disabilities, associated difficulties, accessibility barriers and best practices, and more.

“Learning shouldn’t be something only those without disabilities get to do,” explains Seren Davies, a full stack software engineer and accessibility advocate who is dyslexic. “It should be for everyone. By thinking about digital accessibility, we are making sure that everyone who wants to learn can.”
…
“Learning disability” is a broad term used to describe several specific diagnoses. Dyslexia, dyscalculia, dysgraphia, nonverbal learning disorder, and oral/written language disorder and specific reading comprehension deficit are among the most prevalent.

An image of a barrier being torn down -- revealing a human mind behind it. This signifies the need to tear down any existing barriers that might hinder someone's learning experience.

Digital upskilling in legal: More than just new technology — from legalexecutiveinstitute.com by Bob Dolinsky; with thanks to Gabe Teninbaum for this resource

Excerpt:

How many law firms have digital upskilling programs for their lawyers and staff members? Based on what I hear and read, very few, if any.

Amazon, for example, recently announced a commitment of more than $700 million to its “Upskilling 2025” program, an internal training initiative designed to promote customer satisfaction and worker advancement. Another example is PwC, which has a digital upskilling program to develop its in-house talent pool called “New world. New skills.” In 2019, PwC announced that it would invest $3 billion into job training for its 275,000 employees around the world, enhancing its workforce and client service delivery to better address emerging digital needs.

The goals of these and similar initiatives is to help ensure that employees have the skills in the digital arena to be successful, to position these organizations as preferred employers, and to provide customer and client service excellence.

Also from Gabe:

The Geek in Review Ep. 112 – Dan Packel on the Rise of Distributed Law Firms — from geeklawblog.com by Greg Lambert & Marlene Gebauer
Zoom Court Is Changing How Justice Is Served — ftom theatlantic.com by Eric Scigliano
For better, for worse, and possibly forever

“Virtual justice” (the preferred, if unsettling, term) is an emergency response to a dire situation. But it is also a vision some judicial innovators had long tried to realize. One leading booster, Michigan Chief Justice Bridget Mary McCormack, told me that going online can make courts not only safer but “more transparent, more accessible, and more convenient.” Witnesses, jurors, and litigants no longer need to miss hours of work and fight traffic. Attorneys with cases in multiple courts can jump from one to another by swiping on their phones.

Nearly Half of Faculty Say Pandemic Changes to Teaching Are Here to Stay — from campustechnology.com by Rhea Kelly

Among the findings:

Fifty-one percent of faculty said they feel more positive about online learning today than pre-pandemic. Faculty were most satisfied with how efficiently they were able to communicate with students — but across the board, a majority of faculty were also satisfied with how efficiently the technology worked, how well students learned and how well students engaged in class.
Fifty-seven percent of faculty said they feel more positive about digital learning materials than pre-pandemic.
Seventy-one percent of faculty reported they make considerable use of digital materials today, compared to 25 percent pre-pandemic. And 81 percent said they expect digital material use to remain the same or increase post-pandemic.
Fifty-eight percent reported considerable use of online homework and courseware systems, more than doubling the pre-pandemic share of 22 percent. Seventy-four percent expected the use of those systems to remain the same or increase post-pandemic.
Only 8 percent of faculty said they would revert to their pre-pandemic teaching practices after the pandemic is over.

Also see:

Success of Videoconferencing Could Keep a Lot of Education Work Remote — from thejournal.com by Dian Schaffhauser

Two-thirds of people in the education sector expect to see a continuation of remote work post-pandemic. Sixty-five percent of respondents in education agreed that due to the success of remote collaboration, facilitated by videoconferencing, their organizations are considering a flexible remote working model.

Reimagining Higher Education: The Post-Covid Classroom — from er.educause.edu by Rob Curtin
As we prepare to return to campus, many of the technologies that helped us simply survive and sustain classroom continuity will become permanently embedded in our educational methods and play a pivotal role in the refinement of practices consistent with an ongoing shift to more student-centered learning.

