Learning Ecosystems

OpenAI angles to put ChatGPT in classrooms with special tutor prompts — from techcrunch.com by Devin Coldewey

Taking the bull by the horns, the company has proposed a few ways for teachers to put the system to use… outside its usual role as “research assistant” for procrastinating students.
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Q2 Earnings Roundup – EdTech Generative AI — from aieducation.substack.com by Claire Zau
A roundup of LLM and AI discussions from Q2 EdTech Earnings

In this piece, we’ll be breaking down how a few of edtech’s most important companies are thinking about AI developments.

Duolingo
Powerschool
Coursera
Docebo
Instructure
Nerdy

Two items re: K-12 learning ecosystem that show the motivating power of choice

On 09/02/2023, in career development, change, changing business models, education, education reform, innovation, instructional design, K-12 related, learning, learning ecosystem, Learning Experience Design, learning preferences, more voice more choice more control, motivation, online learning, personalized/customized learning, by Daniel Christian

Build Your Own High School: Phoenix Students Choose from 500 Classes, Internships, College Courses, Career Programs & More — from the74million.org by Beth Hawkins; via Michael Horn
At Phoenix Union City, high school doesn’t refer to a building but a personalized path of experiences that teenagers create for themselves.

PXU City HS has no physical site — its 83 students create custom programs, choosing from a menu of some 500 options from Phoenix Union High School District’s bricks-and-mortar schools; its online-only program, internships; jobs; college classes; and career training programs.

But in the process, it became clear just how many high school-aged students were working, caring for siblings, filling in for their parents or significantly behind — or ahead and bored — academically.
…
If PXU City works as well for all its students as it does for Dominguez, he adds, every high school in the district ought to throw away the bell schedule and offer a truly personalized education.

‘Every day matters’: CCSD students, teachers kick off 2023-24 school year — from reviewjournal.com by Julie Wootton-Greener; via Michael Horn

There are 10 areas of study students chose from: architectural design, business administration logistics-distribution, computer science, construction technology, cybersecurity, diesel/auto technology, energy technologies, human and social services, teaching and training, and sports medicine.

Students pick a job within the program they’re working toward, but that can change, Cordia said, noting that there are hundreds of possible jobs within the automotive program.

The school received e more than 1,000 applications from interested students, he said, calling it “very humbling.”

Addendum that also involves changes within the K12 learning ecosystem:

Is the Post-Pandemic Era Ripe for Rethinking High School? — from edsurge.com by Rebecca Koenig

Don’t Be Fooled: How You Can Master Media Literacy in the Digital Age — from youtube.com by Professor Sue Ellen Christian

During this special keynote presentation, Western Michigan University (WMU) professor Sue Ellen Christian speaks about the importance of media literacy for all ages and how we can help educate our friends and families about media literacy principles. Hosted by the Grand Rapids Public Library and GRTV, a program of the Grand Rapids Community Media Center. Special thanks to the Grand Rapids Public Library Foundation for their support of this program.

Excerpts:

Also relevant/see:

Kalamazoo Valley Museum’s newest exhibit teaches community about media literacy — from mlive.com by Gabi Broekema

What if the presenter/teacher/professor/ trainer/preacher provided a set of notes for the AI to compare to the readers’ notes? [Christian]

On 08/29/2023, in Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, bots, communications, communities of practice, content development, aggregation, repositories, corporate / business world, corporate universities / corporate training, Daniel S. Christian, digital learning, education technology, emerging technologies, experimentation, future, Google, higher education, homeschooling/homeschoolers, human-computer interaction (HCI), ideas, innovation, instructional design, intelligent systems, intelligent tutoring, K-12 related, law schools, learner profiles, learning, learning agents, learning ecosystem, Learning Experience Design, lifelong learning, presentations, religion, teachers, teaching & learning, tools, United States, universities, vendors, vision/possibilities, by Daniel Christian

From DSC:
Yesterday, I posted the item about Google’s NotebookLM research tool. Excerpt:

What if you could have a conversation with your notes? That question has consumed a corner of the internet recently, as companies like Dropbox, Box, Notion, and others have built generative AI tools that let you interact with and create new things from the data you already have in their systems.

