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 in the Ivory Tower: A Necessary Evolution or a Threat to Academic Integrity? - TokenRing AI, WRALThe integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) into higher education has ignited a fervent debate across campuses worldwide. Far from being a fleeting trend, AI presents a fundamental paradigm shift, challenging traditional pedagogical approaches, redefining academic integrity, and promising to reshape the very essence of a college degree. As universities grapple with the profound implications of […]
- Gemini 3 Is Here—and Google Says It Will Make Search Smarter - Will Knight, WiredGoogle is also using AI to build popular new tools like NotebookLM, which can auto-generate podcasts from written materials, and AI Studio which can prototype applications with AI. It’s even exploring embedding the technology into areas like gaming and robotics, which Hassabis says could pay huge dividends in years to come, regardless of what happens […]
- New UK course builds AI skills across every major - Allie Barnes, University of Kentucky NewsUniversity of Kentucky students are invited to learn how to thrive in an artificial intelligence (AI)-driven world through a new online course. UK is offering a 100-level, one-credit-hour course — Transdisciplinary Educational Approaches to Advance Kentucky (TEK 100): Collaborative Intelligence — Understanding and Using Modern AI. This rolling, asynchronous course will be offered twice during […]
- Certain subjects in higher education can be better taught online, study shows - Shannon Roddel, Phys.orgNew research from the University of Notre Dame looks at how the abrupt move from classroom teaching to online learning during the lockdown affected college students' performance in China. Surprisingly, the undergraduates performed better in math after switching to online classes—improving their scores by about eight to 11 points on a 100-point scale, according to […]
- The agentic AI opportunity - McKinseyAgentic AI promises to unleash the full potential that companies had hoped to realize with gen AI. Here’s how leaders can make the most of the agentic era. An increasing number of companies are adopting gen AI, but few have seen substantial bottom-line value from their early investments. Agentic AI is poised to flip the […]
- Student cheating dominates talk of generative AI in higher ed, but universities and tech companies face ethical issues too - Jeffrey C. Dixon, Times-UnionAs a sociologist who teaches about AI and studies the impact of this technology on work, I am well acquainted with research on the rise of AI and its social consequences. And when one looks at ethical questions from multiple perspectives – those of students, higher education institutions and technology companies – it is clear […]
- The New Cliff Facing Higher Ed and How AI Might Help Solve It - Ray Schroeder, Inside Higher EdThere is a new “cliff” in American higher education, and it is not the demographic cliff. Rather, it is the dramatic cliff in math knowledge, skills and abilities. Let me be clear that other discipline deficiencies are found in this new generation of college students, however they are dwarfed by those in math. These have […]
- As New Federal Research Funding Resumes, China May Already Be Outspending U.S. - Ryan Quinn, Inside Higher EdChina may have already overtaken the U.S. in research and development spending, ending a half century of American hegemony in financing scientific innovation, according to an American Association for the Advancement of Science researcher. “We’re entering into uncharted territory,” said Alessandra Zimmermann, the association’s R&D budget and policy program project director, during last week’s Association […]
- How new immersive tech is shaping workforce skills - Alcino Donadel, University BusinessCareer simulation training is gaining a new layer of realism powered by advances in artificial intelligence and virtual reality, which provide students with a more responsive environment to test their technical and soft skills. Since flight simulators first became a staple in aviation training decades ago, simulation technology has expanded into other highly technical fields, […]
- Reshaping Higher Education Designs and Futures: Postdigital Co-design with Generative Artificial Intelligence - Sandris Zeivots, et al; Postdigital Science and EducationThis article examines how collaborative design practices in higher education are reshaped through postdigital entanglement with generative artificial intelligence (GenAI). We collectively explore how co-design, an inclusive, iterative, and relational approach to educational design and transformation, expands in meaning, practice, and ontology when GenAI is approached as a collaborator. The article brings together 19 authors […]
- North Carolina becomes latest state to offer residents help with online skills - Madyson Fitzgerald, StatelineNorth Carolina published statewide digital skills standards last month that identify key knowledge and abilities for residents and will soon launch an online course, joining a number of states that are hoping to strengthen digital literacy. The North Carolina Digital Skills Standards, published by the state’s information technology department, is a framework that can be […]
