Also see:
On 09/06/2011,
in 24x7x365 access, dangers of the status quo, disruption, education technology, elearning, future of higher education, game-changing environment, higher education, lifelong learning, New "Amazon.com" of Higher Education, new business models, online learning, online media, real-world assignments, reinvent,
by Daniel Christian
Great Big Ideas delivers the key takeaways of an entire undergraduate education. It’s a survey of twelve major fields delivered by their most important thinkers and practitioners. Each lecture explores the key questions in the field, lays out the methods for answering those inquiries and explains why the field matters. It is an effective introduction to thinking differently, and a primer in the diverse modes of problem solving essential for success in the 21st century.
A wide range of subjects are covered including Psychology, Economics, Biomedical Research, Linguistics, History, Political Philosophy, Globalization, Investing and more. Within each topic, we will discuss the most current, innovative ideas in the field, dissect them, and look at how they impact not only the world-at-large, but our own lives as well. How does Demography predict our planet’s future? How is Linguistics a window to understanding the brain? What are the fundamentals of successful Personal Finance and Investing? Each of these lectures will be presented by top experts from top institutions around the country.
Two example lectures:
From DSC:
I post this not because I believe they have the world’s best educators — they may or may not. But rather, I post this to:
- Provide a great resource for those who love to learn — i.e. lifelong learners
- To show another example of the disruption that technologies / the Internet bring to higher education. Such technologies bring affordable, new models and learning opportunities into the higher ed landscape in a big way.
Also see:
On 08/25/2011,
in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, A/V -- audio/visual, adjunct faculty, analytics, art, Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, attention, Augmented Reality (AR), blogs / blogging / vlogging, change, cloud-based computing / apps / other cloud-related, colleges, communities of practice, community colleges, computer science, convergence, creativity, dangers of the status quo, Daniel S. Christian, digital audio, digital learning, digital storytelling, digital textbooks, digital video, disruption, drama/theater, e-books, e-publishing related items (EPUB and more), economics, education, education reform, education technology, educational games / serious games, elearning, emerging technologies, engagement / engaging students, engineering, expectations, faculty, game-changing environment, generational differences, global / globalization, higher education, human-computer interaction (HCI), ideas, innovation, intelligent tutoring, internet, K-12 related, learning ecosystem, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, learning theories, liberal arts, lifelong learning, machine-to-machine communications, memory, mirroring and/or multiple devices, mobile learning, mobile technologies, multi-touch, multimedia, music, Near Field Communication (NFC), New "Amazon.com" of Higher Education, new media literacies, online learning, online media, pace of change, passions, pedagogy, presentations, productivity / tips and tricks, publishing, reading, reinvent, robotics, RSS, social learning / networks, social media, society, staying relevant, storytelling, strategy, streams of content, student teaching/teacher education, student-related, surviving, tablets, teachers, teaching & learning, teaching online, technologies for your home, technology (general), telepresence, television, textbooks, tools, transmedia, trends, ubiquitous learning, United States, universities, videoconferencing, virtual K-12 schools, virtual tutoring, vision/possibilities, visualizing information, web-based collaboration, writing,
by Daniel Christian
From DSC:
Immediately below is a presentation that I did for the Title II Conference at Calvin College back on August 11, 2011
It is aimed at K-12 audiences.
From DSC:
Immediately below is a presentation that I did today for the Calvin College Fall 2011 Conference.
It is aimed at higher education audiences.
Note from DSC:
There is a great deal of overlap here, as many of the same technologies are (or will be) hitting the K-12 and higher ed spaces at the same time. However, there are some differences in the two presentations and what I stressed depended upon my audience.
Pending time, I may put some audio to accompany these presentations so that folks can hear a bit more about what I was trying to relay within these two presentations.
On 08/12/2011,
in 21st century, accessibility / UDL, assessment, engagement / engaging students, higher education, instructional design, K-12 related, learning, multimedia, pedagogy, personalized/customized learning, student-related, teachers, teaching & learning,
by Daniel Christian
My thanks to Mrs. Krista Spahr, Calvin College, for this resource and the quote below:
Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is meant to minimize barriers and to maximize learning.
…
Reflections from DSC:
Though I still have much to learn about Universal Design for Learning (UDL), my initial thought is that I really like this approach, as it moves us away from the one-size-fits-all approach and towards a teaching and learning environment that offers more choice, more selection, and more opportunities for customization and personalization. Plus, as companies such as Apple and Microsoft have seen, functionality that started out trying to address accessibility-related needs ended up helping everyone!
Along these lines, I created this graphic years ago — with the idea that students would have a choice on which media they might prefer to use to absorb the information:
Again, the idea being that we could provide the same content in 3-5 different ways and let the students select what works best for them. Plus, in the example above, we could even see how other students are describing/making meaning of something.
