data related items

From DSC:
First, some items:

Thinking for the future — from nytimes.com by David Brooks

Excerpt:

We’re living in an era of mechanized intelligence, an age in which you’re probably going to find yourself in a workplace with diagnostic systems, different algorithms and computer-driven data analysis. If you want to thrive in this era, you probably want to be good at working with intelligent machines. As Tyler Cowen puts it in his relentlessly provocative recent book, “Average Is Over,” “If you and your skills are a complement to the computer, your wage and labor market prospects are likely to be cheery. If your skills do not complement the computer, you may want to address that mismatch.”

So our challenge for the day is to think of exactly which mental abilities complement mechanized intelligence. Off the top of my head, I can think of a few mental types that will probably thrive in the years ahead.

Excerpt:

Create your own employment avatar robot to replace you at work. Fight fire with fire. Could this be the solution to the coming robotic automation revolution?

…

The question on everyone’s mind is “If all the jobs are automated, who will have money to buy the products from these corporations?” This is not just a blue-collar issue. Predictive analytics in soft A.I. robots could replace creative jobs as well.

Siri says ‘dump him’? How mobile devices could run (or ruin) your life — from CNN.com by futurist Gerd Leonhard

Excerpt:

(CNN) — The Web is set to change our lives dramatically over the next decade. This will also raise questions about the use of personal data and the need to balance new powers with ethics. Here are five ways you can expect the explosion in technology to impact you:

From DSC:
These items caused me to reflect…they made me wonder…

How should we educate our youth in this age of automation?
How should our curricula respond/change/adapt to these trends?
Or should we even be talking about curricula? Perhaps we should rather be curating and providing streams of content — and doing so on a lifelong basis…?
How should we reinvent ourselves and keep ourselves marketable?

Addendum:

Why Cognition-as-a-Service is the next operating system battlefield — from gigaom.com by Nova Spivack

The Internet of Things (IoT) in the classroom [Christian]

On 12/16/2013, in blended learning, creativity, Daniel S. Christian, data related items, digital learning, education technology, emerging technologies, engagement / engaging students, entrepreneurship, experimentation, higher education, human-computer interaction (HCI), hybrid learning, ideas, innovation, intelligent systems, intelligent tutoring, interaction design, interactivity, interface design, internet, IT in HE, K-12 related, learning ecosystem, machine-to-machine communications, mirroring and/or multiple devices, mobile learning, more voice more choice more control, multimedia, Near Field Communication (NFC), personalized/customized learning, platforms, second screen apps, technology (general), tools, transmedia, trends, ubiquitous learning, usability, user experience (UX), user interface design, vendors, workplace, by Daniel Christian

From DSC:
First some recent/relevant postings:

IFTTT’s ingenious new feature: Controlling apps with your location — from wired.com by Kyle VanHemert

An update to the IFTTT app lets you use your location in recipes. Image: IFTTT

Excerpt:

IFTTT stands athwart history. At a point where the software world is obsessed with finding ever more specialized apps for increasingly specific problems, the San Francisco-based company is gleefully doing just the opposite. It simply wants to give people a bunch of tools and let them figure it out. It all happens with simple conditional statements the company calls “recipes.” So, you can use the service to execute the following command: If I take a screenshot, then upload it to Dropbox. If this RSS feed is updated, then send me a text message. It’s great for kluging together quick, automated solutions for the little workflows that slip into the cracks between apps and services.

If This, Then That (IFTTT)

4 reasons why Apple’s iBeacon is about to disrupt interaction design — from wired.com by Kyle VanHemert

Excerpt:

You step inside Walmart and your shopping list is transformed into a personalized map, showing you the deals that’ll appeal to you most. You pause in front of a concert poster on the street, pull out your phone, and you’re greeted with an option to buy tickets with a single tap. You go to your local watering hole, have a round of drinks, and just leave, having paid—and tipped!—with Uber-like ease. Welcome to the world of iBeacon.

