disruption

Change is optional, survival is not guaranteed [Christian]

On 06/20/2013, in colleges, community colleges, cost of getting a degree, dangers of the status quo, Daniel S. Christian, future of higher education, game-changing environment, higher education, leadership, reinvent, staying relevant, student-related, surviving, universities, by Daniel Christian

Then globalization and the Internet changed everything. Customers suddenly had real choices, access to instant reliable information and the ability to communicate with each other. Power in the marketplace shifted from seller to buyer. Customers started insisting on ‘better, cheaper, quicker and smaller,’ along with ‘more convenient, reliable and personalized.’ Continuous, even transformational, innovation have become requirements for survival.”

Steve Denning, “The Management Revolution That’s Already Happening,”
Forbes Magazine, May 30, 2013.

PDF of article here

Tagged with: budgetary • colleges • community college • dangers of the status quo • Daniel S. Christian • disruption • future of higher education • game-changing environment • higher education • innovation • leadership • perfect storm • reinvent • staying relevant • strategy • student-related • surviving • universities

Reflections on “Why the lean start-up changes everything” [Blank]

On 05/03/2013, in corporate / business world, Daniel S. Christian, disruption, entrepreneurship, experimentation, higher education, innovation, reinvent, staying relevant, strategy, surviving, by Daniel Christian

Excerpt (emphasis DSC):

But recently an important countervailing force has emerged, one that can make the process of starting a company less risky. It’s a methodology called the “lean start-up,” and it favors experimentation over elaborate planning, customer feedback over intuition, and iterative design over traditional “big design up front” development. Although the methodology is just a few years old, its concepts—such as “minimum viable product” and “pivoting”—have quickly taken root in the start-up world, and business schools have already begun adapting their curricula to teach them.

From DSC:
This fits into my thinking/recommendation that each institution of higher education should create a much smaller, more nimble group within itself — whose goal is to experiment, pivot, adapt, etc. — in order to find out what’s working and what’s not working. It’s why I have categories and tags for words like “experimentation,” “staying relevant,” “reinvent,” “innovation,” “surviving,” and “disruption.”

The trick is/will be how NOT to be a commodity –what’s going to differentiate your college or university?

Tagged with: corporate / business world • creativity • Daniel S. Christian • disruption • entrepreneurship • experimentation • higher education • innovation • reinvent • staying relevant • strategy • surviving

Ability to do creative, non-routine work will be a must in the coming automation era. Is this realistic for most workers? [Ford]

On 04/16/2013, in Artificial Intelligence / Machine Learning / Deep Learning / Algorithms, change, creativity, disruption, robotics, workplace, by Daniel Christian

Ability to do creative, non-routine work will be a must in the coming automation era. Is this realistic for most workers? — from robohub.org by Martin Ford

Excerpt:

There can be no doubt that technological progress has resulted in a far more prosperous society. Technology has often disrupted entire industries and, in some cases — as with the mechanization of agriculture — destroyed millions of jobs. In the long run, however, the economy has always adjusted and new jobs have been created, often in entirely new industries. Why then should we be concerned that the revolution in robotics and artificial intelligence will lead to sustained unemployment? I think the answer has to do with the nature the work that most members of our workforce are best equipped to perform.

Tagged with: career development • change • creativity • disruption • workplace

New test for computers: Grading essays at college level [Markoff]

On 04/04/2013, in Artificial Intelligence / Machine Learning / Deep Learning / Algorithms, cost of getting a degree, dangers of the status quo, Daniel S. Christian, digital learning, disruption, future of higher education, game-changing environment, higher education, New "Amazon.com" of Higher Education, reinvent, staying relevant, by Daniel Christian

New test for computers: Grading essays at college level — from nytimes.com by John Markoff
.

Gretchen Ertl for The New York Times
EdX, a nonprofit enterprise founded by Harvard and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology,
will release automated software that uses artificial intelligence to grade student essays and short written answers.

