On 10/14/2010,
in education technology, learner profiles, learning agents, personalized/customized learning,
by Daniel Christian
Like Netflix, new college software seeks to personalize recommendations — from InsideHigherEd.com by Marc Parry
Anaheim, Calif. —Amazon. Netflix. Google. All personalize recommendations based on what they know about users.
A new project, unveiled at the Educause conference here today, plans to provide college students a similar experience on academic Web sites.
It’s called Sherpa, like the guides who lead climbers up Mount Everest. The goal of the software, developed by the South Orange County Community College District, is to mine data about students to guide them to courses, information, and services.
That’s a change from what students experience starting and finishing classes on the Blackboard course-management system, said Robert S. Bramucci, South Orange’s vice chancellor for technology and learning services.
On 10/13/2010,
in digital learning, digital storytelling, disruption, education, education technology, K-12 related,
by Daniel Christian
On 10/13/2010,
in education technology, educational games / serious games, ideas, innovation, K-12 related, music, teaching & learning,
by Daniel Christian
JoyTunes: A unique approach to computer-based music teaching — from thenextweb.com by Brad McCarty
Also see:
On 10/12/2010,
in 24x7x365 access, adult learning, business side of he, changing business models, competency-based learning/education, consortiums, dangers of the status quo, Daniel S. Christian, disruption, education reform, education technology, emerging technologies, future of higher education, game-changing environment, higher education, innovation, leadership, lifelong learning, New "Amazon.com" of Higher Education, new business models, online learning, staying relevant, strategy, traditional / tradition, trends, United States, using teams,
by Daniel Christian
The world changed, colleges missed it — from edreformer.com by Tom Vander Ark
A bunch of colleges are going out of business, only they don’t know it. They pretend that trimming costs and jacking tuition is a solution. They haven’t come to terms with a world where anyone can learn anything almost anywhere for free or cheap. Art Levine, Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation, sees three major change forces: new competition, a convergence of knowledge producers, and changing demographics.
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To Art’s list of three big change forces, add shrinking government support, the press for more accountability, and emerging technology…the next few decades will be marked by a lumpy move to competency-based learning…instant information and the ability to learn anything anywhere.
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The shift to personal digital learning is on. Some colleges get that. Others will seek bailouts until they go out of business. Working adults are getting smart on their own terms.
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From DSC:
Time will tell if Tom’s assertions are too harsh here, but personally, I think he’s right.
I have it that:
- There is a bubble in higher ed
- There also exists a perfect storm that’s been forming for years within higher ed and the waves are cresting
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- Institutions of higher education need to check themselves before they become the next Blockbuster
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- We must not discount the disruptive powers of technology nor the trends taking place today (for a list of some of these trends, see the work of Gary Marx, as well as Yankelovish’s (2005) Ferment and Change: Higher Education in 2015)
- Innovation is not an option for those who want to survive and thrive in the future.
Specifically, I have it that we should be experimenting with:
- Significantly lowering the price of getting an education (by 50%+)
- Providing greater access (worldwide)
- Offering content in as many different ways as we can afford to produce
- Seeking to provide interactive, multimedia-based content that is created by teams of specialists — for anytime, anywhere, on any-device type of learning (24x7x365) — at any pace!
- “Breaking down the walls” of the physical classroom
- Pooling resources and creating consortiums
- Reflecting on what it will mean if online-based exchanges are setup to help folks develop competencies
- Working to change our cultures to be more willing to innovate and change
- Thinking about how to become more nimble as organizations
- Turning more control over to individual learner and having them create the content
- Creating and implementing more cross-disciplinary assignments
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On 10/12/2010,
in 21st century, change, dangers of the status quo, disruption, education reform, Google, K-12 related, teachers, teaching & learning,
by Daniel Christian
Change Agent — from edweek.org by Anthony Rebora
Will Richardson, a former teacher-turned-tech expert, says schools need to revolutionize teaching and learning to keep pace with societal changes.
Will Richardson at work, speaking to faculty members at Hunterdon Central Regional High School in Flemington, N.J. — Emile Wamsteker
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You’ve written that too many teachers are “un-Googleable.” What do you mean by that and why does it matter?
What I mean is that too few teachers have a visible presence on the Web. The primary reason this matters is that the kids in our classrooms are going to be Googled—they’re going to be searched for on the Web—over and over again. That’s just the reality of their lives, right? So they need models. They need to have adults who know what it means to have a strong and appropriate search portfolio—I call it the “G-portfolio.” But right now—and this is my ongoing refrain—there’s no one teaching them how to learn and share with these technologies. There’s no one teaching them about the nuances involved in creating a positive online footprint. It’s all about what not to do instead of what they should be doing.
The second thing is that, if you want to be part of an extended learning network or community, you have to be findable. And you have to participate in some way. The people I learn from on a day-to-day basis are Googleable. They’re findable, they have a presence, they’re participating, they’re transparent. That’s what makes them a part of my learning network. If you’re not out there—if you’re not transparent or findable in that way—I can’t learn with you.
