culture

Summers Says Harvard Student Ban ‘The Stuff of Tyranny’ [bloomberg.com]

On 05/23/2025, in culture, ethics, game-changing environment, higher education, legislatures / government / legal, morals/values, political science, United States, universities, by Daniel Christian

Summers Says Harvard Student Ban ‘The Stuff of Tyranny’ — from bloomberg.com

Former US Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers blasted the Trump administration’s decision to block Harvard University from enrolling international students, calling on the institution to fight back. “This is vicious, it is illegal, it is unwise, and it is very damaging,” Summers, who is president emeritus of Harvard University, told Bloomberg TV. “Why does it make any sense at all to stop 6,000 enormously talented young people who want to come to the United States to study from having that opportunity?” “Harvard must start by resisting,” he said. “This is the stuff of tyranny.” Summers spoke to Bloomberg’s David Ingles on “The China Show.” (Source: Bloomberg)

GIFTED ARTICLE

Trump Administration Says It Is Halting Harvard’s Ability to Enroll International Students
The move was a major escalation in the administration’s efforts to pressure the college to fall in line with President Trump’s demands.

The Trump administration on Thursday said it would halt Harvard University’s ability to enroll international students, taking aim at a crucial funding source for the nation’s oldest and wealthiest college in a major escalation of the administration’s efforts to pressure the elite school to fall in line with the president’s agenda.

The administration notified Harvard about the decision — which could affect about a quarter of the school’s student body — after a back-and-forth in recent weeks over the legality of a sprawling records request as part of the Department of Homeland Security’s investigation, according to three people with knowledge of the negotiations. The people spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly.

Donald Trump is an enormous threat to our constitutional democracy! [Christian]

On 04/16/2025, in culture, dangers of the status quo, Daniel S. Christian, ethics, law schools, leadership, legislatures / government / legal, morals/values, strategy, United States, by Daniel Christian

From DSC:
We had better not lose the rule of law in the United States! Donald Trump is an enormous threat to our constitutional democracy! He has NO respect for the rule of law, the judicial branch of our government, our constitution, telling the truth, or having virtues and strong character. He is a threat to the entire world. People are already feeling that in their wallets, purses, and 401(k)s. Supply chains throughout the globe have been negatively impacted. Many have lost their jobs, and more people will likely lose their jobs as a recession is becoming increasingly likely as each day passes.

At minimum, the USA has lost the respect and goodwill of many nations. And I understand why.

From Bloomberg on 4/11/25:

The Trump administration, which admitted to wrongly sending a man to a notorious prison in El Salvador (violating a court order in the process) and declined to try and get him back, on Friday went a step further. Lawyers for Trump, despite an order by the US Supreme Court, refused to tell a federal judge where the man was or what it’s doing to get him back. A federal judge, following the Supreme Court’s direction, set a deadline today for Trump’s lawyers to explain how the government planned to follow the high court’s ruling. Trump’s lawyers rejected the court’s order, saying it didn’t have enough time, and questioned her authority.

The Supreme Court ruling against Trump was one of his first defeats tied to the administration’s attempt to broadly expand executive powers. It followed a series of recent procedural rulings that saw the Republican-appointee controlled court rule in his favor. But this latest refusal by Justice Department lawyers to fully comply with court orders, unlike previous cases tied to Trump policies, directly implicates a ruling from the highest court in the land, intensifying an ongoing and unprecedented constitutional crisis between the two branches of government.

Link to this item on LinkedIn

No one should be above the law, most especially the President.

Ignoring a Supreme Court ruling to facilitate Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s return isn’t just cruel; it’s unconstitutional.

They’re saying the quiet part aloud — if they get away with it now, they’ll do it to anyone. https://t.co/7D8nBWhOZc

— Governor JB Pritzker (@GovPritzker) April 14, 2025

I want to tell you why the case of Kilmar Abrego Garcia should matter to you.

The one power you cannot give the executive is the ability to imprison or expel anyone regardless of their legal rights. That is our key check against autocracy. And we are watching it disappear. pic.twitter.com/aod5nTsMmz

— Chris Murphy ? (@ChrisMurphyCT) April 15, 2025

BREAKING: Attorney Andrew Weissmann says we have reached a Constitutional Crisis regarding the Abrego Garcia case, after Trump and El Salvador President Bukele say he will not be returned to the U.S.