Excerpt:

EdX, the nonprofit enterprise founded by Harvard and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to offer courses on the Internet, has just introduced such a system and will make its automated software available free on the Web to any institution that wants to use it. The software uses artificial intelligence to grade student essays and short written answers, freeing professors for other tasks.

Tagged with: AI • cost of getting an education • dangers of the status quo • Daniel S. Christian • disruption • game-changing environment • higher education • reinvent • staying relevant • Walmart of Education

Review of higher ed adaptive learning products [Vander Ark]

On 04/04/2013, in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, dangers of the status quo, future of higher education, game-changing environment, personalized/customized learning, reinvent, by Daniel Christian

Review of higher ed adaptive learning products — from gettingsmart.com by Tom Vander Ark

Excerpt:

Last week we reviewed an EdGrowth white paper, A Case for Accelerating Adaptive Learning in HigherEd. Yesterday EdGrowth released a second paper that includes 8 profiles of adaptive learning providers.

Also see:

ADAPTIVE LEARNING IN HIGHER EDUCATION: A REALITY CHECK
Education Growth Advisors Report Makes Case for Accelerating Adaptive Learning in Higher Education

STAMFORD, CT (March 13, 2013) — Today, the higher education marketplace is thick with companies and organizations claiming to have “personalized learning” or “adaptive learning” capabilities. Companies are using this language in their sales and marketing efforts, creating confusion for institutions as they grapple with determining an approach to personalized learning that matches their students’ and instructors’ needs. But if one cuts through the clutter, adaptive learning may be one key capable of actually unshackling higher education from the “Iron Triangle” of cost, access and quality, according to a white paper by Education Growth Advisors. The white paper, entitled “Learning to Adapt: A Case for Accelerating Adaptive Learning in Higher Education”, funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, explores the current adoption, opportunities, barriers, advancements, solutions and case studies of adaptive learning in higher education.

Also see:

cogbooks.com

Tagged with: customized learning • disruption • future of higher education • game-changing environment • higher education • personalized learning • reinvent

Some items re: how software and robotics are/might be impacting us

On 03/28/2013, in 21st century, career development, change, changing business models, computer science, corporate / business world, disruption, programming, robotics, workplace, by Daniel Christian

How the internet is making us poor — from qz.com by Christopher Mims

Excerpt:

Everyone knows the story of how robots replaced humans on the factory floor. But in the broader sweep of automation versus labor, a trend with far greater significance for the middle class—in rich countries, at any rate—has been relatively overlooked: the replacement of knowledge workers with software.

Also see:

Automation and employment–Posner – — from becker-posner-blog.com
.
How robots are eating the last of America’s—and the world’s—traditional manufacturing jobs —from qz.com by Christopher Mims — February 15, 2013
.
Race Against the Machine — by Erik Brynjolfsson and Andrew McAfee
.
Here’s the difference between repeating slogans and understanding a concept — by Andrew McAfee
.
Software is eating the world. What it means for your business. — from onesaas.com by Aaron Beashel
.

From DSC:
So…what courses aren’t we teaching in K-12 and in higher ed that we need to be teaching to help our students get prepared for this quickly-changing situation in the workplace? Now? In the near future?

What’s some good career advice (or resources) out there?

Dan Pink’s A Whole New Mind is one resource that comes to mind.

Tagged with: 21st century • career development • change • computer science • corporate / business world • disruption • new business models • programming

Traditional institutions will close, number of colleges and universities will rise (audio and transcript) — from evoLLLution.com (where LLL stands for lifelong learning) by Richard DeMillo | Director of the Center for 21st Century Universities, Georgia Institute of Technology

Excerpt (emphasis DSC):
.

Well, for me, it always boils down to value. People misunderstand this as assigning value based on salaries or employability, but I mean value in the larger sense. You have to have a reason to ask students to pay more than the marginal costs of delivering education. And with all these revolutions in technology for course delivery, that marginal cost is going to zero very, very quickly [think journalism]. So, every institution that’s going to survive, I think, over the next 50 years, is going to have to make that case. Why is it that tuition at this institution is justified?

