learning spaces

Cisco to acquire audience interaction company, Slido

On 12/08/2020, in active learning, adult learning, collaboration, colleges, communications, communities of practice, community colleges, corporate / business world, corporate universities / corporate training, digital learning, distance education, education technology, engagement / engaging students, higher education, homeschooling/homeschoolers, innovation, interactivity, K-12 related, law schools, learning ecosystem, Learning Experience Design, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, learning hubs & pods & microschooling, learning spaces, online learning, online tutoring, participation, platforms, presentations, remote teaching and learning, tools, training / L&D, United States, universities, user experience (UX), vendors, videoconferencing, Virtual Reality (VR) / worlds / learning, web-based collaboration, webinars, by Daniel Christian

Cisco to Acquire Best-in-Class Audience Interaction Company, Slido — from blogs.cisco.com

Excerpt:

At Cisco, our goal is to deliver Webex experiences that are 10X better than in-person interactions and an important part of that is making these experiences inclusive and equal for all. We are making sure everyone is included and part of the conversation, whether working from their dining table or in an office building.

Today, I’m pleased to announce Cisco’s intent to acquire privately-held Slido s.r.o., a technology company that provides a best-in-class audience interaction platform. Slido technology enables higher levels of user engagement — before, during and after meetings and events. The Slido technology will be part of the Cisco Webex platform and enhance Cisco’s ability to offer new levels of inclusive audience engagement across both in-person and virtual experiences.
…
Soon, meeting owners will be able to:

- Create engaging and dynamic participant experiences with dynamic Q&As and polls using graphic visual representations to express the results clearly.
- Get real-time critical insights and understanding before, during and after meetings and events, from all-hands and townhalls to conferences and training sessions.
- Obtain inclusive feedback so every voice is heard.
- Give presenters the confidence that they are connecting in a meaningful way with their audience.

Also see:

Slido to be acquired by Cisco to help transform virtual meetings — from blog.sli.do

DC: This is not right! When will there be justice?! We need to help Native American colleges, universities, & communities out!

On 12/04/2020, in Access to Justice (A2J), adjunct faculty, Amazon, Apple, business, change, cloud-based computing / apps / other cloud-related, collaboration, colleges, community colleges, content development, aggregation, repositories, corporate / business world, culture, dangers of the status quo, Daniel S. Christian, digital learning, economics, education, education reform, education technology, ethics, Facebook / Meta Platforms, faculty/staff, faith, funding / grants, future, future of higher education, geography / geology, Google, health, higher education, history, homeschooling/homeschoolers, human-computer interaction (HCI), ideas, innovation, internet, IT in HE, K-12 related, leadership, learning, learning ecosystem, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, learning hubs & pods & microschooling, learning spaces, legislatures / government / legal, lifelong learning, Michigan, Microsoft, mobile technologies, MOOCs -- Massive Open Online Courses, morals/values, new media literacies, online learning, platforms, policy, remote teaching and learning, society, student-related, surviving, technologies for your home, telecommunications, ubiquitous learning, United States, universities, vendors, videoconferencing, virtual field trips, virtual K-12 schools, Virtual Reality (VR) / worlds / learning, vision/possibilities, web-based collaboration, youth, by Daniel Christian

The Digital Divide for Tribal College Students — COVID, CARES Act, and Critical Next Steps — from diverseeducation.com

Excerpt:

In this episode staff writer Sara Weissman shares a story that focuses on the digital divide for Native Americans by bringing in voices of tribal college leaders and their students during the COVID 19 pandemic.

Many don’t know but Native American colleges and universities have long struggled with the worst internet connectivity in the nation while ironically paying the highest rates for service. Hear first-hand how students from Diné College and other institutions are currently affected. Carrie Billie (Big Water Clan), President & CEO of the American Indian Higher Education Consortium (AIHEC) and Dr. Cynthia Lindquist (Star Horse Woman), President of Cankdeska Cikana Community College in North Dakota, break down the data and lay out critical next steps necessary to address the digital divide.

