Psalms 34:18 NIV — from bible.com
The LORD is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.
.
Psalms 34:8 NIV — from bible.com
Taste and see that the LORD is good; blessed is the one who takes refuge in him.
On 03/19/2023,
in faith, global / globalization, hearts -- matters of the heart, relationships, religion,
by Daniel Christian
On 03/18/2023,
in 21st century, A/V -- audio/visual, art, assistive technologies, Augmented Reality (AR), creativity, education technology, memory, neurodivergent/special needs, productivity / tips and tricks, tools,
by Daniel Christian
This AR Art App Helps You Paint Giant Murals — from vrscout.com by Kyle Melnick
Here’s another interesting item along the lines of emerging technologies:
AR-Powered Flashcards Offer A Fresh Spin On Learning — from vrscout.com by Kyle Melnick
Excerpt:
Each SmartCard features a special marker that, when scanned with a tablet, unlocks informative virtual content students can interact with using basic hand gestures and buttons. According to its developers, Justin Nappi and Sudiksha Mallick, SmartCards can be especially useful for neurodivergent students, including those with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), autism, or dyslexia.
On 03/18/2023,
in adjunct faculty, Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, assessment, colleges, community colleges, education, education technology, emerging technologies, experimentation, faculty/staff, future, game-changing environment, higher education, human-computer interaction (HCI), ideas, innovation, instructional design, intelligent systems, K-12 related, law schools, learning, learning ecosystem, Learning Experience Design, pedagogy, productivity / tips and tricks, professional development, science, skills, teachers, teaching & learning, universities, vision/possibilities,
by Daniel Christian
On the K-12 side of things:
6 Ways to Use ChatGPT to Save Time — from edutopia.org by Todd Finley
Teachers can use the artificial intelligence tool to effectively automate some routine tasks.
Excerpt:
In the paragraphs that follow, I’ve divided these tasks into the following categories: planning instruction, handouts and materials, differentiation, correspondence, assessment, and writing instruction and feedback. Welcome to the revolution.
Lesson plans: Ask ChatGPT to write a lesson plan on, say, Westward Expansion. The tool composes assessments, activities, scaffolding, and objectives. Want that in the form of problem-based learning or revised for a flipped classroom? ChatGPT can adjust the lesson plan according to your instructions.
I’m a high school math and science teacher who uses ChatGPT, and it’s made my job much easier — from businessinsider-com.cdn.ampproject.org by Aaron Mok; with thanks to Robert Gibson on LinkedIn for this resource
Excerpt:
- Shannon Ahern, a high school math and science teacher, was afraid that ChatGPT would take her job.
- But her mind changed after she started using the AI for class prep, which saved her hours of time.
- Here’s how Ahern is using ChatGPT to make her job easier, as told to Insider’s Aaron Mok.
On the higher education side of things:
Using AI to make teaching easier & more impactful — from oneusefulthing.substack.com by Ethan Mollick
Here are five strategies and prompts that work for GPT-3.5 & GPT-4
Excerpt:
But one thing that is not changing is the best way for people to learn. We have made large advances in recent years in understanding pedagogy – the science of learning. We know some of the most effective techniques for making sure material sticks and that it can be retrieved and used when needed most.
Unfortunately, many of these advanced pedagogical techniques are time-consuming to prepare, and many instructors are often overworked and do not have the resources and time to add them to their teaching repertoire. But AI can help. In the rush to deliver AI benefits directly to students, the role of teachers is often overlooked.
Teaching: What You Need to Know About ChatGPT — from chronicle.com by Beth McMurtrie
Excerpt:
Digital literacy is more important than ever. Artificial-intelligence tools, and generative AI in particular, raise a host of ethical, political, economic, and social questions. Plus, this tech is soon going to be everywhere, including students’ future professions. (The technology behind ChatGPT, in fact, just got an upgrade this week.) Colleges need to figure out how to graduate digitally savvy students in all disciplines.
“The integration of technology into our lives is so pervasive that the restriction of education about AI to the computer scientists and the computer engineers makes no more sense than the restriction of taking English classes by English majors,” said Weber.
On 03/18/2023,
in corporate universities / corporate training, educational games / serious games, elearning, experimentation, ideas, instructional design, Learning Experience Design, training / L&D,
by Daniel Christian
Infographic: Gamify your eLearning with these 7 techniques — from thelearningrooms.com
Excerpt:
Gamification refers to the application of gaming elements into the instructional design of a course. Here are 7 ways to incorporate gamification into your eLearning.
