Ed3 Weekly #49: Make Life Easier
Different use case propositions for technologies in the web3 ecosystem
Hello web3 and education frens,
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I am preparing to travel to Denver to attend the ASCD conference so this week’s newsletter will be a little bit shorter. I still have some great resources to share with you this week. The title for this issue didn’t hit me at first, but in a flash, it finally came to me.
Why else do we create technology other than to make our life easier? From fire for cooking our food, to a clip on a pen, to comfortable chairs to sit on–humans make things to improve our quality of life.
Web3, AI, and the metaverse are no different.
New use cases are released each month that demonstrate this. And making life easier is at the top of our list as educators. Almost all of us agree that we are trying to operate in structures and systems that are well past their efficient application. We encounter daily impediments to fulfilling our job which is to create meaningful learning opportunities for students.
Are blockchain, virtual reality, and chatbots the elixir to remove all of our pain points? Of course not. But I have experienced a number of applications that are helping. This week I will highlight a couple of those.
Enjoy this week’s resources where you can learn about:
🤖 An educator writes about the ways we can use AI to support teaching tasks
📋 A summary of all the non-technical roles available in the web3 ecosystem
🌐 Meta continues to take their message about virtual reality to the masses
Teachers Partnering With AI
Image made with Jasper Art
Amanda Slavin is an author, educator, and entrepreneur who has written about making attention more authentic. This piece addresses the power of AI to increase teachers’ effectiveness and efficiency. She outlines five main ways that AI can achieve this.
Change the way we assess learning
Provide ongoing feedback
Develop lesson plans in partnership with teachers
Create personalized professional development
As a grader, copywriter, research assistant, tutor, and general assistant
I suggest this article if you want more details about why we should be embracing AI in our classrooms rather than pushing it away. Maybe it is a key that can help educators to focus on individual student well-being.
A Guide for Transitioning to Web3
Screenshot from guidetoweb3.xyz
Li Jin is a voice I always listen to when it comes to the creator economy and emerging technology. She has a refined view of the future of work. Every piece she writes makes me rethink the type of teaching I am doing in my classroom. Her thinking helps me focus on how I am preparing young people for a future that will demand new skills.
This guide to non-technical roles in web3 is another must-read piece. In it, she describes non-technical opportunities in web3. The purpose is to “help make a career pivot into web3 less ominous.” The guide is easy to follow and read. Here are the six steps to making that career shift to web3:
1. Start with basics
2. Consume & create
3. Learn by doing
4. Find your niche
5. Contribute
6. Commit
Possibilities With the Metaverse
This commercial is being played so much that I have to mention it. Each time it comes on I get excited that there is a VR/XR advertisement on a major cable network. Then it sinks in that is for Meta. I am not sure why I have that reaction, but I do.
Regardless, it is a great ad. I want to point out one key moment. Pause it at 19 seconds. What are those things on the students’ fingertips and palms? Haptic sensors maybe? They are hinted at when the student reaches out to touch the wholly mammoth fur. I am very interested to see how Meta navigates this transition to a hardware company. It could make for some exciting products.
Thank you for stopping by for another issue of my web3🤝education newsletter. If you’re on LinkedIn you can check out a version of this newsletter on my LinkedIn page and give me a follow. You can also link to all my work by checking out my blog or give me a follow on Twitter.