“I want to make sure people understand. We are here. I’ve tried to say we are… pic.twitter.com/SH9sY2ZGnf

— Ed Krassenstein (@EdKrassen) April 14, 2025

Addendum on 4/17 from DSC:
And speaking of the rule of law…what in the world does a President of the U.S. have to do with which cases law firms can and can’t take up? That’s not his job. Yet he threatens people, law firms, universities, and others to do his will or face the consequences (normally, that has to do with withdrawing funding or getting fired). One billion dollars worth of legal services donated to causes that Trump supports?!?!?! WHAT?

Trump announces deals with more law firms for a combined $600 million — from washingtonpost.com by Mark Berman
Firms seeking to avoid sanctions from President Donald Trump have agreed to provide nearly ***$1 billion*** in legal services to causes he supports.

President Donald Trump on Friday announced that he had reached agreements with five more law firms pledging to provide a combined $600 million in legal services for causes he supports, the latest deals firms have struck with him in apparent bids to avoid punishment.

Since February, Trump has issued several executive orders sanctioning prominent law firms with ties to his political adversaries or that had opposed his policies, seeking to strip them of government contracts and block them from federal buildings. Three firms targeted by Trump have sued to fight back, while several others made deals with Trump that some framed as necessary to keep their businesses afloat. A fourth firm filed a lawsuit Friday evening challenging Trump’s actions.

Addendum from Above the Law on 4/17/25:

Biglaw Is Under Attack. Here’s What The Firms Are Doing About It.
Introducing the Biglaw Spine Index.

The President of the United States is using the might and power of the office to attack Biglaw firms and the rule of law. It’s pretty chilling stuff that is clearly designed to break major law firms and have them bend a knee to Trump or extract a tremendous financial penalty. This is an assault not just on the firms in the crosshairs, but on the very rule of law that is the backbone of our nation, without which there’s little to check abuses of power.

But in the face of financial harm, too many firms are willing to proactively seek out Trump’s seal of approval and provide pro bono payola, that is, free legal services on behalf of conservative clients or causes in order to avoid Trumpian retribution. So we here at Above the Law have decided to track what exact Biglaw firms are doing in response to the bombardment on Biglaw and the legal system. Some have struck a deal with Trump, some are fighting in court, some have signed an amicus brief in the Perkins Coie case, but the overwhelming majority have stayed silent.

Addendum from Bloomberg on 4/16/25:

The Trump administration’s resistance to and in some cases rejection of the federal judiciary’s constitutional powers has earned it its first finding of contempt, a grave escalation in the deepening crisis at the heart of American government. A federal judge who had been repeatedly attacked by Trump and his aides found there is “probable cause” to hold administration officials in criminal contempt of court for sending scores of men and boys to an El Salvador prison despite his order to halt the deportations. The administration has claimed without providing evidence that the deportees are gang members. A Bloomberg investigation revealed the vast majority had never been charged in the US with anything other than immigration or traffic violations. A Maryland US senator meanwhile was turned away from meeting with a man imprisoned in El Salvador who the Trump administration illegally deported and now refuses to bring back—despite a US Supreme Court order that it facilitate his return.

Don’t be a micromanager! [Christian]

On 04/16/2025, in business, career development, corporate / business world, culture, Daniel S. Christian, higher education, ideas, IT in HE, law schools, leadership, Michigan, United States, universities, workplace, by Daniel Christian

The following resource was from Roberto Ferraro:

Micromanagement — from psychsafety.com by Jade Garratt

Psychological Safety and Micromanagement
Those who have followed our work at Psych Safety for a while will know that we believe exploring not just what to do – the behaviours and practices that support psychological safety – but also what to avoid can be hugely valuable. Understanding the behaviours that damage psychological safety, what not to do, and even what not to say can help us build better workplaces.

There are many behaviours that damage psychological safety, and one that almost always comes up in our workshops when discussing cultures of fear is micromanagement. So we thought it was time we explored micromanagement in more detail, considering how and why it damages psychological safety and what we can do instead.

Micromanagement is a particular approach to leadership where a manager exhibits overly controlling behaviours or an excessive and inappropriate focus on minor details. They might scrutinise their team’s work closely, insist on checking work, refrain from delegating, and limit the autonomy people need to do their jobs well. It can also manifest as an authoritarian leadership style, where decision-making is centralised (back to themselves) and employees have little say in their work.

From DSC:
I was fortunate to not have a manager who was a micromanager until my very last boss/supervisor of my career. But it was that particular manager who made me call it quits and leave the track. She demeaned me in front of others, and was extremely directive and controlling. She wanted constant check-ins and progress reports. And I could go on and on here.