On 03/18/2023,
in Uncategorized,
by Daniel Christian
DC: I’m going to check this out for a bit. I’m passing it along in case some folks might be interested in #legaltech and in various applications of #AI. https://t.co/laYoOHLuOC
— Daniel Christian (he/him/his) (@dchristian5) March 18, 2023
On 03/18/2023,
in change, Daniel S. Christian, education, education reform, ideas, innovation, K-12 related, leadership, learning, learning ecosystem, Learning Experience Design, legislatures / government / legal, reinvent, society, staying relevant, strategy, teachers, United States,
by Daniel Christian
Policy by Waivers Won’t Boost School Innovation — by Michael B. Horn
“Permissionless” beats having to ask for an okay
Excerpt:
In recent conversations, educators and state policymakers have expressed shock to me that district schools aren’t innovating more. With microschools growing and test scores floundering, why aren’t districts seeking permission to reinvent themselves?
As evidence of the opportunities to innovate, many bureaucrats and think tanks point to the vast number of waivers that states offer. The opportunities to move beyond traditional structures and processes do exist, the argument goes.
Yet waivers help far less than most policymakers believe. Until regulators create frameworks where innovation in pursuit of student outcomes is the default and doesn’t require permission, don’t expect a sea change.
From DSC:
TrimTab Groups. That’s what we need more of within K-12 and higher education.
Research shows the only way an organization can truly reinvent itself is to launch a separate organization that has the autonomy to rethink its value proposition, resources, processes, and financial formula.
Below is a graphic I created a while back, but with traditional institutions of higher education in mind.
On 03/18/2023,
in active learning, adjunct faculty, adult learning, colleges, community colleges, content development, aggregation, repositories, faculty/staff, higher education, ideas, instructional design, law schools, learning, learning ecosystem, Learning Experience Design, liberal arts, pedagogy, productivity / tips and tricks, professional development, skills, teaching & learning, universities, vendors,
by Daniel Christian
Designing Virtual Edtech Faculty Development Workshops That Stick: 10 Guiding Principles — from er.educause.edu by Tolulope (Tolu) Noah
These ten principles offer guidance on ways to design and facilitate effective and engaging virtual workshops that leave faculty feeling better equipped to implement new edtech tools.
Excerpt:
I share here ten guiding principles that have shaped my design and facilitation of virtual synchronous edtech workshops. These guiding principles are based on lessons learned in both my previous role as a professional learning specialist at a major technology company and my current role as a faculty developer at a university. In the spirit of James M. Lang’s book Small Teaching, my hope is that the principles shared here may prompt reflection on the small yet impactful moves academic technology specialists, instructional designers, and educational developers can make to create virtual learning experiences whereby faculty leave feeling better equipped to implement the edtech tools they have learned.
Somewhat relevant/see:
Evidence-Based Learning Design 101 — by Dr. Philippa Hardman
A practical guide on how to bake the science of learning into the art of course design
Excerpt:
As I reflect on the experience and what I’ve learned so far, I thought I’d share a response to the question I probably get asked most: what process do you use to go from an idea to a designed learning experience?
So, let’s do a rapid review of the four step process I and my bootcamp alumni use – aka the DOMS™? process – to go from zero to a designed learning experience.
On 03/18/2023,
in 24x7x365 access, cloud-based computing / apps / other cloud-related, content development, aggregation, repositories, emerging technologies, experimentation, Google, Microsoft, productivity / tips and tricks, tools, usability, user experience (UX), vendors, writing,
by Daniel Christian
Copilot — A whole new way to work — from news.microsoft.com
- Copilot in Word writes, edits, summarizes and creates right alongside people as they work.
- Copilot in PowerPoint enables the creation process by turning ideas into a designed presentation through natural language commands.
- Copilot in Excel helps unlock insights, identify trends or create professional-looking data visualizations in a fraction of the time.
- Copilot in Outlook can help synthesize and manage the inbox to allow more time to be spent on actually communicating.
- Copilot in Teams makes meetings more productive with real-time summaries and action items directly in the context of the conversation.
- Copilot in Power Platform will help developers of all skill levels accelerate and streamline development with low-code tools with the introduction of two new capabilities within Power Apps and Power Virtual Agents.
- Business Chat brings together data from across documents, presentations, email, calendar, notes and contacts to help summarize chats, write emails, find key dates or even write a plan based on other project files.
