Online Learning Update

Ray Schroeder, Inside Higher Ed

The Antikythera mechanism is an astounding device dating to antiquity. It has been hailed as the first mechanical computer, but more precisely it is an educational device.This was an ed-tech device that was millennia ahead of general adoption. It is that revelation that gives me pause to question, what might be the educational technology in recent history that could be comparable in some more modest way to the Antikythera mechanism? Likely, any such comparison will be to virtual technologies such as apps or software.Or, maybe, in fact, it is the medium rather than the multitude of educational technology devices and applications that are developed that will go down as the most remarkable ed tech of our time.

https://www.insidehighered.com/digital-learning/blogs/online-trending-now/what-ed-tech-could-be-todays-antikythera-mechanism

Mark Lombardi, Campus Technology

Now, as we consider the post-pandemic academic landscape, one thing is sure: Online learning isn’t going anywhere. To think otherwise is a massive failure of imagination. Consider three ramifications of what we’ve all just experienced.  Faculty and students everywhere and at every level have been immersed in digital learning practices. Learning tools and apps are being designed, improved and deployed at unprecedented speeds. Businesses in all sectors are under tremendous pressure to reskill and upskill their workforce to meet the demands of a technology-enabled future.

https://campustechnology.com/articles/2021/03/17/moving-online-learning-from-challenge-to-opportunity.aspx

Tom Mitchell and Maxwell Bigman, Tomorrow’s Professor

We borrowed the concept from the human-computer interaction world. “Beyond being there” is the notion that, rather than trying to replicate in-person experiences with technology, it’s using the technology to allow for opportunities that aren’t possible in — and in many ways are preferable to — the traditional in-person classroom setup. And so that’s been our lens. There are tools, specifically designed for education, like polling apps, question-and-answer applications, group messaging applications, plus reading apps that help the students to annotate and share thoughts, for instance, that can help in a way that’s not like the in-person classroom.

https://tomprof.stanford.edu/posting/1826

Pat Reid, EDUCAUSE Review

Having a systematic review process in place can help instructional designers and educational technologists as they consider proposals for the adoption of new teaching and learning tools. At various times, instructional designers and educational technologists (IDs/ETs) are put in the position of recommending teaching and learning technologies. While large systems (e.g., an LMS) are assigned a project manager and a team, smaller applications (e.g., assessment development systems, wikis, and most apps) are left to be managed by the IDs/ETs.

https://er.educause.edu/articles/2020/8/identifying-evaluating-and-adopting-new-teaching-and-learning-technologies

Anvinti Singh, Financial Express

Since the COVID -19 pandemic has disrupted the normal lifestyle of people across the globe, the virtual world has come to the rescue. Amongst many institutions schools have also shifted their base to virtual platforms to conduct classes online. Consequently, catering to the needs of all stages of education from pre-primary to university level, online education has emerged as an alternative to ordinary face to face classes. Accordingly, various stakeholders such as government and private organizations are trying their best to assist each other by sprucing up their existing online platforms, apps and providing training to teachers to use these apps and platforms to the optimum level.

https://www.financialexpress.com/education-2/online-learning-and-education-for-all-during-and-after-covid-19-pandemic/2021940/

Rebekah Saylors, Appalacian State

Social robotics is a field that deals with robots that work together with people in industries such as education, health care, retail and therapy. Wallace is exploring how online users interact with avatars that differ from their own ethnic or cultural backgrounds as well as the role avatars and virtual reality play in understanding a concept from an alternative point of view.

https://today.appstate.edu/2020/06/02/wallace

Hope Reese, Tech Republic

COVID-19 has brought schools and workplaces online. Here’s what the transition means for the future of MOOCS. The coronavirus pandemic is radically shifting the global economy, transforming workplaces, community spaces, and education.  And overall education online–including virtual classrooms, language apps, online tutoring, or online education software–has also surged during the pandemic, with the market expected to hit $350 billion by 2025.