Many don’t know but Native American colleges and universities have long struggled with the worst internet connectivity in the nation while ironically paying the highest rates for service.

From DSC:
When will there be justice!? Let’s join in and make amends and provide the funding, concrete assistance, products, and services to Native American colleges, universities, and communities. Some potential ideas:

For the short term, could there be Loon balloons deployed immediately to provide free and stronger access to the Internet?

Could our Federal Government make amends and do the right thing here? (e-rate program, put Internet access in, make policy changes, offer more grants, other?)
Could Silicon Valley assist with hardware and software? For example:
- Can Apple, HP, Microsoft, and others donate hardware and software?
- Can Zoom, Adobe, Cisco Webex, Microsoft Teams, and others donate whatever these communities need to provide videoconferencing licenses?
Could telecom providers provide free internet access?
Could MOOCs offer more free courses?
Could furniture makers such as Steelcase, Herman Miller, and others donate furniture and help establish connected learning spaces?
How might faculty members and staff within higher education contribute?
How could churches, synagogues, and such get involved?
Could the rest of us locate and donate to charities that aim to provide concrete assistance to Native American schools, colleges, universities, and communities?

We need to do the right thing here. This is another area* where our nation can do much better.

* Here’s another example/area where we can do much better and make amends/changes.

Addendum on 12/7/20:

How to Implement Long-Term Remote Learning in a Rural Area— from techlearning.com by Ray Bendici

https://www.kxan.com/pass-or-fail/students-meet-in-austin-churches-for-free-virtual-learning-pods-during-pandemic/

Ann Arbor church transformed into schoolhouse so immigrant children don’t fall behind — from mlive.com by Martin Slagter

Understanding the learning pods landscape — from crpe.org by Ashley Jochim and Robin Lake

Mapping the Pandemic Learning Landscape — from medium.com by Carolyn Gramstorff

Today we launched a national database that will catalogue and make sense of #learningpod initiatives across the country, with an eye toward equity.

Explore data on the 160 pods and hubs we've found so far: https://t.co/uAINWVPdqr

Read the blog: https://t.co/2yGqKVgSdL pic.twitter.com/Ts3Q9YiIYx

— Center on Reinventing Public Education (@CRPE_UW) November 19, 2020

Could/would an AI — working with a cloud-based learner profile — help here? [Christian]

On 11/10/2020, in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, active learning, adult learning, Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, attention, curriculum, Daniel S. Christian, digital learning, education, education technology, educational games / serious games, elearning, emerging technologies, engagement / engaging students, experimentation, global / globalization, higher education, homeschooling/homeschoolers, human-computer interaction (HCI), hybrid learning, ideas, innovation, instructional design, intelligent systems, intelligent tutoring, interaction design, interactivity, IT in HE, K-12 related, law schools, learner profiles, learning, learning agents, learning ecosystem, Learning Experience Design, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, learning preferences, learning spaces, lifelong learning, love of learning, more voice more choice more control, neurodivergent/special needs, online learning, online tutoring, passions, personalized/customized learning, platforms, professional development, psychology, reinvent, staying relevant, student teaching/teacher education, student-related, teachers, teaching & learning, training / L&D, user experience (UX), virtual K-12 schools, youth, by Daniel Christian

Temperament-Inclusive Pedagogy: Helping Introverted and Extraverted Students Thrive in a Changing Educational Landscape — from onlinelearningconsortium.org by Mary R. Fry

Excerpt (emphasis DSC):

So how do we take these different approaches to learning into account and foster a classroom environment that is more inclusive of the needs of both extraverts and introverts? Let’s first distinguish between how extraverts and introverts most prefer to learn, and then discuss ways to meet the needs of both. Extraverts tend to learn through active and social engagement with the material (group work, interactive learning experiences, performing and discussing). Verbalizing typically helps extraverts to think through their ideas and to foster new ones. They often think quickly on their feet and welcome working in large groups. It can be challenging for extraverts to generate ideas in isolation (talking through ideas is often needed) and thus working on solitary projects and writing can be challenging.