Google’s version of this is called NotebookLM. It’s an AI-powered research tool that is meant to help you organize and interact with your own notes.

That got me to thinking…

What if the presenter/teacher/professor/trainer/preacher provided a set of notes for the AI to compare to the readers’ notes?

That way, the AI could see the discrepancies between what the presenter wanted their audience to learn/hear and what was actually being learned/heard. In a sort of digital Socratic Method, the AI could then generate some leading questions to get the audience member to check their thinking/understanding of the topic.

The end result would be that the main points were properly communicated/learned/received.

“Welcome Back to School. Your Teacher Is 2,000 Miles Away.” [Tagami] + other items re: the K12 learning ecosystem

On 08/28/2023, in education, education reform, K-12 related, learning ecosystem, parents/guardians, society, student-related, teachers, teaching & learning, trends, United States, youth, by Daniel Christian

Welcome Back to School. Your Teacher Is 2,000 Miles Away. — from wsj.com by Sara Randazzo; behind paywall
Some parents remain skeptical of piped-in teachers, while schools say they don’t have a choice

Plagued by Teacher Shortages, Some States Turn to Fast-Track Credentialing — from theconversation.com by Elaine S. Povich
Critics worry that the faster programs could do a disservice to young students.

From DSC:
It seems to me that this doesn’t address the problems of WHY teachers are leaving.

The Rising Trend in Private Education: Teeny, Tiny Schools — from wsj.com by Megan Tagami; behind paywall
Families reacting to an influx of voucher funds and postpandemic woes are increasingly choosing so-called microschools

From DSC:
If we can’t get violence in schools under control (a very difficult task without trying to impact peoples’ hearts and minds), this trend could pick up steam big-time.

How educational research could play a greater role in K-12 school improvement — from theconversation.com by Detris Honora Adelabu

Here are four things I believe can be done in order to make sure that educational research is actually being applied.

Build better relationships with school leaders
Make policy and practice part of the research process
Rethink how research impact is measured
Rethink and redefine how research is distributed

6 Challenges for Early Educators as Preschool Growth Halts — from edweek.org by Sarah D. Sparks & Gina Tomko; behind paywall

Addendum on 9/2/23:

American classrooms need more educators. Can virtual teachers step in to bridge the gap? — from usatoday.com by Alia Wong

Some food for our hearts and minds

On 08/28/2023, in ethics, faith, morals/values, relationships, religion, society, by Daniel Christian

2 Chronicles 15:2

He went out to meet Asa and said to him, “Listen to me, Asa and all Judah and Benjamin. The LORD is with you when you are with him. If you seek him, he will be found by you, but if you forsake him, he will forsake you.

1 Corinthians 15:3-8

3 For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance[a]: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, 5 and that he appeared to Cephas, and then to the Twelve. 6 After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers and sisters at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. 7 Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, 8 and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born.

John 6:29

Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.”

Psalms 103:1-5

Praise the LORD, my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name. Praise the LORD, my soul, and forget not all his benefits— who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion, who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.

2023 Students and Technology Report: Flexibility, Choice, and Equity in the Student Experience — from library.educause.edu by Mark McCormack

Excerpt:

What does it mean to be a student in 2023, on the fading tail end of a global pandemic and in the midst of lingering uncertainty about the world? What do students still need from a postsecondary education, and where does technology serve as a fulcrum—for better and for worse—both opening and closing students’ paths forward through their educational journeys?

In this report we draw on data from EDUCAUSE’s 2023 Student Survey to offer higher education leaders and decision-makers key insights as they consider what these questions might mean for their particular institutions and communities.

The report explores findings across three main areas, each representing a key challenge (and opportunity) institutions are going to face now and in the future:

Supporting students on and off campus
The role of students as consumers in the educational marketplace
Equity and accessibility in teaching and learning

Students who are empowered to “choose their own adventure” with their course modality engagements are far more satisfied with their course experiences than those who don’t get to choose.

