40 Spectacular Sights of Nature You Should Know, Vol. 1 — from hongkiat.com by Nancy Young
From DSC:
I realize that I’m biased here…but I say, “Glory to God!” when I see these pictures. He’s an awesome designer and creator. Only He can “paint a canvas” like this.
The Great Contraction Cuts alone will not be enough to turn colleges’ fortunes around. — from chronicle.com by Lee Gardner
Excerpts:
With higher education facing average revenue losses of 14 percent or more due to Covid-19, the pandemic presents an existential challenge for the hundreds, maybe thousands, of colleges that entered last March with already precarious finances. Every week or so seems to bring new headlines about institutions making jaw-dropping cuts.
…
But slashing budgets alone, experts agree, isn’t enough to survive. Struggling colleges must cut strategically and adapt to a new way of operating, in order to find a way to eventually grow and thrive.
From DSC:
As I mentioned to a friend who wondered about those two words –“grow” and “thrive” in the last sentence above…
For too long many colleges and some universities have not been experimenting with other business models. They didn’t pay attention to the surrounding landscapes and economic realities of the masses. I think some of the institutions out there will grow and thrive — but it will be far fewer institutions who see such growth. SNHU, Arizona State, Western Governors University, and the like have done well. But then again, they thought big as well and did so years ago. They have a major leg up on other institutions.
She has served as a college president for nearly 20 years, and in that time, she has watched students’ view of higher education shift to be predominantly about “the outcome of being prepared for a job,” she says.
Funny how that corresponds directly to the increase in tuition, fees, books, room and board, etc. that took place during that same time.
From DSC:
Talk about streams of content! Whew!
I received an email from Adobe that was entitled, “This week on Adobe Live: Graphic Design.” (I subscribe to their Adobe Creative Cloud.) Inside the email, I saw and clicked on the following:
Below are some of the screenshots I took of this incredible service! Wow!
From DSC:
So Abobe — via Behance — is already doing several pieces of the “Learning from the Living [Class] Room” vision. I knew of Behance…but I didn’t realize the magnitude of what they’ve been working on and what they’re currently delivering. Very sharp indeed!
Churches are doing this as well — one device has the presenter/preacher on it (such as a larger “TV”), while a second device is used to communicate with each other in real-time.
Radio.Garden — with thanks to David Pogue for this resource
This is the COOLEST. A Google Earth-type representation of the planet. Every green dot is a radio station. Click any dot to listen in. It’s like cultural teleportation. You could spend hours with this thing… https://t.co/rdEHUUfgvk pic.twitter.com/VJgyzVClJD
— David Pogue (@Pogue) February 14, 2021
From DSC:
This is amazing! Some screenshots:
Several questions/reflections come to my mind:
Addendum on 2/28/21:
Could this type of interface be used to navigate the world of work? Where instead of nations, you would have arenas of work?
More states require telehealth coverage going into 2021 — from by
Several states passed recent laws that would require commercial insurance plans to cover more telehealth services on a permanent basis. More states now require health plans to pay the same amount for telehealth as in-person visits.
From DSC:
Telelegal on deck…? What about in your area of work…what’s coming down the pike in this regard?
DC: Peering into the future, the significant ***use of teams of specialists*** within the #legal realm will likely be the case.#lawschools #law https://t.co/pY5GkLvH00 Article via @GTeninbaum pic.twitter.com/3uFXs6sczs
— Daniel Christian (he/him/his) (@dchristian5) February 10, 2021
DC: There are how many millions of Americans #unemployed and yet “January hiring slips 2.8%”…?
But there were some bright spots in #legal, #software and #finance https://t.co/5C48F53IUZ pic.twitter.com/UU4ixPlqEY
— Daniel Christian (he/him/his) (@dchristian5) February 9, 2021
January hiring slips 2.8%; bright spots in U.S. are legal, software and finance — from linkedin.com by George Anders
Excerpt:
If you’re looking for further evidence that U.S. industry is running on two different tracks these days — in which “laptop economy” professions such as legal and finance are doing fairly well, while face-to-face jobs are facing tough times — that message is starkly clear in the latest edition of LinkedIn’s Hiring Report.
For January, the U.S. Hiring Report showed a 2.8% decline from December’s reading, and an overall 7.6% drop from a year earlier. What looks like relatively mild slippage in aggregate turns out to be two trends pointing in sharply different directions once the focus switches to industry-by-industry outcomes.
Three industries remain ahead of their hiring tempo a full year ago, in spite of the overall decline. They are legal (+3.8%), finance (3.4%) and software and information technology (+3.0%).
Nearly three-quarters of pandemic affected parents feel students should learn subjects they’re passionate about, not those of little interest — from newswire.ca by Unschooling School
Excerpt:
TORONTO, Feb. 1, 2021 /CNW/ – A nation-wide survey of Canadian parents released today finds that nearly three in four of them (73%) believe the education system today would be better for students if it were structured to give them more choice and time to just learn those subjects and topics, they are either excited or passionate about.
Also, more than two-thirds (67%) want a school reset, so students learn more of the subject areas they’re passionate about and not those of little interest to them.
From DSC:
I feel the same way about many K12 systems here in the United States. Our youngest daughter — who has been studying at home this past year — has so much more energy and passion when we give her more agency to do the things that *she* wants to do and to learn about the things that *she* wants to learn about.