In contrast, introverts thrive with solitary/independent work and typically need this time to sort through what they are learning before they can formulate their thoughts and articulate their perspectives. Introverted learners often dislike group work (or at least the group sizes and structures that are often used in the classroom (more on this in a moment)) and find their voice drowned out in synchronous discussions as they don’t typically think as fast as their extroverted counterparts and don’t often speak until they feel they have something carefully thought out to share. Introverted learners are often quite content, and can remain attentive, through longer lectures and presentations and prefer engaging with the material in a more interactive way only after a pause or break.

From DSC:
Could/would a next-generation learning platform that has some Artificial Intelligence (AI) features baked into it — working in conjunction with a cloud-based learner profile — be of assistance here?

That is, maybe a learner could self-select the type of learning that they are: introverted or extroverted. Or perhaps they could use a sliding scaled to mix learning activities up to a certain degree. Or perhaps if one wasn’t sure of their preferences, they could ask the AI-backed system to scan for how much time they spent doing learning activities X, Y, and Z versus learning activities A, B, and C…then AI could offer up activities that meet a learner’s preferences.

(By the way, I love the idea of the “think-ink-pair-share” — to address both extroverted and introverted learners. This can be done digitally/virtually as well as in a face-to-face setting.)

All of this would further assist in helping build an enjoyment of learning. And wouldn’t that be nice? Now that we all need to learn for 40, 50, 60, 70, or even 80 years of our lives?

Virtual Reality: Realizing the Power of Experience, Excursion & Immersion in the Classroom [nytimes.com]

On 11/03/2020, in A/V -- audio/visual, attention, digital audio, digital learning, digital photography, digital storytelling, digital textbooks, digital video, distance education, education, education technology, educational games / serious games, elearning, emerging technologies, engagement / engaging students, experimentation, geography / geology, graphics, homeschooling/homeschoolers, human-computer interaction (HCI), ideas, immersion, innovation, instructional design, interaction design, interactivity, K-12 related, learning, learning ecosystem, Learning Experience Design, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, learning hubs & pods & microschooling, learning spaces, physics, student-related, United States, user experience (UX), vendors, XR - extended reality, by Daniel Christian

Virtual Reality: Realizing the Power of Experience, Excursion and Immersion in the Classroom — from nytimes.com
A framework for teaching with New York Times 360 V.R. videos, plus eight lesson plans for STEM and the humanities.

A Guide for Using NYT VR With Students

Getting Started With V.R. in the Classroom
Lesson 1: A Mission to Pluto
Lesson 2: Meet Three Children Displaced by War and Persecution
Lesson 3: Four Antarctic Expeditions
Lesson 4: Time Travel Through Olympic History
Lesson 5: Decode the Secret Language of Dolphins and Whales
Lesson 6: Memorials and Justice
Lesson 7: The World’s Biggest Physics Experiment
Lesson 8: Journey to the Hottest Place on Earth

Taking a break in the future may look/sound a bit different [Christian]

On 10/30/2020, in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, A/V -- audio/visual, Alternatives, cloud-based computing / apps / other cloud-related, colleges, community colleges, corporate universities / corporate training, Daniel S. Christian, digital audio, digital learning, digital storytelling, digital video, distance education, education, education technology, educational games / serious games, emerging technologies, experimentation, future, higher education, homeschooling/homeschoolers, human-computer interaction (HCI), ideas, innovation, IT in HE, K-12 related, learning, learning ecosystem, Learning Experience Design, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, learning hubs & pods & microschooling, learning spaces, love of learning, media/film, more voice more choice more control, multimedia, music, new business models, online learning, online media, passions, platforms, play, podcasting, society, technologies for your home, tools, training / L&D, user experience (UX), Virtual Reality (VR) / worlds / learning, XR - extended reality, by Daniel Christian

From DSC:
In our future learning experiences, I wonder what taking a break might look and sound like…? That is, we’re going along learning something from/with others (virtually/digitally) and then the teacher, professor, Subject Matter Expert (SME), trainer, or whoever says to take a break. What could happen then?

