Online Learning Update

By Jeffrey R. Young, EdSurge

So far LinkedIn Learning plans to work with five partners: Harvard Business Publishing, getAbstract (which includes book summaries and TED talks), Big Think, Treehouse (which features courses on coding) and Creative Live. So it’s not like just any course library will be integrated, though the company said it plans to add others in the future. LinkedIn officials say it will not be selling subscriptions to the other services. “Many of our customers use LinkedIn Learning, but they also use other content,” said James Raybould, director of learning product at LinkedIn. “They want to bring that one front door to the learners.”

https://www.edsurge.com/news/2018-11-09-linkedin-learning-opens-its-platform-slightly

By Cait Etherington, eLearning Inside

In an era of rising student debts, a growing number of people are concluding that higher education simply isn’t worth the financial risk. While this may be understandable, as student debt loads rise, there is at least some hope on the horizon. Over the past decade, online education has rapidly expanded, and there is growing evidence that it is making higher education more affordable.

https://news.elearninginside.com/three-ways-online-education-is-making-higher-education-more-affordable/

Ruggero Gramatica, CEO of Yewno – presenting at Stanford

How can we transition from the Information Economy to the Knowledge Economy?Traditional approaches based on IT smart technology that leverage indexing, RDF, open link can only marginally tackle the issue. Leveraging the rising of AI and ML together with a new cognitive linguistic approach, I will present the results of applied research which has led to the launch of the first interdisciplinary knowledge graph. Based on the paradigm of conceptual spaces, it builds inferences across concepts and their relationships, always providing precise references to the original literature source and an explanation of the connection. Most importantly, not providing a direct solution to queries but rather leads to infer the reasoning around the answers.

http://library.stanford.edu/events/how-ai-will-change-libraries

by Karen Hao, MIT Technology Review

In the broadest sense, AI refers to machines that can learn, reason, and act for themselves. They can make their own decisions when faced with new situations, in the same way that humans and animals can. As it currently stands, the vast majority of the AI advancements and applications you hear about refer to a category of algorithms known as machine learning. These algorithms use statistics to find patterns in massive amounts of data. They then use those patterns to make predictions on things like what shows you might like on Netflix, what you’re saying when you speak to Alexa, or whether you have cancer based on your MRI. Machine learning, and its subset deep learning (basically machine learning on steroids), is incredibly powerful.

https://www.technologyreview.com/s/612404/is-this-ai-we-drew-you-a-flowchart-to-work-it-out/

Sally Percym, Forbes

How often do we hear that people are an organization’s greatest asset? Often the onus seems to be on individuals to develop themselves, however, which explains the recent explosion in business self-help books. Employers, which ultimately benefit from having skilled employees, often fail to invest adequately in learning and development – even though this lack of investment is a hindrance to their ability to recruit, retain and motivate talented staff and could impede their success in future. In this Q&A, Ben Chatfield, CEO and cofounder of video-based hiring platform Tempo, explains why we need to rethink the relationship between learning and work.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/sallypercy/2018/11/09/time-for-a-new-relationship-between-learning-and-work/#69423cd41430

Stephen Somerville, Training Journal

Amidst all the talk of how artificial intelligence, automation and robotics are reshaping the workplace, it’s easy to overlook the humble ‘soft skill’. In way of definition, the English Cambridge dictionary says soft skills are: “people’s abilities to communicate with each other and work well together”. In practice this requires a multitude of qualities, including but not limited to: creative thinking and problem solving, analytical skills and critical thinking, ethics and integrity.

https://www.trainingjournal.com/articles/opinion/growing-importance-soft-skills-and-role-technology-developing-them

Josh Bersin, CLO

LinkedIn has become quite a juggernaut in the corporate learning market. Last time I checked the company had more than 17 million users, 14,000 corporate customers, more than 3,000 courses and was growing at high double-digit rates. And all this in only about two years. And the company just threw down the gauntlet; it’s now announcing it has completely opened up its learning platform to external content partners. This is the company’s formal announcement that LinkedIn Learning is not just an amazing array of content, it is a corporate learning platform. The company wants to become a single place for all organizational learning content.

https://www.clomedia.com/2018/11/09/linkedin-becomes-a-serious-open-learning-experience-platform/

Sarah Berger, CNBC

When you think of artificial intelligence, maybe you picture Dolores from “Westworld” or something out of “Black Mirror.” But if you ask AI what AI looks like, it’s nothing like that — in fact, AI thinks it looks like a multi-colored helping hand for humans. Recently, IBM Research asked AI to draw a picture of itself. The result is embedded in the link below.

https://www.cnbc.com/2018/11/08/photo-what-ai-looks-like-according-to-imb-ai.html

