Educational Technology

July 15, 2021

IMPORTANT NOTICE regarding Ray’s blogs

Filed under: Educational Technology — admin @ 12:41 am

Dear Readers — Thank you for your loyal support of this curated reading blog. I have been publishing this from UIS on a variety of blog platforms dating back nearly 20 years. As I now phase down my appointment at UIS after 44 years, I am consolidating my work. This is to let you know that this site will remain online for research in the archives, but  no longer will be updated after today, July 15, 2021.

The GOOD NEWS is that I will continue to curate and publish the daily postings that you are accustomed to reading — 3 items a day; 7 days a week — at the Professional, Continuing and Online Education Update blog by UPCEA https://continuingedupdate.blogspot.com/. No charges. Only minor formatting changes.

If you have been receiving email updates, they will continue uninterrupted in the same general format at the same time to which you are accustomed — however you will notice the posts will come from the Professional, Continuing and Online Education by UPCEA blog, and you will need to accept this subscription by clicking the link at the top of the first email that comes to you. Of course by simply clicking at the bottom of any email, you may unsubscribe at any time.

Thank you for your support over these many years — and I am looking forward to many more to come!

-ray

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Blended learning is brighter, broader, and here to stay

Filed under: Educational Technology — admin @ 12:40 am

Dana Corey, eCampus News

With COVID-19 vaccines successfully rolling out to larger percentages of the population, a majority of colleges and universities will be bringing their students, faculty, and staff back to campus this fall. This naturally begs the question: what will they be returning to? Though exclusive on-site schooling would represent a return to a long-lost sense of normalcy, hybrid, or blended, styles of learning have transformed higher ed. In a post-pandemic world, administrators will not be as concerned about class sizes for public health purposes, but that does not automatically mean a crowded classroom is the ideal learning environment. In certain cases, splitting up an overfull class into on-site students and remote learners could deliver a better experience for both groups, which could then alternate sites next class.

https://www.ecampusnews.com/2021/07/06/blended-learning-is-brighter-broader-and-here-to-stay/

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Accessibility Gains Must Become Lasting Learning Practices

Filed under: Educational Technology — admin @ 12:35 am

Raghu Krishnaiah and Kelly Hermann, Inside Higher Ed

We must broaden our focus to create inclusive learning environments that recognize and remove barriers, creating a more equitable system for all. For too long, colleges and universities have waited for students with disabilities to request accommodations before deciding to remove barriers to access and full participation that existed all along. Higher education’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic shone a stark light on those practices, highlighting the shortcomings of this “wait and see” approach when it comes to digital accessibility and curricular access. In the new normal, post-pandemic education institution, we must broaden our focus to create inclusive learning environments that recognize and remove barriers, creating a more equitable system for all.

https://www.insidehighered.com/views/2021/07/07/colleges-must-continue-work-create-inclusive-learning-environments-opinion

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Medical schools should know about these online teaching resources

Filed under: Educational Technology — admin @ 12:30 am

Tmothy M. Smith, AMA
In the wake of COVID-19, the need for high-quality e-learning resources for undergraduate medical education accelerated as instructors and medical students adapted to the new learning environment. The AMA has developed a robust program that includes engaging, high-quality and interactive modules to easily fill emerging curricular gaps and support tracking of medical student progress. The new online learning platform, called the AMA UME Curricular Enrichment Program, features more than two dozen online modules to keep medical students on track in three key areas: health systems science, medical student leadership and EHR workflow.

https://www.ama-assn.org/education/accelerating-change-medical-education/medical-schools-should-know-about-these-online

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July 14, 2021

Academic Cheating: Are We Asking the Right Questions?

Filed under: Educational Technology — admin @ 9:03 am

Ray Schroeder, Inside Higher Ed

In recent months we have frequently seen reports of cheating among students at colleges, universities and even military academies. Is this entirely the fault of students or are faculty contributing to the problem by emphasizing rote memory of facts, figures and formulas?  The anecdotal reports of more cheating in online courses may be more a function of closer online scrutiny and the use of proctoring tools. We should be more about teaching methods, processes, reflection and creative/critical thinking than recalling facts and figures that are available to us in an instant online. Should we, then, focus our efforts on engaged teaching and assessing through unique — even personalized – problem solving, collaboration building, leadership and communication?

https://www.insidehighered.com/digital-learning/blogs/online-trending-now/academic-cheating-are-we-asking-right-questions

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IMPORTANT NOTICE regarding Ray’s blogs

Filed under: Educational Technology — admin @ 12:41 am

Dear Readers — Thank you for your loyal support of this curated reading blog. I have been publishing this from UIS on a variety of blog platforms dating back nearly 20 years. As I now phase down my appointment at UIS after 44 years, I am consolidating my work. This is to let you know that this site will remain online for research in the archives, but will not be updated after July 15, 2021.

