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String Quartets to Marching Bands!  2023 Holiday Special, Part 5 show art String Quartets to Marching Bands! 2023 Holiday Special, Part 5

Ten with Ken (Video)

Once again, Ken Steele scoured the interwebs and collected more than 240 higher education holiday greeting videos (released as of December 21 2023). Setting aside the sermons, concerts, animated cards and talking heads, he shortlisted the best and presented them to a jury of marketing professionals in a 2-hour livestream on Eduvation Circles. A series of episodes will bring you all the fun of Ken’s annual collection of higher ed holiday greeting videos - It’s the next best thing to being there! In part 5, Ken looks at the best of 2023’s higher ed “Musical Performances,” from string...

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Holiday Goodwill!  2023 Holiday Special, Part 4 show art Holiday Goodwill! 2023 Holiday Special, Part 4

Ten with Ken (Video)

Once again, Ken Steele scoured the interwebs and collected more than 240 higher education holiday greeting videos (released as of December 21 2023). Setting aside the sermons, concerts, animated cards and talking heads, he shortlisted the best and presented them to a jury of marketing professionals in a 2-hour livestream on Eduvation Circles. A series of episodes will bring you all the fun of Ken’s annual collection of higher ed holiday greeting videos - It’s the next best thing to being there! In part 4, Ken looks at the best of 2023’s higher ed “Acts of Goodwill,” and other vids...

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Presidents Home Alone!  2023 Holiday Special, Part 3 show art Presidents Home Alone! 2023 Holiday Special, Part 3

Ten with Ken (Video)

Once again, Ken Steele scoured the interwebs and collected more than 240 higher education holiday greeting videos (released as of December 21 2023). Setting aside the sermons, concerts, animated cards and talking heads, he shortlisted the best and presented them to a jury of marketing professionals in a 2-hour livestream on Eduvation Circles. A series of episodes will bring you all the fun of Ken’s annual collection of higher ed holiday greeting videos - It’s the next best thing to being there! In part 3, Ken looks at the best of 2023’s higher ed “Holiday Parodies,” including plenty...

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Holiday Contests and Competitions!  2023 Holiday Special, Part 2 show art Holiday Contests and Competitions! 2023 Holiday Special, Part 2

Ten with Ken (Video)

Once again, Ken Steele scoured the interwebs and collected more than 240 higher education holiday greeting videos (released as of December 21 2023). Setting aside the sermons, concerts, animated cards and talking heads, he shortlisted the best and presented them to a jury of marketing professionals in a 2-hour livestream on Eduvation Circles. A series of episodes will bring you all the fun of Ken’s annual collection of higher ed holiday greeting videos - It’s the next best thing to being there! In part 2, Ken looks at the best of 2023’s “Holiday Shout-Outs,” “Holiday Hand-Offs,”...

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Merry, Bright & Furry!  2023 Holiday Special, Part 1 show art Merry, Bright & Furry! 2023 Holiday Special, Part 1

Ten with Ken (Video)

Once again, Ken Steele scoured the interwebs and collected more than 240 higher education holiday greeting videos (released as of December 21 2023). Setting aside the sermons, concerts, animated cards and talking heads, he shortlisted the best and presented them to a jury of marketing professionals in a 2-hour livestream on Eduvation Circles. A series of episodes will bring you all the fun of Ken’s annual collection of higher ed holiday greeting videos - It’s the next best thing to being there! In part 1, Ken looks at a sprinkling of "Festive & Bright" campus events and tree lighting...

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Third Spaces on Campus show art Third Spaces on Campus

Ten with Ken (Video)

Our 5-part series on Forward-Looking Facilities concludes with a look at the informal communal spaces on campus, in-between faculty offices and labs, or student dorms and classrooms. These so-called "Third Spaces" are home to some of the most valuable interactions between students, staff and faculty alike... In Part 5, "Third Spaces," Ken describes the gradual evolution of higher ed campuses from "introverted" retreats to more extroverted "collision spaces," where informal and serendipitous interactions can spark revolutionary ideas and unexpected illumination. These learning commons and...

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Active Learning show art Active Learning

Ten with Ken (Video)

Our series on Forward-Looking Facilities continues with more detail on the ways that pedagogical change, and particularly the adoption of active learning, has transformed classroom time and classroom spaces on campuses. In Part 4, "Active Learning," Ken looks at the way thousand-year-old transmission theories of education created the design of modern lecture theatres, while pedagogical research from UBC's Carl Weiman Institute has paved the way for new approaches. New classroom designs, from Oregon State University's "Phil Donahue" theatres-in-the-round to learning studios and SCALE-UP...

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Online & Blended Learning show art Online & Blended Learning

Ten with Ken (Video)

Our series on Forward-Looking Facilities continues with a look at post-pandemic adoption of online and blended learning delivery, and what 600,000 students tell us about their preferences for learning modality. In Part 3, "Online & Blended Learning," Ken looks at the decade-long inevitability of adopting blended delivery approaches, which have demonstrably better learning outcomes for students, and can save institutions millions on classroom facilities and operating costs. Years ago, Napster and Netflix demonstrated that "everything that CAN be digital, WILL be," and now that libraries and...

