Searching for "covid"
The Metaverse as the new frontier of capitalism
https://medium.com/@connectingtotheworld/the-metaverse-as-the-new-frontier-of-capitalism-639c9494634
Baudrillard’s work from1981, Simulacra and Simulation
Geyh, Leebron, F., & Levy, A. (1998). Postmodern American fiction : a Norton anthology (First edition.). W.W. Norton & Company.
https://mnpals-scs.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/01MNPALS_SCS/qoo6di/alma990011637720104318
money and gaming are only the first of being completely pushed into a new all encompassing ‘reality’ of its own.
2021 also popularized the Non Fungible Tokens (NFTs) — private property transferred to virtual reality. If on a first level a photo or film keep certain relation to the real, a NFT is a second level of dematerialization of our world and perceived ‘reality’. It simulates, in a virtual world (per se already a simulacrum), the simulacrum of an image/photo/video — and, as if magically, it acquires ‘value’ and it is deemed proprietary.
The future decade’s pressures are more and more on the deterioration of what is left of the real world — climate change, pandemics, automation of work, decreasing populations (first in the West, then in the rest of the world), and scarce resources. The work that produces material things were/are the first to be automated — first in agriculture, then manufacturing and now finally services. In such a decadent material world, continuous growth would not be possible anymore — but with virtual ones
There is never enough data.
super fast internet (5G), increasing data centers, quantum computing, health trackers on human bodies, machine-brain interfaces, internet of things… The goal is for the AI to know how to reproduce material things in a virtual setting.
The COVID-19 pandemic probably accelerated this ‘metaversing’ of reality in many years.
+++++++++++++++++++
more on metaverse in this iMS blog
https://blog.stcloudstate.edu/ims?s=metaverse
Newbutt, N., Schmidt, M. M., Riva, G., & Schmidt, C. (2020). The possibility and importance of immersive technologies during COVID-19 for autistic people.
Journal of Enabling Technologies,
14(3), 187–199.
https://doi.org/10.1108/JET-07-2020-0028
#lowend #mmersive approach for students with #autism
The authors also pursue low-end vs hi-end approach in the adoption of immersive technologies:
here my annotations in hypothes.is
or if you don’t use it, link to the article
it also follows the same venue of mindful use of immersive, which Gill, Mark C and i tried to pursue several years ago
As described and developed by
Riva and Wiederhold (2020) we suggest that the use of a low-cost spherical, video-based virtual reality mindfulness intervention could reduce the psychological burden of COVID-19 for autistic people, alongside a developed package of at-home educational and support materials to empower families/caregivers delivered via an online eLearning platform to support effective implementation.
Higher Ed, From Static to Dynamic
https://www.insidehighered.com/digital-learning/blogs/online-trending-now/higher-ed-static-dynamic
Other than gross number analysis, many colleges previously did not take a deep dive into demographics of students every semester to detect and adapt to subtle changes in other than the broadest terms. This is especially the case for comparison to competitors that are not degree-granting, such as code academies, Google, Amazon, LinkedIn and others. Curriculum and degree/certificate offerings had not been reviewed every semester to determine how directly they serve the dual customer base of employers and students.
the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center show that the number of undergraduate students will likely drop 3.2 percent in the current academic year. All this after losing 3.4 percent last year. Over all, accounting for 6.6 percent fewer undergraduates than prior to the COVID pandemic, online institutions saw a similar dip of 5.5 percent. However, those online institutions are faring better, after seeing an increase of 8.6 percent enrollment in the fall 2020 semester. With the recent dip in enrollment, it is clear young adults increasingly are choosing work over college.
fewer than half of all high schoolers want to go to a four-year college
Not only are the numbers of male students enrolled on the decline, but the numbers of male dropouts exceed those of female students. (my note: this issue has been raised by me several times in the last decade, without any response whatsoever).
https://www.edsurge.com/news/2021-11-19-automated-proctoring-swept-in-during-pandemic-it-s-likely-to-stick-around-despite-concerns
a law student sued an automated proctoring company, students have complained about their use in student newspaper editorials and professors have compared them to Big Brother.
ProctorU, which has decided not to sell software that uses algorithms to detect cheating
A recent Educause study found that 63 percent of colleges and universities in the U.S. and Canada mention the use of remote proctoring on their websites.
One reason colleges are holding onto proctoring tools, Urdan adds, is that many colleges plan to expand their online course offerings even after campus activities return to normal. And the pandemic also saw rapid growth of another tech trend: students using websites to cheat on exams.
++++++++++++++++
More on proctoring in this blog
https://blog.stcloudstate.edu/ims?s=proctoring
5 ways e-learning can develop better remote workers
As soon as the coronavirus was declared a pandemic early last year, 88% of multinational organisations began encouraging remote working. By summer 2020, 83% of businesses surveyed said they will continue to offer remote-work options long after the world returns to complete normalcy.
Additionally, Gallup research conducted before the COVID-19 pandemic, indicated that employees are optimally engaged when they remote work 60% to 80% of the time. That’s three or four days in a workweek.
microlearning – brief training modules – increases information retention by up to 20%. Whether through videos or short quizzes, implementing microlearning can be beneficial without being time-consuming, allowing remote workers to get back to their tasks as soon as they’re done.
Offering e-learning videos
ncorporating elements of entertainment
Keeping e-learning content consistent
Providing content across devices
In 1972, when the U.S. government passed the landmark Title IX laws to promote gender equality in education, there was a 12 percentage-point gap in the proportion of bachelor’s degrees going to men compared to women. By 1982, the gap had closed. Nobody predicted what happened next: the gap started to widen rapidly in the opposite direction. By 2019, the gender gap in bachelor awards was wider, at 14 points, than it had been in 1972 — but the other way round. (We are not claiming here that Title IX had much impact, however).
