web-based collaboration

No, it doesn’t need to be a Zoom — from wired.com by Chris Stokel-Walker
We’re wasting hours of our lives on inefficient video calls. Here’s how to decide when you should jump on a Zoom – and when not to

Excerpt:

Academic research has pinpointed four reasons why we’re growing sick of video calls. For one thing, we’re engaged in an unnaturally large amount of eye contact, which can prove exhausting, according to Jeremy Bailenson professor at Stanford University and founding director of the Stanford Virtual Human Interaction Lab. We’re also stressed out by being confronted with our own face for hours on end (even if you can’t stop staring at it). Bailenson compares it to be followed around with a mirror all day.

From DSC:
What comes to my mind here is that videoconferencing — and meeting in general — requires mental work — and thus energy. Why? Because, as I mentioned in this posting, we are constantly processing auditory and visual channels.

Transcript here.

From DSC:
So having to process auditory and visual information hour after hour takes major energy! And some presentations/presenters require a lot more energy than others.

Coursera: The ‘Amazon’ Of Online Education May Grow By Magnitudes — from seekingalpha.com

Summary

Increasing student dissatisfaction and declining enrollment suggest that many people are rethinking traditional methods of higher education.
The historical value of universities is becoming defunct as the internet allows a more efficient, less expensive, and more accessible vector of transmitting knowledge.
Innovative platforms like Coursera offer students a huge “marketplace” of high-quality courses far less expensive than those in traditional universities.
Given Coursera’s minimal barriers to growth and its massive total addressable market, I would not be surprised to see its annual revenue rise by 10X or more within years.
COUR may be one of the few recent IPOs which is actually trading below its fundamental fair value – subject to the assumption that online education will eventually supersede traditional models.

40 Ideas For Using FlipGrid In The Classroom — from teachthought.com

The Next Great Disruption Is Hybrid Work—Are We Ready? — from Microsoft

“Over the past year, no area has undergone more rapid transformation than the way we work. Employee expectations are changing, and we will need to define productivity much more broadly — inclusive of collaboration, learning, and wellbeing to drive career advancement for every worker, including frontline and knowledge workers, as well as for new graduates and those who are in the workforce today. All this needs to be done with flexibility in when, where, and how people work.”

Satya Nadella, CEO at Microsoft

Also see:

What executives are saying about the future of hybrid work — from mckinsey.com by Andrea Alexander, Rich Cracknell, Aaron De Smet, Meredith Langstaff, Mihir Mysore, and Dan Ravid.
What’s next for consumers, workers, and companies in the post-COVID-19 recovery — from mckinsey.com by Susan Lund, Anu Madgavkar, Jan Mischke, and Jaana Remes
For mothers in the workplace, a year (and counting) like no other — from mckinsey.com by Jess Huang, Alexis Krivkovich, Ishanaa Rambachan, and Lareina Yee

Why Professors Should Ask Students For Feedback Long Before the Semester Is Over — from edsurge.com by Rebecca Koenig
This article is part of the guide Better, Faster, Stronger: How Learning Engineering Aims to Transform Education.

Excerpt:

About a month into each semester, Gayle Golden sets aside a little time to ask her students about their learning.

The journalism instructor at the University of Minnesota keeps the process simple, with brief questions similar to these:

What should keep happening in this class?
What should we start doing in this class?
What should we stop doing in this class?

Golden collects the results, which students give anonymously, then studies the feedback and makes a list of all the information she’s received. During the next class period, she discusses the findings with her students. She tells them which suggestions she plans to put into practice, which recommendations she can’t act on, and why.

From DSC:
Speaking of feedback…

I think it would be good to have our students journal about their learning — integrating their notes, readings, experiments, lectures, etc. Students could check in on these 3 questions for example.

And in the (potentially) digital process, they could also submit a form to their faculty member to answer the question:

What do I want my professor to know about my learning experience today?

Such a question could be electronically delivered to the professor on any given day. This type of feedback loop would provide real-time, formative feedback to the professor as well as help the students develop their metacognitive skills.

I would think that such a process could also be used within the K-12 realm, including homeschoolers.

