Online Learning Update

Lindsey McKenzie, Inside Higher Ed

Georgia Institute of Technology is considering creating brick-and-mortar “storefronts” for prospective and current students to sample its course offerings, listen to lectures and network. The effort is part of Georgia Tech’s plans to make its online degrees and professional education certificates more appealing to the nontraditional students of tomorrow, who the institution predicts will expect “flexible learning experiences.” “We know that students are happy with the online delivery, but we have found that they still have the desire, and in many cases the need, to connect physically with us,” said Rafael Bras, the university’s provost.

https://www.insidehighered.com/digital-learning/article/2018/11/26/coming-shopping-mall-near-you-georgia-tech

by Kristi DePaul, EDUCAUSE Review

Immersive, multisensory experiences can draw students and faculty into other realms, beyond the limitations of the physical world. Not unlike today’s popular escape rooms, in these scenarios, learners may have to solve complex puzzles or improvise with found elements—sometimes while communicating with others who are also engaged in the virtual environment. Launched in early 2017, HP’s Campus of the Future project engaged with EDUCAUSE in an exploration of extended reality (XR) technologies in higher education. Specifically, the project included augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR), and 3D printing and scanning. While it’s not the first effort to explore the integration of these technologies into educational experiences, it is perhaps one of the broadest to date, spanning 11 institutions and learning environments across the United States.

https://er.educause.edu/blogs/2018/11/xr-based-learning-how-institutions-engage-through-immersive-experiences

by EDUCAUSE

The term “digital transformation” (Dx) encapsulates the seismic cultural, workforce, and technological shift under way as the diverse digital landscape influences—and changes—almost everything we do. Dx is being propelled by multiple drivers, from the pervasive adoption of technology across colleges and universities to external forces including reduced public funding, new expectations of technology from students, and increased skepticism about higher education. Embracing digital transformation is about building on the core values of higher education and developing new and significantly more effective ways to enrich and expand higher education’s mission.

https://library.educause.edu/~/media/files/library/2018/10/eli7162.pdf

by Amanda McAndrew, EDUCAUSE Review

A core principle of inclusive pedagogy is valuing diverse experiences, perspectives, and ways of learning that contribute unique meaning to a learning environment and to the world. Inclusive pedagogical practice seeks to create equity in the learning opportunities offered, where all learners are supported in participating and contributing to a shared learning experience. In this context, inclusion means anything from providing captioned videos, to assignments that encourage and acknowledge life experiences, to teachers and students co-creating knowledge. Similarly, open pedagogy encourages reflective practice, the sharing of ideas and resources, choice in expression, and posing open-ended problems that accept many diverse solutions created by diverse learners.

https://er.educause.edu/blogs/2018/11/inclusive-and-open-pedagogies

By Cait Etherington, eLearning Inside

Among the key findings of the CBCSE survey was a confirmation that MOOCs continue to attract a generally educated demographic. As stated in the report, “In general, learners were quite well educated with 79% holding at least an undergraduate degree and 40% a graduate degree.” However, the study also found, “16% of participants across all programs had no degree at all, although half of these had completed some university or college courses.”

https://news.elearninginside.com/a-columbia-teachers-college-study-explores-who-is-taking-moocs-and-why/

By Cait Etherington, eLearning Inside

In essence, Learn with Facebook is a platform that aims to offer Facebook users access to free courses. Whether you’re a student, a job-seeker, a small business owner or founder, Learn with Facebook hopes to offer free, easy-to-use resources to respond to your needs and level of experience. In addition to courses, on topics such as digital storytelling and pitching to potential investors, users will also find expert advice and job tips.

https://news.elearninginside.com/should-we-learn-with-facebook-a-troubled-platform-enters-the-elearning-market/

Parinita Gohil, Entrepreneur India

The future of education is digital. Going forward, this field will witness newer developments such as unconventional methods of learning, Gamification of the learning process, the live online interaction between the students and educators, and more, thanks to advancements in AI and technology. Those who seek to learn will find plenty of opportunities to do so, in a manner that is efficient and convenient at the same time.

https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/323708

by Douglas Heaven, Nature

Most researchers have good reason to grumble about peer review: it is time-consuming and error-prone, and the workload is unevenly spread, with just 20% of scientists taking on most reviews. Now peer review by artificial intelligence (AI) is promising to improve the process, boost the quality of published papers — and save reviewers time. A handful of academic publishers are piloting AI tools to do anything from selecting reviewers to checking statistics and summarizing a paper’s findings.