Introducing Microsoft 365 Copilot – your copilot for work — from blogs.microsoft.com by Jared Spataro
“Today marks the next major step in the evolution of how we interact with computing, which will fundamentally change the way we work and unlock a new wave of productivity growth,” said Satya Nadella, Chairman and CEO, Microsoft. “With our new copilot for work, we’re giving people more agency and making technology more accessible through the most universal interface — natural language.”
Introducing Microsoft 365 Copilot — A whole new way to work — from microsoft.com by Colette Stallbaumer
Excerpt:
Copilot is integrated into Microsoft 365 in two ways. It works alongside you, embedded in the Microsoft 365 apps you use every day—Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Teams, and more—to unleash creativity, unlock productivity, and uplevel skills. Today, we’re also announcing an entirely new experience: Business Chat. Business Chat works across the LLM, the Microsoft 365 apps, and your data—your calendar, emails, chats, documents, meetings, and contacts—to do things you’ve never been able to do before. You can give it natural language prompts like “tell my team how we updated the product strategy” and it will generate a status update based on the morning’s meetings, emails, and chat threads.
A new era for AI and Google Workspace — from workspace.google.com by Johanna Voolich Wright
Excerpt:
As we embark on this next journey, we will be bringing these new generative-AI experiences to trusted testers on a rolling basis throughout the year, before making them available publicly.
With these features, you’ll be able to:
- draft, reply, summarize, and prioritize your Gmail
- brainstorm, proofread, write, and rewrite in Docs
- bring your creative vision to life with auto-generated images, audio, and video in Slides
- go from raw data to insights and analysis via auto-completion, formula generation, and
- contextual categorization in Sheets
- generate new backgrounds and capture notes in Meet
- enable workflows for getting things done in Chat
Here’s a look at the first set of AI-powered features, which make writing even easier.
On 03/18/2023,
in accessibility / UDL, Bias | Diversity Equity & Inclusion (DE&I), global / globalization, neurodivergent/special needs, society, sociology,
by Daniel Christian
Join us to promote full inclusion on World Down Syndrome Day
21 March is World Down Syndrome Day (WDSD) as declared by the United Nations General Assembly in December 2011.
On this day, people with Down syndrome and those who live and work with them throughout the world organise and participate in activities and events to raise public awareness and create a single global voice advocating for the rights, inclusion and well-being of people with Down syndrome.
WDSD has an official website, created and updated by DSi, where we share global events and activities.
United Nations | March 21 2023 is World Down Syndrome Day — from un.org
Excerpt:
Down syndrome occurs when an individual has an extra partial (or whole) copy of chromosome 21. It is not yet know why this syndrome occurs, but Down syndrome has always been a part of the human condition. It exists in all regions across the globe and commonly results in variable effects on learning styles, physical characteristics and health.
Adequate access to health care, to early intervention programmes, and to inclusive education, as well as appropriate research, are vital to the growth and development of the individual.
Also relevant/see:
On 03/16/2023,
in accreditation, competency-based learning/education, credentialing, Daniel S. Christian, future, future of higher education, game-changing environment, higher education, ideas, learning ecosystem, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, skills,
by Daniel Christian
Territorium Introduces AI-Powered System to Track Skills and Competencies from K–12 to Career — from campustechnology.com by Kate Lucariello
Excerpt:
Global ed tech provider Territorium has launched LifeJourney, a suite of AI-powered tools for users to keep track of education, job skills, and career readiness capabilities. With the LifeJourney toolkit’s comprehensive individual records all in one place, students can provide quick and easily accessible information to prospective employers, according to the company. The suite of tools keeps track of progress and achievements from K–12 through higher education and career readiness.
From DSC:
This type of comprehensive learner record is a piece of the vision that I’ve been tracking at “Learning from the Living [Class] Room” — where I call it a Cloud-Based Learner Profile.
Also relevant/see:
College Accreditation 101: How It Works & Why It Matters — from business-essay.com; with thanks to Lili North for this resource
Excerpt:
Entering a prestigious college and getting a quality education is one of the top priorities for high school graduates. But how do you know if the college you are considering is really worth it?
Well, luckily, there is accreditation: a process of evaluating educational institutions. Accreditation is an important factor to consider when selecting a college: after all, unaccredited schools don’t provide you with widely recognized diplomas and can leave you with insufficient knowledge and skills.
Want to know more? You’re in the right place! This article covers the essential information every college applicant should know about accreditation.
