marketplaces - Learning Ecosystems

Unbundled: Designing Personalized Pathways for Every Learner [Nate McClennen & Co.]

On 01/31/2023, in assessment, Blockchain, change, changing business models, competency-based learning/education, content development, aggregation, repositories, credentialing, Design Thinking, education, education reform, engagement / engaging students, ideas, innovation, instructional design, K-12 related, leadership, learner profiles, learning, learning agents, learning ecosystem, Learning Experience Design, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, learning hubs & pods & microschooling, learning preferences, love of learning, marketplaces, microlearning, more voice more choice more control, motivation, new business models, online learning, participation, passions, personalized/customized learning, platforms, reinvent, society, streams of content, student-related, teachers, teaching & learning, technology (general), ubiquitous learning, United States, user experience (UX), vendors, vision/possibilities, vocational / trades, youth, by Daniel Christian

Unbundled: Designing Personalized Pathways for Every Learner — from gettingsmart.com by Nate McClennen “with contributions from the Getting Smart team and numerous friends and partners in the field”

Excerpts:

In this publication, we articulate the critical steps needed to unbundle the learning ecosystem, build core competencies, design learning experiences, curate new opportunities, and rebundle these experiences into coherent pathways.
.

Vision

Every learner deserves an unlimited number of unbundled opportunities to explore, engage, and define experiences that advance their progress along a co-designed educational pathway. Each pathway provides equitable and personalized access to stacked learning experiences leading to post-secondary credentials and secure family-sustaining employment. Throughout the journey, supportive coaches focus on helping learners build skills to navigate with agency. In parallel, learners develop foundational skills (literacy, math), technical skills, and durable skills and connect these to challenging co-designed experiences. The breadth and depth of experiences increase over time, and, in partnership, learners and coaches map progress towards reaching community-defined goals. This vision is only enabled by an unbundled learning ecosystem.
…

Recommendations

Solutions already exist in the ecosystem and need to be combined and scaled. Funding models (like My Tech High), badging/credentialing at the competency level (like VLACS), coaching models (like Big Thought), and open ecosystems (like NH Learn Everywhere) provide an excellent foundation. Thus, building unbundled systems has already begun but needs systemic changes to become widely available and accepted.

1. 1. Build a robust competency-based system.
  2. Create a two-way marketplace for unbundled learning.
  3. Implement policy to support credit for out-of-system experiences.
  4. Invest in technology infrastructure for Learning and Employment Records.
  5. Design interoperable badging systems that connect to credentials.

2022 Winners of the LegalTech Breakthrough Awards — from legaltechbreakthrough.com

Categories include:

Case Management
Client Relations
Data & Analytics
Documentation
Legal Education
Practice Management
Legal Entity Management
Legal Research
Online Dispute Resolution
Contract Management
eDiscovery
Marketplaces
RegTech
Leadership

Also see:

Soaring Travel Costs Put Lawyers Back on Zoom –– from kift.com Matthew Parsons
Rising airfares and travel costs are prompting legal professionals involved in dispute resolutions to return to video conferencing.
Global Dispute Resolution: The Future of Virtual Legal Proceedings Is Shaped by Soaring Travel Costs — from matlawreview.com

With the cost of international air travel rising sharply, remote hearings are a practical alternative to in-person proceedings. International travel is expensive, and the virtual option means that it is no longer necessary to count travel as a “cost of doing business” when pursuing an international dispute. The widespread use of technology in global dispute resolution proceedings gives attorneys and their clients the option to participate remotely, which is a compelling cost saver for all parties.

Most debt lawsuits get decided without a fight. Michigan leaders want to change the rules. — from mlive.com by Matthew Miller
Excerpt:
Most of the 1.9 million debt collection cases filed in Michigan’s district courts over the past decade or so never went to trial. Usually, the defendants don’t show up to court, and debt collectors win by default, according to data compiled by the Michigan Justice for All Commission. In most cases, the courts end up garnishing defendants’ wages, income tax returns or other assets, sometimes on the basis of complaints that include little more than the name of the creditor, an account number and the balance due.