Learners need: More voice. More choice. More control. -- this image was created by Daniel Christian

What if you could have a conversation with your notes? [Pierce]

On 08/28/2023, in adjunct faculty, adult learning, Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, bots, colleges, communities of practice, community colleges, competency-based learning/education, content development, aggregation, repositories, corporate / business world, corporate universities / corporate training, Design Thinking, digital learning, education technology, emerging technologies, experimentation, faculty/staff, future, Google, higher education, homeschooling/homeschoolers, human-computer interaction (HCI), ideas, innovation, instructional design, intelligent systems, intelligent tutoring, IT in HE, K-12 related, law schools, learning, learning ecosystem, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, productivity / tips and tricks, research, student-related, teachers, tools, United States, universities, usability, user experience (UX), user interface design, vendors, virtual tutoring, vision/possibilities, by Daniel Christian

Google’s AI-powered note-taking app is the messy beginning of something great — from theverge.com by David Pierce; via AI Insider
NotebookLM is a neat research tool with some big ideas. It’s still rough and new, but it feels like Google is onto something.

Excerpts (emphasis DSC):

What if you could have a conversation with your notes? That question has consumed a corner of the internet recently, as companies like Dropbox, Box, Notion, and others have built generative AI tools that let you interact with and create new things from the data you already have in their systems.

Google’s version of this is called NotebookLM. It’s an AI-powered research tool that is meant to help you organize and interact with your own notes.
…
Right now, it’s really just a prototype, but a small team inside the company has been trying to figure out what an AI notebook might look like.

“A TV show with no ending” [Khan] — DC: Some interesting thoughts for those who are studying acting, film production, & the like.

On 08/25/2023, in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, A/V -- audio/visual, business, career development, content development, aggregation, repositories, drama/theater, media/film, personalized/customized learning, workplace, by Daniel Christian

A TV show with no ending — from joinsuperhuman.ai by Zain Kahn
ALSO: Turbocharged GPT is here

We’re standing on the cusp of artificially generated content that could theoretically never end. According to futurist Sinéad Bovell, “Generative artificial intelligence also means that say we don’t want a movie or a series to end. It doesn’t have to, you could use AI to continue to generate more episodes and other sequels and have this kind of ongoing storyline.”

If we take this logic further, we could also see hyper-personalized content that’s created just for us. Imagine getting an AI generated album from your favourite artist every week. Or a brand new movie starring actors who are no longer alive, like a new romcom with Marylin Monroe and Frank Sinatra.

While this sounds like a compelling proposition for consumers, it’s mostly bad news for actors, writers, and other professionals working in the media industry. Hollywood studios are already investing heavily in generative AI, and many professionals working in the industry are afraid to lose their jobs.

Some scripture/wisdom for us

On 08/25/2023, in global / globalization, hearts -- matters of the heart, relationships, religion, by Daniel Christian

Proverbs 20:9

Who can say, “I have kept my heart pure; I am clean and without sin”?

Ecclesiastes 7:12

Wisdom is a shelter as money is a shelter, but the advantage of knowledge is this: Wisdom preserves those who have it.

Psalms 94:18-19

When I said, “My foot is slipping,” your unfailing love, LORD, supported me. When anxiety was great within me, your consolation brought me joy.

1 Chronicles 29:10-13

David’s Prayer

¹⁰David praised the Lord in the presence of the whole assembly, saying,

“Praise be to you, Lord,
    the God of our father Israel,
    from everlasting to everlasting.
¹¹Yours, Lord, is the greatness and the power
    and the glory and the majesty and the splendor,
    for everything in heaven and earth is yours.
Yours, Lord, is the kingdom;
    you are exalted as head over all.
¹²Wealth and honor come from you;
    you are the ruler of all things.
In your hands are strength and power
    to exalt and give strength to all.
¹³Now, our God, we give you thanks,
    and praise your glorious name.