The GOOD NEWS is that I will continue to curate and publish the daily postings that you are accustomed to reading — 3 items a day; 7 days a week — at the Professional, Continuing and Online Education Update blog by UPCEA https://continuingedupdate.blogspot.com/. No charges. Only minor formatting changes.

If you have been receiving email updates, they will continue uninterrupted in the same general format at the same time to which you are accustomed — however you will notice the posts will come from the Professional, Continuing and Online Education by UPCEA blog, and you will need to accept this subscription by clicking the link at the top of the first email that comes to you. Of course by simply clicking at the bottom of any email, you may unsubscribe at any time.

Thank you for your support over these many years — and I am looking forward to many more to come!

-ray

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Increasing Student Engagement During Synchronous Online Classes

Filed under: Educational Technology — admin @ 12:40 am

Neria Sebastien, Faculty Focus

Online classes can present barriers to traditional student engagement and learning, amplified by the actual distance between the learners, their peers, and the instructorConsequently, to realize greater student satisfaction and more profound learner outcomes, instructors are motivatedto make their courses as engaging as possible. Moreover, student engagement involves several elements, including active and cooperative learning. Instructors are often encouraged and, in some cases, mandated to provide prompt descriptive feedback and communicate high expectations while recognizing and respecting learner diversity. They are guided by Culturally Responsive Teaching and Learning (CRTL) principles and Universal Design for Learning (UDL).

https://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/online-education/online-student-engagement/increasing-student-engagement-during-synchronous-online-classes/

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New Research Center Aims to Address Inequities in Online Learning in College

Filed under: Educational Technology — admin @ 12:35 am

SRI Interenational

The U.S Department of Education’s Institute of Education Sciences has awarded $10 million to SRI Education and the Community College Research Center (CCRC) at Columbia University’s Teachers College. SRI and CCRC are partnering with Achieving the Dream, a national leader in championing evidence-based institutional improvement with a network of more than 300 colleges, and a group of nine broad-access colleges—community colleges and other schools that accept more than 70 percent of applicants—to conduct research on how educational technology and instructional strategies can bolster students’ skills for managing their own learning.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/research-center-aims-address-inequities-151800780.html

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Admission by lottery: A proposal to reimagine college acceptance

Filed under: Educational Technology — admin @ 12:30 am

Andy Uhler and Erika Soderstrom, MarketPlace

Over the years, Michael Sandel, a political philosophy professor at Harvard University, noticed a shift in his students. He observed that increasingly his students believed their admission into college was based primarily on years of hard work. This view, however, disregards the roles that outside assistance, luck, privilege and affluence play in college pursuits. To help shed light on these forces, Sandel has proposed an admissions lottery system, highlighted in his book “The Tyranny of Merit: What’s Become of the Common Good?” The process would work just like it sounds: Create a pool of qualified applicants that have hit a certain mark, then randomly distribute them until spots at schools are filled. That’s the basic process, although there are variations of the admissions lottery system Sandel has put forth.

https://www.marketplace.org/2021/07/02/admission-by-lottery-a-proposal-to-reimagine-college-acceptance/

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July 13, 2021

IMPORTANT NOTICE regarding Ray’s blogs

Filed under: Educational Technology — admin @ 12:41 am

Dear Readers — Thank you for your loyal support of this curated reading blog. I have been publishing this from UIS on a variety of blog platforms dating back nearly 20 years. As I now phase down my appointment at UIS after 44 years, I am consolidating my work. This is to let you know that this site will remain online for research in the archives, but will not be updated after July 15, 2021.

The GOOD NEWS is that I will continue to curate and publish the daily postings that you are accustomed to reading — 3 items a day; 7 days a week — at the Professional, Continuing and Online Education Update blog by UPCEA https://continuingedupdate.blogspot.com/. No charges. Only minor formatting changes.

If you have been receiving email updates, they will continue uninterrupted in the same general format at the same time to which you are accustomed — however you will notice the posts will come from the Professional, Continuing and Online Education by UPCEA blog, and you will need to accept this subscription by clicking the link at the top of the first email that comes to you. Of course by simply clicking at the bottom of any email, you may unsubscribe at any time.

Thank you for your support over these many years — and I am looking forward to many more to come!

