disruption

Reflections on “15 Calif. community colleges to offer bachelor degrees” [Plantz]

On 10/16/2014, in change, changing business models, colleges, community colleges, cost of getting a degree, dangers of the status quo, Daniel S. Christian, disruption, higher education, new business models, pace of change, reinvent, staying relevant, student-related, surviving, universities, by Daniel Christian

15 Calif. community colleges to offer bachelor degrees — from usatoday.com by Kyle Plantz

Excerpt:

Paving the way for one of the largest community college systems in the United States to offer four-year degrees, on Sept. 28 California Gov. Jerry Brown signed into law a bill that will create a pilot program for 15 community colleges across the state to fill a growing workforce demand for college-educated, skilled workers in fields such as health, science and technology.

Also see:

Community colleges increasingly adding bachelor’s degrees — from hechingerreport.org by Jon Marcus
Excerpt:
It’s St. Petersburg College, formerly St. Petersburg Junior College, one of an increasing number of community colleges around the country that have started offering four-year bachelor’s degrees in fields for which there is high job demand.

.

From DSC:
I put a similar item out there on Twitter about this same topic and someone came back with some verbiage that hit me as strange…it caught me off guard. She mentioned the word “war” between community colleges and other colleges/universities. I don’t think that’s the word I would use and I think the greater concern for those of us working within higher education might be the dynamics as found in this recent posting. That’s what higher ed should be far more concerned with — i.e. alternatives that keep developing because higher ed is too slow to respond to increasing costs and is not keeping up with a world that’s spinning at speeds that continue to change exponentially, not incrementally.

.

ExponentialNotLinearSparksNHoney-Spring2013

Companies creating their own academies/schools: 2 recent examples

On 10/13/2014, in corporate / business world, corporate universities / corporate training, cost of getting a degree, creativity, dangers of the status quo, Daniel S. Christian, digital learning, disruption, future of higher education, game-changing environment, higher education, innovation, online learning, pace of change, personalized/customized learning, training / L&D, workplace, by Daniel Christian

From DSC:
Last week, I ran across 2 postings that involved companies creating their own platforms and methods of educating and training folks — especially for their own industry and their own business needs. They were:

A relevant aside/excerpt from Learning TRENDS by Elliott Masie – October 10, 2014 | #851 – Updates on Learning, Business & Technology

Stephen Colbert – “Appointment TV” – Carol Burnett Perspective: Last night, a fun convergence happened between the Stephen Colbert TV Show, Learning, Carol Burnnett and Appointment TV.

As you may know, MASIE Productions is co-producing Love Letters – Starring Carol Burnett starting tomorrow on Broadway. She was interviewed on the Colbert TV Show and asked about the change in how people watch and consume media and content.

Stephen Colbert noted that when her show was on decades ago, she had 50 million viewers each week for the Carol Burnett Show. Carol noted:

* Every Saturday night there were these shows on in row: Archie Bunker, MASH, Mary Tyler Moore, Bob Newhart, Carol Burnett

* She joked that, back then – in 1967 – “There was only 1 channel on TV” – though there were only a few 🙂

* But, she said that the difference was that it was “APPOINTMENT TELEVISION” – People made a plan, to sit together with family and friends, and watch a show together – as others did at the same time around the country.

I loved her phrase “APPOINTMENT TELEVISION”. In relates directly to Learning. Much of what we did, for decades, was “APPOINTMENT TRAINING” – a parallel to the same trend in the workplace. But, now the shift is towards many – many – more options – and viewer/learner freedom to choose when, what, how long and how often.

Also see:

Is innovation outpacing education? — from techpageone.dell.com by Dmitry Sheynin
Futurist Thomas Frey believes ‘micro-colleges’ will educate the workforce of the future.

Online learning could fundamentally change role of universities [Christensen; Smith]

On 10/01/2014, in 21st century, colleges, community colleges, disruption, future of higher education, game-changing environment, higher education, innovation, intelligent systems, intelligent tutoring, learning ecosystem, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, MOOCs -- Massive Open Online Courses, more voice more choice more control, new business models, online learning, universities, workplace, by Daniel Christian

Excerpt:

Higher education institutions are poised for a massive shake-up, not unlike what tech companies experienced in the 1980s during the rise of the PC, said EDUCAUSE’s first general session speaker.