And both debt lawsuits and garnishment are more common for people living in primarily Black neighborhoods, regardless of their income.

Members of the Commission say Michigan’s rules around debt collection lawsuits don’t do enough to protect regular people, who sometimes don’t find out they’ve been sued until they see money coming out of their paychecks.

They say those rules need to change.

World-first virtual legal clinic opens for business across BC, aiming to increase affordability, diversity and reach of legal professionals — from finance.yahoo.com by Access Pro Bono

An early participant in the Law Society of BC’s Innovation Sandbox, the Clinic offers the in-person and virtual help of 25 articling students located in 15 different BC communities —from Tofino to Cranbrook— with the support of 15 supervising lawyers, four staff and dozens of local mentors. Together, they provide fixed-fee services in a wide range of areas covering everyday legal problems.

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…

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.

Now 2,627+ OPM, Bootcamp and Pathways Partnerships with Universities globally [HolonIQ]

On 07/20/2022, in business side of he, collaboration, colleges, community colleges, global / globalization, higher education, marketplaces, online learning, online media, United States, universities, using teams, vendors, by Daniel Christian

Now 2,627+ OPM, Bootcamp and Pathways Partnerships with Universities globally — from holoniq.com
Slower partnership growth for the first half of 2022 with 186 new OPM, Bootcamp or Pathways partnerships. Another ‘post-COVID’ transition?

A next generation learning platform will offer this [Christian]

On 06/29/2022, in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, adult learning, Artificial Intelligence / Machine Learning / Deep Learning / Algorithms, Blockchain, changing business models, cloud-based computing / apps / other cloud-related, colleges, community colleges, corporate / business world, corporate universities / corporate training, credentialing, Daniel S. Christian, digital learning, education, education technology, emerging technologies, formal learning, future, future of higher education, game-changing environment, global / globalization, heutagogy, higher education, homeschooling/homeschoolers, human-computer interaction (HCI), ideas, informal learning, innovation, intelligent systems, intelligent tutoring, IT in HE, K-12 related, law schools, learner profiles, learning, learning agents, learning ecosystem, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, learning preferences, learning spaces, lifelong learning, marketplaces, Metaverse, MOOCs -- Massive Open Online Courses, skills, society, training / L&D, vendors, by Daniel Christian

DC: In our future learning ecosystems there will be the opportunity to view and access a variety of learning-related resources— similar to this service for entertainment-related items.#learningecosystems #learningfromthelivingclassroom #future #learning pic.twitter.com/9ZD9FbnOvR

— Daniel Christian (he/him/his) (@dchristian5) June 27, 2022

From DSC:
An AI-backed platform will constantly search all job postings and present the most desired skills in the marketplace and then how to get those skills. The providers will be individuals, organizations, training providers, traditional institutions of higher education, vendors and more.

Depending upon what happens with blockchain — and if a much more energy-efficient/environmentally-friendly solution can be implemented — blockchain may be a part of that equation.

China is about to regulate AI—and the world is watching [Conrad]

On 05/09/2022, in analytics, Artificial Intelligence / Machine Learning / Deep Learning / Algorithms, Asia, Bias | Diversity Equity & Inclusion (DE&I), future, game-changing environment, generational differences, global / globalization, law schools, legislatures / government / legal, marketing/social marketing, marketplaces, platforms, policy, privacy, society, sociology, by Daniel Christian

China is about to regulate AI—and the world is watching — from wired.com by Jennifer Conrad
Sweeping rules will cover algorithms that set prices, control search results, recommend videos, and filter content.

Excerpt:

Some provisions aim to address complaints about online services. Under the rules, for instance, companies will be prohibited from using personal characteristics to offer users different prices for a product; they also will be required to notify users, and allow them to opt out, when algorithms are used to make recommendations.

Companies that violate the rules could face fines, be barred from enrolling new users, have their business licenses pulled, or see their websites or apps shut down.

