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.
The EdTech Creator Challenge Creator Challenge is for creators leveraging immersive technology and real-time 3D to make learning and education more accessible to ALL. This includes organizations such as:
Workforce development / Professional Learning
Higher education institutions
EdTech creators (serving the above audiences, in addition to K-12 schools)
Nonprofits
Eligible projects are encouraged to apply by submitting the online applicationform by September 10, 2021 at 11:59pm PST.
APPLICATION TIPS
The application has 25 questions in total. Once you begin, you can save and continue as you go. Check out the tips below and apply by September 10, 2021.
1. SIMPLIFY YOUR DESCRIPTION
When you explain what your organization does in the product section, keep it simple. You should be able to explain your organization in a way that a student would understand.
2. KNOW YOUR PURPOSE
How does your immersive technology support your organization’s mission? One of the factors judges will use to evaluate your application is Purpose. Be prepared to put your mission and impact into words, it’s a key element of the application.
3. EMPHASIZE TEAM STRENGTHS
Several questions on the application allow you to highlight the strengths of your leadership team. This is a great opportunity to demonstrate subject matter expertise, experience, and passion.
4. DON’T DELAY
Early application submissions are highly encouraged as the final deadline quickly approaches. If you have questions about the application this will allow time to review the FAQor reach out for clarification.
AI is being used to monitor students and their work. The most prominent uses of AI in higher education are attached to applications designed to protect or preserve academic integrity through the use of plagiarism-detection software (60%) and proctoring applications (42%) (see figure 1).
The chatbots are coming! A sizable percentage (36%) of respondents reported that chatbots and digital assistants are in use at least somewhat on their campuses, with another 17% reporting that their institutions are in the planning, piloting, and initial stages of use (see figure 2). The use of chatbots in higher education by admissions, student affairs, career services, and other student success and support units is not entirely new, but the pandemic has likely contributed to an increase in their use as they help students get efficient, relevant, and correct answers to their questions without long waits.Footnote10 Chatbots may also liberate staff from repeatedly responding to the same questions and reduce errors by deploying updates immediately and universally.
AI is being used for student success tools such as identifying students who are at-risk academically (22%) and sending early academic warnings (16%); another 14% reported that their institutions are in the stage of planning, piloting, and initial usage of AI for these tasks.
Nearly three-quarters of respondents said that ineffective data management and integration (72%) and insufficient technical expertise (71%) present at least a moderate challenge to AI implementation. Financial concerns (67%) and immature data governance (66%) also pose challenges. Insufficient leadership support (56%) is a foundational challenge that is related to each of the previous listed challenges in this group.
Current use of AI
Chatbots for informational and technical support, HR benefits questions, parking questions, service desk questions, and student tutoring
Research applications, conducting systematic reviews and meta-analyses, and data science research (my italics)
Library services (my italics)
Recruitment of prospective students
Providing individual instructional material pathways, assessment feedback, and adaptive learning software
Proctoring and plagiarism detection
Student engagement support and nudging, monitoring well-being, and predicting likelihood of disengaging the institution
The effective IT leaders who made strong impressions on me when I was a president or provost were those who actively listened to non-IT discussions, asked clarifying questions, and—either in the moment or as a follow-up communication—
digital transformation (Dx). To help these efforts, EDUCAUSE has created a “Dx Journey Map.” It offers an elegant, visual way of telling the story of digital transformation to non-IT campus leaders.
With so many definitions of leadership, each organization needs to have a clear definition of what leadership is and what it means to be a leader within their company. The definition can evolve over time, but having even a basic, agile definition is better than no definition at all.
Leadership filters ensure the company has a consistent definition of leadership and that the people who best represent the culture and values are promoted to leadership positions. A leader focused solely on raising profits and earning more money wouldn’t fare well in a company focused on developing empathetic leaders. Leadership filters help promote the right people and maintain a cohesive work environment.
Social media platforms are taking down Russians’ calls to protest in support of jailed opposition leader Alexei Navalny over the government’s claims that they illegally incite minors to attend unauthorized rallies.
“the perfect combination of catalysts for a rapid conversion to student-centered schooling,” according to a new report from the Christensen Institute.
most K-12 educators aren’t equipped with the skill sets needed to run student-centered schools. For student-centered learning to be adopted, educators must be trained for student-centered competencies,
the report suggests school and district leaders:
Work toward a more modular professional development system, which includes specific, verifiable and predictable microcredentials.
Specify competencies needed for student-centered educators.
Compensate educators with bonuses for microcredentialsto incentivize earning them.
Purchase bulk licenses to allow teachers the opportunity to earn microcredentials.
Demand and pay for mastery of skills rather than a one-time workshop.
Vet microcredential issuers’ verification processes, like rubrics and evaluation systems.
While testing could help with personalized instruction, a report from the Center on Reinventing Public Education stressed the need for professional development so teachers can interpret the resulting data and let it guide instruction this year.micr
“I do reach that magic age this spring when I can retire, and it does put the question in my mind, ‘Can I keep this up for another three years or have I kind of reached my end?”