interactivity - Learning Ecosystems

Reflections on “What factors help active learning classrooms succeed?” [Talbert]

On 01/16/2023, in 21st century, A/V -- audio/visual, active learning, adjunct faculty, adult learning, collaboration, colleges, communications, communities of practice, community colleges, corporate universities / corporate training, culture, Daniel S. Christian, design, digital audio, digital learning, digital video, distance education, education technology, engagement / engaging students, experimentation, face-to-face, faculty, higher education, instructional design, interactivity, IT in HE, law schools, leadership, learning, learning ecosystem, Learning Experience Design, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, learning spaces, liberal arts, participation, pedagogy, research, social learning / networks, social media, strategy, student-related, teaching & learning, training / L&D, United States, universities, user experience (UX), using teams, videoconferencing, vision/possibilities, by Daniel Christian

What factors help active learning classrooms succeed? — from rtalbert.org Robert Talbert

Excerpt:

The idea that the space in which you do something, affects the thing you do is the basic premise behind active learning classrooms (ALCs).
…
The biggest message I get from this study is that in order to have success with active learning classrooms, you can’t just build them — they have to be introduced as part of an ecosystem that touches almost all parts of the daily function of a university: faculty teaching, faculty development and support, facilities, and the Registrar’s Office to name a few. Without that ecosystem before you build an ALC, it seems hard to have success with students after it’s built. You’re more likely to have an expensive showcase that looks good but ultimately does not fulfill its main purpose: Promoting and amplifying active learning, and moving the culture of a campus toward active engagement in the classroom.

From DSC:
Thank you Robert for your article/posting here! And thank you for being one of the few faculty members who:

Regularly share information out on LinkedIn, Twitter, and your blog (something that is all too rare for faculty members throughout higher education)
Took a sabbatical to go work at a company that designs and develops numerous options for implementing active learning setups throughout the worlds of higher education, K12 education, and the corporate world as well. You are taking your skills to help contribute to the corporate world, while learning things out in the corporate world, and then taking these learnings back into the world of higher education.

This presupposes something controversial: That the institution will take a stand on the issue that there is a preferred way to teach, namely active learning, and that the institution will be moving toward making active learning the default pedagogy at the institution. Putting this stake in the ground, and then investing not only in facilities but in professional development and faculty incentives to make it happen, again calls for vigorous, sustained leadership — at the top, and especially by the teaching/learning center director.

Robert Talbert

“Using Virtual Reality for Career Training” + “AI interviews in VR prepare students for real jobseeking”

On 11/03/2022, in 24x7x365 access, A/V -- audio/visual, animation, Canada, career development, communications, education, education technology, Europe, human-computer interaction (HCI), immersion, innovation, instructional design, intelligent systems, intelligent tutoring, interaction design, interactivity, Learning Experience Design, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, multimedia, participation, pedagogy, platforms, presentations, productivity / tips and tricks, real-world assignments, simulations, skills, student-related, teachers, teaching & learning, technologies for your home, tools, United States, user experience (UX), vendors, Virtual Reality (VR) / worlds / learning, vision/possibilities, vocational / trades, workplace, XR - extended reality, youth, by Daniel Christian

Using Virtual Reality for Career Training — from techlearning.com by Erik Ofgang
The Boys & Girls Clubs of Indiana have had success using virtual reality simulations to teach students about career opportunities.

a Woman with a virtual reality set on occupies one half of the screen. The other shows virtual tools that she is controlling.

Excerpts:

Virtual reality can help boost CTE programs and teach students about potential careers in fields they may know nothing about, says Lana Taylor from the Indiana Alliance of Boys & Girls Clubs of America.
…
One of those other resources has been a partnership with Transfer VR to provide students access to headsets to participate in career simulations that can give them a tactile sense of what working in certain careers might be like.

“Not all kids are meant to go to college, not all kids want to do it,” Taylor says. “So it’s important to give them some exposure to different careers and workforce paths that maybe they hadn’t thought of before.”

AI interviews in VR prepare students for real jobseeking — from inavateonthenet.net

How Long Should a Branching Scenario Be?— from christytuckerlearning.com by Christy Tucker
How long should a branching scenario be? Is 45 minutes too long? Is there an ideal length for a branching scenario?

Excerpt:

Most of the time, the branching scenarios and simulations I build are around 10 minutes long. Overall, I usually end up at 5-15 minutes for branching scenarios, with interactive video scenarios being at the longer end.

From DSC:
This makes sense to me, as (up to) 6 minutes turned out to be an ideal length for videos.

