The survey from the College Innovation Network asked nearly 700 students enrolled at four higher ed institutions to answer questions about what online learning has been like for them during the 2020-21 academic year.
“Has anyone ever used Discord to communicate with their students and to deliver short lectures or have office hours? We don’t use Zoom and MS Teams only covers one section. I have four sections of the same course. I found one article in favor of it, but figured I’d check with the general community.”
Acquisitions and partnerships are a cornerstone of Byju’s early learning programs: It bought Palo Alto-based Osmo in 2019, which combines digital learning with manipulatives, an approach the companies call “phygital.” For instance: Using a tablet’s camera and Osmo’s artificial intelligence software, the system tracks what a child is doing on a (physical) worksheet and responds accordingly to right and wrong answers. “It’s almost like having a teacher looking over you, My note: this can be come disastrous when combined with the China’s “social credit” system.
By contrast, Byju’s FutureSchool (launched in the U.S. this past spring) aims to offer one-to-one tutoring sessions starting with coding (based in part on WhiteHat Jr., which it acquired in August 2020) and eventually including music, fine arts and English to students in the U.S., Brazil, the U.K., Indonesia and others. The company has recruited 11,000 teachers in India to staff the sessions
In mid-July, Byju’s bought California-based reading platform Epic for $500 million. That product opens up a path for Byju’s to schools. Epic offers a digital library of more than 40,000 books for students ages 12 and under. Consumers pay about $80 a year for the library. It’s free to schools. Epic says that more than 1 million teachers in 90 percent of U.S. elementary schools have signed up for accounts.
That raises provocative questions for U.S. educators. Among them:
How will products originally developed for the consumer market fit the needs of schools, particularly those that serve disadvantaged students?
Will there be more development dollars poured into products that appeal to consumers—and less into products that consumers typically skip (say, middle school civics or history curriculum?)
How much of an investment will giants such as Byju’s put into researching the effectiveness of its products? In the past most consumers have been less concerned than professional educators about the “research” behind the learning products they buy. Currently Gokulnath says the company most closely tracks metrics such as “engagement” (how much time students spend on the product) and “renewals” (how many customers reup after a year’s use of the product.)
How will products designed for home users influence parents considering whether to continue to school at home in the wake of viral pandemics?
Web 3.0 is the third generation of internet services which provide websites and applications with the technology to run. Web 3.0 is set to be powered by AI and peer-to-peer applications like blockchain. The key difference between Web 2.0 and Web 3.0 is that Web 3.0 is more focused on using innovative technologies like machine learning and AI to create more personalized content for each user. It is also expected that Web 3.0 will be more secure than its predecessors because of the system it is built upon.
Blockchains are made up of blocks that store information. Each block has a unique “hash” that differentiates it from other blocks. These blocks are then connected by a chain in chronological order. The information stored in these blocks is permanent, which makes it a very secure way to complete online transactions.
This is why cryptocurrencies, like Bitcoin, are built on blockchain technology.
According to the U.S. Department of Labor, a stackable credential is “part of a sequence of credentials that can be accumulated over time to build up an individual’s qualifications and help them to move along a career pathway or up a career ladder to different and potentially higher-paying jobs.” In general, stackable credentials are shorter-term programs that can lead to higher-level credentials.
The traditional system of higher education puts students’ focus on earning, at minimum, a four-year degree. The traditional student is fresh out of high school and entering college or university with the intent of completing those four years consecutively and graduating with a degree in hand. That traditional student, however, is no longer typical. Statistics show that more than 47 percent of people entering college are over 25 years old, and 40 percent of those are over 35.
If your answer is yes to the following, then your next virtual event should go off without a hitch.
You offer a balance of topics.
You keep things as concise as possible.
You have someone to keep the pace—perhaps a moderator.
You’ve planned for transitions.
You use graphics and other visuals.
You’ve included time for interaction.
You have a closing segment—and say your thank you’s!
While the above should guide your overall structure, don’t be afraid to play with the format. Virtual events are still in their infancy, making them a great opportunity to innovate storytelling and audience engagement.