Chetan Dube, Forbes Technology Council

The poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow wrote, “The human voice is the organ of the soul.” It’s a phrase that succinctly captures both the complexity and the vital importance of voice as a means of communication, personalization and identity. We as humans are constantly trying to find our voice, especially in a digitized world where the avenues of communication continue to proliferate, making possession of a unique voice that stands out all the more challenging. Consumers are captivated by devices that attempt to emulate a voice’s ineffable human qualities — through digital AI assistants, home agents and voice-enabled devices. A PwC survey found that 72% have used voice-enabled products and services, most often in their homes. Research firm Ovum (via CNET) predicts that by 2021, more than 7.5 billion voice-activated assistants could be in use around the world — roughly the number of people on the planet.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbestechcouncil/2018/11/08/the-coming-commoditization-of-voice-enabled-ai/

Natalie Schwartz, Inside Higher Ed
The rise of emerging technologies is transforming America’s job market, with some projections estimating that automation could displace as many as 30% of To address the needs of a growing population that will require new skills in order to compete in the workforce, some colleges and universities are reevaluating how they design their curriculum. And successfully preparing workers for the changing economy requires colleges to engage in unorthodox and bold thinking, said Waded Cruzado, the president of Montana State University, during a panel session about the future of the workforce held Wednesday at the annual Educause conference, in Denver. Machines will perform almost half (42%) of all task hours in the workplace by 2022, compared to 29% today, leading to some 75 million jobs being displaced and 133 million new roles emerging, according to the World Economic Forum. Colleges will need to create a comprehensive agenda to teach new skills that meets the demand of these learners, said Karen Stout, president and CEO of Achieving the Dream, a nonprofit focused on improving outcomes for community college students.

https://www.educationdive.com/news/how-colleges-are-adapting-to-workforce-development-mandates/541133/

JENNIFER LEWINGTON, Globe and Mail

Experts say the flexibility of online learning is especially attractive to women juggling work, family and personal demands. “It is really about fitting the learning pattern to the lifestyle,” says David Porter, chief executive officer of eCampusOntario, a non-profit, government-funded agency that publishes a directory of 16,000 online courses and 700 programs at colleges and universities across the province. According to Statistics Canada (which does not track gender splits in online learning), women accounted for 56 per cent of students on campus at colleges and universities in 2013-14, but the ratio is higher in distance learning, as reported by individual institutions and agencies. For example, women account for two-thirds of participants in online offerings, according to the Ontario College Application Centre.

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/education/article-why-women-dominate-the-online-learning-space/

MATTHEW HALLIDAY, Globe and Mail
He is among the growing number of Canadian students who are not only taking advantage of the flexibility of online education but also using it to dramatically open up their living options. No home location is too remote for online students as long as they’ve got an internet connection. “The typical bread and butter for universities has long been the Grade 12 graduates, but Canada’s demographics are changing,” says Tina Reed, director of recruitment and partnerships for Contact North, a provincially funded organization that works with universities and colleges in Ontario to deliver distance education to that province’s small and remote communities.

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/business/article-living-in-the-middle-of-nowhere-is-no-obstacle-for-online-students/

Suzanne Standard, NCSU

Picture this: You’re walking through an organic chemistry lab on NC State’s campus. You put on your safety goggles and follow the professor over to a whiteboard, checking out the equipment around you along the way.  A pretty standard student experience, right? It would be, except for the fact that you’re actually sitting at your kitchen table in front of your laptop. Thanks to immersive technology experiences developed by DELTA (Distance Education and Learning Technology Applications), online students can receive all the benefits of being on campus — and, in many cases, even more.

https://news.ncsu.edu/2018/11/a-new-reality-for-online-education/

By Joshua Kim, Inside Higher Ed
Are we at the leading edge of a trend that will see demand for master’s programs from regional institutions eroded by the emergence of nondegree/non-credit-bearing online programs from elite institutions? A drop in the demand for master’s degrees would have significant consequences for many colleges and universities. Over the last 45 years, the number of master’s degrees conferred annually by colleges and universities in the U.S. has more than tripled, from 236,000 in 1970 to 759,000 in 2015. Many schools rely on revenues from master’s programs to offset the costs associated with undergraduate degrees, and in particular, the growth of undergraduate tuition discounting. Whereas over 80 percent of undergraduates receive some institutional financial aid, less than 40 percent of master’s candidates have their tuition discounted. The average annual tuition for a master’s program is around $15,000 per year and over $20,000 at private institutions. At many regional universities, the tuition for master’s programs runs much higher.

https://www.insidehighered.com/digital-learning/blogs/technology-and-learning/why-higher-eds-global-brands-are-starting-nondegree

By Hallie Busta, Education Dive
How are colleges and universities using data and analytics to capture and support efforts to improve student outcomes? And whose job is it, anyway?  A report out earlier this year based on a study by three industry groups explores the roles of three key stakeholder groups whose responsibilities, they found, overlap more often than anticipated when it came to measuring student success. Those groups are institutional research, student affairs and information technology; more than 900 responses were collected.  “No one part of the field owns student success,” said D. Christopher Brooks, director of research at the Educause Center for Analysis and Research (ECAR), during a panel session Wednesday discussing the findings at the association’s annual meeting in Denver. “It requires partnerships across the institution, breaking down the silos and looking for ways we can collaborate from the beginning of the process.”