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-018-07245-9

Minna Mustakallio, Futurice

As an integral part of our Futurice Data & Ethics initiative – and also coinciding with our role as a key contributor in AI Finland’s Ethics Challenge – we recently set out to come up with our own Principles for Ethical AI for our work. As a result, we now have a set of tailored principles that we are also happy to share with our clients and the rest of the community. These principles are meant to support and guide our decision-making whenever we are creating autonomous systems and dealing with data and algorithms. As our work deals with ethical issues on a very practical level, we wanted our principles to also reflect this at a slightly more concrete level than just high-level statements. These principles are not set in stone – they will be frequently adjusted as the field of data & AI ethics advances, and also based on feedback from our teams, clients and other stakeholders.

https://www.futurice.com/blog/introducing-the-futurice-principles-for-ethical-ai/

Karen A. Stout, Achieving the Dream

The associate degree is one credential that earns graduates middle skill jobs. Yet, there is a growing space for an array of other credentials and certifications, that would be recognized by employers, to build a pipeline of talent in technical jobs across industries like transportation, construction, utilities, financial services, health care, and information technology. This is a space ripe for innovative work. Traditional comprehensive community colleges (that are mostly transfer driven) have underdeveloped ability in this space but they are being called on to develop new approaches to apprenticeship, certificate design, micro credentialing and badging.

https://www.achievingthedream.org/news/17556/designing-for-the-workforce-future-reflections-on-implications-for-community-colleges

Alex Adamopoulos, Forbes

Right now, we’re living on the precipice of a fourth industrial revolution. The first industrial revolution brought us steam power and machinery. The second brought electrical power, and with the third came the internet. Which brings us to number four. But this new revolution, driven by artificial intelligence and automation, is taking a different tack from the previous ones. Those movements were all about introducing new technologies and new ways of working and then dropping them on top of how we did things already. This new revolution is about the fusion of people and technology, blurring the lines between the physical, digital and biological in a way that is poised to dramatically reshape our day-to-day lives in ways we can’t even imagine yet.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesbostoncouncil/2018/11/20/why-ai-creates-jobs-and-new-work-opportunities/#6ad76b4814bd

by James Vincent, the Verge

Apple has reportedly acquired Silk Labs, a little-known startup which focused on building on-device machine learning software. The purchase, which took place earlier this year according to The Information, would be a natural fit for Apple’s privacy-centric approach to AI. After an unsuccessful foray into the smart home, Silk Labs developed on-device machine learning services. This means processing data without sending it to the cloud — a method that Apple has also preferred.

https://www.theverge.com/2018/11/21/18106192/apple-privacy-ai-silk-labs-acquisition

By Kristie Kellahan, Sydney Morning Herald

“The Global MBA sends a clear signal of disruption to the traditional business education market and brings the degree within reach of many learners that have previously been excluded from the MBA market,” Brammer says. Challenges that once seemed insurmountable for online students – opportunities to interact and collaborate with other students, face-time with faculty members – have faded as the technology has advanced, Brammer says. “Handheld smart devices mean that learners can carry their classroom with them wherever they go,” he says. “In some ways, learners can connect much more readily with their faculty members and with each other through instant communication tools that form the basis of highly productive teams in industry.”

https://www.smh.com.au/business/workplace/online-courses-for-career-future-proofing-20181119-p50gwa.html

By Dian Schaffhauser, Campus Technology

Google has set aside a $25 million pool to fund research work by schools and other organizations using machine learning for “social good.” Besides cash, the company’s “AI for Social Good” project is also offering support from its artificial intelligence experts, credits and consulting from Google Cloud. Those chosen will also join a “launchpad” accelerator program with mentoring, support and access to Silicon Valley experts.

https://campustechnology.com/articles/2018/11/14/new-social-good-google-program-offers-funding-for-ai-machine-learning-projects.aspx

BY LAURA ASCIONE, eCampus News
At EDUCAUSE’s annual conference, a panel of four female IT leaders sat down for a frank discussion on gender bias and workplace advancement. The session addressed issues such as conscious and unconscious gender bias, how to identify role models and mentors, and how to build the skills necessary to lead an IT team. The topic comes at a time of heightened tensions around gender bias and sexual harassment in the IT field, and the conversation was especially timely given the atmosphere of outspoken protest against gender inequality.

