As this semester comes to an end and summer vacation approaches, I’ve decided to slow down and take this season as an opportunity to reset. For me, summer is more than just a break from classes; it’s a time to reconnect with myself, reflect on everything I’ve experienced, and dive into stories that stir the soul. This year, I’m choosing books that entertain, challenge, heal, and expand the way I see the world.
Here’s my curated summer reading list, filled with stories from powerful voices across cultures, themes of identity, and quiet moments of transformation.
Pinterest
Men Who Hate Women by Laura Bates
This book is at the top of my list because I want to understand more about the online communities and ideologies that shape modern misogyny.
Pinterest
The Vegetarian by Han Kang
A haunting and surreal novel that explores one woman’s quiet rebellion against societal expectations. I’ve heard it’s unsettling and beautiful all at once.
Pinterest
The Stationery Shop by Marjan Kamali
I am a big fan of historical fiction, and this one is about love and loss set against the backdrop of political upheaval in 1950s Tehran. I hope it’ll be the kind of book that makes yoy cry and smile in the same chapter.
Pinterest
A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki
This book has been on my list for a while. Blending time, memory, and the interconnectedness of human experience. I think it’s going to be one of those profound, mind-opening reads that makes you think about life, time, and the way we tell our stories.
Pinterest
The Forest of Enchantments by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni
Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni is one of my favourite authors. I love the way she writes. This is a retelling of the Ramayana through Sita’s perspective. I’m excited to experience this retelling, not just as a story, but as a reflection of womanhood, resilience, and strength.
Pinterest
More Days at the Morisaki Bookshop by Satoshi Yagisawa
I adored the first book in this series; it was gentle, nostalgic, and filled with the kind of warmth that lingers long after you’ve closed the pages. I’m expecting the same comforting experience with this one.
By Matteo Quacquarelli, Vice President of Strategy and Analytics at QS Quacquarelli Symonds.
Across the globe, economies are grappling with skills and talent challenges. From talent saturation to workforce reskilling, each country is facing its own unique issues as it prepares for the evolution of the digital age.
The QS World Future Skills Index, just launched, offers a detailed breakdown of the globe’s higher education systems, their links with industries and how countries are preparing for the next industrial evolution. Using exclusive QS data, it identifies where economies and countries need to align their higher education outcomes with the needs of industry in three key areas – green, AI and digital.
The analysis delves into 81 economies and finds that UK higher education is currently one of the world’s best for cultivating students with the future skills business and industry are calling out for.
It measures four indicators linked to skills like AI proficiency, digital literacy and environmental sustainability that will form the bedrock of the industries of tomorrow.
Skills Fit measures how well countries are equipping graduates with the skills employers desire. In this, no country is currently better than the UK. Using data from both our own largest-of-its-kind QS Global Employer Survey and the World Bank Group, we identified that UK employers have the highest satisfaction rates with the skills graduates bring with them, anywhere in the world – but perhaps only for the time being.
Additionally, the UK received top marks in the Academic Readiness dimension, measuring the preparedness of a country in regard to the future of work. The UK’s success in the QS World University Rankings by Subject allowed it to flourish here.
However, the UK must not rest on its laurels. Higher education in other markets globally is innovating at a far more rapid rate than in the UK. The reputational strength of the UK – built on its history and tradition of delivering excellent teaching and learning – is unlikely to be the key driver of satisfaction going forward.
The UK was slightly less successful than its closest rivals in the areas of Future of Work and Economic Transformation.
Future of Work measures how well the job market is prepared to meet the growing demand for digital, AI and green skills, using 1Mentor data of over 280m job postings worldwide.
Economic Transformation analyzes whether a country has the infrastructure, investment power, and talent available to transition to industries driven by AI, digital transformation, green technologies and high-skilled work. This indicator used data from the World Bank Group, UNESCO Institute for Statistics and the Education Policy Institute.
This lower score is reflective of the slow-to-no economic growth seen in the UK over the past decade and the tightening of the public purse strings strangling investment in R&D and new business innovation (evidenced by decline not only in public but also private sector funding in the UK).
The latest economic forecasts signal a further period of stagnation for the UK economy might be on the horizon.
Just as the importance of investment in future skills cannot be understated, nor can the importance of higher education in AI breakthroughs and innovation.
Funnelling research innovation down the value chain into industry has been the bedrock of economic innovation worldwide. Without Stanford University, there would be no Silicon Valley. In Germany, the universities of Stuttgart and Tübingen are key in the country’s Cyber Valley initiative. If Melbourne didn’t have its outstanding higher education institutions, the city would not hold the crown of tech capital of Australia.
The QS Future World Skills Index highlights the example of South Korea, where there is a correlation between increasing numbers of young adults attaining tertiary education and GDP growth.
The UK government’s new AI Opportunities Action Plan, announced earlier this week sets out a clear ambition strategy to maintain Britain’s position as one of the world’s AI superpowers and has been widely welcomed by industry.
The prime minister says his government will make it easier for experts to come to the UK via its talent visas and for future leaders to learn here. Tens of thousands of additional AI professionals will be needed by 2030, he has said.
The Government also wants to ‘increase its share of the world’s top 1,000 AI researchers’ and will launch an AI scholarship scheme to support 100 students to study in the UK.
While the UK was also top in Europe for talent creation, with 46,000 students graduating from an AI-relevant higher education program ahead of Germany in terms of absolute numbers with 32,000, the UK is still behind Finland on a per capita basis. Without specific policy and commitment, the UK risks losing its leading position.
The UK is missing ‘frontier conceptual, cutting-edge companies‘. DeepMind, the AI research laboratory, was one such company that was founded in the UK before being acquired by Google in 2014. But where was it established? The three co-founders meet while studying at University College London.