Also mentioned:
- Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms
(Corwin). Now in its third edition, the book has sold more than 60,000 copies and become one of the most influential books available on integrating Web 2.0 technology in the K-12 classroom. - Powerful Learning Practice
- His blog, Weblogg-ed
On 10/12/2010,
in change, changing business models, consortiums, education technology, emerging technologies, game-changing environment, new business models, online learning, publishing, using teams,
by Daniel Christian
ASU partners with Pearson to expand online learning services — from PRWeb.com
Partnership will enhance the online student experience and reach new students
Arizona State University (ASU) and Pearson today announced an innovative partnership to develop new technology and management services to support ASU’s online students. The agreement will equip ASU with various capabilities designed to maximize learning outcomes through student engagement and retention, as well as increase overall course offerings. It will enable the university to reach potential students around the country who are not served by brick and mortar or other online institutions.
“When it comes to learning online, there is a direct correlation between quality services and student success,” said Philip Regier, Executive Vice Provost and Dean of ASU Online. “The reality is that learning online is very demanding and most students already have family and work responsibilities. The more support they receive, the better their learning outcomes and overall experience will be.”
From DSC:
With the pace of technological innovation and the costs involved in creating engaging, interactive, multimedia-based materials, it seems that such pooling of resources is wise, efficient. That is why I’m a fan of consortiums and pooling resources. This type of thing also quickly brings TEAMS of people together.
On 10/11/2010,
in 21st century, Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, competency-based learning/education, education technology, emerging technologies, game-changing environment, innovation, instructional design, intelligent tutoring, learner profiles, learning agents, online learning, online tutoring,
by Daniel Christian
From DSC:
I was reading a white paper from Tegrity today (see below graphics). It mentioned that the next frontier for lecture capture technologies is focused on developing more personalized learning experiences.
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— A brief aside from DSC:
Reminds me of some of the functionality found in Livescribe’s echo smartpen.
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The ability to integrate lecture capture platforms with Learning Management Systems (LMS’s) can help to automate the authentication and authorization needed to ensure learners get to review what they are allowed to review. Integration hooks provided by lecture capture and LMS vendors are viable as methods of ensuring a baseline approach to secure access. Yet most lecture capture systems do not know who the viewer is (as the LMS does the authentication and authorization); they only know that the stream is permitted to play and that students of the course are watching.
This sets the stage for the next transformation of lecture capture solutions – into platforms that can understand not just who their users are, but also what those users need to do and how their experience can be personalized and enhanced.
The coming shift will bring creation of custom learning environments that cater to the individual student by offering personal context-sensitivity, the ability to draw on the knowledge of peers and instructors, and the ability to better manage and monitor each individual learner’s behaviors and customize their experience to their individual needs. Among the major effects of this shift:
- Democratization of the content creation process as learners themselves contribute to or otherwise use lecture capture tools to learn from or teach others
- Faster learning by enabling learners to access information more quickly through bookmarks – and placing efficiencies within the platform to streamline teaching and learning
- Changing impact on educators, who can rely on lecture capture feedback loops based on features like bookmarking to enable them to adjust content and teaching styles to suit learner needs
- Use of presence and the fact that a system can know a learner to automate and make more efficient the act of finding peers or instructors for further learning interactions
- Greater ability to deliver content and offer customized features via mobile devices
This white paper focuses on the evolution of lecture capture as a tool for creating a coherent environment for learner-centered instruction, showing the possibilities for improved efficiencies and better learning outcomes.
From DSC:
The integration of a lecture capture system w/ an LMS got me to thinking…what if each person in the world had a constantly-updated, adaptive, web-based learner profile that detailed their current age, current and past places of residence, language(s), hobbies, interests, courses taken, major(s), minor(s), last grade completed, which RSS feeds they subscribe to, which sources of educational content they prefer, etc. Given permission by the student, a vendor’s tool could then query the database and look for particular fields…plugging that content into their own application for greater context and engagement.
So if a 3rd grader in India loved horses, the math problems could utilize that information to make the problems more engaging to that person.
Hmmm…along these lines, I think I’ll set up some Google alerts to include:
- Multi-agent systems
- Adaptive learning systems
- Artificial intelligence education
- Distributed e-learning systems
- Semantic web education
- Learning agents
- Intelligent tutoring
- Online tutoring
The next few years should be veeeerrrryyy interesting. Fasten your seatbelts!
On 10/11/2010,
in education technology, pace of change, technologies for your home, tools, vendors,
by Daniel Christian
LaCie Rugged goes 1TB — from Terry White’s blog
From DSC:
Talk about Moore’s Law !!! (Beyond the use of integrated circuits that is.)
Now you can carry around 1 terabyte (1000 gigabytes or 1 trillion bytes) worth of data in your pocket — all for $199! Man o’ man.