Also relevant/see:
- Building a Microcredential Program Framework to Meet the Needs of a Changing Academic Landscape — from campustechnology.com by Justin Louder
From curriculum to technology concerns, consider these essentials for creating alternative education opportunities at your institution. - Lessons Learned from Communities Accelerating Pathways to Credentials — from accelerate-ed.org with thanks to Tom Vander Ark from GettingSmart.com for this resource
Addendum on 3/18/23:
Credentialing Everything: A Primer on Learning and Employment Records and Digital Wallets — from gettingsmart.com by Nate McClennen and Rachelle Dené Poth
Key Points
- Credentials and learner records are accelerating the shift to competency-based learning.
- They help learners manage unbundled learning by collecting evidence from multiple providers and provide quicker and more personalized onramps to high-wage employment.
Measuring Learning Growth: Competencies and Standards — from gettingsmart.com by Nate McClennen and Rebecca Midles
Key Points
- The role of competencies has become increasingly important as employers, students and educators realize the impact of transferable skill deficit in young people.
- The challenge, however, becomes implementation.
On 03/16/2023,
in Legal operations, legal technologies, legislatures / government / legal, UK, vendors,
by Daniel Christian
Legal Prompt Engineering – Examples and Tips — from law.mit.edu by Dazza Greenwood and Damien Riehl
Walk through and discussion of Legal Prompt Engineering examples, showing ways to compose inputs to generative AI systems like ChatGPT and Claude to get improved outputs for law and legal processes
GPT4 demo’s last 5 mins should be a must watch for legal / tax folks!
Spoiler Alert: snippet of US tax code is used + a fictional set of facts, and GPT asked to determine the appropriate tax calculation + reasoning, which it seemingly does correctly.https://t.co/rthFsTCUic
— lawtomated (@lawtomated) March 14, 2023
PwC announces strategic alliance with Harvey, positioning PwC’s Legal Business Solutions at the forefront of legal generative AI — from pwc.com
Excerpt:
LONDON, 15 March 2023 – Today, PwC announced a global partnership with artificial intelligence (AI) startup Harvey, providing PwC’s Legal Business Solutions professionals exclusive access (among the Big 4) to the game-changing AI platform.
Harvey, which is backed by the OpenAI Startup Fund, is built on OpenAi and Chat GPT technology. It is a platform that uses natural language processing, machine learning and data analytics to automate and enhance various aspects of legal work. Harvey will help generate insights and recommendations based on large volumes of data, delivering richer information that will enable PwC professionals to identify solutions faster. All outputs will be overseen and reviewed by PwC professionals.
The strategic alliance builds on PwC’s ability to bring human-led and tech-enabled solutions to clients, delivering on its global strategy, The New Equation.
The Robot Lawyer Resistance — from a16z Podcast by Andreessen Horowitz
Description of podcast:
Should AI belong in the courtroom? Joshua Browder ventured to run an experiment where a robot lawyer would defend a court case. Looking to up the ante, he even offered $1m for a Supreme Court hearing! His experiment was met with a threat of 6 months jail time. Listen in for the full story.
Also somewhat related, see:
What’s New in Legal Technology? ABA TECHSHOW 2023 — from attorneyatwork.com by Joan Feldman
ABA TECHSHOW has been the place to learn what’s new in legal technology for more than 35 years. Last week in Chicago, we scoped out the ABA TECHSHOW 2023 exposition hall. Here are a few of the highlights.
On 03/16/2023,
in 24x7x365 access, Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, education, education technology, K-12 related, law schools, learning, learning agents, learning ecosystem, Learning Experience Design, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, student-related, teachers, teaching & learning, technologies for your home, tools, United States, user experience (UX), vendors, vision/possibilities, youth,
by Daniel Christian
??Well this is something else.
GPT-4 passes basically every exam. And doesn’t just pass…
The Bar Exam: 90%
LSAT: 88%
GRE Quantitative: 80%, Verbal: 99%
Every AP, the SAT… pic.twitter.com/zQW3k6uM6Z— Ethan Mollick (@emollick) March 14, 2023
Description of video:
Sal Khan walks through Khan Academy’s GPT-4 integration (not generally available yet). Folks can join the waitlist at Khanacademy.org. To learn more about Khanmigo, visit: khanacademy.org/khan-labs
We believe that AI has the potential to transform learning in a positive way, but we are also keenly aware of the risks. To test the possibilities, we’re inviting our district partners to opt in to Khan Labs, a new space for testing learning technology. We want to ensure that our work always puts the needs of students and teachers first, and we are focused on ensuring that the benefits of AI are shared equally across society. In addition to teachers and students, we’re inviting the general public to join a waitlist to test Khanmigo. Teachers, students and donors will be our partners on this learning journey, helping us test AI to see if we can harness it as a learning tool for all.