Some elements of the new regulations may prove difficult or impossible to enforce. It can be technically challenging to police the behavior of an algorithm that is continually changing due to new input, for instance.

Coursera launches skills training academy for colleges and companies — from highereddive.com by Natalie Schwartz
Experts say the move could help the company strengthen its focus on selling courses to colleges rather than consumers.

Excerpts:

Coursera, like other popular MOOC platforms, has made its name by bringing online classes to the masses. But lately, the company has been expanding efforts to provide these offerings to colleges and employers rather than solely to consumers.

The company doubled down on that strategy Wednesday, when it announced the launch of a career training academy that enables users to earn entry-level certificates from companies like Meta and IBM in fields such as data analytics, social media marketing and user experience design. Institutions — including colleges, businesses and government organizations — can sign up to make the platform available to their students or employees.

The move signals a shift in strategy for the company. While Coursera is still focused on delivering courses directly to consumers, it’s also been building out its offerings to colleges and employers. This business segment includes Coursera for Campus, which allows colleges to use the platform’s content in their classes.

From DSC:
For those who think MOOCs have come and gone:

Coursera has been using academic content created by universities for years to build its audience, amassing some 97 million users by the end of last year, according to its latest earnings report.

Addendum on 5/11/22:

Colleges Are Losing Students. Is That A Growth Opportunity For Coursera? — from edsurge.com by Daniel Mollenkamp

The AR Roundup: April 2022 [Emrich]

On 05/03/2022, in A/V -- audio/visual, Augmented Reality (AR), communities of practice, corporate / business world, emerging technologies, Facebook / Meta Platforms, marketing/social marketing, marketplaces, Metaverse, vendors, web-based collaboration, XR - extended reality, by Daniel Christian

The AR Roundup: April 2022 — from linkedin.com by Tom Emrich

Excerpts:

Every month I round up what you may have missed in Augmented Reality including the latest stats, funding news and launch announcements and more. Here is what happened in augmented reality between April 1-30, 2022.

Can you truly own anything in the metaverse? A law professor explains how blockchains and NFTs don’t protect virtual property [Marinotti]

On 04/25/2022, in Blockchain, copyright/ownership/NFTs, law schools, legislatures / government / legal, marketplaces, Metaverse, morals/values, policy, society, Web3, by Daniel Christian

Can you truly own anything in the metaverse? A law professor explains how blockchains and NFTs don’t protect virtual property — from theconversation.com by João Marinotti

Excerpt:

Despite these claims, the legal status of virtual “owners” is significantly more complicated. In fact, the current ownership of metaverse assets is not governed by property law at all, but rather by contract law. As a legal scholar who studies property law, tech policy and legal ownership, I believe that what many companies are calling “ownership” in the metaverse is not the same as ownership in the physical world, and consumers are at risk of being swindled.

Innovative and practical applications of the metaverse — from mckinsey.com

In this episode of the At the Edge podcast, McKinsey expert Richard Ward speaks with McKinsey’s Mina Alaghband.

Excerpts:

One of the things that we’ve learned during the pandemic is that if you put these metaverse design rooms up on the internet, your clients and other expert engineers can log in remotely, and the experience takes on the quality of Zoom in 3-D, which allows a new level of engineering to happen. The beauty of it is that people are able to do highly productive engineering design work without getting on an airplane. And that has a lot of rollover value for what we’re doing long term.

One of the great lessons we’ve had from the pandemic, as horrible as it’s been, is that things that people had said were impossible for decades are now possible. Like the idea that you can’t possibly have everybody not be in the office—it’s been proven wrong.

Also relevant/see:

What is the metaverse—and what does it mean for business? — from mckinsey.com by Cathy Hackl

What Does “Learner-Centered” Higher Ed Really Look Like? Insights from Leaders at SXSW EDU — from wgulabs.org by Nicole Barbaro

Excerpt (emphasis DSC):

What does the future of higher ed look like? Leaders from across the education sector dove deep into this question at the annual SXSW EDU conference that was held in Austin, Texas [last] month. During his keynote session, US Secretary of Education, Miguel Cardona, echoed the need for transformation by stating, “We’re closer to a reset in education than ever before. Let’s not build back something that wasn’t working for everyone.”

