Pamela Wisniewski

It’s clear that entrenched biases regarding DEI hiring is pervasive, despite the clear data that shows it’s good for business. This is bad for consumers and stockholders. It takes authentic leadership to step up, show up, and follow up.

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Very appreciative of this advocacy work. Every institution that offers high-quality online education or sees it as a strategic imperative moving forward should be aware of these proposed changes and thinking through the implications. Sitting at the table for this round of negotiations, I agree that as currently written, the regs will ultimately weaken student protections, create barriers to entry for institutions, and fail to mitigate the department's stated concerns. States who have voluntarily and legislatively entered into reciprocity agreements should be concerned about potential overreach and the resources it might require to implement the changes. I think it would be more productive for us to address concerns using a more evidence-based approach focused on true measures of risk. I will have more to say on these matters--and others--soon. But for now, thanks to: WCET - WICHE Cooperative for Educational Technologies (WCET), Online Learning Consortium, QM Quality Matters, UPCEA and American Association of Community Colleges for increasing awareness and advocating on these important issues.

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Early this week, I attended the Upper Peninsula Teaching and Learning Conference (UPTLC 2024) at Bay College in Escanaba. I really enjoyed it and learned many things. For me, the main takeaway is that AI tools will continue to evolve and they are not going to disappear. We need to find ways to use them in the classroom and for research. Ways that make sense and further the learning objectives. Three things caught my attention. 1- Plagiarism concerns. When is using AI unethical? 2- Equity concerns. Tools are not free and equitable access may be a challenge. 3- AI provides tools, which we will be using. How can they help (not degrade) learning outcomes? One attendee gave an example of an architect designing a house, but not building it. Who owns the copyright here? Using this example further, I find that the architect will use AI tools that make them a better more efficient architect, and the bricklayer will use (maybe AI) tools to build better walls. In both cases, the professional must be in control of the tool. https://lnkd.in/e6UypwyC

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Another excerpt from my book in progress on technical and professional communication degree programs. This one on the number and type of programs: https://lnkd.in/eQGAsBvQ #TechComm #TeamRhetoric

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Is your institution planning or working on an enterprise AI strategy and involving stakeholders from across the institution? Does your institution currently provide AI tools or services (licenses for students, faculty, and staff AND training)? #highered #ai #genai #chatgpt #strategy #changemanagement

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Did your organization scramble to adopt new technologies during the pandemic? I bet some of those technologies were used and then cast aside after return to work, but some are still in use! If so, now would be a good time to reflect on how those technologies changed your business processes and even your organizational culture. My new article with Natalie Pennington considers just that! Free downloads below! https://lnkd.in/ghdzvveM

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How can public colleges prepare for ADA digital accessibility requirements?

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I recently had two papers published by a research outlet that has a 7% acceptance rate. Both papers were featured in the IS Education section of Communications of the Association for Information Systems. One paper proposes a new approach to developing case studies that helps to reduce instructor workload. The other paper presents a fully developed IT case study that can serve as a hands-on, experiential component in many software development courses. The first paper, "Modular Design of Teaching Cases: Reducing Workload While Maximizing Reusability", describes a modular case study development concept for the development of case studies. The basis of the approach is reusable modules that can be swapped in or out of the case study to alter the features of the case each time it is used in class. This can be used to reflect the evolution of the company that is the focus of the case study. Since the case study changes each time it is used, the temptation for students to seek solutions for previous incarnations of the case study is reduced. Since the modules also provide an associated solution, instructor workload increases only minimally. https://lnkd.in/gqZvXQcv The companion paper, "Wind Riders of the Lost River Range: A Modular Project-Based Case for Software Development", is both a working example of the Modular Design approach and a case study that can be used in a variety of courses. The focus is on the information technology needs of a simulated specialty sports shop in central Idaho that deals in wind sports equipment, like hang gliders, paragliders, and snowkites. This case study consists of the core case and 17 modules that can be swapped in or out of the case study to provide many variations of the case. https://lnkd.in/g7_xeajA

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My PhD student, David Zabner, is in the early stages of his dissertation work examining student learning in introductory computing education. Check out his work and follow long as we get into new #ClassroomBasedResearch this fall!