But suffice it to say that after having worked for several decades, that kind of manager was not what I was looking for. And you wouldn’t be either. By the way…my previous boss — at the same place — and I achieved a great deal in a very short time. She taught me a lot and was a great administrator, designer, professor, mentor, and friend. But that boss was moved to a different role as upper management/leadership changed. Then the micromanagement began after I reported to a different supervisor.

Anyway, don’t be a micromanager. If you are a recent graduate or are coming up on your graduation from college, learn that lesson now. No one likes to work for a micromanager. No one. It can make your employees’ lives miserable and do damage to their mental health, their enjoyment (or lack thereof) of work, and several other things that this article mentions. Instead, respect your employees. Trust your employees. Let them do their thing. See what they might need, then help meet those needs. Then get out of their way.

Reflections on “Are You Ready for the AI University? Everything is about to change.” [Latham]

On 04/10/2025, in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, accreditation, adjunct faculty, adult learning, Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, assessment, Blockchain, bots, career development, change, changing business models, cloud-based computing / apps / other cloud-related, CMS/LMS, collaboration, colleges, communities of practice, community colleges, content development, aggregation, repositories, corporate / business world, cost of getting a degree, credentialing, culture, curriculum, dangers of the status quo, Daniel S. Christian, data related items, Design Thinking, digital learning, disruption, education technology, emerging technologies, Emotion, engagement / engaging students, expectations, experimentation, faculty/staff, future, future of higher education, game-changing environment, generational differences, global / globalization, Google, higher education, human-computer interaction (HCI), IBM, ideas, innovation, instructional design, intelligent systems, intelligent tutoring, IT in HE, leadership, learner profiles, learning, learning ecosystem, Learning Experience Design, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, learning preferences, learning spaces, liberal arts, lifelong learning, MBA, Michigan, new business models, online learning, online media, online tutoring, organizational change, pace of change, pedagogy, personalized/customized learning, platforms, productivity / tips and tricks, professional development, reinvent, skills, society, staying relevant, strategy, student-related, surviving, teaching & learning, technologies for your home, tools, trends, United States, universities, usability, user experience (UX), virtual tutoring, vision/possibilities, web-based collaboration, workplace, by Daniel Christian

.
Are You Ready for the AI University? Everything is about to change. — from chronicle.com by Scott Latham

Over the course of the next 10 years, AI-powered institutions will rise in the rankings. US News & World Report will factor a college’s AI capabilities into its calculations. Accrediting agencies will assess the degree of AI integration into pedagogy, research, and student life. Corporations will want to partner with universities that have demonstrated AI prowess. In short, we will see the emergence of the AI haves and have-nots.
…
What’s happening in higher education today has a name: creative destruction. The economist Joseph Schumpeter coined the term in 1942 to describe how innovation can transform industries. That typically happens when an industry has both a dysfunctional cost structure and a declining value proposition. Both are true of higher education.
…
Out of the gate, professors will work with technologists to get AI up to speed on specific disciplines and pedagogy. For example, AI could be “fed” course material on Greek history or finance and then, guided by human professors as they sort through the material, help AI understand the structure of the discipline, and then develop lectures, videos, supporting documentation, and assessments.
…
In the near future, if a student misses class, they will be able watch a recording that an AI bot captured. Or the AI bot will find a similar lecture from another professor at another accredited university. If you need tutoring, an AI bot will be ready to help any time, day or night. Similarly, if you are going on a trip and wish to take an exam on the plane, a student will be able to log on and complete the AI-designed and administered exam. Students will no longer be bound by a rigid class schedule. Instead, they will set the schedule that works for them.

Early and mid-career professors who hope to survive will need to adapt and learn how to work with AI. They will need to immerse themselves in research on AI and pedagogy and understand its effect on the classroom.

From DSC:
I had a very difficult time deciding which excerpts to include. There were so many more excerpts for us to think about with this solid article. While I don’t agree with several things in it, EVERY professor, president, dean, and administrator working within higher education today needs to read this article and seriously consider what Scott Latham is saying.

Change is already here, but according to Scott, we haven’t seen anything yet. I agree with him and, as a futurist, one has to consider the potential scenarios that Scott lays out for AI’s creative destruction of what higher education may look like. Scott asserts that some significant and upcoming impacts will be experienced by faculty members, doctoral students, and graduate/teaching assistants (and Teaching & Learning Centers and IT Departments, I would add). But he doesn’t stop there. He brings in presidents, deans, and other members of the leadership teams out there.

