Virtual Reality (VR) / worlds / learning

All of the topics covered in The Future Trends Forum [Alexander]

On 04/11/2022, in accessibility / UDL, accreditation, adjunct faculty, Alternatives, blended learning, business side of he, change, changing business models, CMS/LMS, colleges, community colleges, cost of getting a degree, credentialing, curriculum, data related items, education technology, emerging technologies, experimentation, faculty, future of higher education, game-changing environment, higher education, hybrid learning, Hyflex learning, ideas, innovation, IT in HE, learning, learning ecosystem, Learning Experience Design, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, learning preferences, learning spaces, learning theories, new business models, new media literacies, online learning, open courseware and systems, research, science, STEAM-related, teaching & learning, tools, United States, universities, videoconferencing, Virtual Reality (VR) / worlds / learning, Web3, XR - extended reality, by Daniel Christian

The Future Trends Forum Topics page — from forum.futureofeducation.us by Bryan Alexander

Excerpt:

The Future Trends Forum has explored higher education in depth and breadth. Over six years of regular live conversations we have addressed many aspects of academia.

On this page you’ll find a list of our topics. Consider it a kind of table of contents, or, better yet, an index to the Forum’s themes.

Also see:

300 videos: the Future Trends Forum passes another milestone — from bryanalexander.org by Bryan Alexander

Since we launched in early February, 2016, the Forum has successfully published three hundred videos to YouTube. Week after week, month by month, over more than six years we’ve held great conversations, then shared them with the world, free of charge.

The AR Roundup: March 2022 — from linkedin.com by Tom Emrich

Excerpt:

Every month I round up what you may have missed in Augmented Reality including the latest stats, funding news and launch announcements and more. Here is what happened in augmented reality between March 1-31, 2022.

“The metaverse is no longer a single virtual world or even a cluster of virtual worlds. It’s the entire system of virtual and augmented worlds,” Chalmers tells me over Zoom. “Where the old metaverse was like a platform on the internet, the new metaverse is more like the internet as a whole, just the immersive internet.”

~ David Chalmers, Philosopher and Author of Reality+

Osso VR nets $66 million for surgical training [Pringle]

On 03/31/2022, in health, higher education, innovation, instructional design, learning, learning ecosystem, Learning Experience Design, learning preferences, learning spaces, nursing, Virtual Reality (VR) / worlds / learning, vision/possibilities, XR - extended reality, by Daniel Christian

Osso VR nets $66 million for surgical training — from axios.com by Sarah Pringle

Excerpt:

Why it matters: Surgical training hasn’t evolved in 30-plus years, but Osso VR is looking to change that by empowering health care professionals with virtual reality.

Training and assessing surgeons more efficiently can drive up the adoption of modern and hard-to-learn medtech, and democratize surgical education.
“The innovation from the medical device industry is providing us an incredible opportunity to treat patients much more consistently and with optimized outcomes,” said Justin Barad, Osso’s co-founder and a practicing pediatric orthopedic surgeon.

From DSC:
Not that this is exactly related, but the above item made me think of it:

The Healing Power of Learning — from chronicle.com by James M. Lang
After a health crisis, an academic finds that learning is not just joyful but restorative.

Now we just need a “Likewise TV” for learning-related resources! [Christian]

On 03/29/2022, in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, 5G, A/V -- audio/visual, adult learning, Alternatives, analytics, Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, assistive technologies, cloud-based computing / apps / other cloud-related, collaboration, colleges, communities of practice, community colleges, content development, aggregation, repositories, convergence, corporate / business world, corporate universities / corporate training, Daniel S. Christian, digital learning, education technology, educational games / serious games, elearning, emerging technologies, future, future of higher education, higher education, homeschooling/homeschoolers, human-computer interaction (HCI), Hyflex learning, ideas, innovation, instructional design, intelligent systems, intelligent tutoring, internet, K-12 related, law schools, learner profiles, learning, learning agents, learning ecosystem, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, learning hubs & pods & microschooling, learning preferences, learning spaces, lifelong learning, marketplaces, media/film, microlearning, MOOCs -- Massive Open Online Courses, more voice more choice more control, multimedia, Natural Language Processing (NLP), New "Amazon.com" of Higher Education, online learning, personalized/customized learning, platforms, reinvent, skills, smart classrooms, smart/connected TV, social learning / networks, society, streams of content, technologies for your home, telepresence, television, tools, ubiquitous learning, United States, universities, vendors, videoconferencing, Virtual Reality (VR) / worlds / learning, vision/possibilities, vocational / trades, web-based collaboration, by Daniel Christian

Likewise TV Brings Curation to Streaming — from lifewire.com by Cesar Aroldo-Cadenas
And it’s available on iOS, Android, and some smart TVs

All your streaming services in one place. One search. One watchlist. Socially powered recommendations.

