Yes a learning engine: demo is ready, but #AI and #Learning challenges ahead #TBB2019 @InnoEnergyCE

If you have ideas on ensuring continuity in pedagogy when clustering courses (research), on certifying across corporate and university learning (blockchain/bit of trust certification), on opening up industry academies to decrease L&D costs (HR and L&D), ... please think along and respond to the challenges mentioned at the end.

People in high and common places seem to agree that the world is in transition, especially workplace learning, as innovations keep changing what is possible. As I am working on one such an innovation (the skill project of InnoEnergy), I am at the one hand very excited about the new opportunities it might open, yet at the same time concerned that the complexity is bigger than expected.

First: have a look at the demo screencast here. It shows the overall idea, and ... this might immediately give rise to questions.

Today the Business Booster event (TBB) is opened, and with it, the skill project demo is launched. The skillproject (we still need to get a brand name for it), is combining AI and learning for the sustainable energy sector. But in essence, once we get the sustainable energy sector mapped with this tool, others can follow. 

AI and learning? What does it do: the project identifies industry needs (AI-driven), pinpoints emerging skill gaps in the sustainable energy sector (AI-driven), analysis the existing workforce to know where urgent skills gaps are situated (AI-driven) and then refers employees to a personalized learning trajectory addressing their skills gap (part AI, part human support). The goal of this project is to ensure that employees of the sustainable energy sector stay futureproof in a quickly changing working environment. Let's be honest, it sounds cool, but ... the challenges are multiple. 

The emergence of a Learning Engine

The skillproject helps realize the emergence of a learning engine, an intelligent career-oriented engine which knows your own skills and which signposts you to where you want to go with your career by suggesting a personalized learning track.

In the Learning Engine you simply type in “goal: become Director of Innovation’s in offshore wind energy which courses?” and the engine immediately returns a tailored, personalized learning track consisting of a variety of certified, business training from both universities, corporate academies, open educational energy resources and coaching options to send you on your way. This will allow professional learning to surpass the limits of classical, university-based learning.

Challenges

In order to get our engine to come up with the best, most-tailored courses, we need access to industry academies, as well as university courses. 

Learning-to-Learn capacities. Once we signpost learners to a cluster of courses, they need to take them (the familiar 'take the horse to water' comes to mind). But even if the learners are taking the courses, 

Granularity for course clustering: clustering courses to keep on top of your field of expertise is one thing, but then what is the granularity of those courses? Micro-learning is an option, and modular learning will become a clear necessity, as all learners have different existing knowledge, which means they all need different parts in order to upskill what they already know. 

Ensuring pedagogical continuity, even OU finds that a challenge. Great, so let's cluster modules. But then, how can we link these modules together, Do we believe in the non-pedagogical support (e.g. hole in the wall from Sugata Mitra already dates back 10 years), or do we need to find a solution to provide pedagogical continuity that fits with this new assembly of short modules, and courses coming from different sources (both university and industry)?

Certification across the learning ecologies: to blockchain or not to blockchain. Once we start learning across institutes, we need to keep track of that what we learn, by keeping tabs on the actual learning: corporate academy learning, university modules, hands-on training, workplace learning... one solution is to embed blockchain in education to keep track of all learning. But this is easier said than done, and open standards and trust might be an issue to consider (bit of trust initiative offers good reading). 

Feel free to send questions, comments, share your own projects... let's get together.

Can people be pushed into #mandatory #learning? Old myths in new mantra's #learning #pedagogy #instruction

Let's be clear: teachers still are not transforming into guides-on-the-side, contemporary-online-learning is not a fabulous learning utopia (we can build it, but we lack whom we want to reach) and pedagogy is now debilitated through new innovations in learning. At least that is my frustration of the day. Let me explain (picture credit: PhD comics.com).

As I am getting more into the 'AI helps people to be trained in a personalized way'-project (officially called the skills3.0 project, slides here), I am starting to feel uncomfortable with some of the ideas that emerge and resonate with false assumptions found 20 years ago:

• the old elearning assumption: if you build it, people will come (they did not, at best you need to market it ferociously in order to attract some worldwide learners - confer MOOCs). But when looking at the numbers and the degrees, it is still rather weak in terms of successful tailored learning resulting in professional learning enhancement. In most cases, MOOCs cover the basics, not the advanced side of professional topics.  
• another one: having to transform instructors (defined as sage-on-the-stage) to guides-on-the-side (something which is repeated by Norris Krueger in his blog article 'from instructor to educator' with a focus on entrepreneurial education). This idea of guide on the side stems from 1981, which means in the last 38 years we haven't managed to get there... this does show it is hard to expand people to embrace a different approach to learning. For in my opinion the best teachers have always been guides-on-the-side, they inspire their students and lift them to their own next level.  
• The debilitation of pedagogy: I cannot get around this tendency to oversimplify learning, and almost dismiss the proven, evidence-based pedagogy we - the learning researchers - established over the last 30 years. For years fellow researchers in online learning were testing, investigating, reiterating learning options, to see what worked best. And as soon as the market took over, all is reduced to .... classic courses, with one speaker who delivers knowledge but barely listens, clearly a sage-on-the-stage model (MOOCs) and all of us learners discussing and sharing knowledge with each other in the discussion areas in order to tailor what was said to our own situations (social learning, which actually happens in face-to-face courses as well). The only thing that is added to the sage-on-the-stage in most of the MOOC cases is 'fancy video' and a 'new type of Learning Management System' (cfr. Coursera, FutureLearn, EdX... they are basically LMS's with some extra's). Yes, some people learn from the hole in the wall, some do, but most of us don't. So why do learning data scientist and innovators in their new learning tools think that all of humanity will start to learn simply because they say: here it is, this will get you in a better career position. And even if this would be the case, please tell me who would have these actual magic courses, for who can build courses at the speed of the emerging, changing industry? And if we build them, who will be waiting, filled with anticipation and willingness to follow these courses?