The interesting thing about this is it’s going to be accelerated because the old bureaucracies, the old institutional models… are crumbling. At least, their boundaries are crumbling. Let me tell you what I mean by that.

The accrediting agencies, which I think traditionally have had — at least for the last 120 years or so—an institutional focus, are now shifting their focus to students; to competencies, to demonstrations of what students know. And that really starts to cut against institutional entitlement.

I think the conclusion of all this is that, as it becomes harder and harder for… a “Me-Too Institution” to argue for a marginal increase in price, the amount of money that those institutions are going to have available to them to spend on anything but core mission for students is also going to go to zero. So, this is kind of a virtuous cycle; … institutions that are unable to make the value proposition will find themselves more and more strapped for discretionary funds in order to move themselves into a different space. And that’s an ending that’s not very good for most institutions.

From DSC:
How will our/your organization keep from becoming a commodity? What are we/you all going to bring to the table that’s different, unique, and worth paying for?

Also see:

Higher Education’s turn in the vortex of change — from evoLLLution.com by Karen Sibley | Dean of Continuing Education, Brown University
Excerpt:
Here’s the mind-bending question that prompts this thought:
What will brand value and marketing in higher education look like in 2023?
.
MOOCS likely to be integrated into traditional university programming — from evoLLLution.com by Larry Cooperman | Director of OpenCourseWare, UC Irvine
.
Traditional instructors will remain, but online learning heralds a new breed — from evoLLLution.com by Pepper Lynn Werner | Doctoral Student, University of Wyoming

Tagged with: 21st century • 24x7x365 • accreditation • budgetary • cost of getting an education • Daniel S. Christian • digital learning • disruption • etmooc • future of higher education • game-changing environment • higher education • journalism • Lifelong learning • MOOCs • new business models in he • online learning • reinvent • staying relevant • student-related • surviving

The transience of power: The powerful do not stay that way for long [The Economist]

On 03/19/2013, in corporate / business world, disruption, innovation, internet, strategy, by Daniel Christian

The transience of power: The powerful do not stay that way for long — from The Economist

Excerpt:

But Mr Naím has good objections to the objections. His argument is not that companies are shrinking but that they are becoming more fragile. Internet giants can no longer rely on the economies of scale that kept General Motors and Sears on top for decades. Rather, they must constantly struggle to keep their products innovative and their brands fashionable—or fall prey to more agile upstarts. Powerful people are less secure than they were, too. The composition of the top 1% is constantly changing as CEOs lose their jobs and young go-getters outpace their elders.

Mr Naím celebrates the anti-power revolution for holding the mighty to account and providing ordinary people with opportunities. But he sees downsides, too. The more slippery power becomes, the more the world is ruled by short-term incentives and ever-changing fears. Politicians fail to tackle long-term problems such as climate change. Companies think of little besides the struggle for survival. Nonetheless, it would be worse if the populists were right and the 1% really did rule the world.

Tagged with: corporate / business world • disruption • innovation • internet • strategy

Reflections on “Hollywood meets higher ed” [Ripley]

On 03/13/2013, in creativity, Daniel S. Christian, digital learning, digital storytelling, disruption, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, media/film, MOOCs -- Massive Open Online Courses, multimedia, by Daniel Christian

From DSC:
Some reflections on “Hollywood meets higher ed“ — a thought-provoking post by Amanda Ripley

Excerpt:

But online classes are different than the in-person kind: Not only do they have a huge potential profit upside, given the ability to attract tens of thousands of students worldwide, but they are, at their best, performances. No one likes to say this out loud in academia, but it’s true: the most impactful MOOCs are also entertaining. The teacher does not need to be a singing, dancing, joke-telling maniac, but the teacher does need to be riveting, one way or another. The production quality needs to be high. Or the students will evaporate, clicking off to Facebook or Twitter or one of the many other online classes multiplying on the Internet.

