Derek E. Baird

Humanizing User Experience Design Strategies with New Technologies: AR, VR, MR, and AI to Support Student Engagement and Retention in Higher Education

Today, I'm pleased to announce the book chapter I co-authored with Mercedes Fisher, Ph.D. for "International Perspectives on the Role of Technology in Humanizing Higher Education" is now available on both the Emerald Publishing website and Amazon!

Our chapter is focused on using new technologies like AR, VR, Zoom, and AI to support student engagement in higher education.

Gen Z : The Next Generation of Learners [RESEARCH]

Results of new research conducted in August 2018 by The Harris Poll for Pearson Education.

The report explores the education, learning and media consumption habits and preferences of Generation Z. 

One surprising finding in this report is that Gen Z students still like to have teachers give them printed handouts and paper-based learning resources. So while they're mobile natives, looks like they still enjoy being analog.

This is an interesting and worthwhile report for anyone who works in education technology and is looking to create learning experiences that resonate with Gen Z.

 

 

  

Regeneron STEM Science Talent Search

The Regeneron Science Talent Search is the nation’s oldest and most prestigious science, technology, engineering, and mathematics competition for 12th-grade students in the country. 

The Science Talent Search has been identifying and celebrating the best and brightest young scientific minds in the United States since 1942. The competition receives more than 1,800 applications each year from high school seniors across the country.

The Society for Science and the Public awards $3.1million annually to deserving high school students, and they want as many students, from all states and all walks of life, know about this opportunity as possible. The competition is completely free for students, and is a great indicator of top STEM talent—thirteen Nobel prize winners participated in this program as high school students. 

The Regeneron Science Talent Search 2019 application is now open! High school seniors across the United States are invited to share their original research projects and apply to the nation’s oldest and most prestigious STEM competition, where they could win up to $250,000.

The top 300 scholars receive $2,000 each, and their schools also receive $2,000—that’s funding for STEM education in your community. Forty finalists will be invited to compete in the finals week competition in Washington, DC, all expenses paid. Every finalist receives at least $25,000 and if named in the top 10, could win between $40,000 and $250,000.

Check out last year’s highlights video, learn more about the top 40 finalists’ research projects in this video from the Public Exhibition of Projects, watch the winner’s results and remarks from Malcolm Gladwell in this video from our awards gala to learn more.

 

The application will close on Wednesday, November 14, 2018, at 8pm ET, but interested students are encouraged to open applications early in order to receive tips and reminders. There is no limit to the number of students who can enter any school, region or state, and students may submit research from any year of high school.

How Social Design Influences Student Retention and Self-Motivation in Online Learning Environments

I've teamed up again with my writing partner, Dr. Mercedes Fisher, to take a deeper look at how designing for social spaces can help foster a deeper sense of community among students, teachers and the course content.

I'm pleased to announce that our book chapter, How Social Design Influences Student Retention and Self-Motivation in Online Learning Environments, has been published in Social Media and the New Academic Environment.

But beyond the classroom, these best practices can be integrated into any online community, forum discussion or informal online education environment.

As web applications play a vital role in our society, social media has emerged as an important tool in the creation and exchange of user-generated content and social interaction. The benefits of these services have entered in the educational areas to become new means by which scholars communicate, collaborate and teach.

 

Social Media and the New Academic Environment: Pedagogical Challenges provides relevant theoretical frameworks and the latest research on social media the challenges in the educational context.

 

This book is essential for professionals aiming to improve their understanding of social media at different levels of education as well as researchers in the fields of e-learning, educational science and information and communication sciences and much more.

Why first–year college students select certain online research resources as their favorite

This paper, written by James P. Purdy, Ph.D., assistant professor of English/writing studies and director of the University Writing Center at Duquesne University, reports results of a preliminary study on why first–year college students select certain online research resources as their favorite.

Results, based on a survey of over 500 U.S. college students in first–year writing classes, offer a more complex picture of student motivation than popular accounts of these students as disinterested, lazy, and ignorant.

Students reported most frequently that they favored resources for reasons of ease, quality, and connectivity.

They reported least frequently that they favored resources for reasons of relevance, variety, and speed. These results suggest that students value finding scholarly sources above relevant sources.Why first–year college students select certain online research resources as their favorite by James Purdy

Infographic: 60% of Students Wouldn't Attend A School Without Free WiFi

Via: Online Colleges Guide

Glee's Jane Lynch: "If life gives you lemons, grab it by the horns and drive."