GPT-4 has arrived. It will blow ChatGPT out of the water. — from washingtonpost.com by Drew Harwell and Nitasha Tiku
The long-awaited tool, which can describe images in words, marks a huge leap forward for AI power — and another major shift for ethical norms
Introducing Our Virtual Volunteer Tool for People who are Blind or Have Low Vision, Powered by OpenAI’s GPT-4 — from bemyeyes.com
We are thrilled to announce Be My Eyes Virtual Volunteer™, the first-ever digital visual assistant powered by OpenAI’s new GPT-4 language model.
For example, [GPT-4] passes a simulated bar exam with a score around the top 10% of test takers; in contrast, GPT-3.5’s score was around the bottom 10%.
Here are some incredible things people are already doing with GPT-4
It’s been less than 3.5 hours
? A thread
— Linus (???) (@LinusEkenstam) March 14, 2023
Had my wife close her eyes and describe rooms in her dream home.
In 3 minutes, I made these on Midjourney (h/t @nickfloats)
She was speechless.
She’s now a huge fan of AI and “gets it”
This is the way. pic.twitter.com/sjf3CQYtwa
— Kallaway (@kanekallaway) March 6, 2023
On 03/16/2023,
in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, change, education, education technology, emerging technologies, engagement / engaging students, experimentation, future, game-changing environment, human-computer interaction (HCI), ideas, innovation, instructional design, intelligent systems, intelligent tutoring, languages and translation, learning, learning ecosystem, Learning Experience Design, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, learning preferences, vendors,
by Daniel Christian
HOW DUOLINGO’S AI LEARNS WHAT YOU NEED TO LEARN — from spectrum.ieee.org by Klinton Bicknell, Claire Brust, and Burr Settles
The AI that powers the language-learning app today could disrupt education tomorrow
Excerpt:
It’s lunchtime when your phone pings you with a green owl who cheerily reminds you to “Keep Duo Happy!” It’s a nudge from Duolingo, the popular language-learning app, whose algorithms know you’re most likely to do your 5 minutes of Spanish practice at this time of day. The app chooses its notification words based on what has worked for you in the past and the specifics of your recent achievements, adding a dash of attention-catching novelty. When you open the app, the lesson that’s queued up is calibrated for your skill level, and it includes a review of some words and concepts you flubbed during your last session.
The AI systems we continue to refine are necessary to scale the learning experience beyond the more than 50 million active learners who currently complete about 1 billion exercises per day on the platform.
Although Duolingo is known as a language-learning app, the company’s ambitions go further. We recently launched apps covering childhood literacy and third-grade mathematics, and these expansions are just the beginning. We hope that anyone who wants help with academic learning will one day be able to turn to the friendly green owl in their pocket who hoots at them, “Ready for your daily lesson?”
Also relevant/see:
Duolingo turned to OpenAI’s GPT-4 to advance the product with two new features: Role Play, an AI conversation partner, and Explain my Answer, which breaks down the rules when you make a mistake, in a new subscription tier called Duolingo Max.
“We wanted AI-powered features that were deeply integrated into the app and leveraged the gamified aspect of Duolingo that our learners love,” says Bodge.
Also relevant/see:
The following is a quote from Donald Clark’s posting on LinkedIn.com today:
The whole idea of AI as a useful teacher is here. Honestly it’s astounding. They have provided a Socratic approach to an algebra problem that is totally on point. Most people learn in the absence of a teacher or lecturer. They need constant scaffolding, someone to help them move forward, with feedback. This changes our whole relationship with what we need to know, and how we get to know it. Its reasoning ability is also off the scale.
We now have human teachers, human learners but also AI teachers and AI that learns. It used to be a diad, it is now a tetrad – that is the basis of the new pedAIgogy.
Personalised, tutor-led learning, in any subject, anywhere, at any time for anyone. That has suddenly become real.
Also relevant/see:
Introducing Duolingo Max, a learning experience powered by GPT-4 — from blog.duolingo.com
Excerpts:
We believe that AI and education make a great duo, and we’ve leveraged AI to help us deliver highly-personalized language lessons, affordable and accessible English proficiency testing, and more. Our mission to make high-quality education available to everyone in the world is made possible by advanced AI technology.
Explain My Answer offers learners the chance to learn more about their response in a lesson (whether their answer was correct or incorrect!)
…
Roleplay allows learners to practice real-world conversation skills with world characters in the app.