It sounds absurd, but it’s true: Here we are in 2013, and one of the most exciting things going on in consumer technology is Bluetooth. Indeed, times have changed. This isn’t the maddening, battery-leeching, why-won’t-it-stay-paired protocol of yore. Today we have Bluetooth Low Energy which solves many of the technology’s perennial problems with new protocols for ambient, continuous, low-power connectivity. It’s quickly becoming big deal.

The Internet of iThings: Apple’s iBeacon is already in almost 200 million iPhones and iPads — from forbes.com by Anthony Kosner

Excerpt (emphasis DSC):

Because of iBeacons’ limited range, they are well-suited for transmitting content that is relevant in the immediate proximity.

From DSC:
Along the lines of the above postings…I recently had a meeting whereby the topic of iBeacons came up. It was mentioned that museums will be using this sort of thing; i.e. approaching a piece of art will initiate an explanation of that piece on the museum’s self-guided tour application.

That idea made me wonder whether such technology could be used in a classroom…and I quickly thought, “Yes!”

For example, if a student goes to the SW corner of the room, they approach a table. That table has an iBeacon like device on it, which triggers a presentation within a mobile application on the student’s device. The students reviews the presentation and moves onto the SE corner of the room whereby they approach a different table with another/different iBeacon on it. That beacon triggers a quiz on the material they just reviewed, and then proceeds to build upon that information. Etc. Etc. Physically-based scaffolding along with some serious blended/hybrid learning. It’s like taking the concept of QR codes to the next level.

Some iBeacon vendors out there include:

Data mining, interaction design, user interface design, and user experience design may never be the same again.

What’s the future of the Chief Information Officer?

On 12/10/2013, in analytics, Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, business, career development, corporate / business world, data related items, leadership, organizational change, pace of change, strategy, vision/possibilities, workplace, by Daniel Christian

What’s the future of the CIO? — from cioofthefuture.com by Peter Evans–Greenwood
CIOs have an opportunity to drive strategy and create business value, and not just reduce costs

From DSC:
The sections entitled “The demise of the Chief Infrastructure Officer” and “Technology is now central to how our organizations engage their market” seem especially appropriate.

The CIO of 2020: The future of the Chief Information Officer — from innovationexcellence.com by Paul Muller

CDOs are reaching new heights — and quickly — from sloanreview.mit.edu by Michael Fitzgerald
Is the chief digital officer position the new path to the chief executive title?

Reflections on “IBM’s Jeopardy-winning supercomputer will power a ‘cognitive, expert personal shopper’ app next year” [Dylan Love]

On 12/09/2013, in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, analytics, Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, cloud-based computing / apps / other cloud-related, communities of practice, convergence, corporate / business world, corporate universities / corporate training, cost of getting a degree, Daniel S. Christian, data related items, education technology, emerging technologies, experimentation, innovation, intelligent systems, intelligent tutoring, internet, learning agents, learning ecosystem, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, lifelong learning, New "Amazon.com" of Higher Education, streams of content, technologies for your home, vision/possibilities, by Daniel Christian

IBM’s Jeopardy-winning supercomputer will power a ‘cognitive, expert personal shopper’ app next year — from businessinsider.com by Dylan Love

ibm watson

Excerpt:

The app calls upon Watson’s ability to understand the nuances of human language and uncover answers from Big Data. Consumers who use Fluid’s app will interact with rich media and dialogue with Watson, as their newfound “cognitive, expert personal shopper.

The Fluid app incorporates the information users share and questions they ask to help them make smart, satisfying purchases by putting a knowledgeable sales associate in the hands of consumers, on demand.

From DSC:
I am not saying that we are looking at a future whereby computers and algorithms will replace teachers, professors, trainers, coaches, mentors, etc. However, I am saying that tools and technologies are in (and have been in) development that will be hugely beneficial in helping us stay current with our knowledge bases — and will help us remain marketable in a world that left the linear trajectory of change a while back and continues to move at an exponential rate.

Phase I:
How might this be applied to recommendation engines for topics/courses/modules/streams of content to explore if you are trying to learn about the most recent information on XYZ?