Also from edsurge.com, see:

How to Use Podcasts in Teaching — by Bonni Stachowiak
To Support Black Male Teachers, A Nonprofit is Paying Off Student Loans — by Jeffrey R. Young
Millions of Students Are Still Without WiFi and Tech—Why Haven’t Policymakers Stepped Up? — by Mary Jo Madda

My post-pandemic learning list — from chieflearningofficer.com by Elliott Masie
This is the time to extend our skills as learning professionals through the power of learning.

Excerpt:

Curation on a personal level. I want to create new ways to curate awesome information and knowledge that I encounter every day. I want a “Later” button on my mouse or a gesture feature on my phone to capture and re-present indicated content to me at a later time. My curiosity as a learner is demanding a better way to tag or selectively highlight content, conversations and resources effortlessly and at any time throughout the day.

Adding arts to learning for impact. We have hosted 33 one-hour Empathy Concerts since April 2020, combining Broadway performers and learning experts for powerful blends of content and music relevant to the workplace. I am excited to expand models for incorporating music, songs and theater into our learning efforts. Arts expand the emotional impact of cognitive mastery.

Also see:

The reverse culture shock of returning to the office — from chieflearningofficer.com by Camille Preston
Understanding reverse culture shock and its effects may be the best way to prepare for post-pandemic work and life.

Excerpt:

While leaving home to return to work will be remarkably different than coming back from an overseas tour, there are similarities. Understanding reverse culture shock and its effects may also be the best way to prepare for post-pandemic work and life.

Wow! Some significant statements coming from this highly-regarded physics professor!

On 05/31/2021, in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, active learning, Canvas - and other Instructure-related items, CMS/LMS, collaboration, colleges, communities of practice, community colleges, digital learning, education technology, elearning, experimentation, higher education, human-computer interaction (HCI), ideas, innovation, instructional design, learning, learning ecosystem, Learning Experience Design, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, learning preferences, mathematics, microlearning, more voice more choice more control, online learning, online media, online tutoring, pedagogy, physics, platforms, society, teaching & learning, teaching online, United States, universities, user experience (UX), web-based collaboration, by Daniel Christian

Teaching: Why an Active-Learning Evangelist Is Sold on Online Teaching — from chronicle.com by Beth McMurtrie

Excerpts:

Now, says Mazur, the results are in and he’s convinced: online teaching is better. Not in all circumstances, to be sure. But in his applied-physics courses, students showed larger learning gains and felt more supported than students had in in-person classes. In fact, they appear to have learned so much more effectively in this new format that he wonders if it’s “almost unethical,” to return to the classroom this fall.

“I have never been able to offer a course of the quality that I’m offering now,” he says. “I am convinced that there is no way I could do anything close to what I’m doing in person. Online teaching is better than in person.”

One benefit of this setup, says Mazur, is that students go at their own pace. He has thought a lot about how classroom-based work, even when it is student-led, is hostage to the clock and the instructor. Not every group works at the same pace, yet everyone has to wait until others are ready, or rush ahead when they fall behind. When groups set their own pace, it gives them the space to work through problems or get help as needed. The value of self-paced learning is also evident outside of class, says Mazur, who built more asynchronous work into his online course.

“I have never seen students work this hard for my course,” he says. “Never. And so consistently.”

Also see:

But he’s so convinced of how valuable this model is that he asked Harvard to allow him to keep teaching online this fall.

Also relevant/see:

Online Learning Increases College Access for Underserved Native American Students — from edtechmagazine.com by Adam Stone
The California Indian Nations College saw a 22 percent increase in enrollment last year. Here’s a look at how they did it.
A Simple Guide to Four Popular Online Learning Formats — from blog.commlabindia.com by Nameera Sallum
With the pandemic making in-person training a remote possibility, organizations relying on classroom training are now looking to online learning. This post discusses various aspects of four popular online learning formats – eLearning, microlearning, virtual classrooms, and social learning.

A smorgasboard of apps and tips — including one that can trace where water flows within the U.S.

On 05/31/2021, in art, Asia, creativity, digital storytelling, distance education, education, education technology, engagement / engaging students, geography / geology, ideas, India, interactivity, K-12 related, learning, learning ecosystem, Learning Experience Design, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, love of learning, marketplaces, mathematics, Microsoft, multimedia, online tutoring, participation, passions, pedagogy, platforms, play, productivity / tips and tricks, professional development, real-world assignments, remote teaching and learning, storytelling, teachers, teaching & learning, teaching online, tools, UK, United States, visualizing information, web-based collaboration, by Daniel Christian

Leveraging EdTech: brilliant tools for student voice — from global-edtech.com by Cecilia Astolfi
Cecilia Astolfi provides three very useful tips for any teachers wishing to promote student voice in the classroom

There are three tools I recommend in order to enhance the ability of students to express their views in a constructive and valuable manner.