https://www.techrepublic.com/article/online-learning-now-at-an-all-time-high-signals-a-new-future-for-education/

DENNIS PIERCE, eCampus News

Mobile apps, virtual ceremonies, and an online job fair are among the innovations forced by COVID-19.  With colleges and universities canceling or postponing this year’s graduation ceremonies because of COVID-19, campus leaders nationwide have had to find creative ways to honor the Class of 2020. Although plans vary widely, many institutions are using online tools and platforms to recognize the achievements of graduates for now and hoping they can convene an in-person celebration later in the year.

https://www.ecampusnews.com/2020/05/08/colleges-get-creative-in-using-technology-to-honor-graduates/

Voice of America

Upali Sedere writes about education and serves as an advisor to Sri Lanka’s Ministry of Education. He notes that online learning is available to children and adults in many areas, but not others. “One section of the population is enjoying online learning, with virtual classrooms, with all kinds of apps, whereas recently the UNESCO indicated a total of 826 million students are kept out of classrooms – and only 43 percent of this number has access to some form of [online] learning today.”

https://learningenglish.voanews.com/a/only-half-of-world-s-learners-able-to-take-part-in-distance-learning/5395163.html

COCO LIU, Nikkei
Alibaba Group Holding’s attempt to promote online education as the coronavirus forces schools across China to remain closed has hit an unexpected barrier: disgruntled, tech-savvy students. Young people vote down DingTalk in protest at having to study during school shutdowns. DingTalk, the tech conglomerates’s messaging app, recently launched e-classes for schools. Now the app is taking a beating in online stores as tens of thousands of students who are angry at having to study despite schools being closed vent their frustrations by giving DingTalk a bad rating. Apps with lower ratings appear lower in searches, potentially hurting download rates.

https://asia.nikkei.com/Spotlight/Coronavirus/Alibaba-s-virus-beating-education-app-draws-Chinese-students-ire

Matthew Lynch, Tech Edvocate

Classroom in a pocket? That’s right. It also means that students have in their hands, all the textbooks they might need, all the information related to their courses and even a means to interpersonal contact with their lecturers and other students. Mobile learning is growing in popularity. Did you know that 89% of smartphone users download apps, 50% of which are used for learning, and 46% of learners use mobile learning before they go to sleep at night? There are several mobile learning apps on the market, many of them free, but if you want to create your eLearning app, you need to keep the following factors in mind.

https://www.thetechedvocate.org/classroom-in-a-pocket-creating-a-mobile-elearning-environment/

eCampus News

“In collaboration with AT&T, the University of Miami will be able to support 5G using millimeter wave spectrum (“5G+”) and Edge technology on its Coral Gables campus, placing the university at the forefront of digital transformation impacting every field,” says Ernie Fernandez, vice president of Information Technology and chief information officer for the University. “It will allow students, faculty, and staff to develop, test, and use the next generation of digital apps, including Magic Leap’s spatial computing platform, in new and exciting ways.”

https://www.ecampusnews.com/2019/11/20/5g-brings-new-capabilities-to-the-university-of-miami/

The Language Conservancy

While online apps for language learners are not new, the ability to learn Indigenous languages from North America is.  The Lakota Language Consortium and its sister organization, The Language Conservancy, are proud to announce the release of an online learning platform for the Lakota language called Owóksape. Owóksape means “Place of Wisdom” in Lakota.

https://newsmaven.io/indiancountrytoday/the-press-pool/breakthrough-app-to-allow-for-online-learning-of-lakota-ZxTGwVOWj0eE6TltuLUXtg/

eCampus News

“In collaboration with AT&T, the University of Miami will be able to support 5G using millimeter wave spectrum (“5G+”) and Edge technology on its Coral Gables campus, placing the university at the forefront of digital transformation impacting every field,” says Ernie Fernandez, vice president of Information Technology and chief information officer for the University. “It will allow students, faculty, and staff to develop, test, and use the next generation of digital apps, including Magic Leap’s spatial computing platform, in new and exciting ways.”