In the online/digital/virtual-based realm, that could mean that you have the option to set your “break” setting to bring up Spotify, or Vimeo, or YouTube, or Pandora, some VR-based app, other. The lights in your “learning space” could dim and the music could come on. Or you reach for a VR headset and watch a sunset or position yourself by a picturesque brook. Or your favorite podcast/vodcast picks up where you left off.

Hmmm…should be some interesting innovation and affordances along these lines.

If you are using Zoom, you may want to attend Zoomtopia

On 10/08/2020, in 24x7x365 access, A/V -- audio/visual, adjunct faculty, adult learning, cloud-based computing / apps / other cloud-related, collaboration, colleges, communications, communities of practice, community colleges, corporate / business world, corporate universities / corporate training, digital audio, digital learning, digital video, distance education, education, education technology, engagement / engaging students, experimentation, faculty/staff, future of higher education, global / globalization, higher education, homeschooling/homeschoolers, ideas, K-12 related, law schools, learning, learning ecosystem, Learning Experience Design, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, learning spaces, liberal arts, mobile learning, multimedia, online learning, platforms, productivity / tips and tricks, professional development, smart classrooms, social learning / networks, society, student teaching/teacher education, student-related, teachers, teaching & learning, teaching online, technologies for your home, telelegal, telemedicine / telehealth / virtual health, tools, training / L&D, trends, TVs, United States, universities, using teams, vendors, videoconferencing, web-based collaboration, by Daniel Christian

Also see:
Zoom for Home – DTEN ME is an all-in-one personal collaboration device for your home office

Livestreamed Chemistry Labs Keep Learning Real — Mistakes, Spills and All — from campustechnology.com by Dian Schaffhauser

Excerpt:

To keep students engaged, the synchronous sessions include small-group breakout sessions and on-the-spot activities like having students name compounds; balance chemical equations; predict the outcomes of experiments; and calculate masses, amounts and concentrations for the chemicals used.

[Re: online-based learning] The Ford Model T from 1910 didn’t start out looking like a Maserati Gran Turismo from 2021! [Christian]

On 09/28/2020, in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, attention, change, colleges, communications, communities of practice, community colleges, competency-based learning/education, consortiums, content development, aggregation, repositories, corporate universities / corporate training, creativity, Daniel S. Christian, design, digital audio, digital learning, digital photography, digital storytelling, digital video, distance education, e-publishing related items (EPUB and more), education, education reform, education technology, educational games / serious games, elearning, emerging technologies, engagement / engaging students, engineering, entrepreneurship, expectations, experimentation, future, future of higher education, game-changing environment, global / globalization, higher education, human-computer interaction (HCI), innovation, instructional design, intelligent systems, intelligent tutoring, IT in HE, K-12 related, law schools, learning, learning agents, learning ecosystem, Learning Experience Design, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, learning hubs & pods & microschooling, learning preferences, learning spaces, learning theories, lifelong learning, media/film, mobile learning, mobile technologies, MOOCs -- Massive Open Online Courses, more voice more choice more control, multimedia, online learning, online media, online tutoring, open courseware and systems, pace of change, platforms, reinvent, remote teaching and learning, society, teaching & learning, teaching online, technologies for your home, technology (general), telecommunications, tools, training / L&D, transmedia, TVs, United States, universities, user experience (UX), using teams, vendors, virtual field trips, virtual K-12 schools, Virtual Reality (VR) / worlds / learning, virtual tutoring, vision/possibilities, web-based collaboration, webinars, workplace, XR - extended reality, by Daniel Christian

From DSC:
Per Wikipedia, this is a 1910 Model T that was photographed in Salt Lake City:

From DSC:
The Ford Model T didn’t start out looking like a Maserati Gran Turismo from 2021! Inventions take time to develop…to be improved…for new and further innovations and experiments to take place.

Thinking of this in terms of online-based learning, please don’t think we’ve reached the end of the road for online-based learning.

The truth is, we’ve barely begun our journey.

Two last thoughts here

1 ) It took *teams* of people to get us to the point of producing a Maserati like this. It will take *teams* of people to produce the Maserati of online-based learning.