I feel frustrated that learning is again be seen as simply a thing that all of us do, and for industry-related reasons. Honestly, I think most of us learn informally (proven!) and if we learn for professional reasons we need to be able to spend time on it (HR enabling time), and if we were to be allocated time to learn, it should be allocated in terms of our own capacity for learning, based on our own background in learning (using a holistic approach to pedagogies). 

In order to move forward with the Skills3.0 project, there are several elements that need to come together and make sense in order to scale the project as well. These elements are:

1. Using AI to filter out industry needs (which means you look at all the reports from industry, and analyse which new concepts arise from these reports to predict where the industry is going)
2. Using AI to analyse which true experiences (and related competencies and skills) a person has: based on LinkedIn profiles, current CV's...
3. Finding the skills gap between both previous steps: getting to know what people might be missing in order for them to answer to upcoming industry needs,
4. And finally pointing them to training/courses/workshops that might push them to be better for the future jobs. 

The project is taking off (see movie at the end, to see where we are at, I look a bit tired in it, or maybe simply older).
The last step is underestimated by most of the non-educational people. At present learning cannot be put into simple formula's, it is the complexity of life itself, it is why everything evolves in the long and in the short term, including us humans. 

All of the above steps of the Skills3.0 project are laudable. If this works, it has a broader societal meaning, you can even say it provides a way to direct people to a more fulfilling professional life. But... that feels like a Utopian emotion following new innovations. We can see how providing guidance to courses that will help each one of us to perform better, to enhance our careers, to find new professional challenges, ... is a good thing. The only problem is, that humans are also bound to their own learning characteristics (e.g. Big five personality traits, or more academically the learner characteristics guiding their own self-directed learning).

Simply providing courses might not be enough, we need coaching, workshops, orientational sessions which depict which types of learning will benefit you most (e.g. if we look for data science courses online, which ones are useful to each of us individually? that will depend on what we know, where we want to use them for, and how we learn (for me, numbers are a challenge)).

Whether we say learners must self-direct, or self-regulate or self-determine their learning, inevitably this means we are talking about learners that are willing to learn, and are capable of learning. Indeed, in the near future we will ask learners to learn at a speed that is ever increasing, meaning you need to be a really good learner to keep up with your own changing field. Can we do this? And if we can, how does it work?

Short video on the Skills3.0 project recorded during the WindEurope conference in Bilbao. Which will lead to 'building the workforce':

@oebconference workshop notes and documents #instructionalDesign #learningTools

After being physically out of the learning circuit for about a year and a half, it is really nice to get active again. And what better venue to rekindle professional interests than at Online Educa Berlin.

Yesterday I lead a workshop on using an ID instrument I call the Instructional Design Variation matrix (IDVmatrix). It is an instrument to reflect on the learning architecture (including tools and approaches) that you are currently using, to see whether these tools enable you to build a more contextualized or standardized type of learning (the list organises learning tools according to 5 parameters: informal - formal, simple - complex, free - expensive, standardized to contextualized, and more aimed at individual learning - social learning). The documents of the workshop can be seen here.

The workshop started of with an activity called 'winning a workshop survival bag', where the attendees could win a bag with cookies, nuts, and of course the template and lists of the IDVmatrix.
We then proceeded to give a bit of background on the activity, and how it related to the IDVmatrix.
Afterwards focusing on learning cases, and particularly challenges that the participants of the workshop were facing.
And we ended up trying to find solutions for these cases, sharing information, connections, ideas (have a look at this engaging crowd - movie recorded during the session).
The workshop was using elements from location-based learning, networking, mobile learning, machine learning, just-in-time learning, social learning, social media, multimedia, note taking, and a bit of gamification.

It was a wonderful crowd, so everyone went away with ideas. The networking part went very well also due to the icebreaker activity at the beginning. This was the icebreaker:

The WorkShop survival bag challenge!
Four actions, 1 bag for each team!

Action 1
Which person of your group has the longest first name?
Write down that name in the first box below.

Action 2

• Choose two person prior to this challenge: a person who will record a short (approx. 6 seconds)
• video with their phone and tweet it, and a person/s who will talk in that video.
• Record a 6 second video which includes a booth at the OEB exhibition (shown in the
• background) and during which a person gives a short reason why this particular learning solution
• (the one represented by the booth) would be of use to that persons learning environment
• (either personal or professional).
• Once you have recorded the video, share it on twitter using the following hashtags: #OEB #M5
• #teamX (with X being the number of your team, e.g. #team1) . This share is necessary to get the
• next word of your WS survival bag challenge.
• Once you upload the movie, you will get a response tweet on #OEB #M5 #teamX (again with the
• number of your team).

Write down the word you received in response to your video in the second box below.

Action 3

• Go to the room which is shown in the 360° picture in twitter (see #M5 #OEBAllTeams).
• Find the spot where 5 pages are lined up, each of them with another language sign written on
• them.
• Each team has to ‘translate’ the sign assigned to their team. You can use the Google Translateapp for this (see google play, the app is free!).

Write down the translation in the third box below.

Action 4
Say the following words into the Google Home device which is located in the WS room

“OK Google 'say word box 1', say word box 2, say word box 3“

If Google answers, you will get your WS survival bag!

And although the names were not always very English, with a bit of tweaking using the IFTTT app, all the teams were able to get Google home mini to congratulate them for getting all the challenges right. 