Excerpt from Optimal Video Length for Student Engagement — from blog.edx.org

The optimal video length is 6 minutes or shorter — students watched most of the way through these short videos. In fact, the average engagement time of any video maxes out at 6 minutes, regardless of its length. And engagement times decrease as videos lengthen: For instance, on average students spent around 3 minutes on videos that are longer than 12 minutes, which means that they engaged with less than a quarter of the content. Finally, certificate-earning students engaged more with videos, presumably because they had greater motivation to learn the material. (These findings appeared in a recent Wall Street Journal article, An Early Report Card on Massive Open Online Courses and its accompanying infographic.)

The take-home message for instructors is that, to maximize student engagement, they should work with instructional designers and video producers to break up their lectures into small, bite-sized pieces.

Why text-to-speech tools might have a place in your classroom with Dr. Kirsten Kohlmeyer – Easy TeTech Podcast 183 — from classtechtips.com by Monica Burns

Excerpt:

In this episode, Assistive Technology Director, Dr. Kirsten Kohlmeyer, joins to discuss the power of accessibility and text-to-speech tools in classroom environments. You’ll also hear plenty of digital resources to check out for text-to-speech options, audiobooks, and more!

Assistive tools can provide:

Text-to-speech
Definitions/vocabularies
Ability to level the Lexile level of a reading
Capability to declutter a website
More chances to read to learn something new
and more

Speaking of tools, also see:

Best online tools for creating interactive maps for students and teachers — from educatorstechnology.com by Med Kharbach, PhD

Best Venn Diagram Makers for Non-designers — from educatorstechnology.com by Med Kharbach, PhD

8 Ways to Use QR Codes in Higher Education Classrooms — from er.educause.edu by Tolulope (Tolu) Noah

Excerpt:

QR codes open up a world of possibility in the higher education setting. They provide a quick and easy way for students to access instructional materials, and they complement the design of more interactive and engaging learning experiences.

From DSC:
QR codes can bridge the physical world with the digital world — which is something about to take an exponential leap as more AR and MR-based hardware and software solutions hit the marketplace in the near future.

Bring Real-Time 3D Into the Classroom, and Teach for the Future [Oldrin & Hepnar]

On 09/22/2022, in 21st century, 3D, career development, design, digital learning, drama/theater, emerging technologies, experimentation, future, interaction design, interactivity, media/film, Metaverse, tools, vendors, Virtual Reality (VR) / worlds / learning, Web3, by Daniel Christian

Bring Real-Time 3D Into the Classroom, and Teach for the Future — from edsurge.com by Melissa Oldrin and Davis Hepnar

Excerpt:

Real-time 3D (RT3D) is redefining interactive content. No longer confined to the realm of video games, this technology now plays key roles in industries as wide-ranging as architecture, medicine, automotive, aerospace and film.

Demand is growing rapidly for developers, programmers and artists skilled in working with Unity—the leading platform for creating and operating real-time 3D content. As use cases expand, and the much-discussed metaverse takes shape, educators today have an opportunity to prepare their students for the technology careers of tomorrow.

Real-time 3D is a technology that creates three-dimensional models, environments and complete virtual worlds that can be rendered instantly. This content goes far beyond traditional formats like film, television and print because it isn’t static; it’s both immersive and interactive. And it offers incredibly lifelike graphics while giving users precise, immediate control over their experience. In doing so, RT3D creates endless possibilities for media production and engagement.

How to Use Edtech to Engage Introverted Learners — from edsurge.com by Stacey Roshan

Excerpts:

But we can leverage technology to create more equitable and empowering forums for discussion—to shift from a culture that praises the first person to raise their hand, to one where every individual has a platform to make their ideas seen and heard. I’m talking about using simple web apps.

As an introverted perfectionist who needed time to process and formulate a response before I was ready to share, I began to confuse faster with smarter. Because I saw my peers answering more questions than I was in class—and getting praised for it—I struggled to feel like I measured up.

And so, as a math teacher, it has become my mission to find ways to spotlight all of the unique voices and personalities in my classroom, and to celebrate the diverse approaches students choose to share, rather than valuing one.

