Author: IBL News

IBL News | New York

Intel (Nasdaq: INTC) announced an expansion of its AI for Workforce Program to 18 community colleges across 11 U.S. states, with a total of 800,000 students. The company plans to expand to 50 more community and vocational colleges in 2022.

Learners who complete the program will receive a certificate or an associate degree in artificial intelligence (AI).

“The next-generation workforce will need skills and training in AI to develop solutions to the world’s greatest challenges, and community colleges play a huge role in unleashing innovative thinking,” said Pat Gelsinger, CEO at Intel. “AI is one of the superpowers fueling innovation, economic growth, job creation, and advancements across every aspect of society.”

With technical support from Dell Technologies, the Intel AI for Workforce Program includes courses on data collection, computer vision, AI model training, coding, the societal impacts, and ethics of AI technology.

To date, over 80 community college professors have received professional development from Intel and have been certified as Intel AI trainers.

Started in 2020 as a collaboration between Intel and a community college in Maricopa County, Arizona, the program has the following participating schools: Antelope Valley College in Lancaster, California; Central New Mexico Community College in Albuquerque; College of Southern Nevada in North Las Vegas; County College of Morris in Randolph, New Jersey; Maricopa Community College in Maricopa County, Arizona; Folsom Lake College in Folsom, California; Foothills-DeAnza in Los Altos, California; Gateway Technical College in Kenosha, Wisconsin; Houston Community College; Ivy Tech Community College in Lake County, Indiana; Lonestar Community College in The Woodlands, Texas; Middlesex College in Edison, New Jersey; Montgomery County Community College in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania; Morris County Vocational School in Denville, New Jersey; Ocean County College in Toms River, New Jersey; Santa Ana College in Santa Ana, California; Umpqua Community College in Roseburg, Oregon; and Lansing Community College in Lansing, Michigan.

IBL News | New York

The Boston-based Online Learning Consortium (OLC) announced yesterday the winners of its 2021 Accelerate Conference awards, which will take place on October 5-8 in Washington, DC.

“The OLC Awards program is an opportunity to showcase leadership and innovation in the field of online, blended, and digital learning,” said Dr. Jennifer Mathes, Chief Executive Officer of the Online Learning Consortium.

Michael Tassio, Aaran Zachmeier, and Nandina Bhattacharya of the University of California Santa Cruz: Excellence in Faculty Development for Online Teaching award, for their submission entitled Integrated Course Design for Remote Instruction.

The Center for Online and Continuing Education at Florida Atlantic University: Excellence and Innovation in Online Teaching Award (Instructional Design) for their submission entitled Engaging Online Students in Immersive, Interactive Science Lab Experiences. The virtual lab gives students an interactive visual exploration of the laboratory space, with a particular focus on what they need to know to achieve course objectives. Exploration of the lab environment is made possible through the use of relatively inexpensive 360-degree cameras and virtual reality goggles or computers, tablets, or smartphones.

Sandhya (Sandy) Maranna of the University of South Australia: Excellence and Innovation in Online Teaching Award (Faculty) for her submission Creation of Innovative Digital Assessments to Enhance Higher Order Thinking in Medical Sonography Students Studying Courses Related to Women’s Health.

Dr. Sheryl Burgstahler of the University of Washington, Seattle: Leadership in Equity and Inclusion in Online Learning Award for her contributions to the field of digital learning exemplifying the principles of equity and inclusion in spaces of accessibility.

Dr. Sherri Restauri of Coastal Carolina University: Gomory-Mayadas Leadership Award in Higher Education for her contributions and recognition of her leadership in the online education community.

Dr. Barbara Means Executive Director of Learning Sciences Research at Digital Promise: Online Learning Journal Outstanding Research Achievement Award in Online Education, for her article Teaching and Learning in the Time of COVID: The Student Perspective (co-authored with Dr. Julie Neisler).

Dr. Mariann Hawken and the Instructional Technology team in the Division of Information Technology at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County: Effective Practice award for their project entitled Planning Instructional Variety for Online Learning (PIVOT).

Linda Merillat of the School of Nursing at Washburn University: Effective Practice award for her project entitled Interactive Teaching Design (ITD): A Proven Faculty Enrichment Program for Online Teaching. ITD combines key elements from teaching and learning with principles from interaction design.

Dr. Liz Owens-Boltz, Brittany Dillman, and Candace Robertson of Michigan State University: Effective Practice award for their project entitled MA in Educational Technology (MAET) Blog Series and Mini-MOOC on Remote Teaching.

A panel discussion and celebration at the OLC Accelerate Virtual Awards Gala will take place on Monday, September 20, 2021, at 7:45 PM as a part of the OLC Accelerate virtual program.

IBL News | New York

Study resources platform, Course Hero announced yesterday the acquisition of CliffNotes, creator of iconic literature and test prep guides used by high school and college students.

The Redwood City, California – based start-up also bought QuillBot, a platform that includes a grammar checker and citation generator.

