Learning Ecosystems

Osgoode’s new simulation-based learning tool aims to merge ethical and practical legal skills — from canadianlawyermag.com by Tim Wilbur
The designer speaks about his vision for redefining legal education through an innovative platform

The disconnection between legal education and the real world starkly contrasted with what he expected law school to be. “I thought rather naively…this would be a really interesting experience…linked to lawyers and what lawyers are doing in society…Far from it. It was solidly academic, so uninteresting, and I thought it’s got to be better than this.”

These frustrations inspired his work on simulation-based education, which seeks to produce “client-ready” lawyers and professionals who reflect deeply on their future roles. Maharg recently worked as a consultant with Osgoode Professional Development at Osgoode Hall Law School to design a platform that eschews many of the assumptions about legal education to deliver practical skills with real-world scenarios.

Osgoode’s SIMPLE platform – short for “simulated professional learning environment” – integrates case management systems and simulation engines to immerse students in practical scenarios.

“It’s actually to get them thinking hard about what they do when they act as lawyers and what they will do when they become lawyers…putting it into values and an ethical framework, as well as making it highly intensively practical,” Maharg says.

And speaking of legal training, also see:

AI in law firms should be a training tool, not a threat, for young lawyers — from canadianlawyermag.com by Tim Wilbur
Tech should free associates for deeper learning, not remove them from the process

AI is rapidly transforming legal practice. Today, tools handle document review and legal research at a pace unimaginable just a few years ago. As recent Canadian Lawyer reporting shows, legal AI adoption is outpacing expectations, especially among in-house teams, and is fundamentally reshaping how legal services are delivered.

Crucially, though, AI should not replace associates. Instead, it should relieve them of repetitive tasks and allow them to focus on developing judgment, client management, and strategic thinking. As I’ve previously discussed regarding the risks of banning AI in court, the future of law depends on blending technological fluency with the human skills clients value most.

Also, the following relates to legaltech as well:

Agentic AI in Legaltech: Proceed with Supervision! — from directory.lawnext.com by Ken Crutchfield
Semi-Autonomous agents can transform work if leaders maintain oversight

The term autonomous agents should raise some concern. I believe semi-autonomous agents is a better term. Do we really want fully autonomous agents that learn and interact independently, to find ways to accomplish tasks?

We live in a world full of cybersecurity risks. Bad actors will think of ways to use agents. Even well-intentioned systems could mishandle a task without proper guardrails.

Legal professionals will want to thoughtfully equip their agent technology with controlled access to the right services. Agents must be supervised, and training must be required for those using or benefiting from agents. Legal professionals will also want to expand the scope of AI Governance to include the oversight of agents.
…
Agentic AI will require supervision. Human review of Generative AI output is essential. Stating the obvious may be necessary, especially with agents. Controls, human review, and human monitoring must be part of the design and the requirements for any project. Leadership should not leave this to the IT department alone.

[Two gifted articles from the NY Times] Forgive us world for our President, who stoops to a new low almost every day. Here’s another example of that. [Christian]

On 07/27/2025, in Access to Justice (A2J), change, culture, Daniel S. Christian, ethics, faith, global / globalization, leadership, legislatures / government / legal, morals/values, political science, United States, by Daniel Christian

From DSC:
Forgive us world for our current President, who stoops to a new low almost every day. Below is yet another example of that. He’s an embarrassment to me and to many others in our nation. He twists truths into lies, and lies into “truths” (such as he does on “Truth” Social). Lies are his native tongue. (To those who know scripture, this is an enlightening and descriptive statement.)

And speaking of matters of faith, I think God is watching us closely, as numerous moral/ethical tests are presented to our society and to our culture. How will we and our leadership respond to these tests?

For examples:

Are we joining the mockery of justice in our country, or are we fighting against these developments?
Do we support it when Trump makes a fake video of a former President, or do we find it reprehensible? Especially when we realize it’s yet another attempt at deflecting our attention away from where Trump does NOT want our attention to be –> i.e., away from Trump’s place within the Epstein files.

Trump Posts Fake Video Showing Obama Arrest — from nytimes.com by Matthew Mpoke Bigg; this is a gifted article
President Trump shared what appeared to be an A.I.-generated video of former President Barack Obama being detained in the Oval Office.