And readers of this blog know that I’m all about the love of learning (or even liking it better), seeing as we all need to be lifelong learners these days.
The more we enjoy learning = The better, more fulfilling, enjoyable that our lives will be! (Not to mention how much more productive we’ll be as well.)
What will the hospital of the future look like in a post COVID-19 world? — from protocol.com by Jeroen Tas and Sean Carney
Excerpt (emphasis DSC):
One thing we have realized is that COVID-19 has accelerated three transformational trends that already existed before the pandemic, but are now dramatically reshaping healthcare: the concept of a networked healthcare system, the increasing adoption of telehealth, and the idea of virtual care and guidance. At the same time, we have seen consumers becoming much more engaged in their personal health and that of their families.
From DSC:
Next up…telelegal; and, possibly, more virtual courtrooms.
Also see:
8 Higher Education IT Trends to Watch in 2021 — from edtechmagazine.com by Adam Stone
Keep your eye on these trends as higher education prepares for a post-pandemic future.
Excerpt:
1. Get Used to More Advanced Learning Management Systems
At Virginia Tech, the Canvas learning management system (LMS) was critical for coordinating synchronous and asynchronous learning. Such systems will only become more sophisticated moving forward, says Randy Marchany, the university’s IT security officer. “With COVID, instructors have become more video savvy,” he says. “We’re all getting smarter about how we use these tools.”
2. A Rise in Sophisticated Videoconferencing Platforms
Even after the pandemic, educators might continue lecturing over Zoom and other videoconferencing platforms. However, they’ll be doing it in more sophisticated ways. “People will be making these experiences more collaborative, more authentic — with much richer interactions and conversations,” Grajek says. “We are all becoming more experienced consumers, and we will see a lot of innovation in this area.”
From DSC:
Yet another step closer…
9 BIG Questions Schools Must Answer to Avoid Going “Back to Normal” (*Because “Normal” Wasn’t That Great to Begin With) — from bigquestions.institute
Excerpt from email/e-newsletter (dated 1/27/21)
As we start to emerge from this dark moment, individuals and institutions need to be asking two important questions Given the trauma of the last 12 months, who are we now? And now that so much has changed about the world, who do we want to become?
Reflecting on those questions is especially important for educators. The “old normal” of schools is not coming back, nor should we want it to. Instead, this is an incredible opportunity to reset, to redefine our work.
To that end, we’ve written a new, free ebook: 9 Questions Schools Must Answer to Avoid Going Back to Normal (*Because Normal Wasn’t That Great to Begin With). Rather than innovate our way forward, Homa and I believe this is a moment to interrogate deeply the foundations of our work with children. That starts with a willingness to answer some big questions upon which we build our collective futures.
Q1: What is Sacred?
Q2: What is Learning?
Q3: Where is the Power?
Q4: Why do we _________?
Q5: Who is Unheard?
Q6: Are we Literate?
Q7: Are we OK?
Q8: Are we Connected?
Q9: What’s Next?
“Real change will require us to leave many of our old ideas about school behind.”
From DSC:
We must figure out better ways to get away from creating game-players to developing curious, passionate learners instead. Even in law schools, points and grades are still used as the currency to get students to do some things. Holy smokes! That pull/embedded behavior is a strong undercurrent even for adults learning about new things.
Students need to see their faculty members and/or teachers as people who ARE ON THEIR TEAM. Not an adversarial, controlling relationship. But one wherein the teacher or the professor is trying to help that person develop into a better, ___, ___, or ____.
I love the suggestion mentioned in the “Towards a new normal” on page 23 that says…
“Instead of ‘students’ and ‘teachers,’ refer to everyone in the school as ‘learners.'”
#behaviorism #learning #education #educationreform #K12 #lawschools and more.
The Future of Healthcare is Telehealth — from parksassociates.com
Excerpt:
COVID-19 and the resulting increases in virtual care adoption and changes in regulation have permanently altered the healthcare landscape in the US. The demand for virtual care has never been greater. There is a great need for virtual care solutions, particularly those integrating data from devices in meaningful ways. Organizations that do not do this operate at a competitive disadvantage to those who do.
From DSC:
If the future of healthcare is telehealth, where might telelegal fit within the legal realm?
How to become a livestreaming teacher — from innovatemyschool.com by Bobbie Grennier
Excerpts:
What is an encoder?
The format that a video camera records content in has to be transcoded so that it can be livestreamed to a destination like Facebook Live, YouTube, Twitch and Periscope. This is accomplished using an encoder software. An encoder optimizes the video feed for the streaming platform. The key to using an encoder is to learn to set-up scenes.
From DSC:
It will be interesting to see how learning-related platforms develop in the future. I’m continually on the lookout for innovative ideas across the learning landscapes, especially due to the Learning from the Living [Class] Room vision that I’ve been tracking this last decade. The pieces continue to come together. This might be another piece to that puzzle.
An online-based teaching and learning marketplace — backed up by AI, cloud-based learning profiles, voice-driven interfaces, learning agents, and more. Feeds/streams of content into how to learn about any topic…supporting communities of practice as well as individuals. And people will be key in this platform — technology will serve the people, not the other way around.
