“In person” classes offered in virtual reality — from zdnet.com by Greg Nichols; with thanks to Will Richardson for the resource
A virtual reality college campus welcomes students this fall.
Excerpt:
“With this cadaver lab, our pre-med students will no longer need to rely on other universities for advanced anatomy and biology classes,” said Dr. Shirley Brown, Dean of Fisk University. “Virtual reality technology takes our university to a level equal to the most advanced schools in the country.”
How Next Gen TV Can Help Close The Digital Divide — from by Erik Ofgang
A new prototype utilizes Next Gen TV and QR codes to allow two-way communication between teachers and students via broadcast.
Excerpts:
Efforts to close the digital divide have ramped up during the pandemic, yet despite creative solutions from district, town, and state officials across the country, between 9 and 12 million students still lack adequate internet access.
However, a new application developed by The National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) could help close this gap by utilizing cutting-edge broadcast TV technology to allow students to receive and respond to work assigned by their teachers.
…
What Is Next Gen TV and This Application?
Next Gen TV, also known as ATSC 3.0, is a new standard for broadcasting that is currently being launched at broadcast stations throughout the U.S. It is based on internet protocols and allows for targeted broadcasts to be sent as well as more robust datacasting (sending data via broadcasting). Schools can use datacasting to send tests, reading materials, or other assignments that take the form of word documents, excel sheets, and much more. Students can also complete tests and save the work on their own devices.
Also see:
DC: What doors does this type of real-time translation feature open up for learning?https://t.co/beOXFjGZs9#learningfromthelivingclassroom #education #K12 #highereducation #training #learning #lifelonglearning #globallearning #languages #translation https://t.co/TV5InkWHwn pic.twitter.com/MGblMzQbBL
— Daniel Christian (he/him/his) (@dchristian5) August 4, 2021
From DSC:
For that matter, what does it open up for #JusticeTech? #Legaltech? #A2J? #Telehealth?
Will AR glasses provide this type of information in real-time? #AI, #NLP, smartclassrooms #edtech [Christian]
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DSC:Modified image which was originally from Minerva.com > Forum Learning Environment
So this is what my new Streaming TV studio looks like – I call it ‘Keynote Television’ — from futuristgerd.com by Gerd Leonhard
Excerpt:
Many of you have asked me how I do my online keynotes, specifically my green screens, lights, virtual backgrounds etc. So here are some pictures and below is a short video from Twitter but the bottom line is… it’s complicated and took me some 6 months to learn it all:)). But well worth it: Keynote Television rocks!
From DSC:
I was one of those people who asked Gerd if he would tell teachers, professors, trainers, IDs, and others how he does what he does. Thanks Gerd for sharing this information! May it be a blessing to many!
From DSC:
While checking out an edition of innovation & tech today, the following sites caught me eye.
LearnWorlds looks intriguing to me. It will be interesting to see how teachers, professors, trainers, instructional designers, artists, coaches, and more make their living in the future. I’m pulse-checking the area of learning platforms and posting items re: it so that we can stay informed on these trends.
Also from LearnWorlds:
Also see:
Thinkific’s powerful, all-in-one platform makes it easy to share your knowledge, grow your audience, and scale the business you already love.
Could VR Stadiums Be The Future Of Live Esports? — from vrscout.com by Kyle Melnick
Virtex wants to revolutionize the way we view live esports by replicating the IRL stadium experience in VR.
Also see:
EDUCAUSE QuickPoll Results: Artificial Intelligence Use in Higher Education — from educause.edu by Christopher Brooks
Despite the visibility and energy surrounding artificial intelligence, higher education is taking measured steps toward incorporating this technology.
Excerpt:
We are on the verge of peak hype about how artificial intelligence (AI) can (and will) transform our lives. No fewer than seven emerging AI technologies were prominently featured on “The Gartner Hype Cycle for Emerging Technologies, 2020.” Several technologies on EDUCAUSE’s “The Top 10 Strategic Technologies for 2020” explicitly incorporate or are reliant on AI. And while AI might seem to be a technology in search of a campus, some promising applications have been emerging in domains such as teaching and learning, student success, and accessibility. But how widespread is the use of AI in higher education today? In this QuickPoll, we operationalized Elana Zeide’s categories of AI applications in higher education to better understand how and how widely AI is being used for institutional tasks, student success and support tasks, and instructional tasks.
