Online and Professional Continuing Education News


See below for a listing of curated news articles of the day brought to you by Ray Schroeder, Senior Fellow at UPCEA. 

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  • AI that serves society - Fan Yao, UNC
    Assistant professor Fan Yao uses statistical learning to study how humans and artificial intelligence-driven applications interact. When Fan Yao was a Ph.D. student at the University of Virginia, he had the opportunity to intern with Meta. Yao’s thesis research revolved around the responsible design of online platforms, including recommendation algorithms like the ones that provide […]
  • Untitled
    AI + AU: How Alvernia is incorporating the technology - Alvernia UniversityAlvernia’s implementation of artificial intelligence aims to teach students to think critically about the technology while producing graduates prepared for the future of work. Pope Leo XIV commanded attention in May when he published his first encyclical, Magnifica Humanitas, in which he laid out […]
  • Canadian university funding shortages are a national emergency - Marc Spooner and R James McNinch, University World News
    The federal government is set to deliver its fall budget with a promised focus on building a strong Canada while positioning the country for long-term prosperity. Among the major nation-building projects being championed are fighter jets and nuclear submarines, high-speed rail, ice-breakers, ports, mines, roads, pipelines and more. One critical sector is conspicuously under-represented: post-secondary […]
  • AI in Teaching: What the Science of Learning Already Tells Us - Beth Schwartz and Chris Hakala, Faculty Focus
    Rather than asking whether AI is “good” or “bad” for learning, faculty and institutions would be better served by asking a different set of questions grounded in psychological science:Does this use of AI increase or decrease students’ cognitive engagement with course material?Does it support formative feedback and revision, or does it short-circuit those processes?Does it […]
  • The Future of Online Education: How AI Tutoring Is Replacing Traditional Learning - Daniel Hall, BBNTimes
    Something significant has shifted in how people learn. Not gradually, and not quietly. Over the past five years, the assumptions that held classroom-based education in place for over a century have been challenged at every level, from primary school homework help to postgraduate exam preparation. The demand for flexible, personalised, accessible learning is not a […]
  • University of Michigan Outlines 6 Guidelines for Using AI - MLive Express Desk, GovTech
    The University of Michigan has finalized six guiding principles for artificial intelligence use in education after a campus engagement process. The principles establish a shared foundation for considering AI use in teaching, learning, research and operations rather than creating new policy, according to an Oct. 21 University Record story. The principles outline values and considerations […]
  • Small AI, Big Learning Possibilities - WorldBank
    Small AI is helping teachers strengthen learning and students make more informed choices about education and work. The World Bank Group is working with countries to pilot small AI tools that support teachers, personalize learning, and guide students’ career choices. AI-Coach is an example of small AI: practical, affordable technology designed to address a specific […]
  • Building the future of online graduate studies at the U of A - Tracy Raivio, Trish Manns and Jessica Butts Scott, University of Alberta
    Today’s graduate students are balancing ambitious career goals with the pursuit of advanced education. Their learning extends beyond the traditional classroom, taking place in home offices, on morning commutes or in quiet corners of coffee shops, with coursework woven into busy workdays. Working professionals want an education that fits their lives and connects learning to […]
  • What is a forward-deployed engineer? - McKinsey
    Interest in forward-deployed engineers, or FDEs, has surged in recent months as companies try to get real value from AI. The term may be a buzzword for a service that consulting firms and technology providers have offered for years: embedding engineers at a client’s company, inside its systems and data, to build software alongside the […]
  • The power of feedback to build belonging in online learning - María de Lourdes Gómez Calvo & Estefannía Garza Tamez, Times Higher Education
    As online educators, we have realised that developing belonging is not optional. If we want students to truly engage in the learning process, it is our duty to develop it. We need to communicate the following: “You matter here. I see you.” In online courses, feedback is one of the clearest ways to send this […]
  • CMU Introduces 4 New Online Graduate Certificates for Professionals - Alexander Johnson, Carnegie Mellon University
    Carnegie Mellon University is introducing four online graduate certificates designed to help working professionals build graduate-level expertise in artificial intelligence, robotics, software engineering and product management. Built to fit the busy schedules of working professionals, the certificates offer flexible online learning and opportunities to apply new knowledge and skills immediately in the workplace. The programs […]