As learning practices continue to evolve, new remote learning and collaboration technologies, in concert with pedagogy, will be critical to enabling inclusive, personalized, and engaging hybrid learning experiences to bring students together beyond simple videoconferencing and recording of lectures.

eLearning has improved in the last 7 years… [Burns]

On 04/01/2021, in change, corporate / business world, corporate universities / corporate training, digital learning, elearning, instructional design, learning, learning ecosystem, Learning Experience Design, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, online learning, tools, training / L&D, user experience (UX), vendors, videoconferencing, web-based collaboration, by Daniel Christian

eLearning has improved in the last 7 years… — from elearningindustry.com by Mary Burns
A student in 2014 and a student in 2021 would probably have the same fundamental online learning experience. Yet online learning has changed dramatically in the last 7 years. In my 50th article, I look back at online learning and enumerate 5 drivers that have led to its improvement.

Excerpt:

COVID/remote learning has expanded our understanding of online learning. Teachers are far more adept at using technology and designing with technology to help students learn online. They know which online learning modalities—synchronous or asynchronous—work best with which eLearning platform. Students too have had a year-long internship in online learning—its tools and pedagogies.

COVID has diversified our understanding of online learning. In 2014, when I began writing for eLearning Industry, eLearning meant one thing—a class held in a virtual learning environment or Learning Management System. In 2021, online learning is any learning we do online, whether via free or fee-based subscription services (like Khan Academy and DreamBox, respectively), web conferencing, or Web 2.0 platforms (Edmodo, YouTube channels)—another overlooked candidate for this list.

And COVID has constrained our understanding of online learning. In 2014, when I began writing for eLearning Industry, eLearning was largely asynchronous and done in an LMS. In 2021, for a plurality of teachers and students across the globe, eLearning means one thing: Zoom and it means learning that is live and synchronous.

Improved Student Engagement in Higher Education’s Next Normal [Glantz, Gamrat, Lenze, & Bardzell]

On 03/29/2021, in 21st century, active learning, adjunct faculty, blended learning, collaboration, colleges, communications, community colleges, digital audio, digital learning, digital video, distance education, education technology, engagement / engaging students, experimentation, faculty/staff, future of higher education, higher education, hybrid learning, ideas, instructional design, law schools, learning, learning ecosystem, Learning Experience Design, learning hubs & pods & microschooling, learning spaces, liberal arts, multimedia, online learning, pedagogy, productivity / tips and tricks, reinvent, remote teaching and learning, teaching & learning, tools, universities, user experience (UX), vendors, videoconferencing, web-based collaboration, by Daniel Christian

Improved Student Engagement in Higher Education’s Next Normal — from er.educause.edu by Ed Glantz, Chris Gamrat, Lisa Lenze and Jeffrey Bardzell
Five pandemic-introduced innovative teaching adaptations can improve student engagement in the next normal for higher education.

Excerpt (emphasis DSC):

The five teaching enhancements/adaptations discussed above—collaborative technologies for sense-making, student experts in learning and technology, back channels, digital breakout rooms, and supplemental recording—are well positioned to expand the definition of “student engagement” beyond traditional roll call and attendance tracking. Opportunities to include students at a distance have permitted inclusion of students who are reticent to speak publicly, students whose first language is not English, students with disabilities, and students less engaged through “traditional” channels. With these new conceptions of engagement in mind, we are prepared to be more inclusive of all students in the next normal of higher education.

An interesting question: Are virtual public meetings here to stay?

On 03/28/2021, in legislatures / government / legal, platforms, telelegal, United States, videoconferencing, Virtual courts and law firms, vision/possibilities, web-based collaboration, by Daniel Christian

Are virtual public meetings here to stay? — from jdsupra.com by Michael Maurer & William Shepherd

From DSC:
I just thought this was an interesting question/idea…

Reflections on “Telemedicine likely to change how we receive health care post-pandemic” [Hicks]

On 03/18/2021, in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, A/V -- audio/visual, Access to Justice (A2J), Alternatives, change, corporate universities / corporate training, Daniel S. Christian, digital learning, education technology, expectations, experimentation, future, game-changing environment, health, law schools, learning ecosystem, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, learning hubs & pods & microschooling, Legal operations, legal reform, legal technologies, legislatures / government / legal, online learning, remote teaching and learning, society, surviving, teaching online, technologies for your home, telecommunications, telelegal, telemedicine / telehealth / virtual health, training / L&D, trends, TVs, United States, user experience (UX), vendors, videoconferencing, by Daniel Christian

Telemedicine likely to change how we receive health care post-pandemic — from mlive.com by Justin Hicks

A patient sits in the living room of her apartment in New York City during a telemedicine video conference with a doctor. (Mark Lennihan/AP)AP

Excerpt:

As we look to the post-pandemic future, medical experts believe telemedicine will be here to stay as another option to increase access to care, reduce costs, and free up doctors to spend more time with patients who need in-person care.