There are a few places where Scott and I differ.

The foremost one is the importance of the human element — i.e., the human faculty member and students’ learning preferences. I think many (most?) students and lifelong learners will want to learn from a human being. IBM abandoned their 5-year, $100M ed push last year and one of the key conclusions was that people want to learn from — and with — other people:

To be sure, AI can do sophisticated things such as generating quizzes from a class reading and editing student writing. But the idea that a machine or a chatbot can actually teach as a human can, he said, represents “a profound misunderstanding of what AI is actually capable of.”

Nitta, who still holds deep respect for the Watson lab, admits, “We missed something important. At the heart of education, at the heart of any learning, is engagement. And that’s kind of the Holy Grail.”

— Satya Nitta, a longtime computer researcher at
IBM’s Watson Research Center in Yorktown Heights, NY
.

By the way, it isn’t easy for me to write this. As I wanted AI and other related technologies to be able to do just what IBM was hoping that it would be able to do.

Also, I would use the term learning preferences where Scott uses the term learning styles.

Scott also mentions:

“In addition, faculty members will need to become technologists as much as scholars. They will need to train AI in how to help them build lectures, assessments, and fine-tune their classroom materials. Further training will be needed when AI first delivers a course.”

It has been my experience from working with faculty members for over 20 years that not all faculty members want to become technologists. They may not have the time, interest, and/or aptitude to become one (and vice versa for technologists who likely won’t become faculty members).

That all said, Scott relays many things that I have reflected upon and relayed for years now via this Learning Ecosystems blog and also via The Learning from the Living [AI-Based Class] Room vision — the use of AI to offer personalized and job-relevant learning, the rising costs of higher education, the development of new learning-related offerings and credentials at far less expensive prices, the need to provide new business models and emerging technologies that are devoted more to lifelong learning, plus several other things.

So this article is definitely worth your time to read, especially if you are working in higher education or are considering a career therein!

Addendum later on 4/10/25:

U-M’s Ross School of Business, Google Public Sector launch virtual teaching assistant pilot program — from news.umich.edu by Jeff Karoub; via Paul Fain

Google Public Sector and the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business have launched an advanced Virtual Teaching Assistant pilot program aimed at improving personalized learning and enlightening educators on artificial intelligence in the classroom.

The AI technology, aided by Google’s Gemini chatbot, provides students with all-hours access to support and self-directed learning. The Virtual TA represents the next generation of educational chatbots, serving as a sophisticated AI learning assistant that instructors can use to modify their specific lessons and teaching styles.

The Virtual TA facilitates self-paced learning for students, provides on-demand explanations of complex course concepts, guides them through problem-solving, and acts as a practice partner. It’s designed to foster critical thinking by never giving away answers, ensuring students actively work toward solutions.

The Gen X Career Meltdown [Kurutz]

On 03/31/2025, in 21st century, Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, business, career development, change, changing business models, communities of practice, content development, aggregation, repositories, corporate / business world, creativity, culture, design, digital photography, digital storytelling, economics, emerging technologies, future, game-changing environment, generational differences, graphics, internet, journalism, lifelong learning, love of learning, media/film, more voice more choice more control, multimedia, music, new business models, online media, photography, reinvent, skills, social learning / networks, society, sociology, staying relevant, student-related, surviving, technology (general), television, trends, United States, workplace, writing, youth, by Daniel Christian

It’s the end of work as we knew it
and I feel…

powerless to fight the technology that we pioneered
nostalgic for a world that moved on without us
after decades of paying our dues
for a payday that never came
…so yeah
not exactly fine.

The Gen X Career Meltdown — from nytimes.com by Steeven Kurutz (DSC: This is a gifted article for you)
Just when they should be at their peak, experienced workers in creative fields find that their skills are all but obsolete.

If you entered media or image-making in the ’90s — magazine publishing, newspaper journalism, photography, graphic design, advertising, music, film, TV — there’s a good chance that you are now doing something else for work. That’s because those industries have shrunk or transformed themselves radically, shutting out those whose skills were once in high demand.

“I am having conversations every day with people whose careers are sort of over,” said Chris Wilcha, a 53-year-old film and TV director in Los Angeles.

Talk with people in their late 40s and 50s who once imagined they would be able to achieve great heights — or at least a solid career while flexing their creative muscles — and you are likely to hear about the photographer whose work dried up, the designer who can’t get hired or the magazine journalist who isn’t doing much of anything.

