Covid-Converted Edition #7: Reshaping Curriculum Design and Attitudes about Online Learning

Interview with Amanda Smith, Chief Academic Officer, Academic Partnerships, and Maria Andersen, General Manager of Coursetune.

This special COVID-Converted Edition audio and video podcast series responds to the impact of COVID-19 on the way we live, learn, and work. Teachers all over the world have been thrown into teaching their "COVID-Converted" courses online. This series will focus on moving from this emergency remote teaching and learning to more thoughtfully prepared learning experiences. COVID is reshaping curriculum design and attitudes about online learning.

Academic Partners is "an online facilitator that assists public institutions of higher education in taking their academic programs online and recruits and retains qualified students through program completion. Coursetune helps institutions improve course and program design by focusing on mapping and assessment alignment." We discuss:

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• Amanda and Maria's background
• Overview of Coursetune, an elegant visual course planning tool
• Academic Partnerships' role
• Growth of online programs
• Need for change in curriculum design
• Release of Courseplan ("Coursetune light")
• AP Off Campus toolkit to move instruction from classroom to online
• Critical outcomes alignment and support
• Faculty training
• Role of instructional designers
• Challenge of short term vs. long term thinking
• Integration with the LMS
• New features on the way: "variation layers" 

Podsafe music selection

• Wonderful Day by Debbie Poryes Trio - Jazz Pianist, Composer, Teacher & Vocalist

Duration: 51:59

RPP #197: Melvin Hines of Upswing

Interview with Melvin Hines, CEO, and Co-Founder of Upswing. "A virtual assistant and student services platform to reach, relate to, and retain your non-traditional students." We discuss:

• Melvin's Background

  

  Melvin Hines, CEO

• History of Upswing
• Great disparities in education 
• Reach, Relate, and Retain
• Reach: answer questions via text chatbot
• Relate: connect to campus or Upswing human resources via web conferencing to provide support and tutoring on more than 400 topics
• Retain: collect analytics to identify students at greatest risk   
• Result: 15% reduction in dropouts each year
• Unique chatbot technology integrates with campus calendars to schedule web conferences with campus and Upswing staff and tutors
• Support for mental health and wellness 
• Support for faculty     
• Changes due to the Pandemic 
  
  

• Podsafe music selection
• Autumn Day by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license.

Duration: 37:48

RPP #196: Dan Avida of Engageli

Interview with Dan Avida, CEO, and Co-Founder of Engageli. "Engageli's digital learning platform
enables higher-ed institutions to provide educators and learners with an active, social, collaborative, inclusive and engaging learning experience."  We discuss: 

Dan Avida, CEO

• Background of founders including Dan's wife Daphne Koller,
  co-founder of Coursera
• Works in class or online (synchronous or asynchronous) and hybrid
• No need for breakout rooms
• Student "table" with the group of peers: "Learn with Friends"
• Students can talk at the same time as the instructor
• In-class students log in so they can take notes and capture instructors screen
• In-class student presses button to ask questions - other mics are muted 
• Polls and quizzes embedded into presentations
• Recordings, notetaking, captioning built into the platform
• Integrated with the LMS using LTI
• Works with Chromebooks - no app to download
• Video is not re-streamed  
• Supports thousands of students in a class using TAs  
• Extensive analytics to detect students at risk 
• AI and ML coming in a future release
  

• Podsafe music selection
• Hachiko by The Kyoto Connection
  
  

Duration: 40:15

COVID-CONVERTED EDITION #6: Interview with Jeff Borden on Education 3.0

This special COVID-Converted Edition audio and video podcast series responds to the impact of COVID-19 on the way we live, learn, and work. Teachers all over the world have been thrown into teaching their "COVID-Converted" courses online. This series will focus on moving from this emergency remote teaching and learning to more thoughtfully prepared learning experiences.

Interview with Jeff Borden, Chief Academic and VP of Academic Affairs at D2L. According to Dr. Borden, Education 3.0 entails a confluence of neuroscience, cognitive psychology, and education technology, using web-based digital and mobile technology to help students learn efficiently. We discuss:

• 

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  Jeff's background
• History of Education 1.0 and 2.0
• Eric Mazur - Confessions of a converted lecturer
• What to keep from the pandemic experience - record lectures
• Neurotransmitters that enhance learning
• Gamification and creating novelty to enhance learning  
• "Habitable Worlds" simulation at Arizona State
• Ebbinghaus Forgetting Curve 
• Drawing enhances learning
• Community-based portal and student groups reduce drop out
• Peer instruction and removing class barriers
• Future of the LMS, and more
  
  

• Podsafe music selection
•  Fuzzy Freaky (summertime) by David Byrne from the Visible Man Album

Duration: 40:23