A First Look at Teaching Preferences since the Pandemic”— from library.educause.edu/ by Muscanell

This is the first faculty research conducted by EDUCAUSE since 2019. Since then, the higher education landscape has been through a lot, including COVID-19, fluctuations in enrollment and public funding, and the rapid adoption of multiple instructional modalities and new technologies. In this report, we describe the findings of the research in four key areas:

Modality preferences and the impacts of teaching in non-preferred modes
Experiences teaching online and hybrid courses
Technology and digital availability of course components
Types of support needed and utilized for teaching

From DSC:
Polling the faculty members and getting their feedback is not as relevant and important to the future of higher education as better addressing the needs and wants of parents and students who are paying the bills. Asking faculty members what they want to post online is not as relevant as what students want and need to see online.

“It’s an example of the streamlined admissions practices that colleges across the country are using to combat the ongoing problem of low student enrollment.”

DC: But it’s not getting at the problem of *not providing enough value* for the price. https://t.co/Ye1FFep48z

— Daniel Christian (he/him/his) (@dchristian5) August 25, 2023

From DSC:
More fringe responses — versus overhauling pricing, updating curriculum, providing more opportunities to try out jobs before investing in a degree, and/or better rewarding those adjunct faculty members who are doing the majority of the teaching on many campuses.

Online college enrollment is on the rise: What brings students to virtual campuses? — from digitaljournal.com by Jill Jaracz and Emma Rubin; via GSV

Before the pandemic, online learning programs were typically for people going back to school to augment or change their career or pursuing a graduate degree to enhance their career while they work. That attitude is shifting as students juggle learning with jobs, family responsibilities, and commutes. In California, 4 in 5 community college classes were in person before the pandemic. By 2021, just 1 in 4 were in person, while 65% were online, according to the California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office.

Younger students are also opting for online classes. EducationDynamics found in 2023 that the largest share of students pursuing undergraduate or graduate degrees online is 35 or younger. That said, 35% of students pursuing online undergraduate degrees are between

A Guide to Finding Housing For The Previously Incarcerated [Bennett & Curls]

On 08/25/2023, in Daniel S. Christian, policy, political science, reinvent, society, sociology, surviving, workplace, by Daniel Christian

A Guide to Finding Housing For The Previously Incarcerated — from todayshomeowner.com by Alexis Bennett & Alexis Curls

For many individuals stepping back into society after incarceration, finding a stable place to call home can be complicated. The reality is that those who have been previously incarcerated are almost 10 times more likely to face homelessness compared to the general public. With over 725,000 people leaving state and federal prisons each year, the quest for housing becomes not only a personal challenge but a broader societal concern. Stable housing is crucial for successful reintegration, providing a foundation for building a new chapter in life. In this article, we’ll shed light on the challenges and offer empowering resources for those on their journey to find housing after prison.

Table of Contents

Understanding the Housing Landscape
Utilizing Support Services
Creating a Housing Plan
Securing and Maintaining Housing
Continuing Personal Growth and Reintegration
Conclusion

From DSC:
I’m posting this in the hopes that this information may help someone out there. Also, my dad used to donate some of his time in retirement to an agency that helped people find housing. He mentioned numerous times how important it was for someone to have a safe place to stay that they could call their own.

From Eva Keffenheim’s “Learn Letter 96” — Three websites to learn something new

On 08/25/2023, in art, music, tools, vendors, by Daniel Christian

Learn Letter 96: How to make encoding work for you, Three websites to learn something new — from evakeiffenheim.substack.com by Eva Keffenheim

Learning Nuggets: Three websites to learn something new

Curious claims to increase your “CQ” (curiosity quotient) – it’s a website where you can learn something new every day by dedicating a small amount of time to it: 5, 15, or 30 minutes daily. Whether there is a thing as CQ or not – the site offers plenty of great resources to explore new areas. The drawback is that you need to subscribe for a 7-day free trial to start exploring.
Drawspace is one of the most popular sites for learning how to draw. You choose an image and get a step-by-step guide on creating your drawing.
?Teoria is a donation-based site that helps you study music theory through articles, references, and interactive exercises. You can do, for example, interval ear training or learn to read music and scales.

Letter from the Editor: Experienced teachers are leaving Michigan schools. This is why. — from mlive.com by Matthew Miller

They talked instead about issues like pay, stress and the sense that they no longer had the solid backing of school administrators.