-ray

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Business partnerships with community colleges help funnel workers into jobs

Filed under: Educational Technology — admin @ 12:40 am

Olivia Sanchez, Washington Post

Mesa Community College’s partnership with Boeing is one of several models that could be replicated if a bipartisan bill to help finance community college workforce training for short-term credentials makes it through Congress.The Assisting Community Colleges in Educating Skilled Students to Careers Act — or ACCESS to Careers Act — is designed to increase the number of students who earn these types of credentials and the number of colleges meeting the needs of local employers. It could provide states with up to $2.5 million a year for up to four years to develop policies around this type of workforce training and provide community colleges with grants of up to $1.5 million each to carry out the programs. The bill was reintroduced in May by Sens. Todd C. Young (R-Ind.) and Tim Kaine (D-Va.) after a February 2020 version languished without success.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/community-colleges-workforce-training-partnerships/2021/07/01/1194f500-d9b6-11eb-8fb8-aea56b785b00_story.html

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The new world of work: You plus AI

Filed under: Educational Technology — admin @ 12:35 am

Igor Ikonnikov, Venture Beat

Emerging technologies meet both advocates and resistance as users weigh the potential benefits with the potential risks. To successfully implement new technologies, we must start small, in a few simplified forms, fitting a small number of use cases to establish proof of concept before scaling usage. Artificial intelligence is no exception, but with the added challenge of intruding into the cognitive sphere, which has always been the prerogative of humans. Only a small circle of specialists understand how this technology works — therefore, more education to the broader public is needed as AI becomes more and more integrated into society.

https://venturebeat.com/2021/07/05/the-new-world-of-work-you-plus-ai/

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Need Of Data Privacy In The Age Of Online Learning

Filed under: Educational Technology — admin @ 12:30 am

Sunint Nandi, Business World

Online learning has become a dominant means of providing knowledge to people of all age groups, rather than becoming a standalone concept to a few. The intersection of learning online and customizing education for students has started becoming a grave challenge with data privacy at stake. Most of the digital learning platforms have the option of recording students’ and parents’ data. Data in education is referred to the information that an institution, district, trainer, and online service provider collects from each student. It includes personal, professional, and meta-data. The data when effectively used can allow the stakeholders to make and customise personalised decisions based on the need of the learner and help the learner to succeed. With abundant data accessible around the world, it is often widely misused and thus it calls for an understanding of the ways to avoid data breaches.

http://bweducation.businessworld.in/article/Need-Of-Data-Privacy-In-The-Age-Of-Online-Learning-/05-07-2021-395447/

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July 12, 2021

Whatever Happened to Those Student Lawsuits and Strikes Over Tuition?

Filed under: Educational Technology — admin @ 12:41 am

Nadia Tamez-Robledo, EdSurge

One running list documented 240 tuition refund lawsuits filed last year. But judges are ruling that students don’t have a leg to stand on. Just this week, a U.S. District Court judge in Massachusetts threw out a case against Harvard University after finding students had no evidence they were promised in-person classes, Reuters reports That seems par for the course, including at: University of the Pacific, which had been in court since last May. The “unjust enrichment” case was dismissed with prejudice this month. Brown University, along with three other Rhode Island institutions, which dodged a class-action breach-of-contract lawsuit when it was dismissed in March.
Texas A&M System, where plaintiffs voluntarily dropped a class-action lawsuit in November.

https://www.edsurge.com/news/2021-06-24-whatever-happened-to-those-student-lawsuits-and-strikes-over-tuition

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Adaptability is set to be the key skill for the future

Filed under: Educational Technology — admin @ 12:40 am

Jessica Schueller and Hugo Figueiredo, University World News

Core to future skills is a foundation of adaptable self-reliance. As Ulf-Daniel Ehlers said in Future Skills: “So-called self-competences such as … self-directed learning enable individuals to productively perform the necessary adaptation processes in highly emergent contexts.” These self-dependent skillsets are indispensable in an ever-increasing gig economy. In a 2018 paper, Lawrence Katz and Alan Krueger found that alternative work arrangements, defined as contract and freelance work, accounted for most job growth in the United States between 1995-2015.

https://www.universityworldnews.com/post.php?story=20210702110012289

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EDITORIAL | Penn State must continue offering remote learning opportunities beyond the pandemic

Filed under: Educational Technology — admin @ 12:30 am

Daily Collegian

Online classes are still available — in small numbers — at University Park, and World Campus offers solely virtual courses. But, the resources and opportunities available at University Park should extend beyond its campus. Virtual learning opportunities would help decrease some inequalities among the commonwealth.  Moreover, virtual resources went further than learning amid the pandemic — Penn State’s Counseling and Psychological Services offered virtual mental health resources. Making mental health services more accessible — through an online format — also continues to benefit the community’s wellbeing. Online education and other resources aren’t perfect, but they’ve primarily worked. And, continuing these remote options will only allow improvement. Improvement will lead to more innovation. Improvement will lead to more accessibility.