Top Tools for Learning 2022 [Jane Hart]

On 09/02/2022, in adjunct faculty, Adobe, adult learning, Africa, Asia, Australia, blogs / blogging / vlogging, Bring your own device (BYOD), Canada, cloud-based computing / apps / other cloud-related, CMS/LMS, collaboration, colleges, communications, communities of practice, community colleges, content development, aggregation, repositories, corporate / business world, corporate universities / corporate training, creativity, design, digital audio, digital learning, digital photography, digital storytelling, digital textbooks, digital video, e-publishing related items (EPUB and more), education, education technology, educational games / serious games, elearning, engagement / engaging students, Europe, experimentation, face-to-face, faculty, Google, graphics, higher education, homeschooling/homeschoolers, human-computer interaction (HCI), instructional design, interactivity, IT in HE, K-12 related, law schools, learning, learning ecosystem, Learning Experience Design, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, learning preferences, liberal arts, library / librarians, lifelong learning, love of learning, Microsoft, multimedia, new media literacies, online learning, participation, Personal Learning Networks (PLNs), personalized/customized learning, platforms, play, podcasting, presentations, productivity / tips and tricks, professional development, RSS, simulations, social learning / networks, social media, society, storytelling, streams of content, student teaching/teacher education, student-related, teachers, teaching & learning, teaching online, technologies for your home, tools, training / L&D, trends, UK, United States, universities, vendors, videoconferencing, visualizing information, web design and production, workplace, by Daniel Christian

Top tools for learning 2022 — from toptools4learning.com by Jane Hart

Excerpt:

In fact, it has become clear that whilst 2021 was the year of experimentation – with an explosion of tools being used as people tried out new things, 2022 has been the year of consolidation – with people reverting to their trusty old favourites. In fact, many of the tools that were knocked off their perches in 2021, have now recovered their lost ground this year.

Also somewhat relevant/see:

Tech & Learning Names Winners of the Best for Back to School 2022 Awards — from techlearning.com
The best education technology tools and solutions for back to school 2022

DSC: An interesting new form of mobility.

On 08/13/2022, in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, 3D, A/V -- audio/visual, creativity, emerging technologies, human-computer interaction (HCI), innovation, interaction design, interactivity, UK, United States, vendors, Virtual Reality (VR) / worlds / learning, vision/possibilities, wearables, Web3, XR - extended reality, by Daniel Christian

DC: An interesting new form of mobility.https://t.co/PuhfM3Yz1k

— Daniel Christian (he/him/his) (@dchristian5) August 13, 2022

Brief reflections on “Brands Are Already Making Millions in the Metaverse. Here’s What Business Owners Need To Know.” [Sherry]

On 07/29/2022, in art, attention, business, cloud-based computing / apps / other cloud-related, collaboration, communications, communities of practice, content development, aggregation, repositories, creativity, education, education reform, education technology, educational games / serious games, Emotion, engagement / engaging students, experimentation, global / globalization, immersion, innovation, instructional design, interaction design, interactivity, K-12 related, Learning Experience Design, learning spaces, maker movement, marketing/social marketing, marketplaces, Metaverse, student-related, teachers, technologies for your home, United States, user experience (UX), vendors, Virtual Reality (VR) / worlds / learning, web-based collaboration, XR - extended reality, youth, by Daniel Christian

Brands Are Already Making Millions in the Metaverse. Here’s What Business Owners Need To Know. — from inc.com by Ben Sherry
Entrepreneurs who follow Gen-Z into the metaverse could gain a competitive advantage.

Excerpt (emphasis DSC):

If you’re still skeptical about the metaverse, you certainly aren’t alone. According to a recent survey, 55 percent of adults with yearly incomes over $100,000 said they were not interested or excited about the concept, while 37 percent said they were primarily worried about it. Only 6 percent of respondents claimed to be excited about the metaverse.

Those numbers might not seem encouraging, but it’s important to remember that one of the most popular metaverse platforms currently available, Roblox, averages more than 54 million daily users, the vast majority of whom are Gen-Z or younger. Those users have cumulatively spent more than $1 billion on digital items such as outfits or accessories designed to be worn by player avatars in addition to in-experience upgrades and various other paid features.

From DSC:
The article stated that over 30 million virtual worlds had been created from scratch using Roblox Studio, the platform’s creation engine. So youth are creating, sharing, and participating in virtual worlds all the time…while experimenting, playing, and practicing their creativity. This all is done outside of school. Hmm…

“Lawyers and the Metaverse”, 3 warnings re: virtual hearings, using tech to advance legal ed, & more

On 07/25/2022, in 21st century, Access to Justice (A2J), Asia, Blockchain, business, Canada, change, changing business models, cloud-based computing / apps / other cloud-related, collaboration, communications, copyright/ownership/NFTs, corporate / business world, cryptocurrencies, emerging technologies, experimentation, face-to-face, future, game-changing environment, human-computer interaction (HCI), immersion, innovation, interaction design, interactivity, law schools, legal technologies, legislatures / government / legal, new business models, platforms, privacy, society, strategy, telelegal, tools, United States, vendors, Virtual courts, Virtual Reality (VR) / worlds / learning, vision/possibilities, wearables, Web3, by Daniel Christian

How will the Metaverse Influence Business and Legal Processes? — from jdsupra.com

Excerpt:

While some will be hesitant to use the metaverse and adoption is difficult to predict, it is not going away and will undoubtedly affect internal processes, business dealings, case strategy, and more. Organizations should start thinking about the possibilities now to be better prepared for future challenges. Below are some predictions on how the metaverse will influence operations, strategy, and investments across different areas of the enterprise.