- Teaching creativity in the age of AI - Fignon Tee Meng Wah, the StarEducators worldwide are reexamining how creativity can be taught in an age when artificial intelligence (AI) tools are able to generate essays, images and designs in seconds. With the rise of platforms such as ChatGPT, Midjourney and DALL·E, creating content has never been easier. What once required hours of research, sketching or writing can now […]
- College grads face job crisis as artificial intelligence disrupts entry-level market - Jasneet Gill, Seattle RedA new report from the Burning Glass Institute delivers a sobering assessment of the modern workforce, confirming that a college degree is increasingly becoming a poor investment for young Americans. For the first time in three decades, the unemployment rate for recent college graduates (ages 22-27) has plummeted so drastically that it is virtually equal […]
- Here's how ASU is investing in artificial intelligence, from upskilling to student tutors - Helen Rummel, Arizona RepublicArtificial intelligence is the "great equalizer," in the words of Arizona State University President Michael Crow. It's compelled industries, including higher education, to adapt quickly to keep pace with its rapid advancement. Over the last several years, ASU has launched a range of initiatives to prepare students for an AI economy, using new tools, research […]
- How Coursera’s latest move shakes up the upskilling movement - Alcino Donadel, University BusinessCoursera will charge a 15% fee to colleges and companies that use its online learning platform, starting in 2026. It’s a significant shift in universities’ relationship with third-party online program managers, or OPMs, following the scramble toward digital learning during the pandemic and the MOOC trend of the 2010s. “[Coursera] is not as dependent on […]
- Jobs Report: Hiring Flat for 2026 Grads - Emma Whitford, Inside Higher EdEmployers are increasingly using skills-based hiring processes that value college internship and co-op experience over GPAs. Skills-based hiring remains popular—69.5 percent of employers reported they use the approach. Asked how students can best prepare for a skills-based hiring process, employers primarily said applicants should “prepare for interviews that demonstrate their skills,” “participate in experiential learning […]
- Fewer International Students Came to the U.S. This Fall - Kathryn Palmer, Inside Higher EdNearly a year into the Trump administration’s crackdown on immigration and visas, data reveals that new international student enrollment is down 17 percent since last fall. One week after President Donald Trump contradicted his own policies by stressing how important international students are to sustaining university finances, there’s new evidence that his administration’s crackdown on […]
- Meet The AI Professor: Coming To A Higher Education Campus Near You - Nick Ladany, ForbesAI professors, in many ways, will be the best versions of the best professors students can have. AI professors will be realistic avatars that go far beyond the simple tutor model based on large language models, and will likely be here before anyone sees it coming. AI professors will: be available 24 hours, 7 days […]
- A Liberal Arts College Goes All In on AI - Ashley Mowreader, Inside Higher EdColby College developed a platform, called Mule Chat, that allows users to explore several large language models, including ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude and LLaMA. The platform provides a safe on-ramp into generative AI usage and relies on student tutors to disseminate information to peers. In the latest episode of Voices of Student Success, host Ashley Mowreader […]
- Time, emotions and moral judgements: how university students position GenAI within their study - Margaret Bearman, et al; T and F OnlineWe investigated how students position GenAI in relation to their studies, conducting focus groups with 79 students across four Australian universities. Taking a sociotechnical stance and employing reflexive thematic analysis, we identified three primary themes: (1) studying with and without GenAI; (2) mixing messages and assumptions; and (3) ‘coming from me’: self-trust and resistance to […]
Other Curated News:
News from UPCEA:
2020 UPCEA Marketing and Enrollment Award Recipients Announced
20 Recipients Chosen For Special 2020 Awards WASHINGTON, D.C., December 7, 2020 — UPCEA, the leader in professional, continuing, and online education, has announced the recipients of the 2020 Excellence in Enrollment Management Award and the 2020 UPCEA Crisis Management Marketing Award. In light of…
Long-time UPCEA member and colleague Keith Bailey (1970-2020) passed away in early December 2020. Dr. Bailey served as Assistant Provost for Teaching and Learning and Dean of WVU Online at West Virginia University. In this role, he oversaw the day-to-day operations of both WVU Online…
Teaching Online in the COVID Crisis: What We Have Learned
As we prepare to launch another semester mostly online, we are better informed than we were in the spring and fall semesters. From experiences with rapidly applied pedagogies to better understanding of how our students’ radically altered lives impact their learning, we must adapt. This…
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