President Trump reposted a fake video showing former President Barack Obama being arrested in the Oval Office, as Trump administration officials continue to accuse Mr. Obama of trying to harm Mr. Trump’s campaign during the 2016 election, and the president seeks to redirect conversation from the Epstein files.

The short video, which appears to have been generated by artificial intelligence and posted on TikTok before being reposted on Mr. Trump’s Truth Social account on Sunday…

The fake video purports to show F.B.I. agents bursting into the meeting, pushing Mr. Obama into a kneeling position and putting him in handcuffs as Mr. Trump looks on smiling, while the song “Y.M.C.A.” by the Village People plays. Later, the fake video shows Mr. Obama in an orange jumpsuit pacing in a cell.

Also relevant/see:

Trump Talks About Anything but Epstein on His Social Media Account — from nytimes.com by Luke Broadwater; this is a gifted article
On Truth Social, the president railed against Democrats and shared a wacky video.

Dogged for weeks over his administration’s refusal to release the Epstein files, President Trump spent the weekend posting on social media about, well, anything else.

On Sunday, the president railed against Senator Adam Schiff, Democrat of California, long a prime target. He attacked Samantha Power, the former administrator of U.S.A.I.D. He posted a fake video of former President Barack Obama being arrested and a fake photo of Mr. Obama and members of his administration in prison garb. He threatened to derail a deal for a new football stadium for the Washington Commanders if the team did not take back its old name, the Redskins.

Digital Accessibility in 2025 [Taylor]

On 07/27/2025, in accessibility / UDL, business, communities of practice, Europe, legislatures / government / legal, mobile learning, mobile technologies, online learning, online media, policy, United States, web design and production, by Daniel Christian

Digital Accessibility in 2025: A Screen Reader User’s Honest Take — from blog.usablenet.com by Michael Taylor

In this post, part of the UsableNet 25th anniversary series, I’m taking a look at where things stand in 2025. I’ll discuss the areas that have improved—such as online shopping, banking, and social media—and the ones that still make it challenging to perform basic tasks, including travel, healthcare, and mobile apps. I hope that by sharing what works and what doesn’t, I can help paint a clearer picture of the digital world as it stands today.

Why EAA Compliance and Legal Trends Are Shaping Accessibility in 2025 — from blog.usablenet.com by Jason Taylor

On June 28, 2025, the European Accessibility Act (EAA) officially became enforceable across the European Union. This law requires digital products and services—including websites, mobile apps, e-commerce platforms, and software to meet the defined accessibility standards outlined in EN 301 549, which aligns with the WCAG 2.1 Level AA.

Companies that serve EU consumers must be able to demonstrate that accessibility is built into the design, development, testing, and maintenance of their digital products and services.

This milestone also arrives as UsableNet celebrates 25 years of accessibility leadership—a moment to reflect on how far we’ve come and what digital teams must do next.

What borrowers should know about student loan changes in the One Big Beautiful Bill [Turner]

On 07/27/2025, in change, colleges, community colleges, cost of getting a degree, funding / grants, higher education, parents/guardians, society, student-related, surviving, United States, universities, by Daniel Christian

What borrowers should know about student loan changes in the One Big Beautiful Bill — from npr.org by Cory Turner

If you’re a federal student loan borrower or about to become one, your head may be spinning.

On July 4, when President Trump signed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act into law, he also greenlit a history-making overhaul of the federal student loan system — one that will affect the lives of many, if not most, of the United States’ nearly 43 million student loan borrowers.

And boy is it a lot to unpack, with new, tighter borrowing limits and dramatically reduced repayment options, to name just a few of the sweeping changes.

Under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, borrowers in SAVE will have to change plans by July 1, 2028, when SAVE will be officially shut down. If they wait, though they currently can’t be required to make payments, they will see their loans explode with interest.

Some wisdom for us

On 07/27/2025, in faith, global / globalization, hearts -- matters of the heart, parents/guardians, relationships, religion, youth, by Daniel Christian

Matthew 16:15-16

“But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?” Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”

Psalm 112:5

Good will come to those who are generous and lend freely,
who conduct their affairs with justice.

Matthew 6:33

But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.

15 Quick (and Mighty) Retrieval Practices — from edutopia.org by Daniel Leonard
From concept maps to flash cards to Pictionary, these activities help students reflect on—and remember—what they’ve learned.