None of the transaction amounts of those deals were reported.

Other recent purchases of Course Hero include LitChart and Symbolab.

Founded in 2006 by college student Andrew Grauer, Course Hero has grown from a resource for students to share notes into a learning platform used by a global community interested in academic resources.

The online learning platform claims that it now offers more than 60 million course-specific study resources as well as 24/7 tutor help. The range of learning materials includes practice problems, study guides, textbook solutions, videos, class notes, and step-by-step explanations for every subject.

Over 70,000 faculty across the U.S. and Canada use Course Hero to share their resources with the community, collaborate with other faculty, and hone new strategies for instruction.

Course Hero, an #EdTech unicorn on a mission to make edcuation resources and tools more affordable and accessible has acquired GSV portfolio company Quillbot, as well as CliffsNotes! https://t.co/m6pJJqhPX6 pic.twitter.com/idSJQaAgY5

— ASU+GSV Summit (@asugsvsummit) August 19, 2021

IBL News | New York

Coursera (NYSE: COUR) announced yesterday the launch of its new Leadership Academy for business customers this week. The initiative is intended to prepare employees for different leadership roles in management, human skills, and business change and adaptation.

Offered as part of the company’s enterprise platform Coursera for Business, the academy will feature content from universities and companies.

Coursera’s existing portfolio of Academies includes the Data and Analytics Academy, Cloud and IT Academy, Software Engineering Academy, Marketing Academy, and Finance Academy.

The academies are powered by innovations such as SkillSets, which help employees develop specific skills for specific roles.

Currently, the Leadership Academy features 42 SkillSets, including Emotional Intelligence, Interpersonal Skills, Change Management, and Organizational Development.

IBL News | New York

Businesses, and especially those related to EdTech, are booming in the U.S.

Many of them are growing fast. Inc. Magazine took a look at the most successful companies within the American independent small businesses segment and came up with its top 5000 index.

These companies added 2.5 million jobs and generated 2.5 billion in revenues.

In education, Inc. picked 82 companies. These are the top 10:

• Outschool (70), San Francisco, CA

IBL News | New York

Michael Crow, President at Arizona State University (ASU), advocated during the ASU+GSV Summit last week in San Diego, that the U.S. universities should be redesigned so they can take responsibility for student success and deliver knowledge through technology and adaptive learning.

“We propose the radical democratization of higher education through technology-enabled design,” he stated.

Throughout a 25-minute talk [Slides in PDF], he stressed that “ASU is emerging as a National Service University.” “We are a prototype; a new type of public university.”

“National Service Universities aspire to accelerate positive social outcomes through the seamless integration of cutting-edge technological innovation and scalability,” he said on August 10 during his talk titled “Transforming higher education to create the future we want.”

He highlighted that the “main differentiator between universities becomes their capacity to develop and deploy educational technologies.”

“Our faculty is the driver,” noted ASU’s President. Moreover, “faculties are the central assets of universities.” In his view, innovation should be executed around this idea.

Among other initiatives, he mentioned the project of Dreamscape Learn, “that increases student engagement through game-changing learning methods.”

At the end of his presentation, Michael Crow detailed the capacities developed by ASU to democratize higher ed: Full Immersion, Digital Immersion, Infinitely Scalable Learning, Education through Exploration, and Math and Science Mastery for All.

Complete Talk:

Selected Slides:

A thank you to everyone who joined me for this morning’s keynote examining why and how of fully democratizing #highered through technology-enabled design. My presentation deck can be viewed at https://t.co/5OeN8Owk60 and the video will follow soon. #asugsvsummit #edtech @ASU pic.twitter.com/ob8hkgVu9X

— Michael Crow (@michaelcrow) August 11, 2021

IBL News | New York

Online teaching is here to stay and hybrid experiences are the norm today, as almost every speaker agreed during the ASU+GSV leading ed conference, which took place this week in San Diego.

Now, a question arises: What are your options as an institution when you have a beautiful campus, follow your own business model, and enjoy a powerful brand? You can certainly defy the COVID fears and threat of upcoming variants and call everyone back to campus. That seems to be Cornell’s approach.

This week, the Ithaca, New York-based university said that there will not be any remote teaching this semester, and it won’t consider any faculty request to instruct at a distance instead of in person. “Remote teaching is not an allowable substitute for in-person instruction.”

In a letter addressed to faculty and instructional staff, Cornell’s Provost, Michael Kotlikoff, and Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education, Lisa Nishii, said that the institution, following “a rigorously scientific approach,” has determined that “it is appropriate to return our students, faculty and instructional staff to campus in order to resume normal in-person residential instruction.”

“In-person teaching is considered essential for all faculty members and instructional staff with teaching responsibilities. Accordingly, the university will not approve requests, including those premised on the need for a disability accommodation, to substitute remote teaching for normal in-person instruction.”

Some scholars have questioned the legality of Cornell’s stance in light of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, as Inside Higher Ed reported.