The new AI Growth Zones the government has announced, with the first starting in Culham, will need to engage universities up and down the country. Higher education must also be closely involved in the Digital and Technology Sector Plan, which is set to be published in the coming months.
The government has also previously pledged to become a green energy superpower. The QS Future World Skills Index suggests that both the UK’s job market and its higher education system is well set up to capitalise on that opportunity.
To succeed, government policy, the needs of industry and higher education curricula must all align to create an environment where the country can succeed and be future-ready.
Economies and higher education systems that invest in high-quality academic programmes in AI, digital and sustainability are setting themselves up for long-term success.
Since February 2007, International Higher Education Consulting Blog has provided timely news and informational pieces, predominately from a U.S. perspective, that are of interest to both the international education and public diplomacy communities. From time to time, International Higher Education Consulting Blog will post thought provoking pieces to challenge readers and to encourage comment and professional dialogue.
We are very fortunate at AskMyClass. Besides helping teachers create a positive classroom experience, we’re also connected to some of the most forward-thinking educators across the country, including a few trailblazers exploring the potential of voice technology and AI.
We’re excited to introduce you to one of those trailblazers, Rebecca Dwenger. With more than 21 years of teaching experience and a passion for cutting edge technology, Rebecca works with teachers and administrators to improve their productivity and learning. Her fields of expertise include instructional design, voice assistants for education, and differentiation.
AMC: Where you always into technology? especially for education?
Rebecca: I’ve always been interested in technology. In my classroom I was always the first one to try out anything and everything… I watched as technology in my classroom became a game changer for many of my students. That experience led me to pursue the job I am in presently.
AMC: How did you get started with voice technology?
Rebecca: During the 2016–2017 school year I took a risk and introduced Alexa as a classroom tool during our monthly Technology Leadership Council at Hamilton County Education Service Center in Cincinnati, Ohio. I was a little ahead of the Alexa wave and didn’t gain much traction until August of 2017. My colleague Joe and I gained interest in our area after he introduced Alexa to a room full of curriculum leaders around the Cincinnati area. Our professional development integrating Alexa into the classroom took off and the rest is history. Joe and I presented on Alexa at ISTE in 2018, OETC (Ohio’s Tech Conference), and will be back at ISTE this year. I created the hashtag #Alexa4Edu because I want educators and voice leaders to be able to learn from each other and contribute to a shared vision. I also am finishing up an Alexa pilot of six preschool classrooms measuring student engagement.
AMC: What was that lightbulb moment that this was going to be a very valuable tool in the classroom?
Rebecca: I’ve had Alexa in my home since 2015. My youngest son Grayden has some attention and language challenges associated with Epilepsy. After school one day he asked Alexa the definition of a word while he was reading instead of asking me. I was like “whoa” and the rest is history. It has made a world of difference since he doesn’t have to stop his reading or working to get help. In this moment I knew Alexa and voice speakers would be a helpful classroom tool.
AMC: How have you promoted the use of Alexa?
Rebecca: I promote Alexa as a tool for teacher productivity, student engagement, many student benefits, and more recently as a student creation tool. Teachers have a lot on their plate and showing them how to set reminders, alarms, and routines wins them over! The Ask My Class transitions and body breaks help teachers not waste precious class time searching yet gives students a quick engaging activity. Student engagement equals increased learning. Students aren’t just engaged the first time they use Alexa it continues, and I have yet to see it wain.
Students aren’t just engaged the first time they use Alexa it continues, and I have yet to see it wain.
One consistent benefit I have seen firsthand and received feedback on is how student’s speech and language improves as they interact with Alexa. Artificial Intelligence awareness and use has skyrocketed lately. Students today will be solving future problems using this technology so why not begin now. I promote student voice creation since their future jobs will use voice technology.
AMC: What has surprised you the most?
Rebecca: I have to tell this story! This year I am supporting a teacher at a high school for autistic students that is using Alexa in her classroom. This teacher shared with me that one of her students that has been mute for some time started talking to Alexa! I mean doesn’t that just give you a warm feeling inside? Those stories (I have many) keep me super passionate about Alexa in education.
Those stories (I have many) keep me super passionate about Alexa in education.
AMC: Favorite skill?
Rebecca: This is a hard question. I have so many favorites. If I have to pick just one it is Akinator. You think of a real or fictional character and it asks you questions until it is ready to guess your character. This skill can be used in most content areas and grade levels. I just love it for It’s simplicity and versatility. Students love trying to stump it. Engagement=Learning
AMC: What’s missing? What skill would you like to see?
Rebecca: Oh, I have so many ideas…. I’d want to see a skill that would help a weakness I see in my practice as an instructional technology coach, reflection! So, what about a skill that helps teachers or even students reflect on their day, lesson, or activity… Reflection is so important, yet our teachers don’t get the time. So, Alexa could ask questions about your lesson or activity. Basically, guide them through reflection.
AMC: What’s your prediction for voice technology 5 years from now?
Rebecca: I predict voice technology will be in nearly all types of applications within five years. I even read an article recently about it replacing our keyboards. Jobs that require writing for voice technology will infiltrate businesses and education. Voice technology in education specifically will become more personalized.
More about Rebecca Dwenger
Rebecca’s educational background includes a Master’s degree in Instructional Design & Technology from Miami University, a bachelor’s degree in education, an Ohio Department of Education Technology Endorsement on her license, and is an ISTE Certified Educator.
Her most recent work includes creating and launching an online micro-credential ecosystem for professional development, integrating voice activated devices into the classroom, instructional technology coaching, and managing a district G Suite Console. She has presented at ITIP Google Summit, Learn21, High Aims, 4Cs Conference, OETC, 2018 & 2019 ISTE conferences, and recently completed ISTE’s Artificial Intelligence Course.