From DSC:
I post this with a fair amount of hesitation, as mixing the words “higher ed” with Hollywood makes me very uneasy…but Amanda makes some good points in her posting and she highlights yet another potential disruption to the way things are:

Tagged with: creativity • Daniel S. Christian • digital learning • digital storytelling • disruption • etmooc • learning from the living [class] room • Media/film • MOOCs • multimedia

Beyond the buzz, where are MOOCs really going? [Horn & Christensen]

On 02/22/2013, in analytics, data related items, disruption, MOOCs -- Massive Open Online Courses, new business models, personalized/customized learning, by Daniel Christian

Beyond the buzz, where are MOOCs really going? — from wired.com by Michael Horn and Clayton Christensen

Excerpt:

MOOCs can be much more than marketing and edutainment. We believe they are likely to evolve into a “scale business”: one that relies on the technology and data backbone of the medium to optimize and individualize learning opportunities for millions of students.

This is very different than simply putting a video of a professor lecturing online.

Tagged with: analytics • customized learning • data mining • disruption • etmooc • experimentation • MOOCs • new business models in he • personalized learning

MOOCs and online learning: Research roundup [Weigel]

On 02/15/2013, in disruption, game-changing environment, higher education, MOOCs -- Massive Open Online Courses, online learning, research, by Daniel Christian

Tagged with: disruption • etmooc • game-changing environment • higher education • MOOCs • online learning • research

Your Massively Open Offline College Is Broken [Shirky]

On 02/12/2013, in cost of getting a degree, disruption, experimentation, future of higher education, game-changing environment, MOOCs -- Massive Open Online Courses, New "Amazon.com" of Higher Education, student-related, by Daniel Christian

Your Massively Open Offline College Is Broken — by Clay Shirky

Excerpt (emphasis DSC):

This is the background to the entire conversation around higher education: Things that can’t last don’t. This is why MOOCs matter. Not because distance learning is some big new thing or because online lectures are a solution to all our problems, but because they’ve come along at a time when students and parents are willing to ask themselves, “Isn’t there some other way to do this?”

MOOCs are a lightning strike on a rotten tree. Most stories have focused on the lightning, on MOOCs as the flashy new thing. I want to talk about the tree.

…

Imagine picking a thousand students at random from among our institutions of higher education. Now imagine unpicking everyone at one of US News‘ Top 100 liberal arts colleges or universities. You’d expel anyone from the Ivy League, Stanford, MIT. Anyone from from Emory or Rice. Anyone from Vanderbilt, Clemson, Drexel. Anyone from the famously good state schools—UMass, Virginia, the California universities. After ejecting those students from your group, how many of the original thousand would be left?

About 900.

graphs

From DSC:
Houston, we have a problem.

Tagged with: cost of getting an education • disruption • etmooc • experimentation • future of higher education • game-changing environment • MOOCs • student-related

The University’s Dilemna [by Tim Laseter, Strategy & Business]

On 01/24/2013, in business side of he, cost of getting a degree, dangers of the status quo, Daniel S. Christian, disruption, emerging technologies, future of higher education, game-changing environment, higher education, innovation, leadership, MOOCs -- Massive Open Online Courses, New "Amazon.com" of Higher Education, strategy, vision/possibilities, by Daniel Christian

From DSC:
With thanks going out to Ross Dawson for his recent tweet on this.

Tagged with: business side of he • cost of getting an education • dangers of the status quo • Daniel S. Christian • disruption • etmooc • future of higher education • game-changing environment • higher education • innovation • leadership • MOOCs • new business models in he • strategy • vision • Walmart of Education

Some rough news for higher ed

On 01/17/2013, in business side of he, cost of getting a degree, dangers of the status quo, Daniel S. Christian, disruption, future of higher education, game-changing environment, New "Amazon.com" of Higher Education, by Daniel Christian

Moody’s gives colleges a negative grade — from the NYT by Andrew Martin

Excerpt:

The credit reporting agency Moody’s said on Wednesday that it had revised its financial outlook for colleges and universities, giving a negative grade to the entire field.