Phase II:
How might this be applied to actual assessments for assignments, essays, etc.?

Phase III:
???

The Living [Class] Room -- by Daniel Christian -- July 2012 -- a second device used in conjunction with a Smart/Connected TV

[Many of] the 10 fastest-growing job titles are in tech [mashable.com]

On 11/16/2013, in 21st century, analytics, Apple, career development, data related items, Google, pace of change, professional development, user experience (UX), user interface design, by Daniel Christian

[Many of] the 10 fastest-growing job titles are in tech — from mashable.com

Excerpt:

Based on their data, the fastest-growing job titles between 2008 and 2013 were:

DevOps engineer
iOS developer
Data scientist
UX designer
Staff accountant
Paralegal
UI developer
Administrative assistant
Android developer
Business intelligence developer

From DSC:
Another sign that the pace of change has changed (emphasis mine):

Indicating a trend beyond employment, four of the seven fastest-growing technology jobs — DevOps engineer, iOS developer, data scientist and Android developer — did not even exist on TheLadders five years ago.

“Learning in the Living [Class] Room” — as explained by Daniel Christian [Campus Technology]

On 11/05/2013, in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, A/V -- audio/visual, active learning, adult learning, analytics, animation, Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, attention, blended learning, Bring your own device (BYOD), business side of he, career development, change, changing business models, cloud-based computing / apps / other cloud-related, collaboration, colleges, communications, communities of practice, community colleges, competency-based learning/education, computer science, consortiums, content development, aggregation, repositories, convergence, corporate / business world, corporate universities / corporate training, cost of getting a degree, creativity, dangers of the status quo, Daniel S. Christian, data related items, digital audio, digital learning, digital storytelling, digital textbooks, digital video, disruption, distance education, e-books, e-publishing related items (EPUB and more), e-readers, education, education reform, education technology, educational games / serious games, elearning, emerging technologies, engagement / engaging students, entrepreneurship, expectations, experimentation, flipping -- inverted learning, formal learning, future of higher education, game-changing environment, global / globalization, heutagogy, higher education, homeschooling/homeschoolers, human-computer interaction (HCI), hybrid learning, IBM, ideas, immersion, informal learning, innovation, instructional design, intelligent systems, intelligent tutoring, interaction design, interactivity, interface design, internet, IT in HE, K-12 related, learner profiles, learning, learning agents, learning ecosystem, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, learning preferences, learning spaces, liberal arts, lifelong learning, love of learning, machine-to-machine communications, marketplaces, media/film, Michigan, mirroring and/or multiple devices, mobile learning, mobile technologies, MOOCs -- Massive Open Online Courses, more voice more choice more control, motivation, multi-touch, multimedia, Near Field Communication (NFC), neurodivergent/special needs, New "Amazon.com" of Higher Education, new business models, new media literacies, online learning, online media, online tutoring, open courseware and systems, organizational change, pace of change, participation, passions, personalized/customized learning, platforms, play, professional development, programming, real-world assignments, reinvent, second screen apps, simulations, smart classrooms, social learning / networks, social media, society, staying relevant, STEAM-related, story, storytelling, strategy, streams of content, student-related, surviving, tablets, teaching & learning, technologies for your home, technology (general), telecommunications, telepresence, television, transmedia, trends, TVs, ubiquitous learning, universities, user experience (UX), user interface design, using teams, videoconferencing, virtual field trips, virtual K-12 schools, Virtual Reality (VR) / worlds / learning, virtual tutoring, vision/possibilities, web-based collaboration, webinars, workplace, by Daniel Christian

Learning from the Living [Class] Room — from Campus Technology by Daniel Christian and Mary Grush; with a huge thanks also going out to Mr. Steven Niedzielski (@Marketing4pt0) and to Mr. Sam Beckett (@SamJohnBeck) for their assistance and some of the graphics used in making these videos.