…

“Disruption is always a great opportunity before it becomes a threat,” he said.

…

“In the future, I don’t think universities themselves will be nearly as prominent as they have been in the past,” he said.

Also see:

EDUCAUSE 2014: Has the disruption begun? — from extremenetworks.com by Bob Nilsson
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Michael B. Horn on Disruptive Innovation in Higher Education: How online competency based learning is changing the higher education landscape — from lambdasolutions.net by Sean Hougan

Disruption ahead: What MOOCs will mean for MBA programs [Ulrich, Terwiesch]

On 07/27/2014, in disruption, education technology, future, game-changing environment, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, MBA, MOOCs -- Massive Open Online Courses, streams of content, vision/possibilities, by Daniel Christian

From DSC:
A paraphrased excerpt:

When I watch my teenagers do their math, they use their laptops, smartphones (to text their friends), and they watch YouTube videos to explain how to do the problems.

This statement made me reflect on the vision that I’m pursuing re: the use of second screen apps in learning as it relates to Learning from the Living [Class] Room.

The video was interesting to watch, and the topic grabbed my eye — i.e., will MOOCs impact MBA programs and if so, what might the potential scenarios look like?

I appreciated the excellent example of peering into the future, developing some scenarios, and planning for those scenarios NOW.

Also see:

Would graduate school work better if you never graduated from it? — from thechronicle.com by Steve Kolowich

Excerpt:

Learning continues long after college ends. What if being enrolled in college was also a lifelong condition?

That is how Christian Terwiesch, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School, thinks graduate business programs might work in the future.

He and a colleague, Karl T. Ulrich, vice dean of innovation at Wharton, have published a paper on how the ascent of short video lectures—the kind popularized by massive open online courses and Khan Academy—might change the cost and structure of top business programs like Wharton’s. The short answer is that they probably won’t, at least not anytime soon.
…

The business school eventually might have to provide chunks of its curriculum on demand over a student’s whole career, he said, rather than during a two-year stretch at the beginning.

From DSC:
I like that question — Would graduate school work better if you never graduated from it? — as it speaks to me of tapping into the streams of content that are constantly flowing by us now…and doing so throughout our lifetimes. That’s one possible scenario for the delivery mechanism for some of our educational programs in the future.

Reflections on “C-Suite TV debuts, offers advice for the boardroom” [Dreier]

On 07/21/2014, in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, A/V -- audio/visual, adult learning, analytics, Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, cloud-based computing / apps / other cloud-related, collaboration, communities of practice, convergence, corporate / business world, corporate universities / corporate training, cost of getting a degree, dangers of the status quo, Daniel S. Christian, data related items, digital learning, digital storytelling, digital textbooks, digital video, disruption, distance education, education technology, educational games / serious games, elearning, emerging technologies, engagement / engaging students, future of higher education, game-changing environment, global / globalization, heutagogy, higher education, homeschooling/homeschoolers, human-computer interaction (HCI), IBM, ideas, innovation, intelligent systems, intelligent tutoring, interactivity, learner profiles, learning, learning agents, learning ecosystem, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, learning hubs & pods & microschooling, learning spaces, lifelong learning, machine-to-machine communications, mirroring and/or multiple devices, mobile learning, MOOCs -- Massive Open Online Courses, more voice more choice more control, multimedia, new business models, new media literacies, online learning, online tutoring, participation, personalized/customized learning, platforms, second screen apps, social learning / networks, streams of content, student-related, technologies for your home, telecommunications, television, training / L&D, trends, TVs, ubiquitous learning, user experience (UX), videoconferencing, web-based collaboration, by Daniel Christian

C-Suite TV debuts, offers advice for the boardroom — from streamingmedia.com by Troy Dreier
Business leaders now have an on-demand video network to call their own, thanks to one Bloomberg host’s online venture.

Excerpt:

Bringing some business acumen to the world of online video, C-Suite TV is launching today. Created by Bloomberg TV host and author Jeffrey Hayzlett, the on-demand video network offers interviews with and shows about business execs. It promises inside information on business trends and the discussions taking place in the biggest boardrooms.