So, how should higher ed build back?

As a “learner-centered” ecosystem. Leaders across education agree that we must put students at the center of our design. But what does it look like in practice to be learner-centered?

A learner-centered future breaks down institutional silos and works in networks to innovate and support students. And with the ubiquity of online learning in today’s higher ed ecosystem, there’s no reason not to collaborate. “There is no possible future in which online education is not an integral part of higher ed.” affirmed Executive Director of the University Innovation Alliance, Bridget Burns during a panel discussion at SXSW EDU.

Reflections on “Groups call for college trustees to learn more about accreditation” [Seltzer]

On 04/06/2022, in accreditation, career development, colleges, corporate / business world, Daniel S. Christian, higher education, marketplaces, United States, universities, by Daniel Christian

Groups call for college trustees to learn more about accreditation — from highereddive.com by Rick Seltzer
“Board members lack a solid understanding of what accreditation is,” says a report issued by AGB and CHEA in the face of stress on the system.

Excerpts:

Much has changed since 2009, the report says, as colleges now face heightened problems stemming from declining enrollment, constrained state funding and sometimes shaky finances.

Institutions also face challenges that don’t show up on balance sheets: pandemic-related stresses, remote instruction, public skepticism, threats to freedom of speech, tensions over diversity, equity and inclusion — and external influences.
…
Many of the people who sit on colleges’ governing boards are not from the academy and might not be familiar with processes like accreditation, said Cynthia Jackson-Hammond, CHEA’s president.

“It’s about trust,” Stoever said. “What accreditation is intended to do, it’s not only around academic quality and financial integrity, but trust — public trust that these institutions of higher education are trustworthy.”

From DSC:
But maybe that’s part of the problem institutions of higher education face today. They’ve lost the trust of the public. When faculty teach what they want to teach — and presidents, deans, faculty councils, trustees, boards, etc. allow that to occur — then students graduate without the skills and knowledge that the workplace is hiring for. By the way, I realize that’s too general and not true in many cases. I still believe that the liberal arts are very important — and the communications skills and the ability to reason, think critically, etc. will likely always be important and beneficial (regardless of the job).

But when you are a student who has gone to school for 4-6+ years, you finally graduate, and then you find out that you don’t have the skills or knowledge that the employers are hiring for, that will likely impact one’s trust level in one’s alma mater as well as in higher education in general. When you graduate with a gorilla of debt on your back, that may also impact your trust levels (though it may not in some cases).

Now we just need a “Likewise TV” for learning-related resources! [Christian]

On 03/29/2022, in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, 5G, A/V -- audio/visual, adult learning, Alternatives, analytics, Artificial Intelligence / Machine Learning / Deep Learning / Algorithms, assistive technologies, cloud-based computing / apps / other cloud-related, collaboration, colleges, communities of practice, community colleges, content development, aggregation, repositories, convergence, corporate / business world, corporate universities / corporate training, Daniel S. Christian, digital learning, education technology, educational games / serious games, elearning, emerging technologies, future, future of higher education, higher education, homeschooling/homeschoolers, human-computer interaction (HCI), Hyflex learning, ideas, innovation, instructional design, intelligent systems, intelligent tutoring, internet, K-12 related, law schools, learner profiles, learning, learning agents, learning ecosystem, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, learning hubs & pods & microschooling, learning preferences, learning spaces, lifelong learning, marketplaces, media/film, microlearning, MOOCs -- Massive Open Online Courses, more voice more choice more control, multimedia, Natural Language Processing (NLP), New "Amazon.com" of Higher Education, online learning, personalized/customized learning, platforms, reinvent, skills, smart classrooms, smart/connected TV, social learning / networks, society, streams of content, technologies for your home, telepresence, television, tools, ubiquitous learning, United States, universities, vendors, videoconferencing, Virtual Reality (VR) / worlds / learning, vision/possibilities, vocational / trades, web-based collaboration, by Daniel Christian

Likewise TV Brings Curation to Streaming — from lifewire.com by Cesar Aroldo-Cadenas
And it’s available on iOS, Android, and some smart TVs

All your streaming services in one place. One search. One watchlist. Socially powered recommendations.

