From DSC:
Yesterday, I had posted an item re: interactive video. As I looked at the credits for the piece out at the Wall Street Journal, it made me reflect upon this thought:
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This will be true whether we’re talking about K-12, higher ed, and/or the corporate training/L&D world.
In the future, the whole world will be a classroom — from fastcoexist.com by Marina Gorbis
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From DSC:
What Marina is asserting is what I’m seeing as well. That is, we are between two massive but different means of obtaining an education/learning (throughout our lifetimes I might add). What she’s saying is also captured in the following graphic:
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Also see:
From DSC:
Well…how about using one of these devices in order to do so!
New video collaboration robot: TelePresence gets moving — from cisco.com by Dave Evans
Excerpt:
That is why Cisco’s new joint effort with iRobot—demonstrated publicly this week for the first time—is so exciting: We’ve created a mobile Cisco TelePresence unit that brings collaboration to you—or, conversely, brings you to wherever you need to collaborate. Called iRobot Ava 500, this high-definition video collaboration robot combines Cisco TelePresence with iRobot’s mobility and self-navigation capabilities, enabling freedom of movement and spontaneous interactions with people thousands of miles away.
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iRobot Ava™ 500 Video Collaboration Robot — published on Jun 10, 2013
iRobot and Cisco have teamed to bring the Ava 500 video collaboration robot to market. The robot blends iRobot’s autonomous navigation with Cisco’s TelePresence to enable people working off-site to participate in meetings and presentations where movement and location spontaneity are important. The new robot is also designed to enable mobile visual access to manufacturing facilities, laboratories, customer experience centers and other remote facilities.
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From Attack of the Telepresence Robots! — from BYTE by Rick Lehrbaum
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| MantaroBot “TeleMe” | VGo Communications “VGo” | Anybots “QB” | Suitable Technologies “Beam” |
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Also see:
Below are some great resources re: creating your own e-books / streams of content — with thanks to Mr. Michael Haan, Technology Integration Specialist/Purchasing at Calvin College, for these resources
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From DSC:
You might also want to check out Lynda.com for the relevant training materials.
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Let’s create our own streams of content — always up-to-date — plus we could help our students save big $$! And, as Michael pointed out, such tools could also be used internally for training-related and communications-related purposes.
Thanks Michael!!!
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From the Oblong.com website:
Mezzanine™ is a collaborative conference room solution that introduces multi-user, multi-screen, multi-device collaboration. This is next-generation communication: share any content from any device with anyone, anywhere.
Mezzanine transforms creative teamwork, executive meetings, and sales presentations into real-time, collaborative work sessions. Mezzanine expands on existing telepresence technology by providing what we call InfoPresence™—the incorporation of multiple users, multiple devices, and multiple streams of information in the collaboration environment. The future of conference room collaboration is here.
A Mezzanine workspace lets any person on a network bring their own device and share content and applications with any colleague, anywhere in the world, interactively. Mezzanine is a collaborative conference room solution combining presentation design and delivery, application sharing, whiteboard capture, and video conferencing, all within a framework of multi-participant control.
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Also see:
The Future of Enterprise Mobile Learning — infographic created by INTUITION; posted at LearnDash.com by Justin Ferriman;
5 characteristics of how knowledge workers like to learn at work — from c4lpt.co.uk by Jane Hart
This is a draft page from the upcoming book The Workplace Learning Revolution.
From DSC:
Again note the need for each of us to build our own learning ecosystems; and note the use of…
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Why mobile learning is the future of workplace learning [infographic by UpsideLearning; as found on wiredacademic.com]
From DSC:
Here’s a portion of the infographic that I want to highlight — look at how many streams of content are flowing by (perfect for building one’s own learning ecosystem!)
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I would add augmented reality-based apps
to the on-demand and embedded areas as well…
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From DSC:
This data further supports my thoughts on helping people build their own learning ecosystems — something Jane points out as well when she states that “workers find other (self-organised and self-managed) ways of learning at work far more valuable – with team collaboration being the highest rated.”
I recommend helping folks learn how to create their own blogs and learn how to subscribe to others’ blogs, access relevant wikis, use Twitter, employ Google Alerts, etc.