https://www.ecampusnews.com/2019/11/20/5g-brings-new-capabilities-to-the-university-of-miami/

the Daily Beast

5G is innovating education—creating experiences that go beyond the classroom through VR and AR technology. “What we know through research is that experiential learning is, in general, better than learning through a book or a video,” says Mike Harper, Executive Vice President and CMO of zSpace, an augmented reality platform that’s becoming steadily more available in school districts around the US and abroad. “We learn through experiments the fastest and the best, which is why we use technologies to deploy augmented reality, in order to make that happen. While some systems use apps to download content for use offline, many VR and AR systems require high-speed internet capabilities for a seamless streaming experience.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/the-future-of-education-is-in-3d

John Byrne, Forbes

Graduating M.B.A. students this year have had no trouble landing very good jobs.  Yet, for the second consecutive year, even the highest ranked business schools in the U.S. are beginning to report significant declines in M.B.A. applications . Last year, the top ten business schools combined saw a drop of about 3,400 M.B.A. applicants, a 5.9% falloff to 53,907 candidates versus 57,311 a year earlier (see Acceptance Rates At The Top 50 Business Schools). The University of Michigan Ross School of Business experienced the worst drop, an 8.5% decline from 3,485 to 3,188 apps. Harvard fell 4.5%, UC-Berkeley Haas 7.5%, Wharton 6.7%, Stanford 4.6%, and Booth 8.2%.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/poetsandquants/2019/08/20/its-official-the-mba-degree-is-in-crisis/#7ff235452df7

Eric Johnson, Recode

So instead of selling giant hardcover textbooks like Calculus: Early Transcendentals (list price for a new hardcover copy: $277.20), Pearson is going to start renting digital textbooks for $40 to $80, updating them over the air. Next month, it will launch the first of a new series of mobile apps called Aida — a portmanteau of AI and Ada Lovelace — that will let calculus students take a picture of their homework and, Fallon said, get step-by-step corrections.

https://www.vox.com/recode/2019/8/2/20750863/john-fallon-pearson-education-textbook-digital-aida-teachers-kara-swisher-recode-decode-podcast

Nazreen Nazir, Entrepreneur

Short video platforms and live streaming platforms have converted everyone into a celebrity. TikTok and BIGO LIVE are examples of such short video platforms that are trending these days. These short video apps are gaining popularity because of their easy features which make it easy to use for not so tech savvy people. These platforms enjoy wide reach with audience and users from all the classes of society. TikTok has recently made foray into content aimed at education, health, safety and motivation with its EduTok campaign. Bigo Live is another live streaming platform which also ventured into educational content. Let’s take a look at how these video content platforms are emerging and influencing the content creation in the country.

https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/336069

Lindsay McKenzie, Inside Higher Ed

Many critics weighed in earlier this month when tech giant Apple announced it was dismantling its iconic iTunes music platform and replacing it with separate apps for music, podcasts and video. In numerous articles reflecting on the legacy of iTunes, they remarked on how the software became bloated and suffered from poor user design. But they also acknowledged the pivotal role iTunes played in shaping the music industry by changing the way consumers bought and listened to music. Largely absent from the discussions, however, was the central role iTunes played in opening up higher education to the public.

https://www.insidehighered.com/digital-learning/article/2019/06/12/apple-winds-down-itunes-u

By John Waters, Edsurge

Language learning is something of a sweet spot for AI, thanks to the capabilities of two core types of AI tech: machine learning and natural language processing. Machine learning algorithms support adaptive, personalized and spaced learning, while natural language processing technologies help with the extremely complex challenges associated with understanding and translating human language. A growing number of vendors are offering AI-powered language-learning apps to companies and the general public (Speexx, Busuu, Duolingo) for hundreds of languages, but Ponddy’s products were developed specifically for secondary and university teachers of Mandarin.

https://www.edsurge.com/news/2019-05-03-ai-is-everywhere-now-it-wants-to-teach-you-chinese