But to genuinely commit information to long-term memory, there’s no replacement for active retrieval—the effortful practice of recalling information from memory, unaided by external sources like notes or the textbook. “Studying this way is mentally difficult,” Willingham acknowledged, “but it’s really, really good for memory.”
…
From low-stakes quizzes to review games to flash cards, there are a variety of effective retrieval practices that teachers can implement in class or recommend that students try at home. Drawing from a wide range of research, we compiled this list of 15 actionable retrieval practices.

And speaking of cognitive science, also see:

‘Cognitive Science,’ All the Rage in British Schools, Fails to Register in U.S. — from the74million.org by Greg Toppo
Educators blame this ‘reverse Beatles effect’ on America’s decentralized system and grad schools that are often hostile to research.

When Zach Groshell zoomed in as a guest on a longstanding British education podcast last March, a co-host began the interview by telling listeners he was “very well-known over in the U.S.”

Groshell, a former Seattle-area fourth-grade teacher, had to laugh: “Nobody knows me here in the U.S.,” he said in an interview.

But in Britain, lots of teachers know his name. An in-demand speaker at education conferences, he flies to London “as frequently as I can” to discuss Just Tell Them, his 2024 book on explicit instruction. Over the past year, Groshell has appeared virtually about once a month and has made two personal appearances at events across England.

The reason? A discipline known as cognitive science. Born in the U.S., it relies on decades of research on how kids learn to guide teachers in the classroom, and is at the root of several effective reforms, including the Science of Reading.

Blood in the Instructional Design Machine? — from drphilippahardman.substack.com by Dr. Philippa Hardman
The reality of AI, job degradation & the likely future of Instructional Design

This raises a very important, perhaps even existential question for our profession: do these tools free a designer from the mind-numbing drudgery of content conversion (the “augmented human”)? Or do they automate the core expertise of the learning professional’s role, e.g. selecting instructional startegies, structuring narratives and designing a learning flow, in the process reducing the ID’s role to simply finding the source file and pushing a button (the “inverted centaur”)?

The stated aspiration of these tool builders seems to be a future where AI means that the instructional designer’s value shifts decisively from production to strategy. Their stated goal is to handle the heavy lifting of content generation, allowing the human ID to provide the indispensable context, creativity, and pedagogical judgment that AI cannot replicate.

However, the risk of these tools lies in how we use them, and the “inverted centaur” model remains deeply potent and possible. In an organisation that prioritises cost above all, these same tools can be used to justify reducing the ID role to the functional drudgery of inputting a PDF and supervising the machine.

The key to this paradox lies in a crucial data point: spending on outside products and services has jumped a dramatic 23% to $12.4 billion.

This signals a fundamental shift: companies are reallocating funds from large internal teams toward specialised consultants and advanced learning technologies like AI. L&D is not being de-funded; it is being re-engineered.

AI Skills Command 28% Salary Premium [lightcase.io]

On 07/24/2025, in Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, business, career development, change, colleges, communities of practice, community colleges, corporate / business world, corporate universities / corporate training, society, staying relevant, student-related, training / L&D, United States, vendors, workplace, youth, by Daniel Christian

New Lightcast Report: AI Skills Command 28% Salary Premium as Demand Shifts Beyond Tech Industry — from lightcast.io; via Paul Fain
First-of-its-kind analysis reveals specific AI skills employers need most, enabling targeted workforce training strategies across all career areas

July 23, 2025 – Lightcast, the global leader in labor market intelligence, today released “Beyond the Buzz: Developing the AI Skills Employers Actually Need,” a comprehensive analysis revealing that artificial intelligence has fundamentally transformed hiring patterns across the world of work. The report, based on analysis of over 1.3 billion job postings, shows that job postings including AI skills offer 28% higher salaries—nearly $18,000 more per year—than those without such capabilities.

More importantly, the research analyzes specific skills based on their growth across job postings, their importance in the workforce, and their exposure to AI. This shows exactly which AI skills create value in which contexts, solving the critical challenge facing educators and workforce development leaders: moving beyond vague “AI literacy” to precise, targeted training that delivers measurable results.

Also via Paul Fain:

Addressing the Barriers Blocking Employee Development — from gallup.com by Corey Tatel and Megan Mulherin
In 2024, less than half of U.S. employees participated in any education or training for their current job.

