You would be hard-pressed not to have heard how AI is evolving at such a fast rate. Tools like ChatGBT and Google Bard weren’t even a thing before 2023. With any innovation, there is both excitement and fear. While there is room for caution, leaders can tap into the power of AI. As I shared in Digital Leadership, evolving technology enables and empowers leaders to seize the moment and look for ways to fundamentally improve teaching, learning, and leadership.

Via EDTECH@UTRGV

"When I first began blending digital and face-to-face learning, it was easy enough to create a flow between online learning spaces and offline learning. However, I noticed that sometimes my students were not getting as much out of the digital learning platform as I had anticipated. This was especially true when students could rush through their tasks, consuming content without real understanding or application of learning. Instead of trying to learn, they were racing to be done."

Via EDTECH@UTRGV

"Modern tools for eCourse production and LMS delivery platforms provide a plethora of data that can have an invaluable influence on a publisher’s product line. Consumer product companies have long been monitoring such streams of data; now, leveraging Big Data has also found its place in digital publishing. Big Data analysis should be publisher’s day-to-day work, as it allows for multiple small-scale case studies leading to constant improvement. This is a chance to understand users and properly meet their needs and expectations."

Via EDTECH@UTRGV

"The truth is, most educators face an innovation stand-off between the naysayers who fear change, regardless of the latest research on the future world of work and personalized learning benefits. We need good learning management systems to help navigate scaling implementation for the masses."

Via EDTECH@UTRGV

Via TechinBiz

"Artificial intelligence (AI) is changing the landscape of higher education. According to Dr. Keng Siau, artificial intelligence will “perform an array of general tasks with consciousness, sentience and intelligence.” That could mean that higher education may no longer be the path to a professional career. University degrees have always led to professional careers; AI may change that path and offer new forms of learning."

Via EDTECH@UTRGV

Via TechinBiz

"In my years of selling technology to different industries, I’ve never encountered nicer prospects and customers than those in K-12 education. Teachers, principals, assistants, coordinators, district staff, it doesn’t matter—they’re just plain nice."

Via EDTECH@UTRGV

"Have you ever become frustrated with your learning management system (LMS)? If so, you are not alone. They are not as easy to use as other educational technology products; however, they are essential for the classroom."

Via EDTECH@UTRGV

All collaborative learning is done in a group (or at least pairs), but not all group work is inherently collaborative. The trick is to structure the activity in a way that makes students work together to be successful.

Via EDTECH@UTRGV

"Handing students a computing device and expecting them to teach themselves is the virtual equivalent of being left in such a room."

Via EDTECH@UTRGV

To make a good decision, you need to have a sense of two things: how different choices change the likelihood of different outcomes and how desirable each of those outcomes is. In other words, as Ajay Agrawal, Joshua Gans, and Avi Goldfarb have written, decision making requires both prediction and judgment.

 

But how do you get better at either? We’ve published volumes on this subject —here are a few of my favorites — but there are three rules that stand out. Following them will improve your ability to predict the effects of your choices and assess their desirability.

Rule #1: Be less certain.

Nobel-prize-winning psychologist Daniel Kahneman has said that overconfidence is the bias he’d eliminate first if he had a magic wand. It’s ubiquitous, particularly among men, the wealthy, and even experts. Overconfidence is not a universal phenomenon — it depends on factors including culture and personality — but the chances are good that you’re more confident about each step of the decision-making process than you ought to be.

 

So, the first rule of decision making is to just be less certain — about everything. Think choice A will lead to outcome B? It’s probably a bit less likely than you believe. Think outcome B is preferable to outcome C? You’re probably too confident about that as well.

 

Once you accept that you’re overconfident, you can revisit the logic of your decision. What else would you think about if you were less sure that A would cause B, or that B is preferable to C? Have you prepared for a dramatically different outcome than your expected one?

