Canvas Certified Educator program for higher education

Per “Instructure Launches Canvas Certified Educator Program” out at The Journal by Dian Schaffhauser:

Each course is expected to take about four weeks to finish. They include:

  • Core 1: Foundational frameworks, which explores the impact of technology on student learning and the classroom and how Canvas can be used to help educators boost student achievement, motivation and engagement;
  • Core 2: Engagement strategies, to examine how Canvas can help enrich teaching practices and maximize student achievement;
  • Core 3: Personalized learning, to dive into personalized learning and learn how to create opportunities for student voice and choice within the learning environment;
  • Core 4: Transformational practices, to help participants learn how to evaluate open standard digital learning tools that can enhance learning through Canvas; and
  • Electives, described as a series of optional courses that can be selected by educators based on interests and needs.
 
 
 
 

Legalweek Announces a New Virtual Experience for 2021 named Legalweek(year) — from prnewswire.com
Legalweek originally to be held in-person on February 1-4 will now be a series of 5 interactive virtual events held throughout the year to guide legal leaders through the new legal landscape.

Excerpt:

NEW YORKOct. 1, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — Beginning on February 2-4, 2021, Legalweek(year) will bring together thousands of legal professionals for a series of 5 innovative virtual legal events that tackle the changing legal landscape and provide actionable insights to help legal leaders restructure, rebuild and reinvigorate today’s law firms and legal departments. The Legalweek(year) virtual series aims to serve as the anchor for the legal community during an unprecedented time, as well as a guide throughout the coming year to inform legal professionals of emerging trends, cutting edge legal technology and expert analysis of the tectonic shifts in the industry.

 

Artificial Intelligence for Learning: How to use AI to Support Employee Development [Donald Clark]

So what is the book about? — from donaldclarkplanb.blogspot.com by Donald Clark; which discusses his book entitled, Artificial Intelligence for Learning: How to use AI to Support Employee Development

Excerpt:

AI changes everything. It changes how we work, shop, travel, entertain ourselves, socialize, deal with finance and healthcare. When online, AI mediates almost everything – Google, Google Scholar, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, Amazon, Netflix. It would be bizarre to imagine that AI will have no role to play in learning – it already has.

Both informally and formally, AI is now embedded in many of the tools real learners use for online learning – we search for knowledge using AI (Google, Google Scholar), we search for practical knowledge using AI (YouTube), Duolingo for languages, and CPD is becoming common on social media, almost all mediated by AI. It is everywhere, just largely invisible. This book is partly about the role of AI in informal learning but it is largely about its existing and potential role in formal learning – in schools, Universities and the workplace. AI changes the world, so it changes why we learn, what we learn and how we learn.

Also see:

  • Abandon lectures: increase attendance, attitudes and attainment — from donaldclarkplanb.blogspot.com by Donald Clark
    Excerpt:
    The groups were taught a module in a physics course, in three one hour sessions in one week. In short; attendance increased, measured attitudes were better (students enjoyed the experience (90%) and thought that the whole course would be better if taught this way (77%)). More importantly students in the experimental group outperformed the control group, doing more than twice as well in assessment than the control group.
 

Ex-Google CEO Eric Schmidt is working to launch a university that would rival Stanford and MIT and funnel tech workers into government work — from businessinsider.com by Katie Canales

Excerpts:

  • Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt is leading a federal initiative to launch a university that would train a new generation of tech workers for the government, according to a OneZero report.
  • The school, named the US Digital Service Academy, looks to rival Stanford and MIT, two established tech talent pools.
  • The National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence — an organization created to push the US ahead in the race for artificial intelligence — voted unanimously in a meeting Monday to recommend the university to Congress.
  • Schmidt left his role as a technical adviser at Google in February amid his increased involvement in affairs pertaining to military technology.
 

Pedagogical considerations for instructional videoconferencing sessions — from onlinelearningconsortium.org by Amanda Major

Excerpt:

Presented here are recommendations and strategies to support educators.

We hope you find these pedagogical considerations for faculty holding a synchronous class session via a video conferencing tool as timely, practical, and rewarding. The intent is to allay your anxieties about offering quality instruction to your students; thereby, helping you to adapt quickly to this new situation.

The ending points of your content delivery should make a lasting impression. Try these ideas:

    • Wrap-up your session with a Parking Lot designed as a quadrant (see below), use a shared document and include the following quadrant headings/questions so students can respond in real time:

 


 

 


 

Also see the idea of a learning journal here.

Have the students keep a learning journal, while answering these questions each week

 

 

Check out Adobe for Education on Youtube for some great resources to learn everything from podcasting to making impactful social media videos — from jeadigitalmedia.org by Aaron Manfull

Excerpt:

We’ve got a list of Adobe tutorials from the web we’ve been curating here and we’ve long advocated for using Lynda/Linkedin Learning for students and advisers to learn programs. Let’s add one more great resource into the mix and that’s Adobe’s “Adobe for Education” channel on Youtube.

One example:

 

Welcome to Three-Minute Ed Talks, where educators from across the globe are invited to share an insight, a teaching strategy, or an invaluable lesson you learned during the rapid transition to online learning. Your challenge is to do it in just three minutes. Three-Minute Ed Talks are part of the month-long Second Wave Summit on reopening schools and universities and preparing for “the new normal.” Do you have a powerful idea for a Three-Minute Ed Talk? See how to make a submission here.