The Future of TV is here for the C-Suite — from hayzlett.com by Jeffrey Hayzlett

Excerpt:

Rather than wait for networks or try and gain traction through the thousands of cat videos, we went out and built our own network.

See also:

Mind your own business
From the About page:
C-Suite TV is a web-based digital on-demand business channel featuring interviews and shows with business executives, thought leaders, authors and celebrities providing news and information for business leaders. C-Suite TV is your go-to resource to find out the inside track on trends and discussions taking place in businesses today. This online channel will be home to such shows as C-Suite with Jeffrey Hayzlett, MYOB – Mind Your Own Business and Bestseller TV with more shows to come.

From DSC:
The above items took me back to the concept of Learning from the Living [Class] Room.

Many of the following bullet points are already happening — but what I’m trying to influence/suggest is to bring all of them together in a powerful, global, 24 x 7 x 365, learning ecosystem:

When our “TVs” become more interactive…
When our mobile devices act as second screens and when second screen-based apps are numerous…
When discussion boards, forums, social media, assignments, assessments, and videoconferencing capabilities are embedded into our Smart/Connected TVs and are also available via our mobile devices…
When education is available 24 x 7 x 365…
When even the C-Suite taps into such platforms…
When education and entertainment are co-mingled…
When team-based educational content creation and delivery are mainstream…
When self-selecting Communities of Practice thrive online…
When Learning Hubs combine the best of both worlds (online and face-to-face)…
When Artificial Intelligence, powerful cognitive computing capabilities (i.e., IBM’s Watson), and robust reporting mechanisms are integrated into the backends…
When lifelong learners have their own cloud-based profiles…
When learners can use their “TVs” to tap into interactive, multimedia-based streams of content of their choice…
When recommendation engines are offered not just at Netflix but also at educationally-oriented sites…
When online tutoring and intelligent tutoring really take off…

…then I’d say we’ll have a powerful, engaging, responsive, global education platform.

Can disruption save higher education? [Stansbury]

On 06/10/2014, in change, changing business models, cost of getting a degree, dangers of the status quo, disruption, future of higher education, game-changing environment, higher education, innovation, leadership, new business models, online learning, reinvent, staying relevant, strategy, surviving, trends, vision/possibilities, by Daniel Christian

Can disruption save higher education? — from eCampus News by Meris Stansbury

Excerpts (emphasis DSC):

Christensen: “The question now is: ‘Is there something that can’t be displaced within a traditional university’s value offering?'”

…

However, Christensen outlined three ways traditional colleges and universities, like his own Harvard Business school, could survive into the future:

Focus on professors
[when recruiting faculty]…focus less on their publishing capabilities and expert knowledge of material, and more on their ability to connect to others.

Understand why technology, like online learning, is disruptive.

Don’t try to change from the inside — you will fail. [Use offsets.]

Business School, Disrupted [ Useem]

On 06/02/2014, in disruption, MBA, new business models, online learning, by Daniel Christian

Business School, Disrupted — from nytimes.com by Jerry Useem

Excerpt:

The question: Should Harvard Business School enter the business of online education, and, if so, how?

Universities across the country are wrestling with the same question — call it the educator’s quandary — of whether to plunge into the rapidly growing realm of online teaching, at the risk of devaluing the on-campus education for which students pay tens of thousands of dollars, or to stand pat at the risk of being left behind.

Reflections on “I actually don’t know any of the people you just mentioned . . .” [Hampson]

On 06/01/2014, in 21st century, change, changing business models, disruption, future of higher education, higher education, liberal arts, by Daniel Christian

“I actually don’t know any of the people you just mentioned . . .” — from Management & Strategy in Digital Higher Ed by Dr. Keith Hampson

Excerpt:

Colgate University hosted an event last week. “Innovation + Disruption Symposium“. The keynote was none other than Clay Christensen, the Godfather of Disruption Innovation. Following his talk, seven University Presidents of private universities fielded questions from the moderator.