Entertainment startup Likewise has launched a new recommendations hub that pulls from all the different streaming platforms to give you personalized picks.
…
Likewise TV is a streaming hub powered by machine learning, people from the Likewise community, and other streaming services. The service aims to do away with mindlessly scrolling through a menu, looking for something to watch, or jumping from one app to another by providing a single location for recommendations.
…
Note that Likewise TV is purely an aggregator.

Also see:

From DSC:
Now we need this type of AI-based recommendation engine, aggregator, and service for learning-related resources!

I realize that we have a long ways to go here — as a friend/former colleague of mine just reminded me that these recommendation engines often miss the mark. I’m just hoping that a recommendation engine like this could ingest our cloud-based learner profiles and our current goals and then present some promising learning-related possibilities for us. Especially if the following graphic is or will be the case in the future:

Here’s what I’ve learned about building skills and how skills shape your career.
A visual thread (1/11) ?

1. Degrees don’t age well. Your current skills and skill level tell organizations more about your real value. pic.twitter.com/Z1edxrYAB1

— Jeff Kortenbosch ?? (@jeffkortenbosch) March 13, 2022

Also relevant/see:

Samsung’s New M8 Monitor Combines Entertainment and Work — from lifewire.com by Cesar Cadenas

From DSC:
Some interesting/noteworthy features:

“The 32- inch display has Wi-Fi capabilities to supports multiple streaming services, can stream smartphone content, and comes with a removable SlimFit Cam.”
The M8 has Wi-Fi connectivity for its native streaming apps so you won’t have to connect to a computer to watch something on Netflix. And its Far Field Voice mic can be used w/ the Always On feature to control devices like Amazon Alexa with your voice, even if the monitor is off.
“You can also connect devices to the monitor via the SmartThings Hub, which can be tracked with the official SmartThings app.”

I wonder how what we call the TV (or television) will continue to morph in the future.

Addendum on 3/31/22 from DSC:
Perhaps people will co-create their learning playlists…as is now possible with Spotify’s “Blend” feature:

Today’s Blend update allows you to share your personal Spotify playlists with your entire group chat—up to 10 users. You can manually invite these friends and family members to join you from in the app, then Spotify will create a playlist for you all to listen to using a mixture of everyone’s music preferences. Spotify will also create a special share card that everyone in the group can use to save and share the created playlist in the future.

Clockwise from top left (KU Leuven, Imperial College London, University of Amsterdam,
Oulu University of Applied Sciences, Finland

.

A virtual tour of four advanced hybrid learning spaces — from zacwoolfitt.blogspot.com by Zac Woolfitt

Excerpt:

What are the next developments in the Hybrid Virtual Classroom? What kind of spaces might we be teaching in soon?

On March 16^th we glimpsed the future. Colleagues from 4 higher education institutes gave virtual tours of their technology rich learning spaces in Belgium, England, Finland and the Netherlands. Media and Learning arranged the session [i]. (Disclosure: Zac is on their advisory panel of Media and Learning).

From DSC:
Here in the U.S., some would promote the use of the word “Hyflex” here instead of hybrid or blended learning — as it sounds like they are simultaneously teaching students in a physical classroom along with online-based learners.

Some announcements from NVIDIA today

On 03/22/2022, in 21st century, A/V -- audio/visual, Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, Asia, emerging technologies, engineering, Europe, graphics, health, human-computer interaction (HCI), innovation, IT in HE, mobile technologies, NVIDIA, United States, vendors, Virtual Reality (VR) / worlds / learning, by Daniel Christian

Some announcements from NVIDIA today:

Nvidia unveils server CPU to challenge Intel and AMD in the data center — from protocol.com by Max A. Cherney
Nvidia’s CEO Jensen Huang announced the company’s next-generation GPU architecture and a new CPU Tuesday.

The new Grace processor is designed for AI, high-performance computing and hyperscale data center applications.

Nvidia launched a mapping product for the autonomous vehicle industry — from techcrunch.com by Rebecca Bellan

Nvidia has launched a new mapping platform that will provide the autonomous vehicle industry with ground truth mapping coverage of over 300,000 miles of roadway in North America, Europe and Asia by 2024, founder and CEO Jensen Huang said at the company’s GTC event on Tuesday.

