vision/possibilities

Making VR a Reality in the Classroom [Flynn & Frost]

On 04/22/2021, in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, 3D, A/V -- audio/visual, attention, colleges, community colleges, content development, aggregation, repositories, corporate universities / corporate training, Daniel S. Christian, digital audio, digital learning, distance education, education, education technology, educational games / serious games, emerging technologies, engagement / engaging students, experimentation, future, future of higher education, generational differences, graphics, higher education, human-computer interaction (HCI), ideas, immersion, innovation, instructional design, interaction 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 preferences, learning spaces, multimedia, platforms, play, psychology, United States, universities, user experience (UX), vendors, Virtual Reality (VR) / worlds / learning, vision/possibilities, XR - extended reality, by Daniel Christian

Making VR a Reality in the Classroom — from er.educause.edu by Cat Flynn and Peter Frost
Faculty and staff at Southern New Hampshire University piloted virtual reality in an undergraduate psychology course to see if it can be an effective pedagogical tool.

Excerpt:

Meeting the Learning Needs of Gen Z and Beyond
While this study was conducted with current SNHU undergraduates, our team aimed to understand the implications of immersive learning for both today’s students and future learners.
…
Given Gen Z’s documented love for gaming and their desire for higher education to equip them with problem-solving and practical skills, VR provides a confluence of experiential learning and engagement.

From DSC:
Cost and COVID-19 are major issues here, but this is an interesting article nonetheless.

I think Virtual Reality (VR), Mixed Reality (MR), and Augmented Reality (AR) will play a significant role in the future of how we learn. It may take us some time to get there, but I believe that we will.

Penn students use digital platform Gather to imitate in-person office hours — from thedp.com by Isaac Lee; with thanks to Professor Sue Ellen Christian for this resource

Excerpt:

As students yearn for in-person interaction and the familiarity of their school buildings, platforms like Gather are filling the void — virtually.

Gather, also known as Gather.town, simulates buildings and classrooms on campus where students, professors, and teaching assistants can interact with one another through personal avatars during office hours. Its main feature, “Interaction Distance,” launches a video call between users whose avatars are within five steps from each other in the virtual space. As the users’ avatars walk away from each other, their video and audio quality decrease, simulating an in-person interaction.

Also see:

From DSC:
Now picture this in VR.

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, 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.

Apple CEO Tim Cook: AR Is “Critically Important” For The Company’s Future [Carlton]

On 04/11/2021, in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, 3D, A/V -- audio/visual, Apple, Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, Augmented Reality (AR), communications, computer science, corporate universities / corporate training, education, education technology, emerging technologies, experimentation, future, future of higher education, generational differences, higher education, ideas, K-12 related, law schools, learning, learning ecosystem, Learning Experience Design, Mixed Reality (MR), mobile learning, mobile technologies, programming, technologies for your home, tools, training / L&D, vision/possibilities, wearables, XR - extended reality, by Daniel Christian

Apple CEO Tim Cook: AR Is “Critically Important” For The Company’s Future — from vrscout.com by Bobby Carlton

Excerpts:

When the subject of AR and it’s potential came up, Cook said “You and I are having a great conversation right now. Arguably, it could even be better if we were able to augment our discussion with charts or other things to appear.”

In Cook’s opinion, AR will change the way we communicate with our friends, colleagues, and family. It’ll reshape communication in fields such as health, education, gaming, and retail. “I’m already seeing AR take off in some of these areas with use of the phone. And I think the promise is even greater in the future,” said Cook.

Also see:

How Extended Reality Tools Can Bring New Life to Higher Education — from by Soulaymane Kachani

And it is not enough to try to use existing VR/XR applications and tailor them to educational scenarios. These tools can and should be created with pedagogy, student experience, and learning outcomes as the priority.