Page for #IDVmatrix on #LMS description and setting it amidst other tools

picture by Giulia Forsythe

In the past year I have been adding some Instructional Design descriptions in my notebook. After I while I realized that something useful could come out of this very varied collection, so now I am putting some of these pages online (the Instructional Design Variation matrix or IDVmatrix). The idea is to grow a compendium of these pages, adding parameters that are meaningful in ID to each of those learning/teaching design elements, and eventually use these parameters as a matrix to use on the job. I will only write them here, and add the #IDVmatrix hashtag for easy recall once these pages grow. The reason behind these pages is to create a contemporary overview of Instructional Design options that are out there, and to build an instrument that allows you to quickly screen whether other ID-options can be used that reflect the same parameters you are looking for (taking into account your target learning population). The collection will have standard ID-tools (e.g. authoring tools, LMS, MOOCs...) as well as more contemporary learning and teaching tools (e.g. chatbots, machine learning, ...). The template I will follow is simple: short description (as brief as possible while allowing main features to be addressed), a segment on who uses it and how (of course that will be a not exhaustive), referring to some examples, important features to keep in mind, and finally adding a matrix stamp to it (taking into account the 5 parameters I think are relevant to structuring educational tools. And trying to add some meaningful, possibly EdTech critical pictures as a bonus. First one: a classic: the LMS.

Learning Management System (LMS)

Learning Management Systems (LMS, also related to Content Management or Course Management Systems) come in many variations, but generally they offer a digital environment to facilitate, support and design online or blended instruction. an LMS offers content structuring options (put specific modules online, sometimes integrate a learning path into those courses), quiz-options (including a question-database with a variety of quiz-options), and communication services between the learners, the facilitators, the course managers ... or all of the learning stakeholders.
The LMS is pre-programmed. In some cases this means the complete system is programmed (e.g. Blackboard, WIZiq), and you - as a course provider - can only customize specific features, but in other cases you can customize a big part of the system (due to open source code), including some programming that you do yourself (e.g. Drupal, Moodle). Some smaller LMSs offer a more specialized and valuable option, e.g. Curatr which emphasizes the social learning factor. Some LMS also include course libraries, or you - the institute - can build an open, LMS supported library to offer support to your learners.
Normally these systems are self-contained, but with options to integrate other tools to align the LMS with contemporary learning realities (e.g. integrate instagram, twitter). Although some LMS are free, you need to consider the cost of server space, programming some features, supporting all users, and keeping the system up and running 24.7.
Who uses it: learners, teachers, trainers, course coordinators, ... each on their own level. Normally user rights can be allocated within the LMS. Depending on the role, the LMS will offer a different experience (back-end mostly for course-delivery people, and front-end for the learner). 
Important features to keep in mind while choosing a LMS: security features are very important as a LMS generates a lot of learner data and communications traffic. A mobile app is a must, test it on multiple devices to estimate the quality of the app. Offline features will make life much easier for learners. SCORM options make life easier for any instructional designer, and xAPI features will allow the educators/facilitators to make meaningful analysis from all the learner data.
IDVmatrix stamp

(free) book Assessment strategies for online learning #education #assessment #eLearning #instructionaldesign

Assessing online learning has many challenges, but with this new book written by experts Dianne Conrad and Jason Openo, a lot of solutions can be found. The book, entitled Assessment Strategies for Online Learning - Engagement and Authenticity, can be bought for 32,99 dollars  here (if you have a budget this is the way to go as you support author and initiative), or you can have a look at the free pdf here. This book is a must read for those using assessment, as it not only gives traditional assessment, but also dives into evaluations that are linked to open learning, journals, portfolios, etc. Great and interesting read.

If you want to check out what Dianne Conrad has in mind while talking about assessment, or if you have some questions, you can join the free online CIDER session on 10th October 2018

When: Wednesday, October 10, 2018 - 11am to 12noon Mountain Time (Canada)

Where: Online through Adobe Connect at:
https://athabascau.adobeconnect.com/cider

Registration is not required; all are welcome. CIDER Sessions are recorded and archived for later viewing through the CIDER website. For more information on CIDER and our Sessions, please visit us at: http://cider.athabascau.ca
(from the book description):

For many learners, assessment conjures up visions of red pens scrawling percentages in the top right-hand corner of exams and feelings of stress, inadequacy, and failure. Although learners sometimes respond negatively to evaluation, assessments have provided educational institutions with important information about learning outcomes and the quality of education for many decades. But how accurate are these data and have they informed practice or been fully incorporated into the learning cycle? Conrad and Openo argue that the potential inherent in online learning environments to alter and improve assessment and evaluation has yet to be explored by educators and learners.
In their investigation of assessment methods and learning approaches, Conrad and Openo explore assessment that engages and authentically evaluates learning. They insist that online and distance learning environments afford educators new opportunities to embrace only the most effective face-to-face assessment methods and to realize the potential of engaged learning in the digital age. In this volume, practitioners will find not only an indispensable introduction to new forms of assessment but also a number of best practices as described by experienced educators.

1. The Big Picture: A Framework for Assessment in Online Learning

2. The Contribution of Adult Education Principles to Online Learning and Assessment

3. What Do You Believe? The Importance of Beliefs about Teaching and Learning in Online Assessment

4. Authenticity and Engagement: The Question of Quality in Assessment

5. Assessment Using E-Portfolios, Journals, Projects, and Group Work

6. The Age of “Open”: Alternative Assessments, Flexible Learning, Badges, and Accreditation

7. Planning an Assessment and Evaluation Strategy—Authentically

8. Flexible, Flipped, and Blended: Technology and New Possibilities in Learning and Assessment

9. A Few Words on Self-Assessment

10. Summing Up

Appendix • Other Voices: Reflections from the Field

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0). It may be reproduced for non-commercial purposes, provided that the original author is credited.

Assessing online learning is mostly part of formal education, but can be used to provide a formal status to self-directed learning which the learner wants to show to the public. 

Machine learning benefits and risks by expert Stella Lee #AI #data #learning

Machine learning has moved from a mere rave into a real strong, acknowledged learning power (not only in the news, but also on the stock market of AI, e.g. STOXX AI global indices - I was quite surprised to see this). Machine learning has the power to support personalized learning, as well as adaptive learning, which allows an instructional designer to engage learners in such a way that learning outcomes can be reached in more than one way (always a benefit!). Machine learning allows the content or information that is provided for training/learning to be delivered in such a way that it fits the learner, and that it reacts to the learner feedback (answers, speed of response, etc). To be able to tailor a fixed set of learning objectives into flexible training demands some technological options: data, algorithms that can interpret the data, access to some sort of connectivity (e.g. it might be ad hoc with a wifi and an information hub, or it might be via cloud and the internet), and money to program, iterate and optimize the learning options continuously.