NVIDIA Launches AI Computing Platform for Medical Devices — from hitconsultant.net by Jasmine Pennic

Nvidia Unveils AI Chips and Software, Plus Tools for Creating Virtual Worlds — by Eric Savitz and Conor Smith

Excerpt:

Nvidia is doubling down on artificial-intelligence technology that CEO Jensen Huang predicts will revolutionize every industry.

In the keynote speech for the annual Nvidia GTC conference—the acronym once stood for GPU Technology Conference, a reference to the company’s roots in graphics processing chips—Huang focused specifically on expanding the company’s portfolio of AI-focused chips and software applications.

Nvidia CEO lays out plans after Arm deal fell through, reveals new Hopper GPU — from marketwatch.com by Jeremy C. Owens
Roadmap seems little changed after chip maker ditched $40 billion acquisition of designer Arm, with new GPUs and first server CPU still on track as EV makers sign on for autonomous-driving tech

Addendum 3/26/22:

Nvidia’s Clara Holoscan MGX means to bring high-powered AI to the doctor’s office — from techcrunch.com

Addendum 3/28/22:

Nvidia’s $1 trillion ambitions draw cheers as software becomes a bigger piece of the pie — from marketwatch.com

The Conversation: Twitter Trends 2022 — from marketing.twitter.com

Excerpt:

Billions of Tweets reveal tomorrow’s big movements.

The biggest movements start quietly. An idea becomes conversation becomes a seismic cultural shift. And if you want in on what’s next, listen to what people on Twitter are saying right now.

To help you out, we analyzed¹billions of Tweets over a two-year period to find three must-know trends about to go big. From The Great Restoration to Fan-Built Worlds to Finance Goes Social, the talk on Twitter reveals the underlying shifts in power shaping where the world is going.

How Virtual Reality Can Be More Accessible with WalkinVR [Evans ] + Which Types of Colleges Have the Most Undergraduates With Disabilities? [chronicle.com]

On 03/17/2022, in accessibility / UDL, assistive technologies, Bias | Diversity Equity & Inclusion (DE&I), colleges, community colleges, educational games / serious games, higher education, neurodivergent/special needs, personalized/customized learning, United States, universities, vendors, Virtual Reality (VR) / worlds / learning, by Daniel Christian

How Virtual Reality Can Be More Accessible with WalkinVR — from equalentry.com by Meryl Evans

Excerpt:

In another scenario, you can’t reach up high. Or maybe you can’t hold the virtual reality controllers or press the buttons.

WalkinVR Driver fills in the gap. It’s a free driver that enhances virtual reality to work with the person’s abilities and preferences. One option is the Xbox Controller Move , which allows you to connect a standard Xbox video game controller to the game.

Also relevant/see:

Which Types of Colleges Have the Most Undergraduates With Disabilities? — from chronicle.com

Excerpt:

Here’s a sector-by-sector look at the percentage of undergraduates who reported a disability to the campus’s office of disability services, or a similar office, in the academic years 2016-17 to 2019-20. Undergraduate students with disabilities are those who reported that they had one or more of the following conditions: a specific learning disability, a visual impairment, a hearing difficulty or deafness, a speech impairment, an orthopedic impairment, or another health impairment. The diversity and related offices provide these students with such services as note-takers and American Sign Language interpreters.

Addendum later on 3/17/22:

Assistive technology personalizes the learning environment — from thetechedvocate.org by Matthew Lynch

Excerpt:

We talk a lot about personalized learning and how it can benefit learners by providing them with more detailed instruction catered to their needs. It helps them overcome learning challenges and achieve their educational goals.

We’ve also discussed assistive technologies – technologies designed to aid students with learning difficulties and other disabilities, understand and retain knowledge to improve their learning outcomes. The two can go hand-in-hand, as assistive technology can help all students receive a more personalized learning experience.

Let’s take a look at some of the ways that AT is used in the classroom and its personalized learning.

Math worksheets for the learning process — from intelligenthq.com

Excerpt:

If you want to master the subject of mathematics, constant practice of various topics is a must. To ensure that you have the proper grasp of all the topics of the subject, solving worksheets for math is one of the best techniques. Worksheets for math facilitate the stepwise mechanism which enhances the learning process and helps students identify their mistakes. Once they can recognize what their mistakes are, they can work on improving them. Worksheets for math also have visual problems that help in the visualization process of students and make their analyzing and strategic capability high. Take worksheets for math from Cuemath and excel in math.