For the last two years, Moody’s Investors Service gave the nation’s most elite public and private colleges a stable forecast while assigning a negative outlook to the rest of higher education. (Moody’s assigned a negative outlook for the sector in 2009, but it upgraded the most elite ones to stable in 2011-2012.)

Nowhere to turn — from insighehighered.com by Kevin Kiley

Excerpt:

If colleges and universities thought they could ride out the current revenue challenges by becoming more like some other institution, Moody’s Investors Service has a bit of bad news for them: The grass isn’t greener on anybody else’s quad. Not even Harvard University’s.

In a report released Wednesday, the ratings agency outlines how every traditional revenue stream for colleges and universities is facing some sort of pressure, a finding Moody’s uses as grounds for giving the whole sector a negative outlook. The agency has been pessimistic about much of the sector since its annual outlook in 2009 after the economic downturn began, but Wednesday’s report contains a downward shift in how analysts view even market leaders, the elite institutions with high demand and brand recognition.

Originally saw thes graphic below on the Education Stormfront blog (thanks Andrew) — also see Will Hanlon Pop the Higher Ed Bubble?

From DSC:
As you know if you are a regular reader of this blog, I believe the higher ed bubble has already popped — but I have it that it will pop at different times for different institutions.

Addendum on 1/22/13:

The scary economics of higher education — from Forbes.com by William Baldwin
Excerpt:The New School and many other institutions like it face serious threats. First is the risk that students will think twice about pursuing leisurely degrees that don’t confer automatic tickets to good careers. Then comes the potential for a price war with other schools desperate to fill their classrooms. And now a technologic upheaval bears down on the industry.Coursera, Udacity and other online ventures can educate students for free, or close to free. The online course industry doesn’t yet have a good credentialing system, but in time it will no doubt get one. What does all this say about the value of a university building? If you’re not sure of the answer, read Scott H. Young’s tale of how he absorbed MIT’s entire four-year curriculum in computer science without attending a single class.
.
College enrollment expected to slip — from pewstates.org by Ben Wieder

Addendum on 1/24/13:

College dropout crisis revealed in ‘American Dream 2.0’ Report — from huffingtonpost.com by Joy Resmovits

Tagged with: disruption • future of higher education • game-changing environment • higher education • perfect storm

Experiment: Build and evaluate the impact of more educationally-related second screen apps [Christian]

On 01/08/2013, in 21st century, A/V -- audio/visual, analytics, Artificial Intelligence / Machine Learning / Deep Learning / Algorithms, Asia, Bring your own device (BYOD), cloud-based computing / apps / other cloud-related, convergence, corporate / business world, corporate universities / corporate training, Daniel S. Christian, data related items, digital learning, disruption, e-publishing related items (EPUB and more), education technology, educational games / serious games, elearning, emerging technologies, engagement / engaging students, experimentation, future, game-changing environment, innovation, interactivity, internet, learning agents, learning ecosystem, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, machine-to-machine communications, mirroring and/or multiple devices, mobile learning, MOOCs -- Massive Open Online Courses, multimedia, Near Field Communication (NFC), New "Amazon.com" of Higher Education, online learning, online media, online tutoring, participation, personalized/customized learning, platforms, second screen apps, smart classrooms, smart/connected TV, social learning / networks, technologies for your home, telepresence, television, transmedia, trends, vision/possibilities, by Daniel Christian

From DSC:
In this series of periodic postings re: experimentation (see here and here), this week’s Consumers Electronics Show prompts me to think about different types of experiments, prompting such questions as:
.

When will we see more educationally-related second screen apps?
.
How might this type of setup dovetail with MOOCs provided by institutions of higher education? With MOOCs offered by the corporate world?
.
What sorts of technologies will weave their way into what could be offered here?
(The following possibilities come to my mind: Artificial Intelligence (AI), learning agents, recommendation engines, course or topic playlists, web-based learner profiles, data mining/analytics, videoconferencing, educational gaming, virtual tutoring, BYOD, and/or cloud-based computing. Other…?)
.
Will Internet-enabled marketplaces and exchanges — between learners and teachers — become commonplace?
.
Will technologies involved with endeavors like IBM’s Watson or with Knewton be deployed in this kind of convergent environment? If so, what sorts of doors/job opportunities/new skillsets would that open up or require?
.