From DSC:
These 4 short videos explain what I’m trying to relay with a vision I’m entitling, Learning from the Living [Class] Room. I’ve been pulse checking a variety of areas for years now, and the pieces of this vision continue to come into fruition. This is what I see Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) morphing into (though there may be other directions/offshoots that they go in as well).

After watching these videos, I think you will see why I think we must move to a team–based approach.

(It looks like the production folks for Campus Technology had to scale things way back in terms of video quality to insure an overall better performance for the digitally-based magazine.)

To watch these videos in a higher resolution, please use these links:

Alternatively, these videos can be found at:

.

Purdue software boosts graduation rate 21 percent — from purdue.edu

Excerpt:

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – A data-mining and analysis software program called Signals developed by Purdue University has increased six-year graduation rates by 21.48 percent, according to a recent review of data from the 2007 cohort of students.

The increased graduation rates were for students who were in two or more Signals-enabled classes compared to students who had not taken any Signals-enabled courses. Students who had taken just one Signals-enabled course graduated 20.87 percent higher than those who had taken none.

…

The Signals software looks at students’ online academic behaviors, such as whether they opened a reading assignment or completed a set of math exercises. It combines this information with demographic information about the student, such as his or her standardized test scores, high school GPA, and current grades. In all the system uses more than 20 reference datapoints.

Signals then displays a simple and intuitive red, yellow or green signal on the student’s course website to let them know how they are doing in that course.

From DSC:
It seems to me that this is the type of underlying technology/toolset that holds enormous potential for online and blended learning environments. It’s similar to what IBM’s Watson seems to be doing for determining effective plans of action for cancer patients. The software takes in data from numerous different areas to form a list of the most potentially-effective plans of action (along with the %’s of how likely those items are the causes of actual concern).

Above graphic from:
IBM’s Watson interns at Memorial Sloan-Kettering

Also see:

IBM’s Watson supercomputer to diagnose patients
Watson will initially be used to help treat cancer patients

Excerpt (emphasis DSC):

“The implications for healthcare are extraordinary,” said Lori Beer, WellPoint’s executive vice president of Enterprise Business Services. “We believe new solutions built on the IBM Watson technology will be valuable for our provider partners, and more importantly, give us new tools to help ensure our members are receiving the best possible care.”

Addendums on 9/27:

Why the Course Signals Math Does Not Add Up — from hapgood.us. by Mike Caulfield
Purdue U. Software Prompts Students to Study—and Graduate — from chronicle.com by Hannah Winston

IBM’s big data education outreach [Booker]

On 09/23/2013, in analytics, career development, colleges, computer science, corporate / business world, data related items, global / globalization, higher education, IBM, platforms, universities, by Daniel Christian

IBM’s big data education outreach — from InformationWeek.com by Ellis Booker; with thanks to EducationDive for their posting this
In the last decade, IBM has partnered with more than 1,000 universities to increase the world’s pool of computer science graduates. Latest focus: Big data.

Excerpt (emphasis DSC):

The scarcity of data scientists is a problem for platform and tools vendors like IBM.

Even with impressive improvements in data visualization tools such as dashboards, IBM’s customers need employees able to set up these systems, correctly interpret their output and discuss it with business-side colleagues.

IBM and other technology companies themselves need new workers, trained in the latest data-science concepts and techniques. Like many of its customers, IBM is having trouble hiring enough data scientists.

For both of these reasons, IBM has been working closely with colleges and universities. Its educational partnerships now number more than 1,000 globally.