DC: Yet another reason to implement/support Universal Design for Learning (UDL)

On 04/11/2021, in accessibility / UDL, adjunct faculty, Bias | Diversity Equity & Inclusion (DE&I), colleges, communities of practice, community colleges, content development, aggregation, repositories, corporate universities / corporate training, Daniel S. Christian, digital learning, distance education, education technology, elearning, faculty, heutagogy, higher education, homeschooling/homeschoolers, ideas, instructional design, internet, IT in HE, K-12 related, law schools, learner profiles, learning, learning ecosystem, Learning Experience Design, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, learning preferences, multimedia, neurodivergent/special needs, online learning, online media, online tutoring, parents/guardians, pedagogy, remote teaching and learning, society, student-related, teachers, teaching & learning, teaching online, telecommunications, training / L&D, United States, universities, usability, user experience (UX), vision/possibilities, web-based collaboration, youth, by Daniel Christian

DC: Yet another reason for Universal Design for Learning’s multiple means of presentation/media:

Encourage faculty to presume students are under-connected. Asynchronous, low-bandwidth approaches help give students more flexibility in accessing course content in the face of connectivity challenges.

— as excerpted from campustechnology.com’s article entitled, “4 Ways Institutions Can Meet Students’ Connectivity and Technology Needs“

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.

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…

Chrome now instantly captions audio and video on the web [Ian Carlos Campbell]

On 03/22/2021, in accessibility / UDL, assistive technologies, colleges, communications, community colleges, digital audio, digital learning, digital video, education technology, experimentation, Google, higher education, homeschooling/homeschoolers, human-computer interaction (HCI), innovation, instructional design, internet, IT in HE, K-12 related, law schools, learning ecosystem, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, learning preferences, liberal arts, media/film, Natural Language Processing (NLP), neurodivergent/special needs, new media literacies, online learning, student-related, teachers, teaching & learning, teaching online, tools, universities, user experience (UX), vendors, vision/possibilities, voice recognition / voice enabled interfaces, web-based collaboration, by Daniel Christian

Chrome now instantly captions audio and video on the web — from theverge.com by Ian Carlos Campbell
The accessibility feature was previously exclusive to some Pixel and Samsung Galaxy phones

Excerpt:

Google is expanding its real-time caption feature, Live Captions, from Pixel phones to anyone using a Chrome browser, as first spotted by XDA Developers. Live Captions uses machine learning to spontaneously create captions for videos or audio where none existed before, and making the web that much more accessible for anyone who’s deaf or hard of hearing.
…
Chrome’s Live Captions worked on YouTube videos, Twitch streams, podcast players, and even music streaming services like SoundCloud in early tests run by a few of us here at The Verge. Google also says Live Captions will work with audio and video files stored on your hard drive if they’re opened in Chrome. However, Live Captions in Chrome only work in English, which is also the case on mobile.

14th Annual Edition | 2021 Tech Trends Report — from the Future Today Institute

Our 2021 Tech Trends Report is designed to help you confront deep uncertainty, adapt and thrive. For this year’s edition, the magnitude of new signals required us to create 12 separate volumes, and each report focuses on a cluster of related trends. In total, we’ve analyzed nearly 500 technology and science trends across multiple industry sectors. In each volume, we discuss the disruptive forces, opportunities and strategies that will drive your organization in the near future.

Now, more than ever, your organization should examine the potential near and long-term impact of tech trends. You must factor the trends in this report into your strategic thinking for the coming year, and adjust your planning, operations and business models accordingly. But we hope you will make time for creative exploration. From chaos, a new world will come.

Some example items noted in this report:

Natural language processing is an area experiencing high interest, investment, and growth.
+ No-code or low-code systems are unlocking new use cases for businesses.
Amazon Web Services, Azure, and Google Cloud’s low-code and no-code offerings will trickle down to everyday people, allowing them to create their own artificial intelligence applications and deploy them as easily as they could a website.
The race is on to capture AI cloudshare—and to become the most trusted provider of AI on remote servers.
COVID-19 accelerated the use of AI in drug discovery last year. The first trial of an AI-discovered drug is underway in Japan.

Will holographic displays change what we mean by web-based collaborations, communications, presentations? Plus several other relevant Q’s [Christian]

On 03/18/2021, in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, 3D, A/V -- audio/visual, active learning, collaboration, communications, computer science, content development, aggregation, repositories, corporate / business world, corporate universities / corporate training, Daniel S. Christian, digital audio, digital learning, digital storytelling, distance education, drama/theater, education technology, educational games / serious games, emerging technologies, Emotion, engagement / engaging students, entrepreneurship, experimentation, future of higher education, game-changing environment, higher education, human-computer interaction (HCI), ideas, innovation, interface design, law schools, learning, learning ecosystem, Learning Experience Design, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, learning hubs & pods & microschooling, learning spaces, media/film, online learning, online media, online tutoring, participation, platforms, society, storytelling, streams of content, teaching online, telelegal, telemedicine / telehealth / virtual health, tools, training / L&D, user experience (UX), vendors, vision/possibilities, web-based collaboration, webinars, by Daniel Christian

ARHT Media Inc.
Access The Power Of HoloPresence | Hologram Technology | Holographic Displays | Hologram Events

Excerpt:

ARHT Media mounted a holographic display at the event in Vancouver and had Sunlife’s executive captured and transmitted live as a hologram to the event from our Toronto studio. He was able to see the audience and interact with them in realtime as if he was attending the event and present in the room.

