Archive of ‘technology’ category

Pearson buys Credly

EXCLUSIVE Pearson buys certification group Credly in deal valued at $200m

https://www.reuters.com/business/exclusive-pearson-buys-certification-group-credly-deal-valued-200m-2022-01-31/

The UK-listed firm, a major supplier of courseware and assessments in schools and colleges in the United States, Britain and around the world

Pearson CEO Andy Bird told Reuters that verified credentials were becoming more important as technology adapts, leaving many companies with a skills gap where staff need training on how to work with processes such as artificial intelligence.

Pearson, which has been buffeted by the shift from physical courseware to online learning, bought AI and analytics group Faethm in 2021, which spots skills gaps for organisations.

Credly partners with organisations such as IBM, Microsoft and Amazon Web Services to provide certifications, or digital credentials, to workers both inside their firms and out who have attained a certain level with their product. Based in the United States, half of the people earning credentials on the platform are outside America, with India one of its biggest markets.

Pearson will now be able to combine the diagnostic tools of Faethm with its own digital learning programmes and Credly’s certification capabilities to offer a full service to companies.

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more on microcredentials in this IMS blog
https://blog.stcloudstate.edu/ims?s=microcredential

more on Pearson in this IMS blog
https://blog.stcloudstate.edu/ims?s=pearson

Big Tech and Their Metaverse

Big Tech Needs to Stop Trying to Make Their Metaverse Happen

https://www.wired.co.uk/article/metaverse-big-tech-land-grab-hype

The Metaverse is a fuzzy concept: It entered dictionaries via Neal Stephenson’s 1992 dystopian sci-fi novel Snow Crash, where the Metaverse is the virtual refuge from an anarchy-laden world controlled by the Mafia, and was brought back by a series of blogposts by VC Matthew Ball.

The morality of the Metaverse project is the least of its problems. Unlike Google Glass, the gold standard of tech blunders, it is not an overhyped (and ill-conceived) product: It is pure hype, without a product—except for some hypothetical “building blocks.”

letter by the CEO of Japanese game developer Square Enix, in which the executive expounded on his interest in NFTs and drew an odd distinction between people who “play for fun” and those who “play to contribute” was also badly received.

microcredentials and higher ed

Are microcredentials the future of higher ed?

Canada has reflected that global interest, with major government investment over the last two years: $59.5 million announced by the Ontario government in late 2020 to fund microcredential development and related student loans; $9 million announced by British Columbia’s government since 2020, with federal support; and $5.6 million announced by Alberta’s government last August for microcredential pilot projects after the Business Council of Alberta (BCA) issued a report in 2020 urging the provincial and federal governments to expand microcredential opportunities. Ontario’s government-backed digital learning organization, eCampus Ontario, has been working in this area since 2017. Microcredential development is included in the strategic plans of the University of New Brunswick and Dalhousie University. As far back as 2015, the University of British Columbia promoted the use of “open badges” to recognize discrete skills that students had acquired within for-credit courses. It started running several non-credit microcredentials in 2021, thanks to provincial funding.

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What Are Micro-Credentials And Why Are So Many Universities Talking About Them?

https://www-suitable-co.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/www.suitable.co/knowledge-center/blog/what-are-micro-credentials

https://www.suitable.co/knowledge-center/blog/what-are-micro-credentials

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more on microcredentials in this IMS blog
https://blog.stcloudstate.edu/ims?s=microcredential

higher ed predictors for 2022

14 Predictions for Higher Education in 2022

https://campustechnology.com/articles/2022/01/04/14-predictions-for-higher-education-in-2022.aspx

Forget Hyflex

our faculty will discover that effectively teaching in a hyflex environment without adequate support is extremely difficult and truly exhausting.

Adapt Hyflex — and Be Ready for Anything (security)

Move Beyond Zoom into the Metaverse

Reap the Rewards of 2 Years of Strategic Decision-Making

campus leaders who have intentionally put students at the center of organization and system design will reap a great reward.

Expect More Disruption and More Innovation

look for movement in the augmented and virtual reality space.

Online Ed Becomes the Norm

online education will become the norm rather than the step-sister of “traditional” education

Build Off the Threads that Are Here to Stay

Alternatives Will Continue Gaining Ground

The cultures within institutions may prevent these significant changes from occurring. If that occurs, alternatives will continue to build momentum.

Emphasize Choice and Support

Alumni will be looking for upskilling opportunities via microcredentials, to navigate growth and career change during the “Great Resignation.” Recent high school grads will expect a variety of online, hybrid and in-person courses to choose from, many bringing with them years of experience with virtual learning.

Students Need Faster Routes to Completion

Climate Change Ed Gets Embedded

Hybrid Learning Tech Will Step Up

many lecture theaters might come to look like professional TV studios, to meet growing quality and usability expectations. Also, technologies will likely be expected to make classrooms environments more “peer-learning friendly” and inclusive

Blockchain Will Gain Ed Pickup

The (Arizon State) university announced that in 2022 it would release Pocket, a digital wallet for students as a comprehensive learner record.

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