This (data, interpretation, choices made by machines - algorithms) means that machine learning combines so many learning tools, data and computing power, that it inevitably comes with a high sense of philosophical and ethical decisions: what is the real learning outcome we want to achieve, what are the interpretations of our algorithms, what is the difference between manipulation towards a something people must learn and learning that still offers a critically based outcome for the learner?

Stella Lee offers a great overview of what it means to use machine learning (e.g. for personalized learning paths, for chatbox that deliver tech or coaching support, for performance enhancement). This talk is worth a look or listen. Stella Lee is one of those people who inspire me through their love for technology, by being thorough, thoughtful, and being able to turn complex learning issues into feasable learning opportunities you want to try out. She gave a talk to Google Cambridge on the subject of machine learning and AI and ... she inspired her tech-savvy audience.

In her talk she also goes deeper into the subject of 'explainable AI' which offers AI that can be interpreted easily by people (including relative laymen, which is the case for most learners). Explainable AI is an alternative to the more common black box of AI (useful article), where the data interpretation is left to a select few. Stella Lee's solution for increasing explainable AI is granularity. This simple concept of granularity, or considering what data or indicators to show, and which to keep behind the curtains enables a quicker interpretation of the data by the learner or other stakeholders. Of course this does not solve all transparency, but it enables a path towards interpretation or description towards explainable AI. That way you show the willingness to enter into dialogue with the learners, and to consider their feedback on the machine learning processes. As always engaging the learners is key for trust, advancement and clear interpretation (Stella says it way better than my brief statement here!).

Have a look at her talk on machine learning bias, risks and mitigation below (30 minute talk followed by a 15 min Q&A), or take a quick look at the accompanying article here.

One of the main risks is of course some sort of censorship, or interpretation done by the machine which results in an unbalanced, sometimes discriminatory result. In January I organised some thoughts on AI and education in another blogpost here. And I also gave a talk on the benefits and risks of AI last year, where I argued for increased ethics in AI for education (slides here).

Machine learning is a complex type of learning, it involves a lot of data interpretation, algorithms to get meaningful reactions coming from the data, and of course feedback loops to provide adaptive, personal learning tracks to a number of learners.
Situating it, I would call it costly, useful rather for formal than informal learning (at this point in time), and somewhere between individual and social learning, as the data comes from the many, but the adapted use is for the one. It does not leave much room for self-directed learning,  unless this is built into the machine learning algorithms (first ask learner for learning outcomes, then make choices based on data). 

Part 1: creating voice-activated #ID #learning #Alexa #smartclass #elearning

In this first post on the topic, I share how I installed Alexa, using a basic smarthome skill (Philips Hue) and some features that increase or limit Alexa’s search returns (e.g. playing Spanish podcasts via free radio).

Testing the Amazon Echo Dot
The last couple of weeks I have been enthusiastically using the Amazon Echo Dot (which answers to Alexa). I am trying to setup a voice operated learning hub (well, as much as possible in a relatively cheap and simple way). With each step, I will keep you updated and share what works, what did not work, and which unexpected hurdles needed to be solved. In following episodes I want to use some coding options for additional Alexa skills, combine the Echo dot with an Arduino board as well as a Raspberry Pi to see what can be done with relatively cheap computer boards, and of course in relation to IFTTT and for specific voice operated IFTTT.

Why? Because with all the Fab Labs emerging (you can locate your nearest fablab using this map), I wanted to see how much of that could be built at my home (as I will be mostly home based for the next couple of months), so I might as well work on making my home into a fab lab or at least a smart learning hub.  The Echo dot has been used in classrooms using its basic functionality, but also for some special ed purposes for communication skill practice for children withautism.

I bought my Alexa with last year’s frequent flyer miles (made it much cheaper), but you can also buy it from Amazon for 40 $  or Amazon UK for 49 £. This does mean I got the German version of the Alexa, but as I can read and understand German, that was something I could start with. Once it was installed, I could switch to English. I also got two Philips Hue light bulbs, as they would enable me to test out the smart home part of the Alexa. By using this simple Alexa in combination with existing objects (things) that react to an impulse coming either from a mobile, voice or other object, it becomes easier to feel what the Internet of Things (IoT) is really like.
With a new online course in the back of my mind (working title of the course 'instructional and learning design examples, with added academic background information'), I want to explore a more meaningful application of this Amazon Echo Bot learning hub setup.

Installing Alexa
This is super simple, and only requires an internet connection and a mobile. The mobile app (either Android  or iTunes store ) is used to control Alexa and possible other devices, e.g. the Philips Hue, Nest thermostat….

As Alexa is voice-activated, it depends on specific language. In the Amazon Echo dot I bought, it was either English (you can choose American or British English) or German. My German is not that active, so I have installed my Alexa for British English use, also because I want to install specific skills on it. Skills are conversational applications that allow you to ‘ask’ Alexa something specific and then – hopefully – get a meaningful answer in return, so a skill connects to end users via the conversational Amazon Echo platform. Reddit features anice list of skills here once you have decided to add a skill, go to the Alexa app and add it to your skills.

The name Amazon Echo Dot says it: this device is a home device that will want you to buy more from Amazon. It uses Amazon prime to play music (paid service, I don’t use it, so will share other free options soon), and you can buy a list of options from Amazon, which is why I immediately deselect the buying option in the Amazon device, I do not want to order something buy mistake or simply because some of my Flemish sounds like “Alexa, buy a supersonic airplane from Amazon”…. And it does happen that Alexa thinks I am asking her something, as she has returned uninvited answers during regular conversations at the dinner table. There is some commotion on Alexa spying, if interested you can read upon these here.