…

But a few moments stood out; here’s my favourite. Clay Christensen – having done his bit on disruptive innovation in higher education – was sitting in the audience listening to the Presidents field questions. He rose and noted, half-jokingly, that everyone on the panel disagreed with everything he had just said about the coming disruption in higher education. Laughs ensued. He then asked the panel to imagine that a second panel was on stage with them. This second panel included the Founder of the Khan Academy, Paul Leblanc of Southern New Hampshire University, the President of Western Governors University, and others that are commonly believed to be leading the changes that are unfolding in higher education. Christensen asked the panel to consider what this second, imaginary panel might say that is different from what he had been hearing.

The response? David Oxtoby, President of Pomona College fielded the question: “I actually don’t know any of the people you just mentioned, but . . .”

You can’t make this stuff up. I don’t recall ever hearing or reading anything that so succinctly illustrates the existence of different worlds and perspectives within higher education.

Also see:

Question of the day: How worried should higher education leaders be about the future? — from news.colgate.edu by Barbara Brooks on May 5, 2014
Excerpt:
After Clayton Christensen predicted that half of higher education institutions will either be facing bankruptcy or in liquidation within 10 to 15 years, six liberal arts presidents expressed varying degrees of concern, ranging from “not worried” (Georgia Nugent, president emeritus of Kenyon College) to “only the paranoid survive” (Colgate President Jeffrey Herbst).

From DSC:
I love Keith’s line: “You can’t make this stuff up.” Then later on in his posting, “Yet, the President of a university – having accepted an invitation to an event to talk about disruptive innovation in higher education – has not heard of many of the people behind these changes. Wow. Just wow.” Thanks Keith — right on!

My comment is this:
Too many presidents and those in leadership waaaay underestimate what can be done online. They didn’t grow up with many of the technologies we have today and, quite frankly, they aren’t sold on them. Nor have many of them taken an online course recently (or ever) themselves, I’d guess.They also have very vested interests in keeping things the way they are; they have to guard/craft their public-facing words very carefully.

Many leaders throughout higher education also neglect to highlight/mention/recognize that online learning doesn’t come with multimillion dollar, physical plant-related expenses. Online learning can be expensive, depending upon the level of sophistication one wants to achieve. However, there are no buildings to maintain. There are no elevators to fix. There are no lawns to mow. There are no sidewalks to repair. There are no heating bills. There are no lightbulbs/fixtures to maintain…walls to paint…etc., etc. Adding additional storage space or purchasing a new server is much more affordable than developing a new building. Online learning doesn’t care much about the buildings “arms race.”

So I wonder, how will face-to-face learning be able to compete in the future? Or…is that not even the question? Many have asked another question, “Will only the very wealthy be able to afford an on-campus experience?”

Internet Trends 2014 — Mary Meeker [KPCB]

On 05/29/2014, in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, A/V -- audio/visual, Amazon, analytics, Apple, Asia, business, Canada, change, changing business models, cloud-based computing / apps / other cloud-related, collaboration, communications, convergence, corporate / business world, dangers of the status quo, data related items, disruption, emerging technologies, Europe, global / globalization, Google, human-computer interaction (HCI), IBM, innovation, interactivity, internet, marketing/social marketing, marketplaces, mobile technologies, more voice more choice more control, pace of change, platforms, social media, society, strategy, streams of content, technologies for your home, technology (general), telecommunications, television, trends, TVs, UK, United States, user experience (UX), vision/possibilities, web-based collaboration, workplace, youth, by Daniel Christian

Example slides:

Reflections on “Strategic principles for competing in the digital age” [Hirt & Willmott]

On 05/19/2014, in corporate / business world, dangers of the status quo, Daniel S. Christian, disruption, global / globalization, strategy, UK, United States, vision/possibilities, workplace, by Daniel Christian

Strategic principles for competing in the digital age — from mckinsey.com by Martin Hirt and Paul Willmott
Digitization is rewriting the rules of competition, with incumbent companies most at risk of being left behind. Here are six critical decisions CEOs must make to address the strategic challenge posed by the digital revolution.

Excerpts:

Today’s challenge is different. Robust attackers are scaling up with incredible speed, inserting themselves artfully between you and your customers and zeroing in on lucrative value-chain segments.

The digital technologies underlying these competitive thrusts may not be new, but they are being used to new effect.

…

As these technologies gain momentum, they are profoundly changing the strategic context: altering the structure of competition, the conduct of business, and, ultimately, performance across industries.