Also see:

Gold in the data, but a shortage of miners — from fcw.com by Mark Rockwell

Will IBM’s Watson — or a similar set of technologies — be a key ingredient of our future MOOCs? [Christian]

On 09/05/2013, in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, blended learning, career development, corporate / business world, corporate universities / corporate training, cost of getting a degree, Daniel S. Christian, data related items, digital learning, disruption, global / globalization, health, heutagogy, higher education, homeschooling/homeschoolers, human-computer interaction (HCI), hybrid learning, IBM, ideas, innovation, instructional design, intelligent systems, intelligent tutoring, interactivity, internet, IT in HE, K-12 related, lifelong learning, marketing/social marketing, MOOCs -- Massive Open Online Courses, more voice more choice more control, New "Amazon.com" of Higher Education, new business models, online learning, online media, online tutoring, passions, personalized/customized learning, professional development, research, second screen apps, social learning / networks, social media, society, storytelling, strategy, streams of content, teaching online, technologies for your home, training / L&D, trends, TVs, ubiquitous learning, United States, using teams, vendors, videoconferencing, virtual K-12 schools, virtual tutoring, vision/possibilities, web-based collaboration, workplace, by Daniel Christian

From DSC:
IBM Watson continues to expand into different disciplines/areas, which currently include:

Healthcare
Finance
Customer Service

But Watson is also entering the marketing and education/research realms.

I see a Watson-type-of-tool as being a key ingredient for future MOOCs and the best chance for MOOCs to morph into something very powerful indeed — offloading the majority of the workload to computers/software/intelligent tutoring/learning agents, while at the same time allowing students to connect with each other and/or to Subject Matter Experts (SME’s) as appropriate.

The price of education could hopefully come way down — depending upon the costs involved with licensing Watson or a similar set of technologies — as IBM could spread out their costs to multiple institutions/organizations. This vision represents another important step towards the “Walmart of Education” that continues to develop before our eyes.

Taking this even one step further, I see this system being available to us on our mobile devices as well as in our living rooms — as the telephone, the television, and the computer continue to converge. Blended learning on steroids.

What would make this really powerful would be to provide:

The ability to create narratives/stories around content
To feed streams of content into Watson for students to tap into
Methods of mining data and using that to tweak algorithms, etc. to improve the tools/learning opportunities

Such an architecture could be applied towards lifelong learning opportunities — addressing what we now know as K-12, higher education, and corporate training/development.

.

IBM and USTA captivate tennis fans with immersive second screen experience [MarketWatch.com]

On 08/28/2013, in analytics, Daniel S. Christian, data related items, digital learning, education technology, educational games / serious games, emerging technologies, engagement / engaging students, experimentation, health, IBM, innovation, interactivity, internet, learning agents, learning ecosystem, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, lifelong learning, mirroring and/or multiple devices, mobile learning, mobile technologies, multimedia, online learning, online media, online tutoring, participation, second screen apps, social learning / networks, streams of content, tablets, technologies for your home, technology (general), by Daniel Christian

IBM and USTA captivate tennis fans with immersive second screen experience — from MarketWatch.com
Analytics, cloud, mobile and social computing technologies deliver US Open to fans’ fingertips

Excerpt:

The innovative digital US Open environment provides fans, players, broadcasters and media with access to a range of Big Data insights streaming from the courts, including stats, facts, videos, live scoring, and historical and real-time analysis of tennis data served to tablets, smartphones, PCs and other devices.

Also see:

.

From DSC:
Questions I wonder about:

How might this sort of thing help us in education? What if, instead of a tennis match, it was a debate on X vs. Y…?
.
Could we use it in educational gaming apps?
.
If so, what sorts of apps that lean on social learning could we create?
.
How could professional development/conferences use this type of immersive second screen experience? What sorts of opportunities for participation would open up?
.
Could we develop things like this that help us learn things IN REAL TIME from the streams of content flowing by? (Do learning agents employ this sort of thing?)

Somewhat-related items:

College students bring targeted media to doctors’ waiting rooms — from entrepreneur.com by Michelle Goodman

Excerpt:

Their idea was to sell doctors’ offices prepackaged video segments containing tips on diet, exercise and other lifestyle tweaks patients could make to improve their health. A TV screen in the reception area would broadcast this programming, modeled after segments on shows such as Today, while patients waited for appointments.

To test the idea, Agarwal, Shah and classmate Derek Moeller bought TVs and DVD players, culled content from the internet and distributed the equipment and “shows” to 50 doctors in five states.