https://www.educationdive.com/news/who-is-really-responsible-for-identifying-tracking-student-outcomes/541134/

Knowledge@ Wharton
Back in 2000, many enterprises wondered whether they needed a head of e-commerce. Today, the question has become: Do you need a chief digital officer (CDO) to drive business in the digital age? But that’s not the fundamental question, write Scott A. Snyder and Shaloo Kulkarni in this opinion piece. “By making sure you start with the right questions instead of the answer you will be more likely to put yourself on a path towards being a digital leader,” they add. Snyder is a senior fellow at Wharton and a partner, digital and innovation, at Heidrick & Struggles. Kulkarni is principal, digital transformation, at the firm.

http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/do-you-need-a-chief-digital-officer/

Doug Lederman, Inside Higher Ed

The Education Department’s National Center for Education Statistics, published Tuesday shows that while overall postsecondary enrollment dropped by almost 90,000 students, nearly half a percentage point, from fall 2016 to fall 2017 — confirming data previously published by the National Student Clearinghouse — the number of all students who took at least some of their courses online grew by more than 350,000, a healthy 5.7 percent. The proportion of all students who were enrolled exclusively online grew to 15.4 percent (up from 14.7 percent in 2016), or about one in six students. The share of all students who mixed online and in-person courses grew slightly faster, to 17.6 percent in 2017 from 16.4 percent in 2016. And the proportion of all students who took at least one course online grew to 33.1 percent, from 31.1 percent in 2016. That last data point represents a steady march in the normalization of online learning, as the proportion of all enrolled students who had studied online stood under a quarter in 2012. But while fans of online learning are likely to be heartened by that slow but sure rise in acceptance, the pure increase in online enrollments — at a time of overall dips in postsecondary attendance — may be just as noteworthy.

https://www.insidehighered.com/digital-learning/article/2018/11/07/new-data-online-enrollments-grow-and-share-overall-enrollment

DAINA LAWRENCE, GLOBE AND MAIL

Online and distance education have been the bread and butter for decades for some Canadian postsecondary institutions, including Athabasca University in Alberta and Victoria-based Royal Roads University. But the country’s traditional halls of higher learning, known more for their on-campus offerings, are increasing their online programs as well to ensure they don’t lose or inconvenience students who want the flexibility of taking classes and programs online. Now, Canada’s traditional universities are knocking on the doors of Dr. Grundy and his online-centric counterparts to see what they can do to adopt more e-learning into their academic models. “We’ve certainly been open with people who want to explore the way we do it and there’s certainly increasing interest, for sure, from everybody,” he says.

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/business/article-outcast-mavericks-teach-traditional-universities-a-few-things-about/

Scott Moore, Inside Higher Ed

The primary goal should be to deliver an excellent learning experience. The definition of “excellent” will vary by program, by institution, by faculty member and by student. You have one set of needs in a liberal arts undergraduate program and a different set in a master’s engineering program. However, the common goal should be the same: to deliver an excellent learning experience. It’s not that budget and standardization aren’t important, but there is such a thing as focusing on them too early and placing too high a priority on them.

https://www.insidehighered.com/digital-learning/views/2018/11/07/online-learning-should-prioritize-quality-and-mission-over

by Emily Alford, ClickZ

By 2020, as many as 70 million U.S. households will own an Amazon Echo, Google Home, or Sonos One. That’s probably because smart speakers and voice assistants save time and make life easier; at least that’s what smart speaker owners say. According to the IAB, 18% of American consumers already own smart devices, and 65% of those owners say they couldn’t imagine going back to life without them. Studies show that more than half of consumers are using smart devices for convenience. It’s just much easier to ask Alexa how long to roast a chicken than it is to Google it yourself. And studies indicate that consumers would like to extend that use of voice search to finding local businesses and making purchases. In fact, 27% are already using voice search as their primary means of finding local businesses.

https://www.clickz.com/voice-engine-optimization-strategy/220274/

Hallie Busta, Education Dive
The blockchain and artificial intelligence are among several technologies and practices poised to impact higher ed. The way America goes to college is changing. Rising tuition and new workforce development pathways are encouraging prospective students to consider alternative post-secondary education options. Meanwhile, higher education is consolidating and the colleges remaining are taking programs online to reach a wider audience. And technologies such as augmented and virtual reality are changing the nature of instruction. Yet interest in addressing and even capitalizing on these changes has been measured among higher education leaders. Just 12% of college presidents ranked institutional research in information technology as an important area of development in the American Council on Education’s (ACE’s) latest American College President Study, according to ACE President Ted Mitchell during a presentation at Educause’s annual convention last week in Denver. That’s not to say transformation isn’t quietly underway. “It’s currently happening, and right under our noses,” said Mitchell.

https://www.educationdive.com/news/4-ed-tech-trends-colleges-should-be-ready-for/541384/