  • A New Home for Nontraditional Students - Joshua Bay, Inside Higher Ed
    More than housing: Eaton is among more than 300 students who can live at 99 Claremont, designed specifically for undergraduates at Columbia’s School of General Studies whose paths to college have included military service, professional careers or time away from school. The facility represents the university’s latest effort to strengthen community among students whose needs […]
  • Survey: 48% of Employers Say AI Will Make College Degrees More Important - Kathryn Palmer, Inside Higher Ed
    Despite fears that AI will replace many entry-level white collar jobs, new data shows that many employers still want workers with a college degree. According to a survey of 2,500 employers that the Lumina Foundation and Gallup published Tuesday, 48 percent of employers believe artificial intelligence will make college degrees more important over the next […]
  • The AI value curve: The economics of applying AI to existing work - McKinsey
    AI is being deployed widely across enterprises, but adoption is being measured far more than value. The AI value curve compares the cost of a task as performed today with the full cost of doing it with AI, revealing a roughly $2.5 trillion annual global opportunity in deploying the technology across certain sectors, regions, and […]
  • US university offers cut-price UK degree for international students - Andrew Jack, Financial Times
    Michael Crow, president of Arizona State University, said he aimed to expand to an annual intake of up to 4,000 students in the UK in the coming years. A small cohort has begun pilot business, engineering and computer science degrees this autumn on ASU’s new London campus. “We are making this as affordable as possible,” […]
  • Assessments in Teaching and Learning in the Age of AI - Ray Schroeder, Inside Higher Ed
    Some faculty members fail to recognize that the world has changed and we must respond to those changes in how and what we do to prepare learners for their careers and personal aspirations. It is frustrating for many to be required to redesign their teaching content and methods in response to the larger worldwide technological […]
  • Why Hands-On Training Still Matters in a Digital Age - Michael Burke, Occupational Health and Safety
    Over the last quarter century, computer-based and online learning have become basic components of many emergency and disaster response training programs. But in recent years, more advanced forms of technology such as virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), serious games and now artificial intelligence (AI) are increasingly being explored as immersive tools to integrate into […]
  • Indiana Tech gets national recognition for online learning improvements - Ashley Sloboda, The Journal Gazette
    Mary Beth Graham, online learning director, underscored the importance of the initiative, which supports the university’s goal of providing academic programs that prepare students for workforce success. “It is our responsibility to provide our learners with opportunities for success and the support needed to help them succeed,” Graham said in a statement. “This initiative has […]
  • AI in the Business Classroom: Building Better Thinkers in Macroeconomics - University of Dayton
    Artificial intelligence is changing how students access information. For Marlon Williams, associate professor of economics, that isn't a challenge. It's an opportunity to help students think more deeply. In ECO 204: Principles of Macroeconomics, Williams uses AI to reinforce learning rather than replace it, reflecting the University of Dayton School of Business Administration's approach to […]
  • AI Isn’t the Problem. We Are. - Louis-Francois P. Belanger and Zakiriya H. Gladney, Harvard Crimson
    As students, part of our engagement with our education is externally motivated — and reasonably so. Competitive admissions select for students who treat knowledge as capital, something to acquire and exchange for other goods: we pursue grades, summer programs, and extracurriculars to get into selective universities. Once we get to Harvard, these pressures return as […]

Other Curated News: 

News from UPCEA: 

Aligning the Curriculum to Reality in AI-Accelerated Times

Curricula are reassessed as rarely as every five years. AI demands we do a deep review right now and repeat it often! Is your curriculum relevant today?  Will it still be relevant at the end of the decade when many of today’s entering students complete…

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2023 UPCEA MEMS Award Recipients Announced

21 Recipients Chosen For Three Award Categories WASHINGTON, D.C., October 20, 2023 — UPCEA, the online and professional education association, has announced the recipients of the 2023 Excellence in Enrollment Management Award, the Excellence in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusiveness in Marketing, Enrollment, and Student Success…

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What’s in a Name? Why Higher Education Needs to Standardize Nomenclature to Enable Programmatic Adoption

My wife and I were lucky enough to recently welcome our first child into the world. In the months and days leading up to his birth, we regularly discussed potential names for our new family addition. We kept a shared list of ideas that we…

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