https://www.collegian.psu.edu/opinion/editorials/editorial-penn-state-must-continue-offering-remote-learning-opportunities-beyond-the-pandemic/article_386e953c-dad8-11eb-9fb0-db17ce444846.html

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July 11, 2021

How the Pandemic Boosted Ed Tech Adoption

Filed under: Educational Technology — admin @ 12:40 am

Rhea Kelly, Campus Technology
The COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting pivot to online learning in higher education increased mainstream adoption of many education technology tools, according to the 2021 Changing Landscape of Online Education (CHLOE) report. The technology with the greatest gains: videoconferencing, which is projected to reach 87 percent mainstream adoption by the end of 2021, compared to 51 percent in 2019. CHLOE is an annual survey of chief online officers about the structure and organization of online learning in United States higher education, conducted by Quality Matters and Eduventures Research. The 2021 survey polled representatives from 422 U.S. colleges and universities, drilling down into the impact of the pandemic on the future of online learning.

https://campustechnology.com/articles/2021/06/08/how-the-pandemic-boosted-ed-tech-adoption.aspx

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10 strategies for expanding networks—not just skills—to expand career pathways

Filed under: Educational Technology — admin @ 12:34 am

Julia Freeland Fisher and Mahnaz Charania, Christensen Institute

As well-intentioned as these education and workforce investments may be, the inconvenient truth is that skills and jobs aren’t one and the same. The reality, in fact, is much messier. And more human. Social networks and relationships function as something of an unspoken currency in the world of work. An estimated half of all jobs come through personal connections. And even earlier in the educational pipeline, students’ networks are proven to shape their career ambitions. For the Administration to realize its commitment to improving outcomes for historically underserved learners and workers, more equitable pipelines to employment will need to be built on both skills and networks. Doing so requires more than the occasional job fair or networking event. Instead, network-building must be woven throughout education and workforce pathways.

https://www.christenseninstitute.org/blog/10-strategies-for-expanding-networks-not-just-skills-to-expand-career-pathways/

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How to make the AI revolution a reality in higher education

Filed under: Educational Technology — admin @ 12:30 am

Shravan Goli, eCampusNews

Recent McKinsey research examining higher education finds that the risk of “outcome inequities” for students could worsen in the U.S., impacting completion, employment, and lifetime earnings. This, even as colleges battle falling revenue and declining enrollments with a business model at its “breaking point.” Universities that quickly ramped up digital infrastructure early in the pandemic now need a more measured, long-term digital transformation roadmap to help address the challenges brought on by COVID-19. What’s clear is the institutions that succeed in integrating AI into theirtransformation roadmap will have a distinct advantage over their competitors, which will translate into higher enrollments, higher revenues, and higher rates of student achievement.

https://www.ecampusnews.com/2021/06/30/how-to-make-the-ai-revolution-a-reality-in-higher-education/

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July 10, 2021

What happens when digital learning surpasses in-person learning?

Filed under: Educational Technology — admin @ 12:40 am

Talia Kolodny, eCampus News

Ultimately, the answer is that the era of hybrid learning is here–and this has an impact on educators, learners, and institutions alike. This change demands flexibility and thoughtful design. Academic institutions need to be intentional about the technology they adopt, their choice of physical learning spaces, and their long-term strategy to support every student, even those who never set foot on campus. Providing the highest quality education in a world of constant change is challenging, but we have a responsibility to create better solutions. As the “new normal” emerges, it will require universities to be prepared for multiple modalities, and technology unlocks those capabilities.

https://www.ecampusnews.com/2021/07/01/what-happens-when-digital-learning-surpasses-in-person-learning/

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Prediction: The future of CX

Filed under: Educational Technology — admin @ 12:35 am

Rachel Diebner, David Malfara, Kevin Neher, Mike Thompson, and Maxence Vancauwenberghe, McKinsey

Today, companies can regularly, lawfully, and seamlessly collect smartphone and interaction data from across their customer, financial, and operations systems, yielding deep insights about their customers. Those with an eye toward the future are boosting their data and analytics capabilities and harnessing predictive insights to connect more closely with their customers, anticipate behaviors, and identify CX issues and opportunities in real time. These companies can better understand their interactions with customers and even preempt problems in customer journeys. These benefits extend far beyond the people typically thought of as “customers”—to members, clients, patients, guests, and intermediaries. Early movers in the world of customer-experience analytics herald a fundamental shift in how companies evaluate and shape customer experiences.

https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/marketing-and-sales/our-insights/prediction-the-future-of-cx

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