Despite growing awareness, however, participation in skill development is limited. In 2024, less than half of U.S. employees (45%) participated in training or education to build new skills for their current job. About one in three employees (32%) who are hoping to move into a new role within the next year strongly agree that they have the skills needed to be exceptional in that role.

The dangers of having an earthly king — a look at King Herod’s actions

On 07/24/2025, in Daniel S. Christian, ethics, history, legislatures / government / legal, morals/values, United States, by Daniel Christian

The Magi Visit the Messiah — from biblegateway.com

2 After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi^[a] from the east came to Jerusalem ²and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.”

³When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. ⁴When he had called together all the people’s chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Messiah was to be born. ⁵“In Bethlehem in Judea,” they replied, “for this is what the prophet has written:

⁶“‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;
for out of you will come a ruler
who will shepherd my people Israel.’^[b]”

⁷Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. ⁸He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him.”

⁹After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen when it rose went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. ¹⁰When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. ¹¹On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. ¹²And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.

The Escape to Egypt

¹³When they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. “Get up,” he said, “take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.”

¹⁴So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt, ¹⁵where he stayed until the death of Herod. And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet: “Out of Egypt I called my son.”^[c]

¹⁶When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi. ¹⁷Then what was said through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled:

¹⁸“A voice is heard in Ramah,
    weeping and great mourning,
Rachel weeping for her children
    and refusing to be comforted,
    because they are no more.”

From DSC:
Herod gave the order to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under.

So, as you can see from this excerpt from the Bible, kings can do whatever the hell they want to do. As such, we don’t want a king here in America. That will NOT make America great again…no way. Especially with someone like Donald Trump, who should be in jail…not in the presidency.

Sam Altman’s three nightmare AI scenarios

On 07/24/2025, in Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, emerging technologies, Europe, global / globalization, ideas, intelligent systems, psychology, society, the downsides of how people use tech, youth, by Daniel Christian

The US AI Action Plan, Explained — from theneurondaily.com by Grant Harvey
Sam’s 3 AI nightmares, Google hits 2B users, and Trump bans “woke” AI…

Meanwhile, at the Fed’s banking conference on Wednesday, Altman revealed his three nightmare AI scenarios. The first two were predictable: bad actors getting superintelligence first, and the classic “I’m afraid I can’t do that, Dave” situation.

But the third? AI accidentally steering us off course while we just…go along with it.

His example hit home: young people who can’t make decisions without ChatGPT (according to Sam, this is literally a thing). See, even when AI gives great advice, collectively handing over all decision-making feels “bad and dangerous” (even to Sam, who MADE this thing).

So yeah, Sam’s not really worried about the AI rebelling. He’s worried about AI becoming so good that we stop thinking for ourselves—and that might be scarier.

Also from The Neuron re: the environmental impacts of producing/offering AI:

Our contribution to a global environmental standard for AI — from mistral.ai
Powering the AI Era — from goldmansachs.com

$50 a week for 40 weeks: How no-strings cash changed the lives of teens [Morton]

On 07/24/2025, in education, engagement / engaging students, experimentation, face-to-face, ideas, innovation, instructional design, K-12 related, learning, learning ecosystem, Learning Experience Design, student-related, United States, youth, by Daniel Christian

$50 a week for 40 weeks: How no-strings cash changed the lives of teens — from hechingerreport.org by Neal Morton
A cash transfer program for high schoolers resulted in better attendance and more financial literacy, but no improvement in grades

“The $50 study,” as it’s known, began at Rooted School, a local charter school, as an experiment to increase attendance. The study has since grown to eight other high schools in the city, as well as Rooted’s sister campus in Indianapolis, with students randomly selected to receive $50 every week for 40 weeks, or $2,000 total. By comparing their spending and savings habits to a larger control group, researchers wanted to figure out whether the money improved a teen’s financial capability and perception of themselves. They also wanted to know: Could the cash boost their grade-point averages and reading scores?

From DSC:
An interesting experiment.

Building a learning ecosystem that drives business results — from chieflearningofficer.com by Nick Romanowski
How SAX combined adaptive e-learning and experiential workshops to accelerate capability development and impact the bottom line.

At SAX, we know that to succeed in today’s market, we need professionals who can learn quickly, apply that learning effectively and continuously adapt as client needs evolve.