https://www.ecampusnews.com/2018/11/21/6-pieces-of-advice-for-women-aspiring-to-it-leadership/

By Meg Lloyd, Campus Technology

The system, dubbed Georgetown 360, would offer an enterprise 360-degree holistic view of data for faculty, students, advisers and administrators, and eventually other staff, alumni, applicants and more. Central to the project is the notion of cura personalis, or “care for the whole person.” which is a core value at the Jesuit institution. It also aligns well with the goals of a CRM system to personalize the user experience, enable communication and engagement, and ideally provide a permanent sense of “home.” As Vice President for Information Technology and CIO Judd Nicholson, an executive sponsor of the GU360 project, noted, “GU360 will enable meaningful lifelong engagement for all of our students and alumni, not only with each other but with faculty, advisers and staff — in short, with anyone they encounter at Georgetown while on campus and long after they graduate.”

https://campustechnology.com/articles/2018/11/08/engaging-students-and-faculty-with-data-for-all.aspx

By Dian Schaffhauser, Campus Technology

Arizona State University isn’t satisfied with the state of adaptive. That’s why this innovative university is going all in with adaptive degree programs. What we’ve decided to do is take the benefits of [adaptive] technology to a fully integrated program for a bachelor of science degree in biology. And we’re going to integrate all the instructional resources from first year to fourth year into CogBooks. That’s the partner that the School of Life Sciences has decided to use.  That holistic approach differs dramatically from our general education approach. It requires more alignment between courses. In our traditional model, each course was its own island — even to the point where each section of each course may have been its own island.

https://campustechnology.com/articles/2018/11/14/the-next-frontier-of-adaptive-learning.aspx

By Michael Sano, EdSurge

As Gonzalez said, “Mobile compatibility is a must. People deserve to choose when, where and how to study.” UIC’s Ed Garay (@garay) put it this way, “Quality mobile-first eLearning program delivery is, today, a requirement. eTextbooks, multimedia learning objects, OER, all class materials, organic (social) class communications, discussion, collaborative learning assignments—everything must be mobile-perfect.” That includes student services. Crisp reminded the group, “If they’re mobile-learners, they also expect to be able to register, pay, and get help using mobile too.”

https://www.edsurge.com/news/2018-11-21-6-tips-for-how-to-build-an-online-college-degree-from-scratch-dlnchat

bhaneeta chadha, BlockGeeks

2017 was the breakout year for blockchain technology. The numbers don’t lie and some of the numbers are truly staggering.  Indeed.com, one of the biggest job portals in the world, published some interesting statistics regarding the rise of Blockchain jobs. It looks like the number of blockchain jobs increased from December 2016 to December 2017 by a staggering 207%. But that’s not the end of it. According to the stats, this number has increased by, a scarcely believable 631% since November 2015. Cryptocurrency was such a hot topic in 2017, that 15 of the 18 more popular industry jobs specifically mentioned “cryptocurrency” in the description.

https://blockgeeks.com/blockchain-developer-salary/

Kevin H. Johnson, Forbes

Our third survey on the state of the skills gap in the U.S. found saw some interesting trends:

• 84% of respondents believe there is a skills gap, a 6% increase from 2017.
• 39% of respondents feel personally affected by the skills gap, a 4% increase from last year.
• 43% expect automation/AI to be able to do their jobs within five years; that figure jumps to 54% among men, compared with only 34% of women.
• 51% say they’d quit a job if their employer did not offer training necessary for advancing in their careers.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/kevinhjohnson/2018/11/19/dont-have-skills-better-get-motivated/

by Stephen O’Grady, Griffin News

Returning to the classroom more than 20 years after finishing high school was a major and slightly daunting step for Olympic medalist and WNBL coach. With laptops and logons having taken the place of blackboards and roll calls, the learning zone was a much changed arena for the mother of two. Michelle enrolled in a Master of Sports Coaching at Griffith University, initially studying online through Open Universities Australia before transferring “smoothly” across to Griffith’s online delivery. Once she had established a routine that aligned study with part-time employment and ongoing sports commitments, she never looked back.

https://app.secure.griffith.edu.au/news/2018/11/19/online-learning-comes-to-life-on-the-court/