In the wake of the influencers comes another threat, artificial intelligence, which seems likely to replace many of the remaining Gen X copywriters, photographers and designers. By 2030, ad agencies in the United States will lose 32,000 jobs, or 7.5 percent of the industry’s work force, to the technology, according to the research firm Forrester.

From DSC:
This article reminds me of how tough it is to navigate change in our lives. For me, it was often due to the fact that I was working with technologies. Being a technologist can be difficult, especially as one gets older and faces age discrimination in a variety of industries. You need to pick the right technologies and the directions that will last (for me it was email, videoconferencing, the Internet, online-based education/training, discovering/implementing instructional technologies, and becoming a futurist).

For you younger folks out there — especially students within K-16 — aim to develop a perspective and a skillset that is all about adapting to change. You will likely need to reinvent yourself and/or pick up new skills over your working years. You are most assuredly required to be a lifelong learner now. That’s why I have been pushing for school systems to be more concerned with providing more choice and control to students — so that students actually like school and enjoy learning about new things.

What if students had the power to design their own learning journeys?

Across the U.S., states are moving beyond one-size-fits-all education and embracing unbundled learning, creating personalized pathways that equip students with the skills they need for the future. Getting Smart’s Unbundled Learning Podcast Series explores how Colorado, Arizona, and New Hampshire are leading the way—expanding real-world learning, shifting to competency-based models, empowering learner agency, and aligning education with workforce needs.

For policymakers, the newly released Policymaker’s Guide offers a roadmap for fostering unbundled systems. It highlights key priorities such as competency-driven accountability, flexible credentialing, and funding models that prioritize equity, helping state leaders create policies that expand opportunities for all learners.

Explore how unbundled learning is shaping the future of education and how states can build more personalized, future-ready systems.

New Pathways > Unbundled Learning — from gettingsmart.com
We used to think that learning had to happen in a school building. Spoiler alert…that was never true.

How might we create an ecosystem where learning doesn’t just happen at school? With Unbundled Learning, learners don’t need permission to have equitable experiences. Unbundled Learning removes all the barriers and allows learning to happen at school, after school, with industry partners and anywhere a learner can imagine. Unbundled Learning is the foundation for which new learning models are built, learners are supported and systems are scaled.

If we used to think that school was the only answer, now we know we have options.
.

New Partnership Offers Online Tutoring in Michigan Schools [govtech.com]

On 11/13/2024, in collaboration, culture, education, education technology, K-12 related, leadership, learning ecosystem, Michigan, student-related, teachers, teaching online, United States, vendors, virtual K-12 schools, virtual tutoring, by Daniel Christian

New Partnership Offers Online Tutoring in Michigan Schools — from govtech.com via GSV
The online education nonprofit Michigan Virtual has partnered with Stride Tutoring to offer remote academic support for students in 700 school districts as part of a statewide push to reverse pandemic learning loss.

Online education provider Michigan Virtual is working with a Virginia-based online tutoring company to increase access to personalized academic support for Michigan students, according to a news release last month. The partnership is in line with a statewide push to reverse pandemic learning loss through high-impact tutoring.

Speaking of education — but expanding the scope of this posting to a global scale:

Kids worldwide face huge educational challenges. Is better leadership a solution? — from hechingerreport.org by Liz Willen
Amid dismal data, educators from around the world gather in Brazil and say they can rise to the challenges

While the conversation clearly focused on a continuing worldwide crisis in education, the UNESCO conference I participated in was different. It emphasized a topic of huge importance to improving student outcomes, and coincided with the release of a report detailing how effective leaders can make a big difference in the lives of children.

From DSC:
Leadership is important, for sure. But being a leader in education is very difficult these days — there are many different (and high) expectations and agendas being thrown your way from a variety of shareholders. But I do appreciate those leaders who are trying to create effective learning ecosystems out there!

One more for high school students considering going to college…

Wondering what life will be like at college? This tool can help — from hechingerreport.org by Olivia Sanchez and Noble Ingram
Our new guide answers your campus culture questions

Understanding behavior as communication: A teacher’s guide [Morin]

On 09/28/2024, in communications, culture, education, Emotion, hearts -- matters of the heart, K-12 related, parents/guardians, productivity / tips and tricks, psychology, relationships, society, sociology, student teaching/teacher education, student-related, teachers, youth, by Daniel Christian

Understanding behavior as communication: A teacher’s guide — from understood.org by Amanda Morin
Figuring out the function of, or the reasons behind, a behavior is critical for finding an appropriate response or support. Knowing the function can also help you find ways to prevent behavior issues in the future.