Also see:

Also relevant/see:

In New Math Proofs, Artificial Intelligence Plays to Win — from quantamagazine.org; with thanks to Alec Lazarescu on Twitter for this resource
A new computer program fashioned after artificial intelligence systems like AlphaGo has solved several open problems in combinatorics and graph theory.

Universities reimagine teaching labs for a virtual future — from edtechmagazine.com by Renee Morad
Schools are replacing take-home lab kits with more advanced virtual options that allow students to access industry-grade equipment.

Excerpt:

Soon after, engineering professors at Morgan State began using more advanced virtual lab options, which allowed students to access industry-grade lab equipment. The students could use an oscilloscope, a digital multimeter, a power supply and a function generator. The students logged on remotely to a cloud-based platform and followed the instructor’s video feed to get real-time guidance and feedback.

As the global pandemic forced professors and department chairs to adapt to a new learning frontier, it shined a spotlight on new methods to remotely replicate the in-person lab experience. It shifted the university lab from a traditional learning center to a futuristic innovation hub.

From DSC:
Also interesting here, see:

Also relevant here, see:

U San Diego Nursing Students to Learn Clinical Skills in VR — from campustechnology.com by Rhea Kelly
Excerpt:
The University of San Diego is rolling out virtual reality technology in its nursing curriculum to help prepare students for real-world clinical scenarios. The VR tools will enable students to learn and practice clinical skills in a low-risk setting, as well as reduce their anxiety when interacting with live patients, according to a news announcement.

Resetting the learning function to a virtual-first approach [Webb & Tweedie; chieflearningofficer.com]

On 03/11/2022, in content development, aggregation, repositories, corporate / business world, corporate universities / corporate training, digital learning, training / L&D, Virtual Reality (VR) / worlds / learning, by Daniel Christian

Resetting the learning function to a virtual-first approach — from chieflearningofficer.com by Stephanie Webb, Bob Tweedie

Excerpts:

We recommend embracing a “virtual-first” learning approach, supercharging the empathy in our proven learning toolkit with design thinking, and intentionally incorporating more human connection into learning through the direct involvement of learners’ managers.

“Just as some companies have adopted a “remote-first” employment model, learning teams need to move to a “virtual-first” approach to design to provide the level of predictability needed to produce high-quality work for learners and the business.”

The Metaverse Will Radically Change Content Creation Forever [Fatemi]

On 03/09/2022, in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, 3D, 5G, A/V -- audio/visual, Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, career development, change, content development, aggregation, repositories, convergence, Daniel S. Christian, future, health, human-computer interaction (HCI), ideas, innovation, interactivity, interface design, learning ecosystem, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, Metaverse, multimedia, New "Amazon.com" of Higher Education, platforms, play, technologies for your home, telemedicine / telehealth / virtual health, telepresence, tools, training / L&D, user experience (UX), vendors, Virtual Reality (VR) / worlds / learning, vision/possibilities, web-based collaboration, Web3, XR - extended reality, by Daniel Christian

The Metaverse Will Radically Change Content Creation Forever — from forbes.com by Falon Fatemi

Excerpt:

Although the metaverse promises to touch nearly every person in our society, there’s one demographic that will almost certainly see disproportionately strong disruption: creators. The metaverse has the potential to fundamentally disrupt the content creation process.

The metaverse is slated to help creators make more interactive and immersive content, thanks in large part to advances in VR and AR. The stakes will be raised as creators will be expected to build more immersive and interactive content than ever before.

Also related/see:

The Amazing Possibilities Of Healthcare In The Metaverse — from forbes.com by Bernard Marr

Excerpts:

What’s generally agreed on, however, is that it’s effectively the next version of the internet – one that will take advantage of artificial intelligence (AI), augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR), and ever-increasing connectivity (for example, 5G networks) to create online environments that are more immersive, experiential and interactive than what we have today.

Metaverse involves the convergence of three major technological trends, which all have the potential to impact healthcare individually. Together, though, they could create entirely new channels for delivering care that have the potential to lower costs and vastly improve patient outcomes. These are telepresence (allowing people to be together virtually, even while we’re apart physically), digital twinning, and blockchain (and its ability to let us create a distributed internet).