Best Microsoft PowerPoint Tips and Tricks for Teachers — from by Luke Edwards
You may be amazed to see how much you can get out of Microsoft PowerPoint as a teacher

Excerpt:

5. Create Instagram Stories in PowerPoint
Another social media app that has great traction with students is Instagram, specifically the Stories feature that allows you to share images or videos from the day, which are wiped for a fresh set each day.

Imagine doing this in class? Perhaps the students could carry on a story you were studying in class. Maybe they could tell the tale of a comet as it travels through space. The options are huge and it’s easy to do using this PowerPoint template as a starting point.

6 kids games that make math learning engaging and entertaining — from educatorstechnology.com

Excerpt:

BBC School Radio Maths is an excellent educational resource we learned from MakeUseOf‘ s list of 10 Cool Math Games for Kids. School Radio Maths offers a wide variety of educational games to help kids develop their math skills. Kids will get to grapple with various numeracy challenges that involves a higher degree of mental skills. The games are entertaining enough to keep pupils motivated and focused on the learning task at hand.

6 strategies to help you improve your math skills — from educatorstechnology.com

Excerpt:
As a child, did you love math back in the elementary? Now that you are an adult, do you feel awkward with your Mathematic’s skills? Let’s admit it – not everyone is great at Math. Some find it fun, brilliant, stimulating others find it too difficult to comprehend.

However, the stigma associated with math learning is not always true especially knowing that Math is omnipresent and is being used in almost every facet of our life. The purpose of this post is to share with you some of the ways to help you strengthen your Math skills.

This map lets you fly along the path of a drop of water from any place in the U.S. — from fastcompany.com by Adele Peters
Click on any spot or enter an address, and it will show where the water is likely to flow. Good for both learning how pollution and plastic spreads, but also for an aerial visual ride of the country’s waterways.
Also see: river-runner.samlearner.com/

Hands-On with the Lego Snapchat Augmented Reality Experience That Lets You Build With Friends Remotely — from next.reality.news by Adario Strange

Excerpt:

The world of Lego is timeless primarily because everyone, regardless of age or background, can build a wide variety of amazing things with the simple component blocks from the classic toymaker.

But now that Snapchat has brought that dynamic to augmented reality via the Rebuild the World Snapchat Lens the possibilities are truly endless.

Snap Spectacles Early Prototype, Volkswagen Drives into AR, Inside Lego Snapchat, & Instagram Updates AR — from next.reality.news by Tommy Palladino

Best Apps To Learn The Korean Language — from edtechreview.in by Saniya Khan

Excerpt:

Korean, one of the popular Asian languages for non-native speakers, is the official language of the Republic of Korea (South Korea) and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (North Korea).

This is an increasingly important language globally considering South Korea’s powerful economy, geopolitical importance, and growing presence in Asian pop culture; perhaps one reason for garnering a surprising amount of interest in people worldwide to learn the Korean language.

5 Places to Sell Your Artwork Online — from hongkiat.com

Excerpt:

Selling art online is making a comeback. Artists have been selling their work on the Internet but as of late, there’s an increase in online art sales. You can of course build your own website to share your art, run your own marketing and promotional exercise via social media and other channels but you will probably gain more exposure with the following websites . Time to get your beautiful art out there.

12 good edtech tools to use in your distance education — from educatorstechnology.com

Excerpt:

Looking for some educational websites to help you with the management of your online (and also face-to-face) classroom teaching? The list below has you covered. It features a collection of some popular web tools you can use to perform a wide variety of educational tasks. These include: creating interactive video lessons, collect formative assessments and provide real-time feedback to students, enhance students learning through the use of digital games and flashcards, create online classes and share assignments and learning resources with students, organize students into appropriate learning groups and many more. Links to these websites are under the visual.

Record, transcribe, clip, and share video from Zoom in real-time. — This Grain tool/resource is from Jeremy Caplan’s Wonder Tools newsletter. Thanks Jeremy for passing this info along!