Think of the last time a student called out in class, pushed in line, or withdrew by putting their head down on their desk. What was their behavior telling you?

In most cases, behavior is a sign they may not have the skills to tell you what they need. Sometimes, students may not even know what they need. What are your students trying to communicate? What do they need, and how can you help?

One way to reframe your thinking is to respond to the student, not the behavior. Start by considering the life experiences that students bring to the classroom.

Some students who learn and think differently have negative past experiences with teachers and school. Others may come from cultures in which speaking up for their needs in front of the whole class isn’t appropriate.

Also relevant/see:

Exclusive: Watchdog finds Black girls face more frequent, severe discipline in school— from npr.org by Claudia Grisales

Black girls face more discipline and more severe punishments in public schools than girls from other racial backgrounds, according to a groundbreaking new report set for release Thursday by a congressional watchdog.

The report, shared exclusively with NPR, took nearly a year-and-a-half to complete and comes after several Democratic congressional members requested the study.

“10 Ways I Use LLMs like ChatGPT as a Professor” [Clay] + other items re: AI in our learning ecosystems

On 09/23/2024, in adjunct faculty, Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, career development, change, colleges, community colleges, content development, aggregation, repositories, culture, dangers of the status quo, education technology, emerging technologies, experimentation, faculty/staff, Google, higher education, human-computer interaction (HCI), ideas, innovation, instructional design, intelligent systems, IT in HE, learning ecosystem, Learning Experience Design, pace of change, platforms, productivity / tips and tricks, skills, student-related, teachers, teaching & learning, tools, United States, universities, vendors, workplace, by Daniel Christian

10 Ways I Use LLMs like ChatGPT as a Professor — from automatedteach.com by Graham Clay
ChatGPT-4o, Gemini 1.5 Pro, Claude 3.5 Sonnet, custom GPTs – you name it, I use it. Here’s how…

Excerpt:

To plan lessons (especially activities)
To create course content (especially quizzes)
To tutor my students
To grade faster and give better feedback
To draft grant applications
Plus 5 other items

From Caution to Calcification to Creativity: Reanimating Education with AI’s Frankenstein Potential — from nickpotkalitsky.substack.com by Nick Potkalitsky
A Critical Analysis of AI-Assisted Lesson Planning: Evaluating Efficacy and Pedagogical Implications

Excerpt (emphasis DSC):

As we navigate the rapidly evolving landscape of artificial intelligence in education, a troubling trend has emerged. What began as cautious skepticism has calcified into rigid opposition. The discourse surrounding AI in classrooms has shifted from empirical critique to categorical rejection, creating a chasm between the potential of AI and its practical implementation in education.

This hardening of attitudes comes at a significant cost. While educators and policymakers debate, students find themselves caught in the crossfire. They lack safe, guided access to AI tools that are increasingly ubiquitous in the world beyond school walls. In the absence of formal instruction, many are teaching themselves to use these tools, often in less than productive ways. Others live in a state of constant anxiety, fearing accusations of AI reliance in their work. These are just a few symptoms of an overarching educational culture that has become resistant to change, even as the world around it transforms at an unprecedented pace.

Yet, as this calcification sets in, I find myself in a curious position: the more I thoughtfully integrate AI into my teaching practice, the more I witness its potential to enhance and transform education

NotebookLM and Google’s Multimodal Vision for AI-Powered Learning Tools — from marcwatkins.substack.com by Marc Watkins

A Variety of Use Cases

Create an Interactive Syllabus
Presentation Deep Dive: Upload Your Slides
Note Taking: Turn Your Chalkboard into a Digital Canvas
Explore a Reading or Series of Readings
Help Navigating Feedback
Portfolio Building Blocks

Must-Have Competencies and Skills in Our New AI World: A Synthesis for Educational Reform — from er.educause.edu by Fawzi BenMessaoud
The transformative impact of artificial intelligence on educational systems calls for a comprehensive reform to prepare future generations for an AI-integrated world.

The urgency to integrate AI competencies into education is about preparing students not just to adapt to inevitable changes but to lead the charge in shaping an AI-augmented world. It’s about equipping them to ask the right questions, innovate responsibly, and navigate the ethical quandaries that come with such power.