Lawyers & the Metaverse — from joetechnologist.com by Elizabeth Beattie and Joseph Raczynski

Excerpt:

In a new Q&A interview, Thomson Reuters’ technologist and futurist Joseph Raczynski offers his insight about the Metaverse and how it will impact the legal industry.

I have likely spoken to thousands of lawyers over the last several years. They are extraordinarily bright, but with one limiting factor — their dedication to their craft. This means that they do not have the time to lift their heads to see what is coming. All these emerging technologies will impact their practices in some way, as well as the business of law. At a minimum, lawyers need the opportunity to focus on the big four: AI, blockchain, workflow, and the grab bag of general emerging technology. There are a multitude of places to learn about these things, but I would include some of the classics such as Google Alerts, Twitter threads on these topics, and magazines like Wired, which should be a staple for everyone.

These legal issues should be on college business officers’ radars — from highereddive.com by Rick Seltzer
A panel at the National Association of College and University Business Officers’ annual meeting covered legal questions spanning many offices on campus.

Let’s not presume that virtual hearings are the best solution in family law — from canadianlawyermag.com by John Silvester

Excerpts:

Proponents argue that virtual hearings are less expensive for clients, leading to enhanced access to justice for those who cannot afford to pay for their lawyers to travel to a courthouse and then sit and wait for hearings to commence. Sounds reasonable, right?

Not so fast.
…
Virtual hearings are advantageous in some scenarios, but there are at least three reasons why moving to an almost entirely virtual legal world may prove problematic.

LawNext Podcast: CALI Executive Director John Mayer on Using Tech to Advance Legal Education and Access to Justice — from lawnext.com by Bob Ambrogi and John Mayer

Excerpt:

In this episode of LawNext, Mayer joins host Bob Ambrogi to discuss the history and mission of CALI and to share his thoughts on the use of technology to enhance legal education. They also talk about how and why A2J Author was developed and how it is used by courts and legal services organizations to help those who are without legal representation. Mayer also shares his thoughts on the future of innovation in law and on the future of CALI.

Louisiana Approves Virtual Custody Services and Proposes Virtual Currency Business Licensing Rules — from natlawreview.com by Moorari Shah and A.J. S. Dhaliwal

Excerpt:

Recently, the Louisiana lawmakers and regulators have taken steps to legalize operations in the state involving virtual currencies. On June 15, the Louisiana governor signed a bill that, effective August 1, 2022, will allow financial institutions and trust companies to provide virtual currency custody services to their customers as long as they satisfy certain requirements on risk-management and compliance. On June 20, the Louisiana Office of Financial Institutions (OFI) published proposed rules on licensing and regulation of virtual currency businesses in the state pursuant to the Louisiana Virtual Currency Business Act, which went into effect on August 1, 2020.

Matthew Ball on the metaverse: We’ve never seen a shift this enormous [Roettgers]

On 07/20/2022, in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, 3D, A/V -- audio/visual, career development, change, communications, content development, aggregation, repositories, corporate / business world, digital audio, digital learning, digital storytelling, digital video, drama/theater, emerging technologies, engagement / engaging students, future, human-computer interaction (HCI), ideas, innovation, interaction design, interactivity, interface design, internet, IT in HE, marketplaces, media/film, Metaverse, story, storytelling, technologies for your home, tools, Uncategorized, United States, vendors, videoconferencing, Virtual Reality (VR) / worlds / learning, vision/possibilities, wearables, web-based collaboration, Web3, XR - extended reality, by Daniel Christian

Matthew Ball on the metaverse: We’ve never seen a shift this enormous — protocol.com by Janko Roettgers
The leading metaverse theorist shares his thoughts on the sudden rise of the concept, its utility for the enterprise and what we still get wrong about the metaverse.

Excerpts:

What are the biggest misconceptions about the metaverse?
First, the idea that the metaverse is immersive virtual reality, such as an Oculus or Meta Quest. That’s an access device. It would be akin to saying the mobile internet is a smartphone.