“When I think about the pandemic, one thing that didn’t change about our lifestyles is people are busy,” Lopez said. “I think we’ll still see growth in overall visits because of the fact that people want access to care and when you lower the cost, it should go up.”

From DSC:
A friend of mine said that he is doing most of his practice now via the telehealth route (and has been for many months now). Then, recently, when I was at the lab, the knowledgeable woman who assisted me said that she thought virtual health was definitely going to stick. Many doctors and nurses will be using virtual means vs. physical visits she said.

Expectations get involved here — for education, for the legal field, and for other arenas.

Seven online whiteboards for 2021 + other relevant tools/vendors for online-based collaboration

On 03/18/2021, in A/V -- audio/visual, active learning, adjunct faculty, art, collaboration, colleges, community colleges, content development, aggregation, repositories, corporate universities / corporate training, creativity, Daniel S. Christian, digital audio, digital learning, digital storytelling, digital video, distance education, education technology, engagement / engaging students, experimentation, faculty/staff, flipping -- inverted learning, Google, higher education, homeschooling/homeschoolers, human-computer interaction (HCI), ideas, innovation, instructional design, interactivity, IT in HE, K-12 related, law schools, learning, learning ecosystem, Learning Experience Design, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, learning hubs & pods & microschooling, learning spaces, lifelong learning, Microsoft, multimedia, new media literacies, online learning, online media, online tutoring, parents/guardians, platforms, presentations, productivity / tips and tricks, remote teaching and learning, student teaching/teacher education, tablets, teachers, teaching & learning, teaching online, technologies for your home, telelegal, telemedicine / telehealth / virtual health, tools, training / L&D, universities, vendors, videoconferencing, vision/possibilities, web-based collaboration, webinars, by Daniel Christian

The excerpt below is from The 7 best online whiteboards in 2021 — from zapier.com by Maria Myre

Miro for turning ideas into tasks
Stormboard for creating multiple whiteboards in a single brainstorming session
MURAL for remote, multi-member team meetings
Limnu for teaching students remotely
InVision Freehand for annotating design files with a team
Conceptboard for turning a brainstorming session into a formal presentation
Explain Everything for creating whiteboard videos

From DSC:
Other potentially-relevant tools/vendors here include:

Cisco Webex
- Cisco Webex Desk Series

- Cisco Webex Board Series
- Cisco Webex Room Series
Google JamBoard
Microsoft Surface Hub 2
Haworth’s Bluescape
…and others

[Updated] Free Resources to Help with Remote Learning in 2021 [Schaffhauser]

On 03/06/2021, in education, education technology, K-12 related, parents/guardians, platforms, remote teaching and learning, student-related, teachers, tools, United States, vendors, videoconferencing, virtual field trips, virtual K-12 schools, by Daniel Christian

Free Resources to Help with Remote Learning in 2021 — from thejournal.com by Dian Schaffhauser

Excerpt:

As the pandemic continues wreaking havoc in education through the current school year, districts, schools, teachers and parents are being more selective about the technology they choose for instructing and engaging students. While hundreds of education companies, nonprofits and other organizations made their software and services free during the immediate switch to remote learning, many have become more thoughtful about how they help educators master online and blended instruction. We’ve winnowed through our original collection and sprinkled additions throughout, to bring you this updated set of free resources to help with remote learning in 2021.

Student Builds Volumetric 3D TV To Complete Bachelor’s Program — from vrscout.com by Bobby Carlton

In the end, they ended up building a volumetric 3D closed-circuit TV system capable of producing live holographic imager; I’d say that’s pretty noteworthy.

From DSC:
If we can imagine it…

Addendum on 3/12/21:

The Triple Threat Facing Generalist Law Firms, Part 2: Legal Tech [Hollar Barnard]

On 02/24/2021, in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, law schools, Legal operations, legal reform, legal technologies, legislatures / government / legal, society, trends, United States, videoconferencing, Virtual courts and law firms, by Daniel Christian

The Triple Threat Facing Generalist Law Firms, Part 2: Legal Tech — from jdsupra.com by Katherine Hollar Barnard

Excerpts:

In Legaltech, a Walmart associate general counsel estimated the product provided a 60 to 80 percent time savings. That’s great news for Walmart – less so for lawyers who bill by the hour.
…
Sterling Miller, the former general counsel of Marketo, Inc., Sabre Corporation and Travelocity.com, made a compelling case for why law firm clients are turning to technology: In-house lawyers are incentivized to find the most efficient, lowest-cost way to do things. Many law firm lawyers are incentivized to do just the opposite.