Basic Alexa features
Alexa can be used for some basic options:

• Ask a question (answer found via Bing browser)
• Ask what the weather is like (still some limitations on regions, but if you add your own town in an English voice it can give you the weather there… my town is called Aalter, it took a while before I could get the weather forecast for that particular very Flemish town.
• Ask a silly question (Alexa sing a song, do the dishes…)
• Play music (mostly paid service, but free, easy option below)
• Make a to do list (“Alexa, add write blogpost to my to do list” afterwards ask “Alexa what is my to do list”)
• Make a shopping list.
• Set a timer (“Alexa, set a timer for 10 minutes”).

In case you are not a native English speaker
If you are not a native English speaker, it is good to use Google translate, type in your word or the words you are looking for, then push the speaker button to hear how it is pronounced. After that you can choose either to perfect your English-speaking voice, or you can say 'Alexa', and type in 'search google for X' into google translate and push the audio button again to have the English version of what you are looking for. I confess, it takes a bit of practising to get a fluent mix of both actions (speaking and pushing button on time).
First steps in a smart home/learning hub
First I bought two Philips Hue lights and one Hue bridge  to get the lights to work on voice-command. That works well with the skill of Philips Hue, which you need to install to get Alexa working with it. The Philips Hue lights need to be installed with one ‘Hue Bridge’ per 50 light bulbs. This means you need to have an internet connected bridge to manipulate the Hue lights either through Alexa or through the Hue mobile app. You need to install the lights and turn on the lights first in order to be able to control them from a distance. With the Hue mobile app you can group the lights together per room, making it easier to tell Alexa which lights to turn on or off (btw you can also operate them from any location, so you can trick your partner in turning off the lights unexpectedly…. Well…. If they do not mind that joke…).

The process is simple and indicative of how the Alexa Echo Dot works:

• Address Alexa by saying her name out loud,
• Speak specific command (a command is a coded speech operand that triggers Alexa to do something specific): e.g. “Alexa, turn on lights living room” or “play Singing in the Rain’ by Gene Kelly
• And then wait for Alexa to return an answer, or in this case play that specific song.

Learning podcasts, using radio feature
Alexa is linked to Amazon, so some features simply do not work for free (no free music, as Alexa’s options are Amazon prime or Spotify pro) and the search option is linked to Bing, which does not always return useful answers. But if you like music, you can find it without having to resort to any skill by using the command “Alexa play TuniIn [followed by the name of your preferred TuneIn radio station].

e.g. “Alexa, play TuneIn Learn Spanish - SpanishPod101.com” which triggers the latest podcast of this radio station.

You can find a list of radio stations here: https://tunein.com/

Next post on this topic will be on installing a skill that you customize using Amazon Web Services and Amazon Developer services (but with the help of 'the people who know'). 

360 camera use in online/blended courses #elearning #IDesign #MOOC

Sometimes simple instructional design tools can add to the efficiency of learning in an online or blended course. One of the simple options is using a 360° camera to immerse learners in a specific setting providing a more indepth learning context. Creating, using and providing a 360° experience has a long standing use especially with artists who wanted to use multiple visual angles to create a more captivating piece of art using multiple mirrors.

At the same time, using 360° cameras to give contemporary (MOOC) learners a better idea of what is meant by specific descriptions is now being fully tested in online courses. The real-life example provided a bit further down, relates to a MOOC on Climbing and the effect of using 360° videos to instruct online learners (comparing fully online with blended learners and the effect of those videos... really great research read!).

Description 

The 360° camera is a camera which records or captures visuals in a 360° field (so the entire sphere). This offers the viewer the ability to move through the full panorama by choosing a specific or multiple viewing directions, using either a keyboard, pointers or by simply tilting their head in the direction they want to view when using Virtual Reality glasses.

360° camera functionality

As a 360 degrees camera will allow you to capture a scene or setting with a 360° angle, this means you - as a learner - can manipulate what you see with your keyboard or mobile phone buttons and get a full visual overview of ... for instance an engineering plant, the inside of an ambulance which is filled with medical equipment, a specific controller room, an event where all of the surrounding areas are of importance to the learner... all shown from one particular point in that space (that being where the picture or movie is taken) but enabling the learner to shift through that space to see all of the potentially interesting features as they can be seen in real life.

An example of this can be seen here, which depicts a room at the Gaudi Exhibition Center in Barcelona, Spain, where I took a picture of a historical artist set-up for 3D capturing (old style). You can see the whole room by using the pointers at the bottom of the picture frame.

Today the 360° camera can be purchased at a reasonable price (e.g. Ricoh Theta S) which allows you to make pictures as well as 360 degrees videos. Although these more reasonably priced camera's come with some restrictions (e.g. size of the videos), they are a good testing board to see what you can do with such a device. Once you realise its applications, you can consider implementing it in a bigger online or blended course.

When to use this tool

A 360 degrees learning element is of use in any situation that demands a full surround understanding of a certain context. If you are looking for an instructional decor which has multiple elements all gathered in one space, or related to each other in a space, than this is the way to go. Providing a 360 overview of such spaces enables the learner to grasp all the elements influencing each other. For instance if you are a medic in an ambulance, you need to know where to find specific equipment in a moments notice in order to save the life of the patients. At the same time the driver of the ambulance can benefit from a 'real life' drive through traffic after picking up a patient, and see which traffic situations (being able to see full street coverage) to watch out for while having a patient in the back.

Example of implementing 360° video in online and blended learning

A great research example can be read in this paper shared and co-authored by Martin Ebner.
Abstract:

In this research study a course, combining both computer-supported and face-to-face teaching using the concept of blended learning, has been designed. It is a beginners climbing course called “Klettern mit 360° Videos“ (climbing with 360° videos) and the online part has been implemented as a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC). This research study presents the background of the course, the course concept, the course itself and the results of the evaluation. To measure the difference between the pure online participants and the blended learning participants the MOOC has been evaluated independently from the blended learning course. It should be mentioned that all participants (whether pure online or both) evaluated the course in a positive manner. The use of technology enhanced learning realized by the concept of blended learning proved to be a well-suited method for this course setting. Furthermore, many advantages of computer based learning, blended learning and 360°-videos have been reported by the participants.