From DSC:

Will holographic displays change what we mean by web-based collaboration?
Will this be a part of the future learning ecosystems inside of higher education? Inside of the corporate training world? Inside the world of events and webinars?
How will this type of emerging technology impact our communications? Levels of engagement?
Will this type of thing impact telehealth? Telelegal?
How will this impact storytelling? Media? Drama/acting? Games?
Will the price come down to where online and blended learning will use this type of thing?
Will streams of content be offered by holographic displays?

Moving Online Learning from Challenge to Opportunity — from campustechnology.com by Dr. Mark Lombardi
The future of higher education means breaking down classroom walls, embracing digital tools and engaging students with creativity and innovation.

Excerpt (emphasis DSC):

Similarly, Maryville criminology professor Geri Brandt, working in concert with our learning designers and on-site production studio, used 360-degree camera technology to stage a virtual, explorable, interactive crime scene. Extending this online experience further, the criminology department created a “choose your own adventure” virtual experience, where each student response or choice in an investigation leads to a different outcome.

Creativity and innovation on this scale are only possible when faculty work with a talented team of learning design professionals who can translate a vision of interactive and immersive learning into a new student experience. Designing and delivering this active learning ecosystem integrated in online and on-ground learning takes a team of committed professionals and the courage to make it happen.

What if students could choose to learn in environments that are fully immersive, deeply enriching and profoundly meaningful to their courses of study? We encourage our students to explore the world beyond the campus, but what happens when the world is your campus?

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, 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

New Opportunities in 2021: Improved Academic Mobility, Flexible Degree Attainment and Skills Verification — from campustechnology.com by Stan Novak
The pandemic has accelerated trends in alternative credentials that will be essential to student success in an evolving higher education landscape.

Excerpt:

Interoperable learning records (ILRs) are being studied as an achievable way to communicate skills between workers, employers, and education and training institutions with the goal of creating a single profile that represents all of an individual’s abilities. The value of an ILR is that it would allow efficient and consistent comparison of a person’s capabilities to fulfill specific job requirements.

These opportunities represent only a slice of what lies ahead for higher education as the world emerges from the pandemic. The dramatic shift in the learning landscape highlights the ways that higher education must adapt to make degree attainment more flexible, achievable and relevant for the future workforce.

From DSC:
I’ve often thought there could be real benefits in cloud-based learner profiles — which could store our learning preferences, our past learning experiences, certificates, programs, courses, etc.

GPT-3: We’re at the very beginning of a new app ecosystem [Rao]

On 03/06/2021, in emerging technologies, experimentation, game-changing environment, human-computer interaction (HCI), ideas, innovation, intelligent systems, intelligent tutoring, interaction design, interactivity, Natural Language Processing (NLP), vendors, vision/possibilities, voice recognition / voice enabled interfaces, wearables, by Daniel Christian

GPT-3: We’re at the very beginning of a new app ecosystem — from venturebeat.com by Dattaraj Rao

From DSC: NLP=Natural Language Processing (i.e., think voice-driven interfaces/interactivity).

Excerpt:

Despite the hype, questions persist as to whether GPT-3 will be the bedrock upon which an NLP application ecosystem will rest or if newer, stronger NLP models with knock it off its throne. As enterprises begin to imagine and engineer NLP applications, here’s what they should know about GPT-3 and its potential ecosystem.

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:

Learning Ecosystems

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

Will holographic displays change what we mean by web-based collaborations, communications, presentations? Plus several other relevant Q’s [Christian]

New Opportunities in 2021: Improved Academic Mobility, Flexible Degree Attainment and Skills Verification [Novak]

GPT-3: We’re at the very beginning of a new app ecosystem [Rao]

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