 

You can also practice aligning your level of your confidence to the chance that you’re correct. Try out quizzes like this one or this one. You’ll realize that while it’s not possible to always be right, it’s totally possible to become less overconfident.

Via The Learning Factor

Everyone involved in teaching and learning online should learn to recognize the signs of digital fatigue early on, to reverse its consequences and limit its damage

Via EDTECH@UTRGV

If you don't believe your time is valuable, why should anyone else?

Via Daniel Watson

Social media has evolved into a tool for creating and promoting the "self," creating a tension between encouraging individual expression and overemphasizing the self in a collaborative setting.

Via EDTECH@UTRGV

Micro-learning is bite-sized, individualized training elements that can be retrieved anywhere. Learners can digest the information when they need it.

Via EDTECH@UTRGV

While it's relatively easy for competitors to implement technology similar to yours, duplicate your strategy, and even mimic your culture, they can't clone your people. That's why most organizations agree talent is a top priority. At the end of the day, people are your truest form of sustainable competitive advantage. 

 

To expand the capabilities of their best asset, most organizations invest in some form of continued development. Research from the Brandon Hall Group revealed the average training budget for large organizations hovers around $13 million. Also, out of all the delivery mediums available (i.e., mobile apps, simulations, and e-learning), classroom settings are still chosen 22 percent more often than any other modality.

 

This research came as a bit of a surprise, given all the advancements in technology. Although the study also indicated classroom settings were effective, I couldn't help but think that many companies are behind the times. 

 

As a part of the research, Rallyware, a training platform that delivers adaptive learning solutions, interviewed learning and development thought leaders to get their perspective on how technology will shape the future of corporate training. 

Through these interviews, five e-learning trends emerged:

1. Employees will learn on the go. 

I'm not the only one who says yes to projects that I'm not 100 percent certain I can do, right? My motto is say yes and figure it out later. It's risky, but it's also a lot of fun. I can't tell you how many times a YouTube video or an on-demand course from Lynda.com has saved me. 

 

Kevin Delaney, VP of learning and development at LinkedIn, realizes that future corporate training must adopt to these types of situations. Two-day workshops aren't efficient enough. We need access to just-in-time solutions that help us troubleshoot issues within minutes. In his interview, Delaney offered valuable insight that foreshadows future learning tools: When employees are stuck, they want the answer quickly.

It doesn't help them to sign up for a class that will happen three weeks from now and sit through a four-hour session to get the answer they need this minute. They are more inclined to engage in learning if they can watch a short video that they have access to 24/7 on any device.

2. The learning experience will be highly customized. 

Different learning styles and varying role responsibilities are making big-box, off-the-shelf learning solutions less and less effective. Now, customized and concentrated learning experiences are critical. Employees need access to content that's relevant, easily digestible, and engaging.

 

Delaney offered some opinions on how personalized training should be delivered:

 

First, don't bore people. Bored people don't learn. Second, there is no one-size-fits-all approach to learning. Companies need to offer a variety of solutions and focus on creating a one-size-fits-one experience.

3. Learning and development professionals won't create but curate. 

The amount of content on the web is unbelievable. Udemy, an e-learning provider, has more than 65,000 courses on its site alone. With employees' increased access to content, learning is now a dual responsibility. Learning and development professionals can pinpoint key learning areas and vehicles and employees can be proactive about owning their development. 

The days of creating a huge list of internal content are changing, says Beth Loeb Davies, director of learning and development at Tesla:

 

At this point, I believe that we don't need to produce our own content in organizations as often as we did before but rather find the right material and deliver it to those who need it when they need it ... People are already learning through alternative media. Our role is becoming to curate resources in the context of the company culture and people's needs.

4. Employees' job responsibilities will be mixed. 

Many organizations are shifting to flatter and more efficient org charts. However, the same amount of work still needs to get done. It's not uncommon to see employees operating outside their job descriptions. If organizations expect to do more with less, then they'll need to broaden the scope of skills development, says Tom Brown, VP of HR Americas and APAC at eBay:

 

Companies will need to ensure that there are opportunities for their employees to build a quorum of different skill sets which won't necessarily be linked to their job titles. It means that there will be a decreasing emphasis on the career ladder, as we know it.