From DSC:
I remember being at a conference years ago when the Instructional Designer from a library spoke about doing “lightning rounds” with faculty members. The faculty member would record a 3-5 minute presentation about their idea/experiment and what problem they were trying to solve. They reported on whether the pedagogy worked or whether it didn’t work as planned. Great call me thinks!

Besides teachers and professors, trainers could do this with each other. So could those involved in homeschooling. 

 

‘No college degree required’: Google expands certificate program for in-demand job skills — from fastcompany.com by Lydia Dishman

Excerpt:

Google just announced that it is expanding its skills certification program to help more people land high-paying tech jobs without a college degree.

The Grow with Google Career Certificates will be available soon for in-demand jobs including Data Analyst, Project Manager, and UX designer. These jobs pay between $60,000 and $90,000, on average.

From DSC:
Does this get at what Professor Scott Galloway was talking about yesterday at the Remote Conference? That is, that Big Tech is coming for healthcare and education. Could be. 

Also see:

  • Google to launch 3 more tech certificates on Coursera — from educationdive.com by Natalie Schwartz
    Excerpt:
    The certificates — which will be in data analytics, project management and user experience design — will cost $49 a month and take three to six months to complete. Google will fund 100,000 need-based scholarships for those who take them.
 

A new guide helps faculty plan equitable online courses for fall — from diverseeducation.com by Sara Weissman; guide from Every Learner Everywhere, the Online Learning Consortium (OLC) & the Association of Public & Land-grant Universities (APLU). With thanks to Ray Schroeder for the resource.

Excerpt:

A new guide for faculty, funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, aims to help professors plan their online courses for fall as the coronavirus pandemic continues.

The faculty playbook, called “Delivering High-Quality Instruction Online in Response to COVID-19,” came out of a collaboration between Every Learner Everywhere, a network of non-profits focused on student outcomes, and two of its member organizations, the Online Learning Consortium and the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU). Their aim is to offer equity-minded online education strategies, especially for faculty who made their first foray into online education this year.

[Dr. Karen Vignare] sees the guide as a “concise” way to bring best practices together and to offer tools for “optimized online instruction,” she said.

The playbook is designed so that “you can really just dive in and get what you need,” she said. “You don’t have to read the whole thing from start to finish.”

Faculty playbook for online instruction -- concise, and meant to deliver education equitably

Faculty Playbook's Table of Contents -- Summer 2020

 

Also see:

Time for Class: COVID-19 Edition Part 3

 

Adobe Distance Learning Resources — from edex.adobe.com
Whether your school routinely supports distance learning or is facing unexpected closures, we’ve assembled these resources and learning opportunities to help educators engage remote students through online learning.

  • Talks and Webinars
  • Khan + Create Activities
  • Learn and Create for Social Justice
  • Courses, Articles, and Blogs
  • Go Paperless with your Teaching
  • Higher Ed and K-12 projects that make distance learning engaging
  • Resources to support young learners
 

Meet the new face of Webex Assistant — from blog.webex.com by Kacy Kizer

Excerpt:

You may be familiar with Webex Assistant, the AI-powered voice assistant for work. Now known as Webex Assistant for Webex Rooms, our original digital assistant allows you to control compatible Webex Rooms devices with your voice, making it easy to join a meeting with just a few words, manage your meetings and devices from anywhere in the room, and much more.

  • A voice-activated assistant allows you to easily control the meeting through a set of voice commands.
  • Simply ask your AI-powered Webex Assistant to do things like create actions items, take notes, and even set up future meetings—with just your voice.
  • Your Webex Assistant will automatically transcribe the entire meeting in real-time.
  • With visual animation, your virtual AI assistant interacts with you and your meeting attendees during the meeting and when called upon.

The Cisco Webex Digital Assistant -- how might AI impact the online-based learning experience?

From DSC:

  • How might these types of technologies impact online-based learning?
  • What new affordances might they bring to the learner’s experience?
  • For example, what if a listening assistant (AI) could identify some key issues/topics and then go out and grab/present some URL’s of relevant journal articles, chapters from a given textbook, blog postings, etc.? What if each student’s AI could be directed to do so independently?

#IntelligentTutoring | #IntelligentSystems |  #AI |  #EmergingTechnologies | #Collaboration | #Productivity | #PersonalizedEducation

Also see:

Cisco Webex Desk Pro -- AI integrated into Webex Meetings

 

What NOT to do when putting your classes online — from evolllution.com by
Ted Cross & Sunil Ramlall (Western Governors University)

Excerpt:
For example, a study by Ramlall & Ramlall (2016) identified the following factors in helping maximize success and satisfaction in a course.

  1. Faculty are visible in the discussions and respond to each student at least once.
  2. Feedback on assignments should be given within three or four days after the assignment’s due date.
  3. Faculty challenge students’ thinking and comments in class discussions.
  4. They provide individual feedback and specific, personalized comments.
  5. They provide qualitative and quantitative feedback.
  6. They share personal experiences and examples.
  7. They reflect on the literature or at least share a relevant citation from which students can gain deeper insights.
  8. They provide weekly announcements on what will be covered for the week and highlight the transition from the previous week

Put yourself in the student’s shoes and walk through every aspect of the course from their perspective. Ask yourself what a student would need to know to be successful.

 

What NOT to do when designing and building your online-based course

 
© 2025 | Daniel Christian