Entertainment startup Likewise has launched a new recommendations hub that pulls from all the different streaming platforms to give you personalized picks.
…
Likewise TV is a streaming hub powered by machine learning, people from the Likewise community, and other streaming services. The service aims to do away with mindlessly scrolling through a menu, looking for something to watch, or jumping from one app to another by providing a single location for recommendations.
…
Note that Likewise TV is purely an aggregator.

Also see:

From DSC:
Now we need this type of AI-based recommendation engine, aggregator, and service for learning-related resources!

I realize that we have a long ways to go here — as a friend/former colleague of mine just reminded me that these recommendation engines often miss the mark. I’m just hoping that a recommendation engine like this could ingest our cloud-based learner profiles and our current goals and then present some promising learning-related possibilities for us. Especially if the following graphic is or will be the case in the future:

Here’s what I’ve learned about building skills and how skills shape your career.
A visual thread (1/11) ?

1. Degrees don’t age well. Your current skills and skill level tell organizations more about your real value. pic.twitter.com/Z1edxrYAB1

— Jeff Kortenbosch ?? (@jeffkortenbosch) March 13, 2022

Also relevant/see:

Samsung’s New M8 Monitor Combines Entertainment and Work — from lifewire.com by Cesar Cadenas

From DSC:
Some interesting/noteworthy features:

“The 32- inch display has Wi-Fi capabilities to supports multiple streaming services, can stream smartphone content, and comes with a removable SlimFit Cam.”
The M8 has Wi-Fi connectivity for its native streaming apps so you won’t have to connect to a computer to watch something on Netflix. And its Far Field Voice mic can be used w/ the Always On feature to control devices like Amazon Alexa with your voice, even if the monitor is off.
“You can also connect devices to the monitor via the SmartThings Hub, which can be tracked with the official SmartThings app.”

I wonder how what we call the TV (or television) will continue to morph in the future.

Addendum on 3/31/22 from DSC:
Perhaps people will co-create their learning playlists…as is now possible with Spotify’s “Blend” feature:

Today’s Blend update allows you to share your personal Spotify playlists with your entire group chat—up to 10 users. You can manually invite these friends and family members to join you from in the app, then Spotify will create a playlist for you all to listen to using a mixture of everyone’s music preferences. Spotify will also create a special share card that everyone in the group can use to save and share the created playlist in the future.

The Conversation: Twitter Trends 2022 — from marketing.twitter.com

Excerpt:

Billions of Tweets reveal tomorrow’s big movements.

The biggest movements start quietly. An idea becomes conversation becomes a seismic cultural shift. And if you want in on what’s next, listen to what people on Twitter are saying right now.

To help you out, we analyzed¹billions of Tweets over a two-year period to find three must-know trends about to go big. From The Great Restoration to Fan-Built Worlds to Finance Goes Social, the talk on Twitter reveals the underlying shifts in power shaping where the world is going.

Learning Ecosystems

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

Now 2,627+ OPM, Bootcamp and Pathways Partnerships with Universities globally [HolonIQ]

China is about to regulate AI—and the world is watching [Conrad]

Coursera launches skills training academy for colleges and companies [Schwartz]

The AR Roundup: April 2022 [Emrich]

Can you truly own anything in the metaverse? A law professor explains how blockchains and NFTs don’t protect virtual property [Marinotti]

Innovative and practical applications of the metaverse [mckinsey.com]

Reflections on “Groups call for college trustees to learn more about accreditation” [Seltzer]

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