Provide each employee with some relevant names/blogs/websites/etc. to get employees started (i.e. of some knowledgeable accountants, legal counsel, product designers, engineers, digital marketing experts, cloud computing strategists, programmers for mobile computing apps, etc.). I realize this presents issues with companies’ sensitive information such as patents and/or intellectual property. But if Harold Jarche is correct in saying that we live in a post-jobs world, what we know of the modern corporation may be very different in just a few years anyway. (i.e. You’re on your own. You are your own corporation/business; so build your own brand and expertise. Build your own valuable network of peers/colleagues — who you can contribute to as well as to learn from.)
Admittedly, this changes some of the roles of the training department from creating e-learning modules to becoming excellent researchers, social media experts, quasi-librarians, etc.
(Come to think of it, I wonder if that might happen in higher ed as well — i.e. provide students with the relevant/key experts, important thinkers, streams of content, etc.)
Online education for the pros: Udemy launches corporate training tools — from venturebeat.com by Christina Farr
Excerpt:
Online course providers typically target students, but Udemy is going after an underserved group: professionals.
Also, from Learning TRENDS by Elliott Masie – April 18, 2013
#768 – Updates on Learning, Business & Technology
55,949 Readers – www.masie.com – twitter: emasie – The MASIE Center.
Host: TeleWork 2013 – A National Forum – www.telework2013.com
1. MOOC’s & Corporate Learning?
There is a great media interest in MOOC’s – the innovations for Massive Open Online Courses – where one instructor runs a course for thousands or tens of thousands of learners. I have been a student in three MOOC’s and a teacher/facilitator in three. Now, we are hearing from many learning colleagues about the applicability of the MOOC to workplace learning.I would urge TRENDS readers to approach MOOC’s as important beta/lab experiments – where important and cool innovations are emerging in the construction, delivery and economics of educational “packages”. My experience as a MOOC learner has been exciting and mixed. While there were over 70,000 learners in one program – very few made it to the end of the program – and fewer were fully successful from a competency point of view. It was exciting to see how learners could be co-designers of the program and many resources were developed and disseminated from the learners. Finally, there were mixed models of how well the social/collaborative side of the MOOC’s worked.
As a teacher – I struggled with the format shifts reflected by MOOC’s. Were the assignments suggestions or could I predict a level of engagement of the learners. Was the content that was posted by learners legal – some added video that wasn’t within their IP ownership. And, the issue of fees were also interesting. A free MOOC will get high starts but perhaps high drop offs. When fees were added, did that take away the “open” label. It is also interesting to see colleges and universities that have never made a profit on classroom offerings think they will generate good margins by adding MOOC’s to their offerings.
It is early and really too early to predict how MOOC’s might evolve within the corporate world. I have been advocating that we take each of the letters as distinct areas for innovation:
– M: Massive dissemination of content
– O: Open content and content reuse along with curation by learners.
– O: Online resources added to both 1 mode and mixed/blended mode delivery.
– C: Course? Perhaps the MOOC might become a MOOP (Program) or MOOA (Assets)And, is there a Competency check assumed in a MOOC – as well as certification or even college credit?
MOOC’s are important innovations. Now, we need to label them as Lab or Beta tests – and gather evidence as we experiment with the use of all or some of MOOC’s elements in corporate settings. We will be experimenting with the MOOC as a corporate model in an upcoming Learning LAB of our Learning CONSORTIUM. Interested in hearing from TRENDS readers exploring MOOC’s in our world.
The College of 2020
If #HigherEd stays way it is, w/ 19th century style lectures, w/in 10 years Google U. and Walt Disney U. to take it over – Wim Westera
Addendum on 4/19/13:
Bridging the Skills Gap — from trainingmag.com by Lorri Freifeld
Employers want certain skills. Employees don’t have them. Why? And what can organizations and Training, employees, and the educational system do to eliminate the disconnect?
Excerpt:
With the U.S. unemployment rate hovering around 8 percent and millions of people desperately looking for jobs, why are many employers claiming they can’t fill their vacant positions?
The answer: A skills gap that threatens the sustainability of businesses around the world. And while a big part of the skills gap is a shortage of people skilled in the STEM (science, technology, education, and math) industries, there also is a gap in soft skills such as communication and advanced leadership skills.