Rubrics as part of online MOOC peer reviews #mooc #elearning

An addition to the EdTech options that I am currently organising. A rubric is a grading tool used within a course (blended or online courses) which is used to enable students as well as learners to understand what is expected of them in terms of solving an assignment or reviewing assignments from their peers.

Where - within the learning process - can a rubric be used?

Typically, as a teacher you will first introduce a case or project (generic example) that is exemplary for a specific process or project (for instance designing an online course overview). Each concept of interest is highlighted in detail. After explaining that particular example of a case, an alternative is given to deepen understanding. Then the learners are requested to build a similar case, yet adapted befitting their own context, infrastructure or conditions. By asking them to build a contextualised case, you bring the content and the assignment closer to their own previous knowledge. To offer guidance you provide a rubric, including the concepts you described in the detailed example. 

Brief orientation of the rubric: the rubric provided bellow can be used as an example rubric which can be adapted to align the conditions to the course topic. In this case the rubric is used to peer review online course overview. So the assignment include providing a course overview, including content and accompanying assignments consisting of several modules, with one module completely worked out in detail. The overview will provide an idea of the overall structure of the course, the detailed module gives an idea of signposting, descriptions, attained learning objectives. 

What is the benefit of using a rubric

A rubric has multiple purposes and can be used in different settings:

•  It can be provided to learners prior to having to submit an assignment. That way they understand what the professor will be looking for, what the important criteria of the assignment are, and the rubric will offer a structured overview of how to strengthen a project, proposal or assignment prior to submitting it.
• A rubric can also be used as a grading or reviewing tool between peers (e.g. learners). A rubric offers a more objective way to review each others work. In addition reviewing each others work will result in a more in-depth understanding of what the project/proposal can be and how your own project can be enhanced by looking at how your peers solve it, or design it.
• By using a rubric the learners also get an idea of critically looking at other projects, and at the same time knowing the challenges that come along when writing a project based on specific criteria. Which is useful for future project work or collaborations with partners.

Using a rubric triggers deeper reflection in the learner on a specific tasks, as well as trigger additional actions concerning the task by integrating the criteria in a project or task. This leads to higher order thinking.

Example rubric

This example rubric is based on reviewing an online course project, but it can be adapted to any field using criteria that are relevant to that field and the requested project or proposal at hand.

The rubric below is made up out of four grading elements, you can increase or decrease them according to your own preference. In this case I choose to use an even amount of grading elements, as this pushes the learner to make a non-neutral choice, the feedback is either bad or good, not neutral. So you put the learner out of a comfort zone by not providing a neutral option, which would be an option when given three or five grades.

In general, once you have a criteria, you will be able to describe a good quality delivery of that criteria as that is typically what a teacher/professor would hope to get from a learner. From there you work your way back towards what you would consider to be a poor quality delivery of that particular criteria.

Grading criteria	Poor quality	Insufficient  quality	Sufficient quality	Good quality
Overall course structure	There is no coherent course structure.	An attempt is made to provide a course structure, but the course lacks descriptions, has no sign-posting to guide the learner through the course.	The course elements are structured, but not all course units are accompanied by descriptions and/or signposting. Leaving the learner to test those course units for themselves.	The course is well-structured providing clear descriptions and sign-posting throughout the course, enabling self-directed learning.
Online content in alignment with learning objectives	No learning objectives are given.	Learning objectives are given, but they seem to be disconnected from the content that is provided in the course, or they are not covered by the content of the course.	Learning objectives are given, but it is not always clear where the relevant content connected to these learning objectives can be found.	The learning objectives in the course are all clearly reached by the end of the course. The alignment of the learning objectives with the course content can be traced by looking  at the titles of the different course segments.
Course content engagement	The content is boring, lengthy and non-inspiring.	The course content consists of an amalgam of course elements that do not touch any challenges, nor do they inspire to integrate ideas coming from the content into my own context.	Parts of the content are engaging and inspiring. Some course units lack mentioning challenges and solutions, but they do provide informative background material.	The course is captivating, in an engaging way. It provides consize and meaningful content related to the subject matter, highlighting challenges and solutions related to each course unit.
Complexity of the learning path.	The course elements are provided chaotically, without enabling the learner to grow as they go through the different learning units.	An attempt is made to enable the learner to grow throughout the course, but too little stepping stones are provided in between the course units. The learner isn’t provided with enough background to assimilate new knowledge so they can move to the next course unit and understand what is covered there.	The course consists of logical steps, moving the learner towards more understanding by providing new information that supports basic knowledge creation. But some units lack additional, advanced learning material.	The course evolves from simple concepts to complex combinations of concepts. Within each course unit there is also a consistent increase of content complexity.
Relevance and contextualisation of course assessments	Assignments are lacking.	Too little assessment is available to enable the learner to self-evaluate their own learning.	The assessments provide ample opportunity to see whether the content is understood. However, there are no contextualizable assessments or assignments provided. For example: no challenge or need based assignments.	Course assignments can be contextualised given the learner’s background or field expertise. Course assessments are varied and range from simple to complex. The course offers self-assessment options after each larger content segment covering a learning objective.
Content support through media use	Only one type of media is offered as content throughout the course.	The course integrates two different types of media (video and text), but the visuals add nothing to the story that is told. It could just as well be offered in writing. The video is of very low quality, you can hardly see what is recorded.		The course uses a mix of media, in accordance with the affordances of that particular media (e.g. discussion paper to increase debate, video of an actual engineering plant described in the course module).
Critical viewpoints provided and stimulated.	The content only shows the topic from one particular angle and is not critical.	The content is infrequently critically analysed by the content provider.	The content is enriched with critical arguments, both the challenges and the solutions.	Challenges and solutions related to the content are addressed from multiple angles. The learners are engaged to find additional viewpoints, or add critical content.