2) In terms of online-based learning, it’s hard to say how close to the Maserati that we have come because I/we don’t know how far things will go. But this I do know: We have come a looooonnnnnggggg ways from the late 1990s! If that’s what happened in the last 20 years — with many denying the value of online-based learning — what might the next 5, 10, or 20 years look like when further interest, needs, investments, etc. are added? Then add to all of that the momentum from emerging technologies like 5G, Augmented Reality, Mixed Reality, Virtual Reality, Artificial Intelligence, bots, algorithms, and more!

From DSC:
To drive the point home, here’s an addendum on late 9/29/20:

Mercedes-Benz Shares Video of Avatar Electric Car Prototype — interestingengineering.com by Fabienne Lang
The German car company shared footage of the breathtaking vehicle prototype.

How to Engage Students (and Identify Them) — from thejournal.com by Dian Schaffhauser

Excerpt (emphasis DSC):

“The lessons that created the most engaging experiences for students often were a combination of opportunities that encouraged discussion, gave students learning choices and allowed students to create. These elements are immensely transferable both in the online and in-person classroom and can facilitate a positive learning environment, whether in a synchronous or asynchronous setting.”

The report is available with an email address through the GoGuardian website.

Purdue Shares Look Inside HyFlex Classroom — from campustechnology.com by Rhea Kelly

Excerpt:

He started blending both face-to-face and online instruction in his classrooms weeks before Purdue officially shifted to remote learning last spring.

Mentzer wanted his students to be able to participate in class remotely in real time or physically attend on any given day, according to a university news story.
…
“If students are unable to come to class for a period of time because they are in isolation or quarantined, they can complete the requirements online and continue progressing in the course,” she noted.

“Teaching in a Hybrid Classroom – What’s Working, What’s Not” [Bruff] + “Active Learning in Hybrid and Physically Distanced Classrooms” [Bruff]

On 09/14/2020, in active learning, adjunct faculty, blended learning, Canvas - and other Instructure-related items, cloud-based computing / apps / other cloud-related, collaboration, colleges, community colleges, content development, aggregation, repositories, corporate universities / corporate training, digital learning, distance education, education, education technology, experimentation, face-to-face, faculty/staff, formal learning, higher education, hybrid learning, ideas, innovation, instructional design, interaction design, interactivity, K-12 related, law schools, learning, learning ecosystem, Learning Experience Design, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, learning hubs & pods & microschooling, learning spaces, multimedia, online learning, online media, participation, pedagogy, platforms, productivity / tips and tricks, remote teaching and learning, student teaching/teacher education, student-related, teachers, teaching & learning, teaching online, tools, training / L&D, United States, universities, user experience (UX), videoconferencing, virtual K-12 schools, web-based collaboration, writing, youth, by Daniel Christian

Teaching in a Hybrid Classroom – What’s Working, What’s Not — from derekbruff.org by Derek Bruff

Excerpt:

Now that we’re a few weeks into the semester, I wanted to know what was working and what was a continuing challenge for instructors, so I convened a conversation on teaching earlier this week attended by 18 of my faculty colleagues representing a range of disciplines. They were excited to be back in the classroom this fall. “There’s a different energy when we’re face-to-face,” one of them said. We had a lively discussion via Zoom about hybrid teaching, including what made it exciting and what made it frustrating, and I wanted to share a few highlights here on the blog.

I waited a minute or two while the participants thought and typed, and when it was clear that most of the participants were no longer typing, I said, “Ready, set, go!” Everyone hit enter, and a slew of responses appeared in the chat at the same time. At this point, we all spent a couple of minutes reading through the responses. I selected a couple that were particularly interesting and called on those participants to elaborate via video.

Also see:

Active Learning in Hybrid and Physically Distanced Classrooms — from cft.vanderbilt.edu by Derek Bruff

If I’m standing at the front of the classroom with half or a third of my students in the room with me, but sitting six feet apart from each other and wearing masks, while the rest of my students are joining class by videoconference, what strategies might I employ to engage all of my students in meaningful learning?