We should think of the metaverse as perhaps changing the devices we use, the experiences, business models, protocols and behaviors that we enjoy online. But we’ll keep using smartphones, keyboards. We don’t need to do all video conferences or all calls in 3D. It’s supplements and complements, doesn’t replace everything.

Also relevant/see:

A former Amazon exec thinks Disney will win the metaverse — from protocol.com by

Excerpt:

This month, Ball is publishing his book, “The Metaverse: And How It Will Revolutionize Everything.” The work explains in detail what the metaverse is all about and which shifts in tech, business and culture need to fall into place for it to come into existence.

How will the metaverse change Hollywood? In his book, Ball argues that people tend to underestimate the changes new technologies will have on media and entertainment.

Instead of just seeing a movie play out in 360 degrees around us, we’ll want to be part of the movie and play a more active role.
One way to achieve that is through games, which have long blurred the lines between storytelling and interactivity. But Ball also predicts there will be a wide range of adjacent content experiences, from virtual Tinder dates in the “Star Wars” universe to Peloton rides through your favorite movie sets.

Addendum on 7/24/22:

Neurodiversity, Inclusion And The Metaverse — from workdesign.com by Derek McCallum

Excerpt:

Innovation in virtual and augmented reality platforms and the vast opportunities connected to the metaverse are driving innovation in nearly every industry. In the workplace, future-focused companies are increasingly exploring ways to use this nascent technology to offer workers more choices and better support for neurodiverse employees.

It would be nearly impossible to list all the challenges and opportunities associated with this technology in a single article, so I’ll keep things focused on an area that is top-of-mind right now as many of us start to make our way back into the office—the workplace. The truth is, while we can use our expertise and experience to anticipate outcomes, no one truly knows what the metaverse will become and what the wide-ranging effects will be. At the moment, the possibilities are exciting and bring to mind more questions than answers. As a principal and hands-on designer in a large, diverse practice, my hope is that we will be able to collectively harness the inherent opportunities of the metaverse to support richer, more accessible human experiences across all aspects of the built environment, and that includes the workplace.

‘Hologram patients’ and mixed reality headsets help train UK medical students in world first

On 07/18/2022, in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, 3D, A/V -- audio/visual, content development, aggregation, repositories, Design Thinking, digital audio, digital learning, digital video, education technology, emerging technologies, engagement / engaging students, experimentation, face-to-face, future, future of higher education, game-changing environment, global / globalization, health, higher education, Holographic comms, human-computer interaction (HCI), ideas, innovation, instructional design, intelligent systems, intelligent tutoring, interaction design, interactivity, learning, learning agents, learning ecosystem, Learning Experience Design, learning hubs & pods & microschooling, learning spaces, Mixed Reality (MR), UK, universities, usability, user experience (UX), using teams, vendors, XR - extended reality, by Daniel Christian

‘Hologram patients’ and mixed reality headsets help train UK medical students in world first — from uk.news.yahoo.com

Excerpts:

Medical students in Cambridge, England are experiencing a new way of “hands-on learning” – featuring the use of holographic patients.

Through a mixed reality training system called HoloScenarios, students at Addenbrooke’s Hospital, part of the Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, are now being trained via immersive holographic patient scenarios in a world first.
…
The new technology is aimed at providing a more affordable alternative to traditional immersive medical simulation training involving patient actors, which can demand a lot of resources.

Developers also hope the technology will help improve access to medical training worldwide.

The future of video entertainment: Immersive, gamified, and diverse — from mckinsey.com
“There’ll be a blurring of the lines between things we watch and things we play”

Slido Lesson Plan — from techlearning.com by Stephanie Smith Budhai, Ph.D.
This Slido Lesson Plan is designed to help educators implement the digital tool into their instruction

Excerpt:

Slido is an exciting online engagement edtech tool that can be used to connect all students with academic content while getting them involved in the lesson.

While Slido is often used to incorporate polling into virtual workshops and presentations, there are a wide range of student engagement features within the Slido platform that can be used by teachers during lessons.

Also see:

Learning Ecosystems

8 Ways to Use QR Codes in Higher Education Classrooms [Noah]

Bring Real-Time 3D Into the Classroom, and Teach for the Future [Oldrin & Hepnar]

DSC: An interesting new form of mobility.

“Lawyers and the Metaverse”, 3 warnings re: virtual hearings, using tech to advance legal ed, & more

Matthew Ball on the metaverse: We’ve never seen a shift this enormous [Roettgers]

‘Hologram patients’ and mixed reality headsets help train UK medical students in world first

“There’ll be a blurring of the lines between things we watch and things we play”

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