In her 2012 commencement speech at Smith College, Glee's Jane Lynch discusses the entitlement she felt once she left graduate school and the transformative power that improv comedy and "yes and" had on her outlook.

About 10 minutes into the speech, she described what happened when the famed Second City sketch comedy group said "no." Her best piece of advice -- "If life gives you lemons, grab it by the horns and drive."

Who wants to make that into an inspirational poster?

 

College Students Are Bad at Google [STUDY]

 

Students in a two-year ethnographic study referred to Google more than any database when discussing their research habits. But ironically, say the study’s authors, they weren’t very good at using it.

The series of studies, known as the “Ethnographic Research in Illinois Academic Libraries Project (ERIAL)” is a collaborative effort by five Illinois universities that aims to better understand students’ research habits. Its findings are set to be published by the American Library Association this fall.

One hundred and fifty-six students who were interviewed at the five schools about their research habits mentioned Google more than any database. The 60 students who participated in a “research process interview” — with researchers following them around the library as they searched for information — frequently used the search engine poorly. And when they used other databases, they expected them to work the same way that Google does.

“It wasn’t so much that students were inefficient in their use of Google, but rather that students are often ill-equipped to sufficiently evaluate or refine the results that are returned,” says Andrew Asher, an anthropologist at Bucknell University and one of the project leads. “…I don’t think this is a problem limited to students.”

Read More >>

via mashable.com

Infographic: How College Students Use Technology

Via: OnlineEducation.net

Study: One in Four Young Adults Say the Education System Has Little to No Understanding of Their Values and Goals

As part of its commitment to education, Viacom partnered with The Associated Press to conduct "Young Adults' Perspectives on American Education 2011," a groundbreaking study based on a combination of peer-to-peer interviews and a large-scale poll of more than 1,100 American 18-24 year-olds.

Viacom and The Associated Press approached the study by looking at 18-24 year-olds as "core consumers of education" and evaluating how the education system is meeting their needs.  

According to the study, young adults are optimistic that high schools and colleges can prepare them for the working world, but also feel these institutions aren't adapting quickly enough to meet students' changing needs.

As a result, more and more 18-24 year-olds are taking a less traditional approach to higher education, via self-directed curricula, internships and self-teaching.

Recognizing the important role young people can and should play in reaching their goals, Viacom launched Get Schooled, which provides the tools and guidance young adults need to succeed in today's competitive environment.

The full "Young Adults' Perspectives on American Education 2011" study is available on the Get Schooled website at www.getschooled.com or on the Get Schooled Facebook Page.

According to the study, students are increasingly creating individual, self-tailored curricula by cherry picking schools and courses. They're also taking longer to graduate because they feel that, by combining school with work and internships, they stand a greater chance of finding a desirable job.

Young adults are relying more on themselves, their families and friends and less on community or religious organizations and high school counselors when it comes to education decisions.

Detailed findings from the study include:

• Overall, 27 percent of young adults say the education system has little to no understanding of their values and goals. More than a third (36 percent) report it is ambivalent to their values and goals.

• Only 37 percent say the education system mostly or completely understands them.

• Among those surveyed with a high school diploma, but no college experience, 33 percent say the education system has little to no understanding of their values and goals.  

How College Leads to a Better Life is Unclear

The most consistent theme among those interviewed – from those with no college experience to those with bachelor degrees – is that college should prepare one to join the workforce.

But today's pragmatic, goal-oriented young adults are unsure that the education product being offered to them will deliver the job or career that they want.

• More than half of young adults say it's more worth the money to get "an education that is focused on success in the world."

• In fact, 28 percent of those who have attended college say college doesn't adequately prepare you for the workforce, while almost twice as many young adults (55 percent) say high school doesn't prepare you for the workforce.

• Thirty-one percent say college doesn't provide enough practical skills to survive as an adult and 51 percent say the same about high school.

Young Adults' Perspectives on American Education 2011

Infographic: How Social Media Is Reshaping College Admissions

via www.penn-olson.com

When snow hit, one American U class moved to Facebook

"Setting up this Facebook page was one of the first things I did after I created my spring syllabus for this class, International Public Relations. It wasn't my idea; it was something I learned from students and junior colleagues when I returned from sabbatical.