I’m going to try to outline some options here in this blog post, drawing on ideas and resources from across the higher education community, but I would enthusiastically welcome additional approaches in the comments below or via Hypothesis annotations.

Derek Bruff

Today’s awkward Zoom classes could bring a new era of higher education [Spar]

On 09/11/2020, in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, A/V -- audio/visual, future, future of higher education, game-changing environment, higher education, human-computer interaction (HCI), ideas, instructional design, intelligent systems, intelligent tutoring, internet, IT in HE, law schools, leadership, learning, learning agents, learning ecosystem, Learning Experience Design, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, learning hubs & pods & microschooling, learning preferences, learning spaces, lifelong learning, MOOCs -- Massive Open Online Courses, new business models, online learning, online media, online tutoring, platforms, second screen apps, society, student teaching/teacher education, student-related, surviving, teaching online, telelegal, telemedicine / telehealth / virtual health, telepresence, television, tools, United States, universities, user experience (UX), vendors, videoconferencing, vision/possibilities, web-based collaboration, by Daniel Christian

Today’s awkward Zoom classes could bring a new era of higher education — from edsurge.com by Debra Spar

Excerpt:

Indeed, the forced march to Zoom has also forced colleges and universities to wrestle at last with the incipient promise of educational technologies; with the power that was evident, if not yet realized, in the early MOOCs. Much of that power has to do with scale–the ability to take a single course, even a single lecture, and share it across a vast universe of learners. But some also comes from the strange intimacy of the small screen, and from the possibilities of collapsing both time and space.

Office hours, for instance, migrate easily. Bringing in guest speakers works remarkably well, allowing faculty to introduce a wide range of voices into their classroom conversations. On the screen, everyone can see and hear and participate.

Just released today! Jane Hart’s Top 200 Tools for Learning

On 09/01/2020, in 21st century, active learning, adjunct faculty, Adobe, adult learning, Apple, Asia, assessment, blended learning, blogs / blogging / vlogging, CMS/LMS, collaboration, colleges, communications, communities of practice, community colleges, competency-based learning/education, 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, distance education, e-books, e-publishing related items (EPUB and more), e-readers, education, education technology, educational games / serious games, elearning, engagement / engaging students, Europe, Facebook / Meta Platforms, faculty/staff, flipping -- inverted learning, global / globalization, Google, higher education, instructional design, internet, IT in HE, K-12 related, law schools, learning, learning ecosystem, Learning Experience Design, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, learning hubs & pods & microschooling, learning preferences, learning spaces, media/film, microlearning, Microsoft, multimedia, Natural Language Processing (NLP), new media literacies, online learning, online media, participation, photography, platforms, play, productivity / tips and tricks, remote teaching and learning, simulations, social learning / networks, society, student teaching/teacher education, student-related, teachers, teaching & learning, teaching online, technologies for your home, technology (general), tools, training / L&D, UK, United States, universities, user experience (UX), vendors, videoconferencing, voice recognition / voice enabled interfaces, web-based collaboration, webinars, workplace, writing, by Daniel Christian

Top 200 Tools for Learning — from toptools4learning.com by Jane Hart

Excerpt:

The Top Tools for Learning 2020 was compiled by Jane Hart from the results of the 14th Annual Learning Tools Survey, and released on 1 September 2020. For general information about the survey and this website, visit the About page. For observations and infographics of this year’s list, see Analysis 2020.

“…hotels and restaurants, in the absence of their traditional clientele, are repurposing their spaces as rentable offices.” [Emily Safian-Demers]

On 08/31/2020, in collaboration, corporate / business world, corporate universities / corporate training, learning spaces, reinvent, smart classrooms, society, staying relevant, surviving, workplace, by Daniel Christian

“……hotels and restaurants, in the absence of their traditional clientele, are repurposing their spaces as rentable offices.”

Emily Safian-Demers (source)

Learning Ecosystems

“…hotels and restaurants, in the absence of their traditional clientele, are repurposing their spaces as rentable offices.” [Emily Safian-Demers]

Categories

Tags