Also see:

Digital strategy — from mckinsey.com by Paul Willmott
Digitization is fundamentally altering the nature of competition. McKinsey’s Paul Willmott explains how digital winners think and what companies can do to compete.

Excerpt:

Digital is fundamentally shifting the competitive landscape in many sectors. It allows new entrants to come from unexpected places. We’re seeing banks get into the travel business in some countries. We’re seeing travel agents get into the insurance business. We’re seeing retailers go into the media business. So your competitor set is not what it used to be.

One thing that digital allows is what I call “plug and play dynamics”—meaning that companies can attack specific areas of the value chain rather than having to own the whole thing. This is because digital allows different services to be stitched together more quickly and cheaply.

From DSC:
The above two items made me wonder:

Do these principles apply to the corporate world only?
Or might they also apply to the world of higher education?
Are digital startups going to come between established colleges and universities and their normal “pipelines” of students?

Assuming that such startups can create quality alternatives at far less expensive prices, I would say the answer to that is “yes, at least a significant amount of the time.” The word cannibalize was used in the “Strategic principles…” article, and again, I can’t help but think of Steve Jobs’ philosophy of cannibalizing one’s own company before someone else does it for you. I also can’t help but reflect that Apple is the worlds’ largest/most valuable company based on market cap.

There is danger in the status quo — especially if the status quo means taking no action whatsoever.

Failure is not fatal, but failure to change might be.

— Coach John Wooden

Also see:

The $10,000 Bachelor’s Degree — from U.S. Chamber of Commerce
Excerpt:
Starting this fall, Southern New Hampshire University will offer a bachelor’s degree for $10,000.What makes this online program unique is that it is ‘competency-based’ as opposed to the credit-based system that the majority of colleges offer. So, instead of earning credit hours towards degree completion, students will be tested on how well they know the subject matter. Once a student passes the assessment, he or she can move on to the next competency.
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The $10,000 degree: Fundamentally changing the way universities do business — from evolllution.com by Jean Floten | Chancellor, Western Governors University Washington
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Whither higher education? To the opera! — by Allison Rossett
Excerpt:
Higher education and opera face threats and opportunities in cultures deep with pomp, brilliance, ego, passion, longing, losses, greed, and alliances. For higher education there is an infusion of new blood, with educational technology firms attracting 1.25 billion dollars in funding in 2013, according to CB Insights. The interest continues into 2014. While the investment numbers for opera are small, some communities are stepping up, as San Diego is now, providing funding while asking for reinvention.Reinvention? How will higher education and opera respond? The answer is that some will, and some won’t. I’m hoping that our opera and universities will step forward with bold strategic changes, measured results, and commitment to continuous improvement. Either they will do that, or I’m pretty sure that something will do it to them.

Five trends to watch in higher education — from The Boston Consulting Group
Excerpt:
- Revenue from key sources is continuing to fall, putting many institutions at severe financial risk.
- Demands are rising for a greater return on investment in higher education.
- Greater transparency about student outcomes is becoming the norm.
- New business and delivery models are gaining traction.
- The globalization of education is accelerating.

20 forecasts for 2014-2030 from the World Future Society
Trends and breakthroughs likely to affect your work, your investments, and your family

Excerpts:

At the outset, let me say that futurists do not claim to predict precisely what will happen in the future. If we could know the future with certainty, it would mean that the future could not be changed. Yet this is the main purpose of studying the future: to look at what may happen if present trends continue, decide if this is desirable, and, if it’s not, work to change it.

The main goal of studying the future is to make it better. Trends, forecasts, and ideas about the future enable you to spot opportunities and threats early, and position yourself, your business, and your investments accordingly.

How you can succeed in the age of hyperchange
Look how quickly our world is transforming around us. Entire new industries and technologies unheard of 15 years ago are now regular parts of our lives. Technology, globalization, and the recent financial crisis have left many of us reeling. It’s increasingly difficult to keep up with new developments—much less to understand their implications.

And, if you think things are changing fast now, you haven’t seen anything yet.

In this era of accelerating change, knowledge alone is no longer the key to a prosperous life. The critical skill is foresight.