Sue Harper, who retired this summer from Kreeger Elementary in Fowlerville, blamed what she called “bulldozer parents.”
…
“I have never been one to quit anything, and teaching is my passion, but this is not teaching,” one teacher wrote. “This is hours of endless paperwork, this is social work, this is counseling, this is parenting, this is babysitting, this is coaching, this is everything but teaching.”

Also relevant/see:

Low pay, culture wars, and ‘bulldozer parents.’ Why Michigan’s best teachers are calling it quits. — from mlive.com by Melissa Frick and Matthew Miller

Now a change management coordinator for Fifth Third Bank, she said, “I don’t take the stress from my job home. I don’t feel guilty, like I always could be doing more for someone.”

Thousands of experienced teachers have retired or left the profession in the years since the COVID-19 pandemic first closed schools and shifted classes to Zoom.

Teachers say they’re burnt out, tired of a lack of support and lack of respect, feeling the impact of the increasingly acrimonious politics surrounding public education.

And finally:

Michigan Teacher Shortage Study: Comprehensive Report — from epicedpolicy.org by Tara Kilbride, Katharine O. Strunk, Salem Rogers, & Meg Turner; published in January of 2023

Let’s Use ChatGPT to ‘Think Different’ About K-12 Schools — from gettingsmart.com by Kara Stern

So, in addition to asking ChatGPT to think like a school communications professional, a principal, or a teacher, what if we asked ChatGPT to think like the populations we’re serving, as a way of improving the education (or UX) we’re delivering?

Why I Keep Teaching — from edutopia.org by Rachel Jorgensen
A veteran educator explains why, despite the many challenges, she continues to try to change students’ lives, in turn enriching her own.

EVERY TIME I SHOW UP FOR WORK, A STUDENT MIGHT CHANGE MY LIFE FOR THE BETTER

MY WORK HAS INVISIBLE RIPPLE EFFECTS

34 Ways to Quiet a Rambunctious Class — from edutopia.org by Daniel Leonard
From “Silent 20” to imaginary marshmallows, these teacher-tested strategies for all grade levels can help you snap an unruly classroom back to attention.

Per EdSurge:

‘THE MOTH’ GOES TO SCHOOL: For more than a decade, the nonprofit behind the popular storytelling podcast The Moth has run workshops in schools to help students share impactful stories from their lives. Now the group started a spin-off podcast, Grown, highlighting those student stories. Here’s what they’re learning, and why they say storytelling needs to be taught in schools.

The Power of Storytelling for Youth https://t.co/5OyBarJtQp #edtech via @EdSurge

— Daniel Christian (he/him/his) (@dchristian5) August 25, 2023

.

DC: This article is behind a paywall so I couldn’t read it…but I think we need more *fixes/overhauls* and less coping.

More student centered; less legislative/administration centered. https://t.co/MsEe7058XV

— Daniel Christian (he/him/his) (@dchristian5) August 25, 2023

ElevenLabs’ AI Voice Generator Can Now Fake Your Voice in 30 Languages — from gizmodo.com by Kyle Barr
ElevenLabs said its AI voice generator is out of beta, saying it would support video game and audiobook creators with cheap audio.

According to ElevenLabs, the new Multilingual v2 model promises it can produce “emotionally rich” audio in a total of 30 languages. The company offers two AI voice tools, one is a text-to-speech model and the other is the “VoiceLab” that lets paying users clone a voice by inputting fragments of theirs (or others) speech into the model to create a kind of voice cone. With the v2 model, users can get these generated voices to start speaking in Greek, Malay, or Turkish.
…
Since then, ElevenLabs claims its integrated new measures to ensure users can only clone their own voice. Users need to verify their speech with a text captcha prompt which is then compared to the original voice sample.

From DSC:
I don’t care what they say regarding safeguards/proof of identity/etc. This technology has been abused and will be abused in the future. We can count on it. The question now is, how do we deal with it?

Introducing SeamlessM4T, the first all-in-one, multilingual multimodal translation model.

This single model can perform tasks across speech-to-text, speech-to-speech, text-to-text translation & speech recognition for up to 100 languages depending on the task.

Details ??