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Also, as Terry mentioned in the comments, you can get larger desktop drives for desktop systems even cheaper. For example: http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/firewire/
On 10/11/2010,
in budgets, education technology, funding / grants, higher education,
by Daniel Christian
New initiative will advance the best uses of technology to improve college readiness and completion — from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Multi-year “challenge” grant competition will identify and fund most promising innovations
SEATTLE — The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation today announced the Next Generation Learning Challenges, a collaborative, multi-year initiative, which aims to help dramatically improve college readiness and college completion in the United States through the use of technology. The program will provide grants to organizations and innovators to expand promising technology tools to more students, teachers, and schools. It is led by nonprofit EDUCAUSE, which works to advance higher education through the use of information technology.
Next Generation Learning Challenges released the first of a series of RFPs today to solicit funding proposals for technology applications that can improve postsecondary education. This round of funding will total up to $20 million, including grants that range from $250,000 to $750,000. Applicants with top-rated proposals will receive funds to expand their programs and demonstrate effectiveness in serving larger numbers of students. Proposals are due November 19, 2010; winners are expected to be announced by March 31, 2011.
On 10/09/2010,
in creativity, dangers of the status quo, Daniel S. Christian, education reform, education technology, educational games / serious games, engagement / engaging students, faith, multimedia, pedagogy, religion, strategy,
by Daniel Christian
From DSC:
The other day, I was lamenting that the love of learning gets lost waaayyy too quickly in our youth. With drop out rates in the 25-30% range nationwide, we must turn this around.
A piece of that turn-around picture involves the opportunity for students to collaboratively create things (in a cross-disciplinary sort of way). This is why I am a big fan of multimedia-based projects:
- One student can write the script.
- Another can do the filming.
- Another can take pictures for still shots.
- Another can do the film and/or image editing.
- Others the acting or singing or playing music.
- Others can create the artwork or use their knowledge to create props
- Etc.
But I’m getting ahead of myself. The film below discusses the dark side of our culture as it involves schools and education. But the topic is not just related to schools, but to our society in general. That is, we’ve been sold a bill of goods. We believe that you must earn a lot of money to be successful and happy…and that whomever dies w/ the most toys wins.
This competitive streak is a worldly way of looking at things…but is a powerful current to fight. In fact, coming from a competitive background and being a Christian (in faith) myself, I’ve often asked myself whether I believe competition is a good thing or a bad thing. I don’t think I’ve arrived at the final answer to that question, as sometimes I think it can be good (as it can be helpful in developing characteristics of discipline, perseverance, character, integrity, etc.) and sometimes it can be bad. Check out the video/trainer here to see what I mean.
On 10/07/2010,
in change, changing business models, dangers of the status quo, disruption, education technology, emerging technologies, future of higher education, game-changing environment, higher education, innovation, internet, leadership, new business models, strategy,
by Daniel Christian
Reinventing management for a networked world — one of topics/presentations at Educause 2010
From DSC:
The following summary of this presentation is a powerful message that I’m looking forward to hearing (emphasis mine):
Over the past decade, the Internet has had a profound impact on just about every organization around the world. It has enabled dramatic efficiency gains in core processes and has radically changed service delivery in industries as diverse as education, financial services, publishing, and entertainment.
However, the greatest impact of the Internet is likely to come over the next decade as it starts to reshape the traditional management processes and structures that are used to run large-scale institutions. The management practices found in most organizations today trace their roots back to the Industrial Age or to medieval religious orders. While this model was well suited to a world requiring conformance and discipline, it is woefully inadequate and even toxic in today’s world of accelerating change.
To thrive in the years ahead, every organization must become as nimble as change itself—a challenge that will require a fundamental rewiring of our tradition-bound management principles and practices.
Unlike most organizations, the web is a cauldron of innovation; it is extraordinarily malleable and highly adaptable. In these respects, it already exhibits exactly those qualities that will be most critical to organizational success in the years to come.
That’s why the management model of every organization will need to be rebuilt on the fundamental values of the web: freedom, openness, transparency, collaboration, flexibility, and meritocracy. In this provocative and practical presentation, Gary Hamel will lay out a blueprint for “Management 2.0” and outline the steps you can take to help your organization to become as adaptable as the times demand.
On 10/06/2010,
in 24x7x365 access, business side of he, convergence, cost of getting a degree, dangers of the status quo, Daniel S. Christian, education technology, educational games / serious games, emerging technologies, engagement / engaging students, future of higher education, game-changing environment, innovation, intelligent tutoring, learning ecosystem, learning spaces, love of learning, multimedia, new business models, online learning, online media, online tutoring, publishing, vision/possibilities,
by Daniel Christian
While looking at the video for Sonos Controller for the iPad, I wondered…what if we could replace the selection below — i.e. the word music with the words “educational providers” — and then control which room received which signal/content?
Wow…talk about a home dedicated to learning! 🙂
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