But it goes further than this as I’m understanding UDL. For example, the methods for achieving a learning outcome can be greatly varied, as the assignments for a particular outcome might be reaching via watching a video clip, or reading a book, or doing a project, or writing a story, or creating music, or ___(fill in the blank) ____.
Also see:
On 08/06/2011,
in change, educational games / serious games, engagement / engaging students, higher education, innovation, learning spaces, library / librarians,
by Daniel Christian
10 gaming trends that are transforming higher ed — onlinecolleges.net
Excerpt:
Video games don’t always enjoy the greatest of reputations, though their ubiquity and decade-spanning permanence keeps garnering them more and more mainstream acceptance as years tick past — to the point where many academics and institutes of higher education open their arms to their learning potential. While these digital technologies only trickle slowly into college and university classrooms, it seems as if they won’t be exiting anytime soon. Whether trendy, soon-to-be-trendy or a possible future trend, some of the amazing ways education professionals use video games definitely deserve consideration.
On 07/26/2011,
in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, 3D, A/V -- audio/visual, convergence, corporate universities / corporate training, Daniel S. Christian, digital audio, digital learning, digital storytelling, digital textbooks, digital video, disruption, e-books, e-publishing related items (EPUB and more), e-readers, emerging technologies, engagement / engaging students, flipping -- inverted learning, future, future of higher education, global / globalization, higher education, homeschooling/homeschoolers, human-computer interaction (HCI), innovation, intelligent systems, intelligent tutoring, internet, K-12 related, learning ecosystem, learning spaces, media/film, mirroring and/or multiple devices, multi-touch, multimedia, music, new media literacies, online learning, online media, online tutoring, personalized/customized learning, play, social learning / networks, social media, storytelling, streams of content, technologies for your home, technology (general), telecommunications, telepresence, television, training / L&D, transmedia, trends, user experience (UX), videoconferencing, virtual field trips, virtual K-12 schools, Virtual Reality (VR) / worlds / learning, virtual tutoring, web-based collaboration,
by Daniel Christian
Intel predicts Smart TV is the device of the future — from nyxiotechnologies.com’s blog
Chipmaker Intel believes that the Smart TV is the electronic device of the future, in the living room anyway.
Excerpt:
The Smart TV is already upon us, in its various forms from various manufacturers. It has arrived with 3D capabilities, web browsing and social networking and applications. Currently Samsung and LG seem to be two of the big players pushing the Smart TV to consumers.
Also see:
On 07/14/2011,
in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, 3D, A/V -- audio/visual, animation, Apple, art, changing business models, convergence, creativity, digital audio, digital learning, digital storytelling, digital textbooks, digital video, disruption, educational games / serious games, elearning, emerging technologies, engagement / engaging students, generational differences, human-computer interaction (HCI), innovation, interaction design, interactivity, K-12 related, learning ecosystem, love of learning, media/film, multimedia, new business models, new media literacies, publishing, quality, reading, storytelling, technologies for your home, tools, trends, user experience (UX), user interface design, using teams,
by Daniel Christian
Check out:
- Fantastic new children’s iPad book by author William Joyce — from curiositycounts.com as curated by Maria Popova
Also see:
- iTunes Preview of “The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore” by Moonbot Studios LA, LLC
- The Making Of Morris: Part 4 (Invitations To Adventure)
- The Making Of Morris: Part 3 (Thousands Of Books)
- morrislessmore.com
- MOONBOT Studios: An interplanetary creative expedition of story and art
From DSC:
This also nicely illustrates why I believe we need to use teams of specialists to create and deliver our learning materials (June 2009).
On 07/07/2011,
in 21st century, assessment, change, digital learning, disruption, education technology, engagement / engaging students, innovation, IT in HE, leadership, pace of change, strategy, vision/possibilities,
by Daniel Christian
Schools struggle to balance digital innovation, academic accountability — from Education Week’s Digital Directions by Michelle Davis
Using educational technology in new and different ways to improve student learning is often at odds with standardized testing and other traditional measures of achievement.
Excerpt:
But how do you move forward with such an innovation, when there isn’t definitive proof that it will work? That is the key question educators and policymakers are grappling with.
Under the education priorities of President George W. Bush’s administration, the catchphrase “research base” was drilled into educators” heads when it came to new programs and initiatives. If it wasn’t research-based, it wasn’t worth adopting.
But technology innovations occur so rapidly that it’s often impossible to do scientifically based trials proving effectiveness before schools embrace new approaches. Think of social-networking tools, iPads, and e-readers. And what other new digital-learning tools might also emerge well before scientifically based research can justify their use in classrooms?