Some relevant items on this include:

Flingo reveals Samba, a first of its kind dual interactive TV and second screen platform — from pandodaily.com byasdf

Excerpt:

This week at CES in Las Vegas (the Consumer Electronics Show), San Francisco-based Flingo will release the latest version of its platform, dubbed Samba, aimed at changing this. Samba will make four-year-old Flingo one of the first to offer a combined Interactive TV and Second Screen experience.

“We saw a surge of Smart TV and tablet adoption in 2012, but realized that a seamless TV experience across all screens was missing,” says Flingo co-founder and CEO Ashwin Navin, formerly of BitTorrent. “Samba will blur the lines between linear television and the Web.”

Flingo is unique in that it uses video, not audio to identify what content is being viewed…

…

Samba offers viewers the ability to actively engage with programming in real-time through their primary screen. This can take the form of polls, social conversations, recommendations, or consumption of related media. In the case of Second Screens, aka internet-connected laptops, tablets, and smartphones used simultaneously while watching TV, the company can offer an even wider array of complementary content and engagement, such as aggregated social feeds relating to live programming or an ability to watch past episodes of a live show. This can all be delivered across multiple screens, in concert.

Also see:

Panasonic, IBM, ABOX42 and others join LG and Toshiba’s Smart TV Alliance to solve fragmentation
YouTube bringing Google TV AirPlay-like pairing feature to new devices in 2013 — from 9to5google.com by Jordan Kahn
Audible Magic unveils cross-platform solution for interactive TV commercials — from cnbc.com
CES: Samsung unveils 4K TVs; upgrades Smart TV service — from forbes.com by Eric Savitz
Samsung rethinks Smart TV (and we’re impressed) — from nbcnews.com by Wilson Rothman
Slick new Bravo app personalizes your Smart TV experience — from mashable.com by Brian Anthony Hernandez
In the digital living room, there’s something in the air — from pro.gigaom.com by Paul Sweeting
Usage of connected TVs rose 25% in 2012 — from therealtimereport.com [Addendum on 1/9/13]
.
.

Here’s your complete look at Samsung’s new Smart TV — from businessinsider.com by Kevin Smith [Addendum on 1/9/13]
.

Kevin Smith/Business Insider

More tangentially, but still relevant:

McGraw-Hill to debut adaptive e-book for students — from blogs.wsj.com by Shalini Ramachandran
Excerpt:
The SmartBook…works like this: All readers essentially see the same textbook as they read for the first five minutes. But as a reader answers review questions placed throughout the chapter, different passages become highlighted to point the reader to where he or she should focus attention.

Tagged with: 1:1 • 21st century • A/V • AI • Asia • cloud-based computing / apps / other cloud-related • Connectivism • convergence • corporate / business world • customized learning • Daniel S. Christian • digital learning • disruption • e-learning • educational gaming • educational technology • experimentation • future • game-changing environment • innovation • internet • learning ecosystem • machine-to-machine communications • MOOCs • Near Field Communication (NFC) • online learning • online media • online tutoring • personalized learning • second screen apps • smart classrooms • Smart/Connected TV • social learning • technologies for the home • transmedia • trends • vision

Previous Entries

Learning Ecosystems

Reflections on “Why the lean start-up changes everything” [Blank]

Ability to do creative, non-routine work will be a must in the coming automation era. Is this realistic for most workers? [Ford]

New test for computers: Grading essays at college level [Markoff]

Review of higher ed adaptive learning products [Vander Ark]

Some items re: how software and robotics are/might be impacting us

The transience of power: The powerful do not stay that way for long [The Economist]

Reflections on “Hollywood meets higher ed” [Ripley]

MOOCs and online learning: Research roundup [Weigel]

The University’s Dilemna [by Tim Laseter, Strategy & Business]

Some rough news for higher ed

Categories

Tags