7 ways to spot tomorrow’s trends today

Scan the media to identify trends
Analyze and extrapolate trends
Develop scenarios
Ask groups of experts
Use computer modeling
Explore possibilities with simulations
Create the vision

From DSC:
As I was watching “The Future of Higher Education: MOOCs and Disruptive Innovation,” a video recorded last August, (GW’s School of Business) Dean Doug Guthrie mentioned a company named In the Telling. The name of that company piqued my curiosity, so I went to look at that company, and what instantly struck me about their offerings were the use of:

A team-based approach to education
The use of digital storytelling
Software as a Service

Dean Guthrie’s comments on interaction, community building, and customization rang true for me, but it was the customization part that really grabbed me. And there too, most likely it will take a team of people to understand and use the data, to build the algorithms that Doug was talking about to deliver the learning trees of the future (and I would add the phrases/terms learning paths and learning playlists).

I have it that as MOOCs continue to morph and as the perfect storm in higher education continues to amass, those institutions who implement a team-based approach to content creation, delivery, and assessment will be the ones who thrive in the future.

This thought was further brought home when I viewed Phil Hill and Michael Feldstein discussing “Online Learning – What Is It Good For?” Consider the appearance of the word TEAM in the following graphics:

From DSC:
Sometimes, the advice of the old economy no longer applies.

Growing up, our family had a wonderful neighbor named Dr. John Evans. He had worked for a large, successful company called Upjohn (in the pharmaceutical industry) for most, if not all, of his career. I used to mow his lawn. I remember him giving me some lemonade or pop on those hot summer days here in Michigan. On one such occasion, I recall him saying to me, “Danny…you just need to find a good company and hop on board. You can ride that train for a long time.”

That strategy worked very well for him. He had been with Upjohn for many years before retiring from that corporation. So that advice was spot on — for the economy and job market that he had known and participated in.

So, upon graduating from college, I tried to implement that strategy. My first job out of college was with a company called Baxter Healthcare (a large corporation that had just merged with American Hospital Supply and began laying off numerous people, as many jobs were then duplicated). Anyway, that employment lasted all of 4 years before all employees in our division of Baxter had to move to Florida or New York or lose their jobs. As I didn’t want to move at the time, I was forced to find another job. (I’m quite sure many people out there who were working in the U.S. in the 80’s and 90’s — the decades of some serious merger and acquisition activity — can relate to such experiences.)

Anyway, these memories came back to me when I recently read a sentence from Sarah Kendzior’s Nov 2013 piece entitled Surviving the post-employment economy. That sentence said, “If you are 35 or younger – and quite often, older – the advice of the old economy does not apply to you.”

Wow. That rang true with me. It surely resonated with my experience.

So, as the growth of contingent workers continues, I’d like to join many others in putting some new advice out there. My advice to folks — especially to you younger people — would be to take courses, subscribe to the RSS feeds of relevant blogs, follow people on Twitter, and build your personal learning network (at least in part) around the topics of:

Entrepreneurship
Running your own business
Creativity
Being able to adapt, pivot
Experimentation
Freelancing
Disruption
Learning how to learn
Lifelong learning
Identifying and following your passions
Futurism — and learning how to pulse check a variety of landscapes

That’s my 2 cents for now.

Reflections on “TVs are becoming the next app battleground” [Adler]

On 03/01/2014, in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, A/V -- audio/visual, active learning, analytics, Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, Australia, Bring your own device (BYOD), changing business models, cloud-based computing / apps / other cloud-related, collaboration, communications, communities of practice, convergence, cost of getting a degree, Daniel S. Christian, digital audio, digital learning, digital storytelling, digital textbooks, digital video, disruption, global / globalization, India, informal learning, innovation, intelligent systems, intelligent tutoring, interactivity, internet, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, learning hubs & pods & microschooling, media/film, mobile learning, mobile technologies, MOOCs -- Massive Open Online Courses, more voice more choice more control, motivation, multimedia, Near Field Communication (NFC), new business models, online learning, online media, online tutoring, participation, personalized/customized learning, platforms, second screen apps, smart classrooms, social learning / networks, social media, streams of content, student-related, technologies for your home, television, TVs, by Daniel Christian

TVs are becoming the next app battleground — from by Emily Adler

Excerpt:

The app store phenomenon, centered on smartphones and tablets, has been the biggest story in software for the past five years.