From DSC:
These kinds of tools should make for interesting discussions in online-, hybrid-, and hyflex-based courses…as well as in microlearning-based streams of content perhaps.

The image below was excerpted from:

6 Training Situations Where Blended Learning Is the Best Fit [SlideShare] — from blog.commlabindia.com
Blended learning strikes the perfect balance between offline and online learning formats. However, there are a few situations where it’s a godsend. Read on to understand when to serve blended learning for your corporate learners.

A great example of a learning ecosystem from CommLab India!

20 Best Websites to Help Kids Learn From Home in 2021 [Olech]

On 05/24/2021, in 24x7x365 access, art, creativity, digital learning, digital storytelling, education, education technology, educational games / serious games, engagement / engaging students, experimentation, homeschooling/homeschoolers, K-12 related, languages and translation, learning, learning ecosystem, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, learning preferences, love of learning, mathematics, media/film, more voice more choice more control, multimedia, online learning, online media, productivity / tips and tricks, reading, science, STEAM-related, streams of content, student-related, technologies for your home, tools, ubiquitous learning, vendors, virtual field trips, virtual tutoring, web-based collaboration, writing, youth, by Daniel Christian

20 Best Websites to Help Kids Learn From Home in 2021 — from wizcase.com by Julia Olech

Excerpt:

That’s why I rounded up a list of the 20 best free websites that provide engaging and fun learning experiences for you and your children. I made sure each website caters to a wide range of ages with games and interactive lessons that won’t bore even the most fidgety kids. The best part is that you can use them all at no cost!

One wonders what this type of tech will do for online-based learning, &/or hybrid/blended learning, &/or hyflex-based learning in the future [Christian]

On 05/24/2021, in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, A/V -- audio/visual, attention, collaboration, colleges, communications, communities of practice, community colleges, competency-based learning/education, corporate / business world, corporate universities / corporate training, Daniel S. Christian, digital audio, digital learning, digital storytelling, digital video, disruption, distance education, education technology, emerging technologies, engagement / engaging students, experimentation, future, future of higher education, game-changing environment, global / globalization, Google, higher education, homeschooling/homeschoolers, human-computer interaction (HCI), hybrid learning, ideas, innovation, K-12 related, law schools, learning ecosystem, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, learning hubs & pods & microschooling, learning preferences, learning spaces, liberal arts, more voice more choice more control, online learning, online media, platforms, remote teaching and learning, smart classrooms, social learning / networks, society, student-related, telecommunications, telelegal, telemedicine / telehealth / virtual health, telepresence, television, tools, training / L&D, TVs, United States, universities, usability, user experience (UX), vendors, videoconferencing, Virtual courts and law firms, virtual field trips, virtual K-12 schools, virtual tutoring, vision/possibilities, visualizing information, vocational / trades, web-based collaboration, webinars, by Daniel Christian

From DSC:
It will be interesting to see — post Covid19 — how vendors and their platforms continue to develop to allow for even greater degrees of web-based collaboration. I recently saw this item re: what Google is doing with their Project Starline. Very interesting indeed. Google is trying to make it so that the other person feels like they are in the same space with you.

.
Time will tell what occurs in this space...but one does wonder what this type of technology will do for online-based learning, and/or hybrid/blended learning, and/or hyflex-based learning in the future…?

The fate of midsize firms in a post-pandemic world [Black]

On 05/19/2021, in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, change, changing business models, Legal operations, legal technologies, legislatures / government / legal, vendors, videoconferencing, Virtual courts and law firms, web-based collaboration, workplace, by Daniel Christian

2021 Report on the State of the Midsize Legal Market — from legal.thomsonreuters.com; with thanks to Gabe Teninbaum for this resource and the resource below

Managing through the endless changes of 2020 uncovered both challenges and opportunities for law firms. The past year was an exercise in responding swiftly and decisively to massive disruptions. 2021 may allow for a strategic reassessment of what works — or no longer works — in this new environment.

Download the “Report on the state of the midsize legal market” for a look back at midsize law firms’ performance, the strategies they employed to preserve profitability throughout the year, and the unique opportunities that exist for them.