To be sure, software is unlikely to replace lawyers altogether; legal minds are essential for strategy, and robots have yet to be admitted to the bar. However, technology’s impact on an industry dominated by the billable hour will be profound.

Also see:

Judge John Tran spearheaded adoption of tech to facilitate remote hearings and helped train lawyers — from abajournal.com by Stephanie Francis Ward; with thanks to Gabe Teninbaum for this resource

Excerpt:

If you need a judge who can be counted on to research all courtroom technology offerings that can help proceedings continue during the COVID-19 pandemic, look no further than John Tran of the Fairfax County Circuit Court in Virginia.

After the Virginia Supreme Court issued an order June 22 stating that remote proceedings should be used to conduct as much business as possible, Tran offered webinars to help lawyers with the Fairfax Bar Association get up to speed with Webex, the platform the court uses for remote proceedings.

“When Webex has a news release, he’s all over that. He’s already had a private demo. He is one of a small number of exceptionally tech-savvy judges,” says Sharon Nelson, a Fairfax attorney and co-founder and president of the digital forensics firm Sensei Enterprises.

Watch out for those filters in Zoom (esp. if your kids are using your system)!

On 02/10/2021, in law schools, legal technologies, legislatures / government / legal, vendors, videoconferencing, by Daniel Christian

Addendum on 2/14/21:

‘I am not a cat’: How to find and use that infamous filter for your next Zoom session — from cnet.com by Alison DeNisco Rayome
Feeling inspired by the lawyer who accidentally appeared as a cat in a legal proceeding over Zoom? We’ll show you how to hunt down and apply the filter, too.

What will the hospital of the future look like in a post COVID-19 world? — from protocol.com by Jeroen Tas and Sean Carney

Excerpt (emphasis DSC):

One thing we have realized is that COVID-19 has accelerated three transformational trends that already existed before the pandemic, but are now dramatically reshaping healthcare: the concept of a networked healthcare system, the increasing adoption of telehealth, and the idea of virtual care and guidance. At the same time, we have seen consumers becoming much more engaged in their personal health and that of their families.

From DSC:
Next up…telelegal; and, possibly, more virtual courtrooms.

Also see:

How can screen sharing be used in healthcare? — from blog.webex.com
Excerpts: Virtual consultations | Training and education sessions | RPM and other remote treatments | Annotations
How therapists respond to telehealth — from adigaskell.org

8 Strategies to Prevent Teaching Burnout [Darby]

On 02/02/2021, in distance education, education technology, higher education, instructional design, K-12 related, online learning, pedagogy, productivity / tips and tricks, remote teaching and learning, teachers, teaching & learning, teaching online, vendors, videoconferencing, by Daniel Christian

8 Strategies to Prevent Teaching Burnout — from chronicle.com by Flower Darby
What can you do this semester to protect your well-being and support your students?

Excerpt:

My takeaway? Don’t rely on your usual, in-person discussion strategies. Now is the time to think creatively about what works well online. So what else might you try?

Use chat box and polling frequently.
Offer individual reflection activities. For example, two or three times during class, ask students to write a five-word summary of the preceding section. Students can submit their responses in a private chat or as a text-entry assignment after class in your learning management system.
Provide a guided notes document, partial slides, or diagrams that students can annotate with their own notes during class, and then submit to you at the end of class in the LMS for participation credit.
Create a Padlet or Jamboard where students post key takeaways at the end of class. (Bonus: They can serve as useful review documents later in the term.)

Learning Ecosystems

Digital upskilling in legal: More than just new technology [Dolinsky]

Nearly Half of Faculty Say Pandemic Changes to Teaching Are Here to Stay [Kelly]

eLearning has improved in the last 7 years… [Burns]

Improved Student Engagement in Higher Education’s Next Normal [Glantz, Gamrat, Lenze, & Bardzell]

An interesting question: Are virtual public meetings here to stay?

Reflections on “Telemedicine likely to change how we receive health care post-pandemic” [Hicks]

Watch out for those filters in Zoom (esp. if your kids are using your system)!

What will the hospital of the future look like in a post COVID-19 world? [Tas & Carney]

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