From DSC:
That last paragraph could likely apply to our future learning ecosystems as well. Lower costs. A greater sense of presence. Getting paid for one’s teaching…then going to learn something new and paying someone else for that new training/education.

MUHC uses artificial intelligence to train neurosurgery students — from montreal.ctvnews.ca by Rob Lurie

Excerpt:

“I think above all it just provides an opportunity for junior learners to get some hands-on exposure,” said medical student Ali Fazlollahi.
…
“Basically, it was inspired by the idea of how do we prevent error in the operating room,” said Neurosurgeon Dr. Rolando De Maestro. Maestro says virtual reality has been a game-changer when it comes to teaching.

The future of AR [900lbs.com]

On 03/01/2022, in Augmented Reality (AR), emerging technologies, user experience (UX), Virtual Reality (VR) / worlds / learning, wearables, XR - extended reality, by Daniel Christian

The future of AR — from 900lbs.com

Some of the topics include:

Where is #AR today and where’s it going?
What options/deployment methods are available & what are their limitations?
Web AR
We’ve heard a lot about AR headsets. Are they the best option?
Ok, I’m interested in creating an AR experience. What now?
What is the biggest piece of advice you have for brands diving into AR for the first time?
…and more

Also see:

Augmented Reality 101: Differences Between VR and AR — from magicleap.com

Why the World’s First Virtual Reality High School Changes Everything [Steve Grubbs]

On 03/01/2022, in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, 3D, A/V -- audio/visual, accreditation, attention, Augmented Reality (AR), change, changing business models, collaboration, communities of practice, content development, aggregation, repositories, copyright/ownership/NFTs, creativity, credentialing, cryptocurrencies, digital audio, digital learning, digital storytelling, digital textbooks, digital video, distance education, education, education technology, elearning, emerging technologies, engagement / engaging students, entrepreneurship, experimentation, future, game-changing environment, global / globalization, graphics, homeschooling/homeschoolers, ideas, immersion, innovation, instructional design, interactivity, K-12 related, learning, learning ecosystem, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, learning hubs & pods & microschooling, learning preferences, learning spaces, Metaverse, multimedia, new business models, online learning, online media, online tutoring, parents/guardians, participation, platforms, simulations, social learning / networks, student-related, teachers, teaching & learning, teaching online, tools, United States, vendors, virtual field trips, virtual K-12 schools, Virtual Reality (VR) / worlds / learning, virtual tutoring, vision/possibilities, wearables, web-based collaboration, Web3, XR - extended reality, youth, by Daniel Christian

Why the World’s First Virtual Reality High School Changes Everything — from steve-grubbs.medium.com by Steve Grubs

Excerpts:

The recipe required key ingredients to happen. In addition to an accredited school to manage students, admissions and the for-credit learning, it also needed a platform. That’s where EngageVR comes in. There are other platforms that will ultimately host schools, perhaps AltSpace, Horizon or others, but the first is on Engage.
…
The bottom line is this: creators, coders, educators, entrepreneurs, investors, corporations, parents and students all played a role in finally bringing the first global virtual reality high school to life. It won’t be the last school to open in the metaverse, but to all those involved in this inaugural launch — the Neil Armstrongs of your age — a special tip of the hat today for having the vision and the willingness to launch a better and more equitable era of education.

Also see:

World’s First Metaverse VR High School Speech & Debate Tournament Announced for March — from victoryxr.com
NFT in Edu: What Does the Future Hold? — from gettingsmart.com by Rachelle Dené Poth
Geo Guessing Is Even More Fun In VR On The Meta Quest — from vrscout.com by Kyle Melnick

Learning Ecosystems

The AR Roundup: March 2022 [Emrich]

Osso VR nets $66 million for surgical training [Pringle]

A virtual tour of four advanced hybrid learning spaces [Woolfitt]

Clockwise from top left (KU Leuven, Imperial College London, University of Amsterdam,
Oulu University of Applied Sciences, Finland

How Virtual Reality Can Be More Accessible with WalkinVR [Evans ] + Which Types of Colleges Have the Most Undergraduates With Disabilities? [chronicle.com]

Resetting the learning function to a virtual-first approach [Webb & Tweedie; chieflearningofficer.com]

The future of AR [900lbs.com]

Categories

Tags

Clockwise from top left (KU Leuven, Imperial College London, University of Amsterdam, Oulu University of Applied Sciences, Finland

Categories

Tags

Clockwise from top left (KU Leuven, Imperial College London, University of Amsterdam,
Oulu University of Applied Sciences, Finland