AI is not going to replace instructors anytime soon.
The Future of Social Media: Re-Humanisation and Regulation — by Gerd Leonhard
How could social media become ‘human’ again? How can we stop the disinformation, dehumanisation and dataism that has resulted from social media’s algorithmic obsessions? I foresee that the EXTERNALTIES i.e. the consequences of unmitigated growth of exponential digital technologies will become just as big as the consequences of climate change. In fact, today, the social media industry already has quite a few parallels to the oil, gas and coal business: while private make huge profits from extracting the ‘oil’ (i.e. user data), the external damage is left to society and governments to fix. This needs to change! In this keynote I make some precise suggestions as to how that could happen.
Some snapshots/excerpts:
From DSC:
Gerd brings up some solid points here. His presentation and perspectives are not only worth checking out, but they’re worth some time for us to seriously reflect on what he’s saying.
What kind of future do we want?
And for you professors, teachers, instructional designers, trainers, and presenters out there, check out *how* he delivers the content. It’s well done and very engaging.
Museum of Other Realities XR3 Exhibition: A Clear Vision For VR Film Festivals — from uploadvr.com by Harry Baker
Excerpt:
This week, the Museum of Other Realities launched its XR3 exhibition — a joint project between Cannes XR, the NewImages Festival and the Tribeca Film Festival. Not only does the exhibition feature some fantastic immersive VR content, but it presents it in a way that feels fresh, appropriate and the right direction for VR film festivals.
However, it feels like the Museum of Other Realities (MOR) has properly cracked the code with its XR3 exhibition this year. It’s a joint exhibition staged by the virtual museum and three organizations — Cannes XR, NewImages and Tribeca — and it results in something that feels like a true vision and creative blueprint for the future of immersive festivals.
Tips To Use Virtual Training For User Education & Immersive Site Tours — from elearningindustry.com by Stephanie Ivec
While virtual reality safety and equipment training have been around the longest, more and more organizations are seeing the benefits of virtual reality for new uses, like the site tours and user education.
Excerpt:
Software tools or systems, surgical devices, and even board games commonly require end user training or customer education in order for the customer to get the most out of the item they’ve purchased. Over the years, user education and training has evolved from lengthy user manuals to online videos to fully immersive experiences. Virtual and augmented reality videos are an engaging way to make customers feel more comfortable with a new product, procedure, or system.
Addendum on 6/11/21:
VR costs continue to decrease as processing power increases. Tethered and wireless HMDs (head-mounted displays) are becoming more compact and easier to use. From the HTC Vive Pro 2 to Oculus Quest 2, there are solutions for various budgets. VR is no longer cost-prohibitive.
The AR ecosystem is evolving, too. Apple’s ARKit and free AR mobile apps like Adobe Aero are inviting more people into the content creation space.
It’s a different calculus for adoption in commercial sectors, however. Return on investment and utilization throughout the product lifecycle are primary concerns.
It’s like Netflix for education: UND considers subscription tuition model — from grandforksherald.com by Sydney Mook; with thanks to Ray Schroeder for this resource out on LinkedIn
Think of it as Netflix or Hulu – popular television subscription services – but for a UND education. Students could pay a flat rate and take as many (or as few) online courses as preferred, so long as they aren’t considered a full-time, degree-seeking student.
Excerpts:
UND wants to add a flat-rate subscription option to its tuition model.
Think of it as Netflix or Hulu – popular television subscription services – but for a UND education. Students could pay a flat rate and take as many (or as few) online courses as preferred, so long as they aren’t considered a full-time, degree-seeking student.
“You enroll, you have a subscription and during that subscription, you can binge watch,” said Jeff Holm, vice provost for online education and strategic planning at UND.
UND says it wants to “provide competency-based, online education that provides ‘micro-pathways’ or smaller targeted units of learning to individuals as a way to enhance their skill set and knowledge for advancing in the labor market or reskilling for a new employment opportunity.”