Call for papers and an online learning Award opportunity #CfP #eLearning

Call for Papers

These four calls for papers/presentations and the additional eLearning award opportunity (10.000 – 100.000$) are listed chronologically based on the submission deadline.

Conference on MOOCs, Language Learning and Mobility

When: 13-14 October 2017

Where: Naples, Italy

Deadline for submissions: 17 June 2017

The conference is part of the http://www.movemeconference.eu

More info: movemeconference.eu

The University of Naples L’Orientale together with Federazione Nazionale Insegnanti Centro di iniziativa per l’Europa (FENICE), as one of the partners of the project "MOOCs for University Students on the Move in Europe" (MOVE-ME) funded by the Erasmus+ Programme of the European Union, invite you to attend the Second International conference on "MOOCs, Language Learning and Mobility".
The conference will take place on 13 - 14 October 2017 at Palazzo Du Mesnil, via Chiatamone, 61 Naples 80121 in a central zone, near the Castel dell’Ovo, the sea and in close proximity to some of the best city hotels.
This second international conference aims to bring together higher education professionals, linguists and language technologists from around the world to debate issues relating to MOOCs, language teaching/learning and student mobility, by providing a forum for exchanging ideas, research outcomes and technical achievements. What the organisers say you can expect:

·  Increase your knowledge of the topic.

·  Share results achieved in innovative projects and initiatives.

·  Meet and network with those having shared interests and goals.

·  Bring new ideas and concept home to your institution.

Conference attendance is FREE for presenters and non-presenting attendees. 

Download the registration form from the conference website movemeconference.eu and email the completed form to fenice.eu@gmail.com by 30 June 2017 if you are a speaker or by 30 September 2017 if you are just attending..
For more information on the event, the keynote speakers and the call for proposals please visit the conference website. Stay tuned for updates to the conference program. If you have any enquiries, or wish to be added to the mailing list, please write an email to fenice.eu@gmail.com.

We are now calling for abstracts for your research-related papers, presentations of case studies, work-in-progress and results of EU-financed projects.

Abstracts authors are invited for a 20-minute presentation. Details of how to submit an abstract can be found in the conference website movemeconference.eu. The closing date for submitting your proposals is 17 June 2017.
The abstracts and papers submitted will be peer-reviewed by the scientific committee and the acceptance will be notified by 15 July 2017. All accepted abstracts will be included in the conference proceedings and published on the conference website.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

OLC Accelerate conference

When: 15-17 November 2017

Where: Orlando, Florida, USA

Deadline for submissions: 22 May 2017

Info on submission options: please align submission to the session type as shown on the session types and details page.

Submission length for session: abstract 50 words, Please keep extended abstract under 1500 words.

The Online Learning Consortium organises the OLC Accelerate 2017: Accelerating Online Learning Worldwide, to be held November 15-17, 2017 at the Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin Hotel in Orlando, Florida.

The OLC Program Committee seeks proposals that reflect and showcase our vibrant community of practice — promoting theory, research, methodology and/or applied effective practices in online, blended, and web-enhanced teaching and learning. Both research and evidence-based proposals are encouraged for submission.   Note that each individual is limited to no more than three (3) submissions, including the roles of presenter, co-presenter, panelist, or workshop facilitator. 

The session type descriptions will be helpful to you as you shape your submission. Please review the details on these CFP pages before submitting your presentation proposal. 

Be sure to read through all of the information in this section of our website to ensure you understand what needs to be done and when, including our submission checklist, conference tracks, session types and more!  

Notifications are sent to all authors on each submission. All submissions are sent notification emails, regardless of acceptance status. Please be sure to “whitelist” emails from the @onlinelearning-c.org domain. If you do not receive a notification email by August 4, please contact us at conference@onlinelearning-c.org.

Step 1. Login in or register a user account with the OLC conference management system. 

When registering, please include as much information as possible in your user conference management system (CMS) profile, including your biography, a profile picture, and most current contact information. All additional co-presenters need to also be registered in the CMS with user accounts. Please keep in mind that once you have registered or submitted a paper, all conference-related information can be found here at the OLC Accelerate 2017 website.

After you login and proceed to the conference management system, you will be able to submit a proposal by clicking on “OLC Accelerate 2017” in the top menu navigation within the CMS. 

Step 2. Review the Session Types and Details.

Be sure to align your abstract with any special requirements outlined in the session type requirements. 

Note: Presenters should include active engagement methodology during presentations to encourage audience/participants to ask questions. The CFP ratings are based on the following major categories:

• Relevance to the conference
• Clarity
• Audience Appeal
• Interactivity (Active Engagement)

Step 3. Review the Strand Descriptions.

Step 4. Review the Submission Checklist.

Step 5. Review the Presenter FAQs.

Step 6. When you are ready to submit, login and select “OLC Accelerate 2017 > Session” to begin. You must be logged in to submit. 

If you need a PDF of the CFP pages for accessibility reasons, we have prepared a simple PDF of the OLC Accelerate 2017 CFP information. 

The submission deadline is May 22, 2017 at 11:59pm ET.

Thank you for your contribution. We look forward to reviewing your presentation submission.

Timeline of Important Dates: 

• Proposals due by 11:59pm ET May 22, 2017
• Notification of acceptance by August 4, 2017
• Deadline for presenters to accept is August 21 2017
• Deadline for presenters to register is September 20, 2017
• Final date for presenters to edit abstracts is September 20, 2017
• Final presentation upload date is November 1, 2017

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Conference on Digital Universities in the MOOC Era: Redesigning Higher Education

When: 20 – 22 September 2017

Deadline for submissions: 31 May 2017

Info for submissions: http://www.icem2017.eu/abstract-submission/

The conference is organised by ICEM and Federica WebLearning Center  (www.federica.eu). 