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The Fluid Future of Work show art The Fluid Future of Work

Ten with Ken (Video)

Our series on Forward-Looking Facilities continues with a closer look at the new work experience of staff and faculty, and how that will reshape work-life balance and the nature of work – on campus and off - in what is going to be a very fluid future. In part 2, "The Fluid Future of Work," Ken looks at the fluidity and ambiguity facing PSE in the years ahead, employee appetites for remote and hybrid work, and the implications for office design and space. He emphasizes that mental wellness is a growing concern for students and staff alike, and that sleep deprivation is an often-overlooked...

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The Post-Pandemic Campus show art The Post-Pandemic Campus

Ten with Ken (Video)

Season 7 of Ten with Ken opens with a 5-part series looking at Forward-Looking Facilities, and the ways that campus design and architecture have responded to the lessons learned during the pandemic. In part 1, "The Post-Pandemic Campus," Ken reviews the turbulence and shifting context we've all learned to expect, and warns that the future will be even more fluid, thanks to climate change, extreme weather, zoonotic viruses and more. COVID19 thrust our society, and our institutions, a full decade into the future, forcing us to adopt technologies and remote approaches to work and learning,...

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This week, Ken Steele continues his conversation with Larry Rosia, the president and CEO of Saskatchewan Polytechnic, about the fourth industrial revolution, workforce changes, rising interdisciplinarity, and the strengths of polytechnic education – particularly, their close connections to industry. “We like to say we have industry in our DNA,” Larry says.

 

The fourth industrial revolution, as the World Economic Forum calls it, is being driven by the rapid development and adoption of artificial intelligence, robotics and automation in the workforce. “The topic fascinates me… but it’s one of the topics that keeps me awake at night as well,” Larry observes wryly. “The economy is changing, and the jobs of tomorrow are going to be significantly different than the jobs of today. The trouble is that tomorrow is coming sooner than we think.” Sectors are being disrupted, skill requirements are changing, and as the world of work evolves, higher education has to keep pace. Moreover, education itself is going to be disrupted by emerging technologies: “it’s hard to believe that we’re immune.” Larry challenges people at Saskatchewan Polytechnic to “disrupt or be disrupted.”

 

For 15 years now, the category of polytechnic institution has been gaining visibility in Canada, and many innovative college and university programs are hybrids of the two traditional approaches. Polytechnics are “the third way,” Larry observes, with applied learning, applied research, and strong partnerships with business and industry. But all three types of PSE play a role in the higher ed ecosystem.

 

Work-integrated learning is crucial, and 75% of SaskPolytech programs have a WIL component. Students take classroom learning to the jobsite, but they also learn skills on the jobsite, including the soft skills that employers are looking for.  Polytechnics offer degrees that universities don’t offer, where industry is demanding advanced skills. Every program area has advisory committees of industry leaders, who review the curriculum for currency, skills and competencies.  A growing number of college and university graduates are pursuing postgraduate education at SaskPolytech, to get the applied experience they need to get a job.

 

Saskatchewan Polytechnic recently reorganized its programs around industry sectors, to send the message that they are “open for business” and provide a clear point of contact for employers, and potential applied research partners. “If you want to be good in business, you have to make it easy for customers to do business with you.”  The restructuring aligned SaskPolytech’s programs with industry, and as a result gave new momentum to interdisciplinary programs.

 

Some students are already pursuing polytechnic education, not to gain a traditional credential, but to gain the skills and competencies they need in their current job, for a new career, or to start a new business themselves.  Larry uses the analogy of a music playlist to describe the sort of personalized education that will be coming soon: students are bundling courses together to prepare for careers that we’re not even thinking about.  Companies like Google and Amazon have stated openly that they are no longer hiring based on credentials, but are seeking skills and competencies. Higher ed institutions need to become more nimble, and unbundle traditional programs so that students can assemble their own career pathway.  Larry doesn’t believe that credentials will entirely cease to matter anytime soon, but unbundled learning will be critical for lifelong upskilling and reskilling.

 

Dr Larry Rosia (@LarryRosia on Twitter) has a background in telecommunications engineering, and holds a PhD in academic leadership from the University of Calgary. For more than 35 years, he has worked in higher education as an instructor, program chair, marketing manager, and senior administrator.  Larry served as Dean of the School of Construction at SAIT from 1999-2012, and has been President and CEO of Saskatchewan Polytechnic (formerly SIAST) since 2012.  He authored a 2009 book, “The Successful College President: Strategies for Leading in a Complex Environment.”  Larry also sits on the boards of many organizations including Polytechnics Canada, Skills Canada Saskatchewan, the Chair Academy International Leadership Board, the International Mineral Innovation Institute, and the Saskatchewan Post Secondary International Education Council.

 

We have plenty more to come this year, so be sure to subscribe!  http://eduvation.ca/subscribe/

 

Special thanks to Saskatchewan Polytechnic for arranging the onsite videography.  If you would like to host an onsite episode of Ten with Ken, please see http://eduvation.ca/twk/site-visits/for more information.