5. The data-driven approach to talent development will be a matter of course. 

Data is a powerful validator, especially for cost-center functions like learning and development. Now, through advances in technology, initiatives that were traditionally seen as nice-to-haves can produce quantitative results proving their value. HR (the department in which learning and development professionals sit) will have to adjust, says Kvon Tucker, an Amazon global leadership development partner.

 

HR will need to become more data driven ... Learning experience data will be most valuable to companies, to help them track and correlate the most important experiences to the development outcomes needed for the organization.

 

This is a lot to take in. If leaders want to address all these trends, then they'll have to consider new technology including artificial intelligence, data, and machine learning. These tools are giving leaders the ability to analyze individual behavior and then deliver the right content to the right people at the right time on the preferred device. If you haven't already, take a look at microlearning, big data, and gamification to see if they're the right solution for your organization. 

Via The Learning Factor

Via TechinBiz

"Do you ever feel like your kids spend too much time on their tablets, phones, and other electronic devices? Statistics show that children between the ages of eight and eighteen spend more than seven hours per day on screens. Digital technology has clearly become a standard part of our routines and daily lives."

Via EDTECH@UTRGV

"One of the biggest questions facing schools right now is how to prepare students for a labor market that could be radically reshaped by emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence. In a new report from the Economist Intelligence Unit, a research group affiliated with the weekly magazine, many K-12 educators said they want to retool their teaching to match workforce needs but feel limited by meager budgets and inadequate access to technology."

Via EDTECH@UTRGV

Advice on how to improve one’s self is everywhere.  It accounts for about 2.5% of all book sales in the United States. Add in speeches, training programs, TV programs, online-products, coaches, yoga, and the like, self-help is a $10 billion industry per year, and that’s just in the U.S.

 

However, research shows that much of the advice extolled may be misleading or even wrong. Several myths about performance persist, despite research and practices that show they are half-truths at best. That might explain why the most likely purchasers of self-improvement books have bought another within the previous 18 months.  The first myth-riddled book didn’t work, so they bought another, and maybe another soon after.

 

A recent report in the Journal of Management noted that of nearly 25,000 academic articles on performance, only a fraction include what psychologists call within person variance, which describes ranges, such as that between individuals’ top, average and worst performances. Advice too often mistakenly assumes performance can be compared across people, using the same gauge. That’s absurd.

 

Our observation of hundreds of performance seekers largely confirms the report and has led to delineating a series of myths that hold people back when trying to improve. These assertions are based on a diverse set of fields, including psychology, sports, arts, and leadership. We hope that by dispelling these myths, explaining the reality and offering some sound advice instead, we can help move people toward more effective personal development.

Via The Learning Factor

One of the hardest things in life is to know when to keep going and when to move on.

Via Daniel Watson

It's been largely assumed that to run a successful business today, good leadership is required. But it's not the end of the world for leaders who worry that they're low on charisma or can't stir employees' hearts and minds. Maybe they don't particularly want to, and that's OK too.

 

Sometimes, it's more effective for employees to be more loyal to the work instead of being more loyal to the leader. After all, the end goal should be to keep employees engaged and productive by charging them to solve compelling problems.

 

First, it's important to understand the difference between an appealing boss and challenging work. A recent Harvard Business Review article found that employees at Facebook were more likely to quit because of their work--and not because of a "horrible" boss. The authors--three HR executives and Wharton professor Adam Grant--had spent years studying Facebook. When the social media giant started tracking employee exits, "all bets were on managers," the authors wrote. Turns out, employees left "when their job wasn't enjoyable, their strengths weren't being used, and they weren't growing in their careers."

Via The Learning Factor