More info: http://www.icem2017.eu

The conference features four thematic areas: 

·        video language and pedagogy; 

·        digital educational environments; 

·        space vs interface design; 

·        Platformism: new paradigms for online learning.

Contributions for papers and workshops in these areas are welcome

General information

The digitalisation of higher education, as a consequence of technological development, has long been confined to providing more efficient management systems. Only recently has the digital culture made a major inroad into academic life, with the diffusion of MOOCs, Massive Open Online Courses, as the new e-learning format to deliver top quality content for free to millions of students worldwide. While HE Institutions are broadening access to their academic offer to online users worldwide, the corporate and NGO sectors are exploring the benefits of a more qualified online approach to training and dissemination for both personnel and clients, as well as the general public. 

The unbundling of the different processes involved in education delivery, especially credentialing, with the emergence of new actors on the educational market leads us to question what the future holds for traditional HE. What are the new social demands? How do educational institutions intend to cope with these fast-changing audiences and targets? Are corporate MOOCs a fierce competitor to HE institutions or a worthy ally?

The answers lie in the intersection among digital culture and educational environments. Bringing together people from government, academia and media, the ICEM International conference 2017 intends to focus on the emerging of MOOCs as a disruptive innovation in the traditional academic eco-system.

Speakers and contributors would submit abstracts to shed light on specific aspects of these four strands:

1) Digital culture and educational environments

The advent of MOOCs has opened up new, and previously unthinkable, scenarios in higher education. Millions of learners are now aware of this extraordinary offer, and platforms are mushrooming all over in the world. As MOOCs become part of the established institutional offer, HE institutions have to work out how these new distance learning models fit with traditional institutional curricular design and development, teaching, credentialing and research practices. What is the strategic response to funding constraints and the need for flexible provision? Are MOOCs destined to become a new form of shadow education? How is the MOOC phenomenon going to be institutionalized? 

2) Space vs. Interface design

A key aspect is the relationship between MOOC formats and instructional design. One might expect MOOCs to play the same disruptive role that books and printing literacy played in XV century learning. However, books had a well-established format and interface that MOOCs do not have yet. How to create an interface culture for the digital education? How much do learning space and format influence education? How can the user experience be improved both in the classroom and the digital world?

3) Platformism – new paradigms in online learning

Today, two giant operating systems – Microsoft MsDos and Apple Os – dominate the computer world, with two ancillary developments – Android and iOS – controlling the mobile environment. In the Higher Education environment there is still open competition among traditional e-learning software solutions and those offered by the main MOOC providers. How is platformism influencing learning environments, and what operational conditions are necessary for learners to exercise their choices? Moreover, should we expect a new oligopoly to emerge, concentrating the best of higher education in a few giant hubs with their proprietary formats and platforms? 

4) Going visual: video language and pedagogy

Finally, it seems that video is here to stay. Talking heads, interactive videos, virtual labs augmented reality; all kinds of magic can be reproduced through our screens. How do we expect the traditional student-teacher relationship to be reshaped with the new opportunities web-videos are offering to provide top quality educational resources in a distance-learning environment? What is the role of quality and aesthetics and personalisation? How do we accommodate the changing relationships between teacher and student in the online environment?

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Online Educa Berlin 2017

Where: Berlin, Germany

When: 6-8 December 2017

Deadline for submssions: 29 May 2017

More info: https://oeb.global/

The theme of this year: Learning Uncertainy: Can we learn to live with it? Can we accept it, manage it and even thrive on it? We live in an age of acceleration. We are in the midst of a sea-change - a profound, transformative shift in knowledge, experience and perception. It is a new era defined by technology, globalisation, information and, above all, uncertainty. 

Our uncertainty is born of the rapid and continuing change around us. Technology is already developing faster than we can learn the skills we need to use it. Information is the world's most valuable commodity. Demographic change, political turbulence, economic challenges and environmental threats confront us. There has always been uncertainty but this is different. We are facing the end of stability. Are we ready for this new era? Are businesses, governments and societies really prepared for our uncertain future?

Can we live with uncertainty? Could we benefit from it? How can we use volatility and instability to our advantage? How can we weather the storms? How should universities, colleges, schools and workplaces adapt? What should employers do now to plan for the flexible workforce they will need in the future? 

Can we learn uncertainty? Is it a language or an equation, a philosophy or a science? How should it be taught? And how can we learn uncertainty when the future of learning itself is uncertain?

OEB 2017 is about acknowledging uncertainty and preparing for it. It is about how transformative education, training and learning can equip businesses, organisations and individuals with the skills to survive and prosper in our new era.

Become involved in shaping the agenda by proposing a topic, talk or session by May 29^th, 2017.

Accepted papers by registered speakers will be included in the published OEB

Conference Book of Abstracts 2017. The ISBN number is 978-3-941055-47-6.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Digital Learning Innovation Award opportunity

Part of the OLC Accelerate conference

When: 15-17 November 2017

Deadline for submissions: 30 June 2017.

Where is the award ceremony: Orlando, Florida, USA

The Digital Learning Innovation Award (DLIAward) program recognizes faculty-led teams and institutions for advancing undergraduate student success through the adoption of digital courseware. OLC is calling for submissions from accredited U.S.-based institutions in two categories:

·  Institutional Award – $100,000 (up to three awarded)

·  Faculty-led Team Award – $10,000 (up to 10 awarded)

We ask that only those who are serious about truly being innovative, creative, and dedicated to changing the world of digital learning apply for this award. Join us for an informational webinar (optional dates to choose from).

The deadline for submissions is 12:00 p.m. ET on June 30, 2017. All applications must be submitted through the online submission portal. Winners will be announced at theOLC Accelerate conference, Nov. 15-17 in Orlando, Florida.

Read our recent  press release or visit the website for full details regarding the award competition. We look forward to reviewing your submissions, celebrating your successes, and identifying top innovators leading the digital learning landscape.