AI in education should augment and complement their aptitude and expertise, to personalize and optimize the learning experience, and to support lifelong learning and development. AI in education should be a national priority and a collaborative effort among all stakeholders, to ensure that AI is designed and deployed in an ethical, equitable, and inclusive way that respects the diversity and dignity of all learners and educators and that promotes the common good and social justice. AI in education should be about the production of AI, not just the consumption of AI, meaning that learners and educators should have the opportunity to learn about AI, to participate in its creation and evaluation, and to shape its impact and direction.

DC: Shame on you Northwestern University!

On 09/06/2024, in cost of getting a degree, culture, Daniel S. Christian, ethics, faculty/staff, hearts -- matters of the heart, higher education, liberal arts, psychology, society, sociology, United States, universities, by Daniel Christian

DC: Shame on you Northwestern University. It’s yet another example of how the U continues to move away from our far more noble roots.https://t.co/uQoxFAdTpW

— Daniel S. Christian (@dchristian5) September 6, 2024

Speaking of higher education…

Higher Ed in 4 charts — from jeffselingo-14576223.hs-sites.com by Jeff Selingo

We’ve reached the peak of high-school graduates.
The colleges in the best financial shape educate only 600,000 students.
and two others…

Majoring in video games? A new wave of degrees underscores the pressures on colleges — from usatoday.com by Zachary Schermele
From degrees in AI to social media influencing, colleges are adapting to economic trends with new majors that emphasize the debate about getting students their money’s worth.

Majors like hers are part of a broader wave of less conventional, avant-garde majors, in specialties such as artificial intelligence, that are taking root in American higher education, as colleges grapple with changes in the economy and a shrinking pool of students.
…
The trend underscores the distinct ways schools are responding to growing concerns over which degrees provide the best return on investment. As college costs soared to new heights in recent years, saddling many students with crippling loan debt, that discourse has only become increasingly fraught, raising the stakes for schools to prove their degrees leave students better prepared and employable.

“I’m a big believer in the liberal arts, but universities don’t get to print money,” he said. “If enrollment interests are shifting, they have to be able to hire faculty to teach in those areas. Money has to come from someplace.”

From DSC:
Years ago, I remember having lunch with one of the finalists for the President position of a local university. He withdrew himself from the search because the institution’s culture would be like oil and water with him at the helm. He was very innovative, and this organization was not. I remember him saying, “The marketplace will determine what that organization ultimately does.” In other words, he was saying that higher education was market-driven. I agreed with him then, and I still agree with that perspective now.

“The top 100 Gen AI Consumer Apps 3rd ed” [Andreessen Horowitz] + several other items re: AI in general

On 08/26/2024, in Adobe, adult learning, art, Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, business, corporate / business world, corporate universities / corporate training, creativity, culture, graphics, lifelong learning, platforms, tools, training / L&D, United States, vendors, by Daniel Christian

Generative AI and the Time Management Revolution — from ai-mindset.ai by Conor Grennan

Here’s how we need to change our work lives:

RECLAIM: Use generative AI to speed up your daily tasks. Be ruthless. Anything that can be automated, should be.
PROTECT: This is the crucial step. That time you’ve saved? Protect it like it’s the last slice of pizza. Block it off in your calendar. Tell your team it’s sacred.
ELEVATE: Use this protected time for high-level thinking. Strategy. Innovation. The big, meaty problems you never have time for.
AMPLIFY: Here’s where it gets cool. Use generative AI to amp up your strategic thinking. Need to brainstorm solutions to a complex problem? Want to analyze market trends? Generative AI is your new thinking partner.

The top 100 Gen AI Consumer Apps — 3rd edition — from a16z.com by Andreessen Horowitz

But amid the relentless onslaught of product launches, investment announcements, and hyped-up features, it’s worth asking: Which of these gen AI apps are people actually using? Which behaviors and categories are gaining traction among consumers? And which AI apps are people returning to, versus dabbling and dropping?

Welcome to the third installment of the Top 100 Gen AI Consumer Apps.
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Gen AI’s next inflection point: From employee experimentation to organizational transformation — from mckinsey.com by Charlotte Relyea, Dana Maor, and Sandra Durth with Jan Bouly
As many employees adopt generative AI at work, companies struggle to follow suit. To capture value from current momentum, businesses must transform their processes, structures, and approach to talent.

To harness employees’ enthusiasm and stay ahead, companies need a holistic approach to transforming how the whole organization works with gen AI; the technology alone won’t create value.