Its next logical destination: the living room, via smart TVs and set-top boxes connected to the Internet.

…

The smart TV app revolution is inevitable: People spend four hours in front of their TVs in the U.S., and 63% of all global ad spending goes to TVs. The old guard, represented by cable and entertainment conglomerates, will not be able to fend off improvements like those that apps are bringing to mobile phones.
.
The smart TV revolution will not just be led by new TVs with built-in Internet connections, it will also result from consumer adoption of less expensive game consoles or set-top boxes like Roku and Apple TV, which transform traditional TVs into smart TVs with access to app stores. At least 20% of U.S. consumers already have their TVs connected in one of these ways.

From DSC:

Keep an eye on the convergence of the telephone, the television, and the computer.
.
Start thinking of ways that you could provide learning/educationally-based experiences with second screen apps. What would that experience look and act like?
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If such “channels” come to fruition — and happen to coincide with MOOCs and advances in cognitive computing (such as IBM’s Watson) — the word disruption comes to mind.
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The trick, then, will be to offer streams of content that are relevant, and up-to-date.
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Such a platform could be used in learning hubs throughout the world, as well as in hybrid/blended classrooms — while also addressing lifelong learners from their living rooms.
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Such a platform could take Communities of Practice to an entirely new level.

Addendum/also see:

4 items re: cognitive computing and (virtual) personal assistants

On 02/27/2014, in Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, computer science, disruption, IBM, mobile learning, mobile technologies, programming, by Daniel Christian

Cognitive Computing will drive next era of Disruptive Tech — from intelligenthq.com by Hayden Richards

Excerpt:

Expect the next era of disruptive technology to come from cognitive computing, (CC) as the use of smart machines becomes more of a reality. This revelation comes from the second whitepaper in the Riding the next wave series – Cognitive computing commisioned by BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT. At the moment we can already see this in play in smart factories and other areas of manufacturing. Cognitive systems are poised to become highly controversial in the next 10 years as they begin to take over tasks currently dependent on humans. This is the type of revolution we see hinted at in movies.

IBM courts mobile developers for Watson platform — from zdnet.com by Larry Dignan
Summary: The company launches a developer challenge to prime the app ecosystem pump for its Watson cognitive computing platform.

A Colorado software firm is programming your next professor — from forbes.com by James Marshall Crotty

Excerpts:

While CodeBaby’s avatars are currently used more on the corporate training end of the education spectrum, the demand for virtual teaching assistants is growing.

…

A Vanderbilt University software lab is in the roll-out stages of a learning tool called Betty’s Brain, wherein Betty, an avatar, “learns” about climate change from 5^th and 6^th grade students, forcing them to engage thoughtfully and creatively with difficult material.

The TeachME (Teaching in Mixed-reality Environments) program, under development at the University of Central Florida’s Synthetic Reality Lab, is already developing avatars to help with teacher training. But, in this case, it’s the students who’ve been digitized.

Microsoft’s Siri competitor to be named Cortana — from webpronews.com by Zach Walton

Excerpt:

Apple has Siri and Google has Google Voice Search/Google Now. Microsoft is the only one out of the big three that has yet to make its own personal assistant/potential love interest. If recent rumors come to fruition, however, Microsoft may have the most easily recognizable assistant of them all.

The Verge reports that the upcoming Windows Phone 8.1 will ship with new software called Cortana – named after Master Chief’s AI assistant from Microsoft’s successful Halo video game franchise. It’s being built as a replacement for the Bing search feature on Windows Phone, but it will also sport the features users have come to expect from personal assistants like Siri and Google Now.

Learning Ecosystems

Companies creating their own academies/schools: 2 recent examples

Online learning could fundamentally change role of universities [Christensen; Smith]

Disruption ahead: What MOOCs will mean for MBA programs [Ulrich, Terwiesch]

Can disruption save higher education? [Stansbury]

Business School, Disrupted [ Useem]

Reflections on “I actually don’t know any of the people you just mentioned . . .” [Hampson]

Reflections on “Strategic principles for competing in the digital age” [Hirt & Willmott]

20 forecasts for 2014-2030 from the World Future Society

Reflections on “In the Telling” — it’s going to take a team-based approach to compete in the future

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