After eight months of being in research la-la land, stepping back onto a high-speed, wi-fi campus was like moving from the cave wall paintings to, well, digital walls.

I attended a one-day university-sponsored teaching symposium and zeroed in on technology sessions to get myself up to speed. The line that really stuck with me was: "If you want to fish, go where the fish are." The fish, is seems, were all on Facebook, and I wanted to cast my net."

• Read more about how this professor used Facebook in a educational setting over on The Washington Post.

via voices.washingtonpost.com

Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University | Summer Internship Program 2011

Each summer The Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University swings open the doors of our big yellow house to welcome a group of talented, curious, and energetic full-time interns - Berkterns! - who are passionate about the promise of the Internet and issues related to media and journalism, civic engagement, policy, identity and privacy, education, technology, the developing world, law, and more.

Summer interns jump head first into Berkman research - joining efforts such as our Broadband project, our freedom of expression projects, the Youth and Media Project, Herdict, Cooperation, the Cyberlaw Clinic, the Global Network Initiative, the Digital Media Law Project, Law Lab, and others - where they have an opportunity for deep and substantive involvement in project operation. 

Performing topic-based research; drafting and editing blog posts, papers and other written outputs; conducting outreach, developing partnerships, and maintaining relationships; exploring project and research design; and undertaking academic responsibilities of all kinds both independently and collaboratively is part of the Berkman summer intern experience. Specific tasks and experiences vary depending on interns' skills and project needs.

In addition to contributing to project based work, summer interns participate in special events and lectures with Berkman faculty and fellows, engage each other through community experiences like the weekly interns discussion hours and group video productions (check out the crew of summer 2010's amazing chapter-by-chapter Born Digital videos).

In addition, each year Berkterns innovate new opportunities for fun and learning, such as organizing debates, producing podcasts and other media outputs, and hosting book clubs and cookoffs. 

Learn more about this internship and get all the application details here. But hurry! The deadline is March 13, 2011. Good luck!

Infographic: Books vs. E-Books

View Large | via www.newsweek.com

eBook Resources

• Google eBookstore
• OpenCulture > Free eBooks
• Project Gutenberg > Free eBooks

Weekly Wrap: China, Social Media & Chinese Youth Trends

I've been doing some research on Chinese youth culture and their use of technology, mobile phones & social networking for a book chapter I'm working on and thought I'd share some of my research.

The following sites and articles have provided me with a pretty good insight into what it means to be a Chinese Millennial.

China's Top 4 Social Networks: There is no single dominant network, no Facebook for all of China. The actual Facebook.com is blocked by government censors (Chinese sites all obediently and quickly remove “objectionable” content). No single social network will conquer the China market in the immediate future, least of all a foreign one. [China Social Games]

Digital Confucius Introduces Chinese Students to Liberal Arts at Yale and Beyond: Hundreds of thousands of young Chinese are joining a new craze: auditing American university courses available online. Of most interest: topics like happiness and justice. [CS Monitor]

China's New Culture of Cool: China’s 1.3 billion citizens—particularly the 640 million who are under age 30—are becoming a world force. However, China is not a monolithic culture.

Though deeply rooted in native traditions, its contemporary marketplace is eclectic, combining regional styles with elements borrowed from foreign cultures.

And, it is evolving at a remarkable pace. To succeed in this dynamic emerging market, smart businesses need to understand its driving influences—especially its urban youth. [Cheskin Added Value]

Mobile Youth Trends | China 2010: The Mobile Youth Trends China 2010 Report provides marketing and product managers an overview of both the quantitative and qualitative state of play with young mobile customers (aged 5-29). [MobileYouth]

China Internet Status Report 2010: The latest report on China Internet is ready, which is based on CNNIC data. [China Internet Watch]

China Internet Network Information Center: China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC), the state network information center of China, was founded as a non-profit organization on Jun. 3rd 1997.

Enovate: In short, we’re a Shanghai-based insights and design agency. We combine on-the-ground research and an experienced strategy team, to arrive at innovative solutions to China’s youth market. We work with a wide range of client to build meaningful relationships with Chinese youth.

A Look at China's 240 million mobile youth: China’s legion of 240 million mobile owners under 30 yrs old has a significant bearing on the shape of the mobile phone industry and we’re fortunate to have Jesse Hu in the region to do our on-the-street research for us down in Shenzhen city. [Mobile Youth]

Infographic: Social Media Equivalents in China

Image Credit: Enovate