Online: Trending Now

Unique biweekly insights and news review
from Ray Schroeder, Senior Fellow at UPCEA

Online: Trending Now Archives (Earlier than May 2018)

Click here to access all of Ray’s articles from May 2018 back to the very start! 

Authored by
A man (Ray Schroeder) is dressed in a suit with a blue tie and wearing glasses.

Ray Schroeder is Professor Emeritus, Associate Vice Chancellor for Online Learning at the University of Illinois Springfield (UIS) and Senior Fellow at UPCEA. Each year, Ray publishes and presents nationally on emerging topics in online and technology-enhanced learning. Ray’s social media publications daily reach more than 12,000 professionals. He is the inaugural recipient of the A. Frank Mayadas Online Leadership Award, recipient of the University of Illinois Distinguished Service Award, the United States Distance Learning Association Hall of Fame Award, and the American Journal of Distance Education/University of Wisconsin Wedemeyer Excellence in Distance Education Award 2016.

Other UPCEA Updates + Blogs

COLO Compass | The COLO’s Job Got Bigger. Has the Authority Kept Up?

COLO Compass: Evidence and practical direction for chief online learning officers. When UPCEA published its 2016 Hallmarks, online education was still moving from innovation to mainstream adoption, and a central challenge was legitimizing it. The 2026 Hallmarks of Excellence in Digital Learning Enterprises begin from a different premise. As Vickie Cook, a contributing editor of…

COLO Compass | Sustaining Online Learning Takes Evidence Inside and Out

COLO Compass: Evidence and practical direction for chief online learning officers. National Distance Learning Week runs November 2 through 6, and one of USDLA’s themes this year is the “Sustainable Future of Distance Education.” For those responsible for online enterprises, sustainability means having the financial resources, operational capacity, and institutional support to continue serving learners. …

COLO Compass | The COLO as Institutional Integrator: When Online Learning Is Everyone’s Business, Who Leads It?

COLO Compass: Evidence and practical direction for chief online learning officers. For years, one of the challenges facing online learning leaders was convincing the institution that online education belonged in the mainstream of academic life. That argument is increasingly behind us. Online learning now intersects with enrollment strategy, academic planning, technology, student support, workforce development,…

COLO Compass | Advancing AI Starts With How Your Institution Decides

COLO Compass: Evidence and practical direction for chief online learning officers. National Distance Learning Week runs November 2 through 6 this year. USDLA’s 2026 theme includes advancing AI, global education through open educational resources, and the sustainable future of distance education. For those of us in online and digital learning, the past three years have…

ED Issues Workforce Pell FAQs; Courts Continue Changing Professional Degree List | Policy Matters (October 2026)

Major Updates U.S. Department of Education Provides Workforce Pell Grant FAQs The U.S. Department of Education has released FAQs on Workforce Pell Grants for short-term programs. The guidance covers items like the baseline eligibility standards: programs be at least 8 but fewer than 15 weeks or 150 to 599 clock hours and operational for a…

COLO Compass | A More Coordinated Research Cycle for Online Learning Leaders

COLO Compass: Evidence and practical direction for chief online learning officers. Online learning now sits at the center of institutional strategy. The leaders who run it are stretched thin — bigger portfolios, less time, authority that rarely matches responsibility. UPCEA and Quality Matters are coordinating the research schedules of two national studies: UPCEA’s Benchmarking Online…

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