Yet traditional training methods were no longer enough. Our firm faced familiar challenges: helping staff meet continuing professional education requirements efficiently, uncovering knowledge gaps to guide development and building a more capable, more client-ready workforce.

We found our solution in a flipped learning model that blends adaptive e-learning with live, experiential workshops. The results were transformative. We accelerated CPE credit completion by more than 50 percent, reclaimed 173 billable hours and equipped our people with deeper capabilities.

Here’s how we did it, and what we learned along the way.

Blend technology and human touch: Adaptive e-learning addresses individual knowledge gaps efficiently. Live workshops enable skill development through practice and feedback. Together, they drive both learning efficiency and behavior change.

[Gifted article from NY Times] I Teach Creative Writing. This Is What A.I. Is Doing to Students. [O’Rourke]

On 07/24/2025, in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, career development, change, colleges, communications, community colleges, cost of getting a degree, creativity, digital learning, education, education technology, emerging technologies, expectations, experimentation, faculty/staff, future of higher education, game-changing environment, generational differences, higher education, human-computer interaction (HCI), ideas, innovation, instructional design, intelligent systems, IT in HE, K-12 related, learning, learning agents, learning ecosystem, Learning Experience Design, liberal arts, Open AI, pace of change, parents/guardians, skills, student-related, teachers, teaching & learning, technologies for your home, tools, United States, universities, vendors, writing, by Daniel Christian

I Teach Creative Writing. This Is What A.I. Is Doing to Students. — from nytimes.com by Meghan O’Rourke; this is a gifted article.

We need a coherent approach grounded in understanding how the technology works, where it is going and what it will be used for.

From DSC:
I almost feel like Meghan should right the words “this week” or “this month” after the above sentence. Whew! Things are moving fast.

For example, we’re now starting to see more agents hitting the scene — software that can DO things. But that can open up a can of worms too.

Students know the ground has shifted — and that the world outside the university expects them to shift with it. A.I. will be part of their lives regardless of whether we approve. Few issues expose the campus cultural gap as starkly as this one.ce

From DSC:
Universities and colleges have little choice but to integrate AI into their programs and offerings. There’s enough pressure on institutions of traditional higher education to prove their worth/value. Students and their families want solid ROI’s. Students know that they are going to need AI-related skills (see the link immediately below for example), or they are going to be left out of the competitive job search process.

A relevant resource here:

New Lightcast Report: AI Skills Command 28% Salary Premium as Demand Shifts Beyond Tech Industry — from lightcast.io; via Paul Fain
First-of-its-kind analysis reveals specific AI skills employers need most, enabling targeted workforce training strategies across all career areas

Firefly adds new video capabilities, industry leading AI models, and Generate Sound Effects feature — from blog.adobe.com

Today, we’re introducing powerful enhancements to our Firefly Video Model, including improved motion fidelity and advanced video controls that will accelerate your workflows and provide the precision and style you need to elevate your storytelling. We are also adding new generative AI partner models within Generate Video on Firefly, giving you the power to choose which model works best for your creative needs across image, video and sound.

Plus, our new workflow tools put you in control of your video’s composition and style. You can now layer in custom-generated sound effects right inside the Firefly web app — and start experimenting with AI-powered avatar-led videos.
…
Generate Sound Effects (beta)
Sound is a powerful storytelling tool that adds emotion and depth to your videos. Generate Sound Effects (beta) makes it easy to create custom sounds, like a lion’s roar or ambient nature sounds, that enhance your visuals. And like our other Firefly generative AI models, Generate Sound Effects (beta) is commercially safe, so you can create with confidence.

Just type a simple text prompt to generate the sound effect you need. Want even more control? Use your voice to guide the timing and intensity of the sound. Firefly listens to the energy and rhythm of your voice to place sound effects precisely where they belong — matching the action in your video with cinematic timing.

Learning Ecosystems

[Two gifted articles from the NY Times] Forgive us world for our President, who stoops to a new low almost every day. Here’s another example of that. [Christian]

Digital Accessibility in 2025 [Taylor]

Some wisdom for us

The dangers of having an earthly king — a look at King Herod’s actions

Building a learning ecosystem that drives business results [Romanowski]

Greetings!

Categories

Tags