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Have you heard about RBTC’s new Emerging Tech Conference: #DisruptUp?   📅 Date: November 14-15, 2024 🏨 Location: Hotel Roanoke, #Roanoke, VA The Disrupt Up Conference is a new annual national innovation conference in the Roanoke-NRV region, powered by the Roanoke - Blacksburg Technology Council (#RBTC). This year's theme is AI in 2024, bringing together top minds to explore the cutting-edge advancements and applications of artificial intelligence. 📌 What to Expect: Keynotes, Panels, and Workshops: Dive into AI's impact on biotechnology, technology, and startups. 📌 Track Themes: AI in the workplace, emerging trends, leadership, social impact, R&D, and modern engineering. 📌 Engaging Sessions: Use-case presentations, founder stories, and discussions on building a STEM talent hub. ✅ Who Should Attend? Technologists, innovators, and enthusiasts of AI! This event is designed for anyone passionate about leveraging emerging technologies for success across various industries. 🎤 Be a Speaker!  Fill out this Form:  https://lnkd.in/exzxStKX RBTC is looking for subject matter experts in tech and life sciences to moderate panels and present. If you have a presentation or know someone who would be a great fit, submit your idea and help shape the Disrupt Up experience!  🗣️ Your Input Matters! Help Shape the Disrupt Up Conference! 🔗 Take the Survey: AI in Business Survey: https://lnkd.in/eynN3wtq Roanoke-Blacksburg Technology Council (RBTC) is eager to understand how organizations across industries are incorporating AI technologies. We invite you to share your insights and experiences by completing a short survey. Your feedback will help us tailor the conference to address the most relevant and pressing AI topics. Whether you're a seasoned AI expert or just beginning your journey, your input is invaluable! 🔗 Register Now: https://lnkd.in/eH-B4N8q Can’t wait. See you there! #DisruptUp #AI2024 #GenerativeAI #EmergingTechnologies #Innovation #TechConference #RBTC #STEM #Leadership #Technology #Biotech #Startups #RoanokeVa

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If you're attending CHI, come check out our paper on integrating accessibility into core computer science topics!

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Our year long study shows how to support instructors to include accessibility in core computing courses, and how to provide context and content to students. Looking forward to sharing and discussing next week! #CHI2024

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Indian Education system needs this kind of evolution in new resolution of education policy and leaders of University and Colleges need to promote this kind of technological approach to educate Students with audio visual and AI

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A new report from Deloitte found administrators and faculty at two-year institutions were less likely to agree that their colleges were prepared for AI-related changes when compared to their counterparts at four-year campuses. #highereducation #AI #transformation

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AI is here and here to stay. For sure something like that has been said about calculators decades ago, but maybe this talking, scaffolding AI will finally get us to seriously rethink and redesign (Math) education. See how smooth the student-AI tutoring conversation went? That is thanks to Imran’s good Math communication ability — just one of what students need to thrive and make the most of their artificial intelligence-infused reality. The world will no longer be as it is today. If formal education doesn’t keep up, no matter how much we romanticize the human touch of teaching, this generation (Z, Alpha, and those to come) might grow up choosing the consistently competent, and in all fairness, even expressively caring, AI for the academic learning of their children. P.S. GPT-4o’s scaffolding can be improved but wow, that’s a pretty good start. P.P.S. Maybe let’s move forward with… AI is not an enemy. 😊 https://lnkd.in/gR_46V_P #chatgpt #gpt4 #omni #AI #education

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Check out the latest blog post from University of Maryland Global Campus on the role of technology in designing a better learning experience and learn more about UMGC's MS in Learning Design and Technology. #UMGCblog #edtech #instructionaldesign

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Within my School, we offer graduate courses that focus on developing a project with one or more students. These courses, termed "special problems" in Engineering Management or Systems Engineering, function as capstone projects, where students apply their accumulated knowledge to a specific problem. The outcome is tipically a whitepaper, sometimes a conference or journal paper. Last semester, I worked with one of my students - Priyanka Marwaha - on using Large Language models in analyzing compliance to policies, such as GDPR. The whitepaper with our findings is available on Medium (https://lnkd.in/eh7hugBH), with link to the code. Policy compliance is a crucial aspect of our economy, encompassing legal, financial, operational and ethical aspects: the global governance, risk management and compliance (GRC) market was valued at approximately $35 billion in 2021 and is projected to reach $64 billion by 2027. #LLM #compliance

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After four full years, we finally had time to write this up about our Summer 2020 project: "High-Resolution Agent-Based Modeling of Campus Population Behaviors for Pandemic Response Planning" https://lnkd.in/gdfWAkzU

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