To Hanna Rosin, author of The End of Men, it is “the strangest and most profound change of the century, even more so because it is unfolding in a similar way pretty much all over the world.”
Importantly, there is a gender gap not only in rates of college enrollment, as we described earlier in the year, and recently highlighted in the Wall Street Journal and The Atlantic, but also in rates of completion among those who do enroll.
College enrollment is falling, mostly among men
the gender gap widened significantly in 2020.
College enrollment has steadily declined following the Great Recession, with total enrollment among both men and women decreasing each year from 2012 to 2020. But many more women than men were enrolling in college when rates began to fall in 2012 (11.6 million women were enrolled at the time, compared to 8.6 million men). If the relative decline among men and women had been similar, we would expect the gender gap in enrollment rates to remain constant. Instead, the fall 2020 decline in male enrollment eclipsed the decline in female enrollment for the fifth year in a row and the gender gap in enrollment is widening. COVID-19 accelerated this trend.
Women graduate high school and college at higher rates
Education gaps across the lifecycle
Men born from 1955 to 1974 (ages 45-64 in 2019) who likely wrapped up their postsecondary education decades ago, attained bachelor’s and graduate degrees at a similar rate to women in their age group. By contrast, older men born before 1955 had higher educational attainment than women, and younger men born after 1974 seem to be consistently outpaced by women their age.
Class, gender and the education gap
84% of students from the top income quintile enroll in any college in the fall after high school graduation compared to 72% of students in the middle class and 63% of students in the bottom income quintile.
The Pandemic Could Have Unlocked Remote Schooling. It Hasn’t
https://www.edweek.org/leadership/opinion-the-pandemic-could-have-unlocked-remote-schooling-it-hasnt/2021/10
Parents interested in remote learning may also discover their choices are all or nothing: Either they can pull their child out of their traditional school to enroll for the whole year in an online option or they can remain in a brick-and-mortar building and hope for the best.
Remote learning isn’t the only need. Pandemic pods and learning hubs have shown the power of small, individualized spaces where community organizations—whose staff often have the trust of students and families in their neighborhoods—to help students discover a sense of belonging and connect them to essential services like tutoring or mental-health support.
++++++++++++++++
More on the pandemic in this blog
https://blog.stcloudstate.edu/ims?s=covid
ExLibris Report: “Exploring the Challenges of Researchers and Research Offices”
- COVID-19 has affected research funding significantly, with STEM fields seeing an increase in funding, while in the humanities, social sciences, and arts, funding is declining.
- Funding remains a key challenge for researchers.
- The showcasing of research and expertise is increasing in importance
- Research office members and researchers differ in the way in which they measure research impact.
- The administrative burden on researchers continues to be a major challenge. Seven out of 10 researchers spend at least 30% of their time on administrative tasks. The core expertise of libraries and research offices is still underutilized.
- Interdisciplinary collaboration is high on researchers’ agenda, with 37% of researchers saying that most or all of their work involves interdisciplinary collaboration. This figure aligns somewhat with research office priorities; 25% of research office leaders stated that promoting interdisciplinary collaboration is a priority.
- Researchers expect more from their library than in 2020. Although 61% of researchers expressed satisfaction with the support they receive from their institution’s library, they expect more assistance than in 2020, especially with data-related services and services such as publication depositing.
- Collaboration between research offices and libraries has risen in 2021.
+++++++++++++
More on academic research in this blog
https://blog.stcloudstate.edu/ims?s=Academic+research
Imagining a better world at the Unity for Humanity Summit
https://blog.unity.com/news/imagining-a-better-world-at-the-unity-for-humanity-summit
On October 12, the Unity for Humanity Summit will once again take place virtually to celebrate creators who are using real-time 3D (RT3D) for social impact.
Since the inaugural Unity for Humanity Summit in October 2020, we have awarded more than $2.5 million to support current and future social impact creators who are building RT3D experiences that have a positive and meaningful impact on society and the planet through the Unity for Humanity program and the Unity Charitable Fund.
four content tracks and some of the exciting topics and workshops
Education and Inclusive Economic Opportunity
- Workshop: How to make your first Unity build
- Different global models for creating inclusive economic opportunity
- How to leverage real-time 3D for workforce development and training
Environment and Sustainability
- What the gaming industry can do to support a healthier planet: From decarbonization of gaming operations to activating users
- Visualizing the future of climate change
- How the fashion industry is innovating for sustainability using RT3D
Digital Health and Wellbeing
- Using AI for social good in and beyond the age of COVID
- The role RT3D can play in the advancement of patient care, healthcare training, and more
- Funding healthcare innovations and real-time 3D tools
Tools for Changemakers
- Monetizing your social impact mobile game
- An AR tutorial taught through multiple use cases
- Pitching brands to support your impact projects
- Visual scripting workshop
++++++++++++++
more on Unity in this IMS blog
https://blog.stcloudstate.edu/ims?s=unity
What We Learned in the Pandemic About Graduate Training
Three Covid-inspired innovations shed light on what needs to change in graduate education
https://www.chronicle.com/article/what-we-learned-in-the-pandemic-about-graduate-training
- How we admit students to graduate school.
- How we mentor graduate students.
- How we improve fairness, equity, and inclusion.
++++++++++++++
more on grad students in this IMS blog
https://blog.stcloudstate.edu/ims?s=graduate+students