Also see:
- ‘Hybrid’ Charter Schools on the Rise — from Education Week’s Digital Directions by Michelle Davis
New charter school models are combining online-only learning and face-to-face instruction
From DSC:
From my 20+ years of experience with working with a variety of technologies, while there is an element of risk taking to implementing technologies, there are also enormous payoffs if organizations implement the appropriate technologies.
But how can we select and implement the most effective technologies? This is where we need to rely on our technologists out there and keep them growing in the knowledge of “the business”, not just the technologies. Tell them what you are trying to achieve, and they can greatly assist. No one can hit 100% — but good technologists can get you into the right game and into the right ballpark (if not exactly lining up the exact right players, which may change or take some tweaking).
NOTE:
Don’t rely on technologists who only see their jobs as keeping the systems running. Though we need technologists who keep the infrastructures up and running, at this juncture what organizations really need are visionaries who are knowledgeable about the needs of the business (as well as the technologies), and those who are willing to explore, experiment, and take some risks…i.e. to lead….to be instrumental in forming strategies and visions. The areas outside IT need to be aware of how critical technologies are becoming in their core strategies and plans. It’s not the same ball-game as it was. Those who use technologies strategically will survive and thrive.
It should be noted that there have been risks inherent in maintaining the status quo — a 20%-30% dropout rate (in K-12) across the United States is pretty risky too, at least in my mind.
Talk about engaging students in music! Creative use of iPads by Neil Johnston from storevanmusic.com
On 07/05/2011,
in active learning, attention, collaboration, creativity, digital audio, digital learning, digital video, drama/theater, emerging technologies, engagement / engaging students, face-to-face, ideas, innovation, interactivity, K-12 related, learning, learning ecosystem, mirroring and/or multiple devices, multi-touch, multimedia, music, new media literacies, participation, passions, real-world assignments, social learning / networks, teaching & learning, UK,
by Daniel Christian
From DSC:
What a great way to engage, inspire, involve students in music!
See:
Also see:
- Neil Johnston from storevanmusic.com
- Originally saw at The Futures Agency
On 06/10/2011,
in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, A/V -- audio/visual, attention, Augmented Reality (AR), business, communications, corporate / business world, design, economics, engagement / engaging students, higher education, ideas, innovation, instructional design, internet, leadership, MBA, online learning, online media, strategy, trends, using teams, vision/possibilities, visualizing information,
by Daniel Christian
Reinventing the Technology of Human Accomplishment — by Gary Hamel; from the University of Phoenix Distinguished Guest Video Lecture Series.
From DSC:
No matter whether you agree with what Gary is saying or not, can you imagine if every lecture contained this type of team-based assistance in creating the motion graphics, recording the video, editing the video, executing proper sound design principles, etc.? Most likely such an endeavor would be more achievable/successful when producing content in a controlled, studio type of environment — and then presenting it online (vs. trying to do this in front of a live classroom/audience/face-to-face.)
Anyway, very powerful communication channels here! Excellent use of motion graphics to backup his message. A transcript with bolded headings and colored main points would be great too. By the way, wouldn’t it be cool for “call outs” to appear — somewhat in an augmented reality sort of way — when a main point was just made?!
Description of video:
Watch Gary Hamel, celebrated management thinker and author and co-founder of the Management Innovation eXchange (MIX), make the case for reinventing management for the 21st century. In this fast-paced, idea-packed, 15-minute video essay, Hamel paints a vivid picture of what it means to build organizations that are fundamentally fit for the future—and genuinely fit for human beings. It’s time to radically rethink how we mobilize people and organize resources to productive ends. Here’s how we start.
This video is an excerpt from the University of Phoenix Distinguished Guest Video Lecture Series.
Sample screen shots:
From DSC:
Again, can you imagine the bump in engagement/attention spans if a faculty member could be backed up by these types of motion graphics!?
From DSC:
I realize that many of the for-profits are already using teams of specialists…but many others are not.
–Originally saw this at the
Higher Education Management blog by Keith Hampson
On 06/07/2011,
in 21st century, A/V -- audio/visual, Apple, computer science, creativity, digital learning, digital storytelling, education technology, educational games / serious games, emerging technologies, engagement / engaging students, future, innovation, interactivity, mobile learning, mobile technologies, multi-touch, multimedia, participation, platforms, programming, television, transmedia,
by Daniel Christian
Apple’s new video regarding their iOS 5 operating system
From DSC:
I have it that these technologies will be used for educationally-related purposes/materials as well; including digital storytelling, transmedia storytelling, transmedia-based interactive/participative educational materials and more.