MOOCing the Liberal Arts? Technology and Relationship in Liberal Arts Education
The Thirteenth Annual Conversation on the Liberal Arts
February 13 – 15, 2014

IBM adds another 9 universities to its big data training program [Roe]

On 08/21/2013, in 21st century, analytics, cloud-based computing / apps / other cloud-related, computer science, consortiums, data related items, game-changing environment, higher education, IBM, innovation, new business models, programming, workplace, by Daniel Christian

IBM cranks up big data analytics training programs as government continues cloud moves [infographic] — from cmswire.com by David Roe

Excerpt (emphasis DSC):

IBM is clearly concerned about the big data skills shortage. It has announced the addition of another 9 universities to its big data training program. The economic importance of the program was also underlined this week by the announcement that it has just secured a US$ 1 billion federal contract for cloud computing.

Big Data, Analytics Skills Shortages

The problem for IT giants that are currently muscling into the big data market is that the development of the technology has been so rapid the number of big data/analytics projects currently underway far outweighs the number of people that have appropriate skills.

In fact between now and the end of 2015, IBM estimates that there will be 4.4 million jobs worldwide in big data support. At the moment it is not clear where all the people required to fill these positions are going to come from.

Some concepts/innovations that empower our learning ecosystems [Christian]

On 08/16/2013, in 21st century, analytics, blended learning, Daniel S. Christian, data related items, digital learning, elearning, emerging technologies, higher education, ideas, innovation, learning ecosystem, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, more voice more choice more control, motivation, New "Amazon.com" of Higher Education, online learning, student-related, by Daniel Christian

Introducing…the Learning Dashboard — from khanacademy.org on Thu, 15 Aug 2013

Excerpt:

The new learning dashboard is your personal homepage on Khan Academy. The dashboard gives you an easy way to find the best next things for you to do. It has a bunch of really cool things designed to help you learn math, and soon other subjects, really well on your own or with a coach.

From DSC:
This is the type of innovation that makes online/blended learning even more powerful/useful.

The NYT just made it way easier to remix its journalism — from by Robinson Meyer
Bringing the simple power of logic (if! then!) to the social web

Excerpt (emphasis DSC):

The New York Times has now opened a channel at the website If This, Then That (IFTTT). For journalism hackers and tinkering readers, this is fine news.

IFTTT is elegantly useful and usefully elegant. For a variety of sites and services (Evernote! Instagram! Dropbox!), IFTTT combines “triggers” and “actions,” so that when one thing happens on one service, something else happens on another. You can say, if I take a picture on Instagram, then automatically save it to Dropbox.

Or: If my Facebook profile picture changes, then (automatically) change my Twitter picture too.

It even connects to SMS, so you can say: If it begins to rain in my zipcode, then text me about it.

From DSC:
How might this concept be used in conjunction with digital playlists/learning? If I finished the XYZ module over here at U of X, then start ABC over here at ___.

Apple gears up for the video discovery wars — from fastcolabs.com by Michael Grothaus
Think Apple’s Matcha.tv acquisition was about its programming guide service? You’re probably wrong. There’s a new war brewing in online video: helping users find the stuff they want.

From DSC:
Instead of discovering videos only, how about discovering items along the lines of what you are trying to learn more about? i.e. Matcha.tv meets Google Alerts meets IBM’s Watson.

The Coming Big Data Education Revolution — from by Doug Guthrie
Big data, not MOOCS, will give institutions the predictive tools they need to improve outcomes for individual students

Excerpt (emphasis):

Don’t get me wrong, online learning will fundamentally transform higher education, bridging distances and creating access in ways that have not been possible before. But, in this arena, MOOCs are not a transformative innovation that will forever remake academia. That honor belongs to a more disruptive and far-reaching innovation – “big data.” A catchall phrase that refers to the vast numbers of data sets that are collected daily, big data promises to revolutionize online learning and, in doing so, higher education.