— Meta AI (@MetaAI) August 22, 2023

Google, Amazon, Nvidia and other tech giants invest in AI startup Hugging Face, sending its valuation to $4.5 billion — from cnbc.com by Kif Leswing

But Hugging Face produces a platform where AI developers can share code, models, data sets, and use the company’s developer tools to get open-source artificial intelligence models running more easily. In particular, Hugging Face often hosts weights, or large files with lists of numbers, which are the heart of most modern AI models.

While Hugging Face has developed some models, like BLOOM, its primary product is its website platform, where users can upload models and their weights. It also develops a series of software tools called libraries that allow users to get models working quickly, to clean up large datasets, or to evaluate their performance. It also hosts some AI models in a web interface so end users can experiment with them.

The global semiconductor talent shortage — from www2.deloitte.com
How to solve semiconductor workforce challenges

Numerous skills are required to grow the semiconductor ecosystem over the next decade. Globally, we will need tens of thousands of skilled tradespeople to build new plants to increase and localize manufacturing capacity: electricians, pipefitters, welders; thousands more graduate electrical engineers to design chips and the tools that make the chips; more engineers of various kinds in the fabs themselves, but also operators and technicians. And if we grow the back end in Europe and the Americas, that equates to even more jobs.

Each of these job groups has distinct training and educational needs; however, the number of students in semiconductor-focused programs (for example, undergraduates in semiconductor design and fabrication) has dwindled. Skills are also evolving within these job groups, in part due to automation and increased digitization. Digital skills, such as cloud, AI, and analytics, are needed in design and manufacturing more than ever.

The chip industry has long partnered with universities and engineering schools. Going forward, they also need to work more with local tech schools, vocational schools, and community colleges; and other organizations, such as the National Science Foundation in the United States.

Our principles for partnering with the music industry on AI technology — from blog.youtube (Google) by Neal Mohan, CEO, YouTube
AI is here, and we will embrace it responsibly together with our music partners.

Principle #1: AI is here, and we will embrace it responsibly together with our music partners.
Principle #2: AI is ushering in a new age of creative expression, but it must include appropriate protections and unlock opportunities for music partners who decide to participate.
Principle #3: We’ve built an industry-leading trust and safety organization and content policies. We will scale those to meet the challenges of AI.

Developers are now using AI for text-to-music apps — from techcrunch.com by Ivan Mehta

Brett Bauman, the developer of PlayListAI (previously LinupSupply), launched a new app called Songburst on the App Store this week. The app doesn’t have a steep learning curve. You just have to type in a prompt like “Calming piano music to listen to while studying” or “Funky beats for a podcast intro” to let the app generate a music clip.

If you can’t think of a prompt the app has prompts in different categories, including video, lo-fi, podcast, gaming, meditation and sample.

A Generative AI Primer — from er.educause.edu by Brian Basgen
Understanding the current state of technology requires understanding its origins. This reading list provides sources relevant to the form of generative AI that led to natural language processing (NLP) models such as ChatGPT.

Three big questions about AI and the future of work and learning — from workshift.opencampusmedia.org by Alex Swartsel
AI is set to transform education and work today and well into the future. We need to start asking tough questions right now, writes Alex Swartsel of JFF.

How will AI reshape jobs, and how can we prepare all workers and learners with the skills they’ll need?
How can education and workforce leaders equitably adopt AI platforms to accelerate their impact?
How might we catalyze sustainable policy, practice, and investments in solutions that drive economic opportunity?

“As AI reshapes both the economy and society, we must collectively call for better data, increased accountability, and more flexible support for workers,” Swartsel writes.

The Current State of AI for Educators (August, 2023) — from drphilippahardman.substack.com by Dr. Philippa Hardman
A podcast interview with the University of Toronto on where we’re at & where we’re going.

Learning Ecosystems

Some food for our hearts and minds

“A TV show with no ending” [Khan] — DC: Some interesting thoughts for those who are studying acting, film production, & the like.

Some scripture/wisdom for us

A Guide to Finding Housing For The Previously Incarcerated [Bennett & Curls]

From Eva Keffenheim’s “Learn Letter 96” — Three websites to learn something new

Greetings!

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