Our research shows that early adopters prioritize talent and the human side of gen AI more than other companies (Exhibit 3). Our survey shows that nearly two-thirds of them have a clear view of their talent gaps and a strategy to close them, compared with just 25 percent of the experimenters. Early adopters focus heavily on upskilling and reskilling as a critical part of their talent strategies, as hiring alone isn’t enough to close gaps and outsourcing can hinder strategic-skills development. Finally, 40 percent of early-adopter respondents say their organizations provide extensive support to encourage employee adoption, versus 9 percent of experimenter respondents.

Adobe drops ‘Magic Fixup’: An AI breakthrough in the world of photo editing — from venturebeat.com by Michael Nuñez

Adobe researchers have revealed an AI model that promises to transform photo editing by harnessing the power of video data. Dubbed “Magic Fixup,” this new technology automates complex image adjustments while preserving artistic intent, potentially reshaping workflows across multiple industries.

Magic Fixup’s core innovation lies in its unique approach to training data. Unlike previous models that relied solely on static images, Adobe’s system learns from millions of video frame pairs. This novel method allows the AI to understand the nuanced ways objects and scenes change under varying conditions of light, perspective, and motion.

Top AI tools people actually use — from heatherbcooper.substack.com by Heather Cooper
How generative AI tools are changing the creative landscape

The shift toward creative tools
Creative tools made up 52% of the top generative AI apps on the list. This seems to reflect a growing consumer demand for accessible creativity through AI with tools for image, music, speech, video, and editing.

Creative categories include:

Image: Civitai, Leonardo, Midjourney, Yodayo, Ideogram, SeaArt
Music: Suno, Udio, VocalRemover
Speech: ElevenLabs, Speechify
Video: Luma AI, Viggle, Invideo AI, Vidnoz, ClipChamp
Editing: Cutout Pro, Veed, Photoroom, Pixlr, PicWish

Why it matters:
Creative apps are gaining traction because they empower digital artists and content creators with AI-driven tools that simplify and enhance the creative process, making professional-level work more accessible than ever.

Here’s why it’s so hard to change a culture [Satell] — Pay attention higher ed! [DSC]

On 08/25/2024, in business, business side of he, colleges, community colleges, corporate / business world, culture, higher education, organizational change, United States, universities, workplace, by Daniel Christian

Here’s why it’s so hard to change a culture — from digitaltonto.com by Greg Satell

Excerpt (emphasis DSC):

Lou Gerstner, writing about his legendary turnaround at IBM, said, “Culture isn’t just one aspect of the game, it is the game. In the end, an organization is nothing more than the collective capacity of its people to create value… What does the culture reward and punish – individual achievement or team play, risk taking or consensus building?”

Most business gurus would readily agree with that, but if you’d ask them what culture actually is they would be hard pressed to give a coherent answer. Anthropologists, on the other hand, are much more rigorous in their approach and most would agree that three essential elements of a culture are norms, rituals and behaviors.

In a positive organizational culture, norms and rituals support behaviors that honor the mission of the enterprise. Negative cultures undermine that mission. A common problem with many transformation initiatives is that they focus on designing incentives to alter behaviors. Unfortunately, unless you can shift norms and rituals, nothing is likely to change.

Building a Collaborative Lifelong Learning Ecosystem [moderncampus.com]

On 08/13/2024, in changing business models, collaboration, colleges, community colleges, culture, curriculum, future of higher education, higher education, ideas, learning ecosystem, lifelong learning, podcasting, reinvent, skills, staying relevant, United States, universities, by Daniel Christian

Building a Collaborative Lifelong Learning Ecosystem — from by Bryan Benjamin and Amrit Ahluwalia

Staying current and relevant is essential for institutions in today’s rapidly evolving higher education landscape. However, innovative work cannot be accomplished in isolation.

On this episode, Bryan Benjamin, Executive Director of The Ivey Academy and Amrit Ahluwalia, Executive Director of Continuing Studies at Western University, discusses the importance of institutional collaboration and creating a scalable lifelong learning ecosystem.

Is College Worth It? Poll Finds Only 36% of Americans Have Confidence in Higher Education — from usnews.com by Associated Press
A new poll finds Americans are increasingly skeptical about the value and cost of college

Americans are increasingly skeptical about the value and cost of college, with most saying they feel the U.S. higher education system is headed in the “wrong direction,” according to a new poll.

Overall, only 36% of adults say they have a “great deal” or “quite a lot” of confidence in higher education, according to the report released Monday by Gallup and the Lumina Foundation. That confidence level has declined steadily from 57% in 2015.

Learning Ecosystems