Also see:

The fate of midsize firms in a post-pandemic world — from abovethelaw.com by Nicole Black

Excerpts:

Of course, the effect of the pandemic on the practice of law varied greatly from one firm to the next. Often, the impact was largely dependent on firm size, geographic location(s), practice area(s), and, of course, technology readiness. For example, some firms were already operating in the cloud and were able to quickly pivot to remote functionality and were easily able to communicate with clients and colleagues, accept online signatures and payments, and quickly access documents and law firm data. For other firms, the transition to remote work was a much more difficult one.

Law firms leaders quickly learned that a willingness to adopt new technologies into their firms was a requirement for survival during the pandemic.
…
The bottom line: we’re going to be entering a “new normal” on the other side of the pandemic and the old school ways of thinking and doing business simply won’t cut it. An innovative mindset is key, and this includes a willingness to: 1) adapt when needed, and 2) invest in cutting edge technologies that will ensure built-in efficiency and flexibility.

Thursday, 5/20/21, is Global Accessibility Awareness Day!!!

On 05/18/2021, in accessibility / UDL, adjunct faculty, adult learning, colleges, communities of practice, community colleges, computer science, content development, aggregation, repositories, corporate / business world, corporate universities / corporate training, digital audio, digital learning, digital photography, digital storytelling, digital textbooks, digital video, distance education, education, education technology, elearning, faculty/staff, flipping -- inverted learning, higher education, homeschooling/homeschoolers, human-computer interaction (HCI), hybrid learning, instructional design, internet, IT in HE, K-12 related, languages and translation, law schools, leadership, learning, learning ecosystem, Learning Experience Design, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, learning hubs & pods & microschooling, learning spaces, library / librarians, lifelong learning, marketing/social marketing, multimedia, Natural Language Processing (NLP), neurodivergent/special needs, new media literacies, online learning, online media, online tutoring, participation, presentations, productivity / tips and tricks, reading, remote teaching and learning, society, storytelling, teachers, teaching & learning, teaching online, telelegal, telemedicine / telehealth / virtual health, tools, training / L&D, universities, user experience (UX), user interface design, vendors, videoconferencing, Virtual courts and law firms, virtual field trips, virtual K-12 schools, Virtual Reality (VR) / worlds / learning, virtual tutoring, visualizing information, voice recognition / voice enabled interfaces, web design and production, web-based collaboration, writing, youth, by Daniel Christian

Global Accessibility Awareness Day is this Thursday, May 20, 2021
Help us celebrate the tenth Global Accessibility Awareness Day (GAAD)! The purpose of GAAD is to get everyone talking, thinking and learning about digital access and inclusion, and the more than One Billion people with disabilities/impairments.

Also see:

Elevating Your Streaming Production Quality [Davis]

On 05/11/2021, in A/V -- audio/visual, colleges, communities of practice, community colleges, content development, aggregation, repositories, corporate / business world, corporate universities / corporate training, digital audio, digital learning, digital video, distance education, education technology, higher education, instructional design, 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, liberal arts, multimedia, online learning, online media, online tutoring, platforms, podcasting, productivity / tips and tricks, professional development, quality, remote teaching and learning, teachers, teaching & learning, teaching online, tools, training / L&D, vendors, videoconferencing, virtual K-12 schools, web-based collaboration, by Daniel Christian

Elevating Your Streaming Production Quality — from avnetwork.com by Cindy Davis

Excerpt:

The instructional studios started with a mobile standing desk, which serves as the command center for instruction. The desk has a room controller, document camera, and an interactive display with an adapter for laptop content sharing. Behind the desk is a whiteboard with a whiteboard camera. In front of the desk, we designed an AV cart that includes a shotgun mic pair, LED light panels, two large displays, one off-lens teleprompter, and PTZ camera.

The studios put the instructor in control of the meeting using a Zoom Rooms controller— allowing them to easily switch between and share multiple types of content simultaneously: main camera, document camera, laptop content, digital annotations, and whiteboard writing.

Learning Ecosystems

Reflections on “No, it doesn’t need to be a Zoom” [Stokel-Walker]

Coursera: The ‘Amazon’ Of Online Education May Grow By Magnitudes [seekingalpha.com]

The Next Great Disruption Is Hybrid Work—Are We Ready? [Microsoft] + 3 items from McKinsey.com

Nice. “Record, transcribe, clip, and share video from Zoom in real-time.”

Great example of a learning ecosystem from CommLab India!

The fate of midsize firms in a post-pandemic world [Black]

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