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What is causing these skills gaps? What can—and should—employers and their Training departments, employees, and the education system be doing differently? This first article in a five-part series will address these questions. Subsequent articles will explore how corporate partnerships with colleges and universities can help bridge the divide (May/June), how to motivate employees to take advantage of skills gap training and eliminate any sense of promotion entitlement (July/August), how technology can help (September/October), and additional potential solutions and strategies for success (November/December).
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From DSC:
We had better start talking STEAM not STEM from here on out (i.e. add the ARTS!). You can’t get creative thinkers without fostering some creativity.
Why mobile learning is the future of workplace learning (infographic) — from upsidelearning.com by Amit Garg
From DSC:
I appreciate Kevin Wheeler’s comment on Jay Cross’ posting entitled “A Solution to the College Crisis” (emphasis below from DSC)
In response to Jay Cross:
Higher education in the United States is broken. Costs are ouf of control. Students are dissatisfied. Graduates can’t get jobs. Says MIT’s Andy McAfee, “What’s going on is halfway between a bubble and a scandal.” I propose we put higher ed back on track by founding Corporate Colleges. Corporate colleges break higher […]
Jay,
As you know I have written a book on Corporate Universities and have spent many years at the “coal face” of learning, work and formal education. What you propose is actually what many corporate universities are offering today (except for your funding approach). It works well at the professional levels where people already have skills and degrees but seek additional competence.
it works much less well with entry level folks and people with minimal education. Many of these folks lack basic skills or are functionally illiterate. Some are reluctant to sink time into learning, especially if it reduces pay. Many have social issues and have had bad experiences learning in school. They are not predisposed to learn in any way that looks like learning.
They need personal attention, work-based apprentice-like education, and a tremendous amount of coaching with consistent motivation or interest falls off. It is a dilema that technology works much less well at this level and therefore costs for coaching go up while the benefit to a corporation is minimal. Most organizations would rather invest in those who are already performing than try and educate entry-level or marginal folks. …
Everything you propose makes perfect sense, but it is damn hard to get it to work in reality.
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From DSC:
This is exactly the kind of thing I’ve been trying to address — if people don’t like learning, it will be very hard to get them to become lifelong learners (something that has become a requirement these days).
To those of us working within K-12 and/or higher education:
One of the greatest gifts that we can possibly give to our students is a chance for them to identify and develop their God-given passions, interests, and abilities. If we create the “space” for this to occur, an enormous amount of internal energy and will power will be released.
Check out this video for a perfect example of this!!!
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To those folks working within the corporate world:
How can your organization’s culture be tweaked to better support people and their development? This might be putting more resources towards helping internal employees develop their own learning ecosystems — based upon their interests, passions, career goals — and/or hiring entry-level folks and then helping develop them. Besides helping to make the world a better place, this approach just might just turn out to be a solid business move.
Harvard’s plan to dominate higher education — from jumpthecurve.net by Jack Uldrich
Excerpt (emphasis DSC):
Critics of online education and MOOCs may delude themselves by thinking an online course can never offer the same level of intimacy or interaction as a traditional college course but they are missing a key component of the MOOC movement: analytics.
What Harvard and other MOOC providers understand is that every time a student interacts with the material on an online course, she provides the institution feedback that allows it to learn a little more about how that student learns. Armed with this information they can then offer future courses designed not only to meet that individual’s specific educational needs but which are delivered in a manner personally tailored to his or her unique learning style.
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Imagine Harvard charges a $100 accrediting fee to every student who takes one of its free courses. If one million students—students who formerly populated state universities and colleges—opt instead to take just one accredited course a year from Harvard that amounts to $100 million a year.
From DSC:
Readers of this blog will know that I think MOOCs are in an iterative process of morphing into something else, something new. MOOCs are half-baked at this point. I say that because it’s like drinking from a firehose (at least as of early March 2013). But what Jack Uldrich points out is what I was trying to get at in the graphic below. That is, if technologies that can capture, filter, curate, provide relevant information based upon analytics, one doesn’t have to drink from a fire hose anymore…the drinking fountain now becomes a better metaphor.
On a potentially related note — and a veeeerrrryyyy interesting question asked at this article out at Chief Learning Officer:
Either one of these forces could create what I’ve been calling “The Forthcoming Walmart of Education” (since 2008). As Smart/Connected TVs proliferate, Apple’s developing infrastructure and ecosystem could easily fill the bill.