Big data in the online learning space will give institutions the predictive tools they need to improve learning outcomes for individual students. By designing a curriculum that collects data at every step of the student learning process, universities can address student needs with customized modules, assignments, feedback and learning trees in the curriculum that will promote better and richer learning.

Also see:

A “Napster Moment” in Education — from news.yahoo.com
Excerpt:
Digital education is like whitewater rafting. Or like the Napster era in music. The two analogies were among many that came up yesterday as panelists considered the future of technology in education at a Scientific American and Macmillan Science & Education summit on “Learning in the Digital Age,” at Google’s New York headquarters.

Reflections on “How to make online courses massively personal” [Peter Norvig]

On 07/25/2013, in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, active learning, Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, Daniel S. Christian, data related items, digital learning, education technology, elearning, emerging technologies, engagement / engaging students, future of higher education, game-changing environment, higher education, human-computer interaction (HCI), ideas, innovation, intelligent systems, intelligent tutoring, internet, learning agents, learning ecosystem, learning preferences, love of learning, MOOCs -- Massive Open Online Courses, more voice more choice more control, multimedia, new business models, online learning, online media, online tutoring, participation, personalized/customized learning, professional development, reinvent, social learning / networks, streams of content, student-related, teaching & learning, training / L&D, ubiquitous learning, using teams, web-based collaboration, by Daniel Christian

How to make online courses massively personal — from scientificamerican.com by Peter Norvig
How thousands of online students can get the effect of one-on-one tutoring

Excerpt (emphasis DSC):

Educators have known for 30 years that students perform better when given one-on-one tutoring and mastery learning—working on a subject until it is mastered, not just until a test is scheduled. Success also requires motivation, whether from an inner drive or from parents, mentors or peers.

Will the rise of massive open online courses (MOOCs) quash these success factors? Not at all. In fact, digital tools offer our best path to cost-effective, personalized learning.

I know because I have taught both ways.

…

Inspired by Nobel laureate Herbert Simon’s comment that “learning results from what the student does and thinks and only from what the student does and thinks,” we created a course centered on the students doing things and getting frequent feedback. Our “lectures” were short (two- to six-minute) videos designed to prime the attendees for doing the next exercise. Some problems required the application of mathematical techniques described in the videos. Others were open-ended questions that gave students a chance to think on their own and then to hash out ideas in online discussion forums.

…

That is why a properly designed automated intelligent tutoring system can foster learning outcomes as well as human instructors can, as Kurt van Lehn found in a 2011 meta-analysis in Educational Psychologist.

From DSC:
A potential learning scenario in the future:

“Learning Agent, go find me a MOOC (or what the MOOC will morph into) about ________.”
Similar to a Google Alert, the Learning Agent returns some potential choices. I select one.
.
Once there… “System, let’s begin.” I begin taking the online-based course — which is stocked full of a variety of media, some interactive, that I get to choose from for each module/item based upon my personal preferences — and the intelligent tutoring system kicks in and responses at relevant points based upon my questions, answers, responses. The system uses AI, data mining, learning analytics, to see how I’m doing. It tracks this for each student. Humans regularly review the data to begin noticing patterns and to tweak the algorithms based upon these patterns.
.
If at any time I find the responses from the automated intelligent tutoring system confusing or weak, I will:
- Make note of why I’m confused or disagree with the response (via an online-based form entry on the page; this feedback gets instantly sent to the Team of Specialists in charge of the “course.” They will use it to tweak the course/algorithms.)
- Ask to speak with a person, at which point I am asked to choose whether my inquiry would best be handled by a Subject Matter Expert (SME) at $___/hour/request (more expensive price) or by an entry-level tutor (at a lower $___/hour/request). I then enter into a videoconference-based tutoring session with them, and they can access my records and even take over my screen (if I let them). Once I get my questions answered, I return to the course and continue.

From DSC:
A twist on the above scenario would be if a cohorted group of people — not age-based — met in a physical place/room and were able to bounce ideas off of each other before anyone ante’d up for additional expenses by contacting a tutor and/or an SME. They could even share the expenses of the “call” (so-to-speak).

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