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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- For new grads, landing a job may be hard. Navigating the workplace may be harder - Laura Pappano, Hechinger ReportGen Zers often haven’t had practice at speaking up in large groups, asking for help or responding to authority figures. This generation, typically those born between 1997 and 2012, also has grown up with threats, from Covid to school shootings to the impact of social media, including bullying and self-doubt sown by pop culture pressures. […]
- Report: 93% of Students Believe Gen AI Training Belongs in Degree Programs - Rhea Kelly, Campus TechnologyThe vast majority of today's college students — 93% — believe generative AI training should be included in degree programs, according to a recent Coursera report. What's more, 86% of students consider gen AI the most crucial technical skill for career preparation, prioritizing it above in-demand skills such as data strategy and software development. And […]
- The 3-Year Race to Quantum-Safe Security - Simon Pamplin, IOT World TodayQuantum computing is not a distant threat. It is a clear and present danger to enterprise data security and one that will materialize far sooner than many business leaders expect. While conventional wisdom suggests that quantum computers capable of breaking today's encryption are at least a decade away, the reality is far more urgent. Enterprises […]
- Something’s Lost, but Something’s Gained - Ray Schroeder, Inside Higher EdI am fortunate to remember, as a faculty member, the advent of the personal computer in the late 1970s, graphing calculators in the mid-1980s, the rise of the World Wide Web in the early 1990s, Google Search in 1998 and, in 2001, the launch of Wikipedia. Each one of these technologies demanded changes in the […]
- Taking intermittent quizzes reduces achievement gaps and enhances online learning, even in highly distracting environments - Jason C.K. Chan and Zohara Assadipour, the ConversationInserting brief quiz questions into an online lecture can boost learning and may reduce racial achievement gaps, even when students are tuning in remotely in a distracting environment. That’s a main finding of our recent research published in Communications Psychology. With co-authors Dahwi Ahn, Hymnjyot Gill and Karl Szpunar, we present evidence that adding mini-quizzes […]
- EDUCAUSE Panel Highlights Practical Uses for AI in Higher Ed - Abby Sourwine, GovTechMany higher education leaders have expressed hope about the potential of artificial intelligence but uncertainty about where to implement it safely and effectively. According to a webinar Tuesday hosted by EDUCAUSE, “Unlocking AI’s Potential in Higher Education,” their answer may be "almost everywhere." Panelists at the event, including Kaskaskia College CIO George Kriss, Canyon GBS […]
- How Microcredentials Can Boost Your Starting Salary By Up To 15% - Caroline Castrillon, ForbesIn a job market where employers increasingly value specialized skills, microcredentials have emerged as powerful salary boosters. New research reveals that 90% of employers offer higher starting salaries, up to 15% more, for candidates with these targeted certifications. Coursera’s 2025 Microcredentials Impact Report confirms these financial benefits: 28% of entry-level workers with microcredentials received raises, […]
- The 5 stages of burnout—and how to beat them - Princess Castleberry, Fast CompanyWe all know the anxiety you get when you feel like you can’t cross things off your to-do list fast enough. But, burnout is more than just feeling tired. It saps your energy, reduces your productivity, and can cause you to feel hopeless and even resentful. While many of us have days where we feel […]
- How Women Can Future-Proof Their Careers in a Tech-Driven World: Five ways to supercharge your professional growth. - Karlie Kloss and Lareina Yee, Katie Couric MediaMcKinsey research estimates that up to 30 percent of work hours could be automated by 2030, potentially rising up to 70 percent across many jobs. That’s the nature of technology. In just 40 years, the internet, smart phones, and new technologies have transformed entire industries. For example, in 1990 “digital marketer” wasn’t a job. Two […]
- The AI Revolution Is Underhyped - Eric Schmidt, TEDThe arrival of non-human intelligence is a very big deal, says former Google CEO and chairman Eric Schmidt. In a wide-ranging interview with technologist Bilawal Sidhu, Schmidt makes the case that AI is wildly underhyped, as near-constant breakthroughs give rise to systems capable of doing even the most complex tasks on their own. He explores […]
- Copyright alone cannot protect the future of creative work - Mark MacCarthy, BrookingsAI challenges the future of creative work. Copyright law has a role to play, but the needed policy response must come from elsewhere. According to current guidelines, AI-generated works are not eligible for copyright protection. This has broad implications, especially around how content companies might register their works or disclaim content generated by AI. Transparency […]
- Why agentic AI is the next wave of innovation, Mike Hulme, Venture BeatIn just one year, AI and machine learning has soared to new heights with the emergence of advanced large language models, and domain specific small language models that can be deployed both on the cloud and the edge. While this kind of intelligence is the new baseline for what we expect in our applications, the […]
- OPINION: Instead of punishing students for using AI, colleges and universities must provide clear, consistent guidelines and rules - Kelsey Behringer, Hechinger ReportAs AI use becomes routine in higher education and the workplace, institutions that expel students for using AI are likely punishing themselves in the long run. Instead, they should teach students to become effective and responsible users of the technologies their future employers will expect them to know. With higher education teetering on the edge […]
- Study finds ChatGPT improves student outcomes but shows limitations in complex thinking tasks - Emma Thompson, Ed Tech Innovation HubA new meta-analysis published in Humanities and Social Sciences Communications has found that ChatGPT has a positive effect on student learning performance, with more moderate effects on student perception and higher-order thinking. The study, conducted by researchers at Hangzhou Normal University, analyzed data from 51 experimental and quasi-experimental studies carried out between November 2022 and […]
- ChatGPT in 2025: The Biggest Updates, Features, and What’s Coming Next - Davonte Lee, 9 MetersAnticipated to be a unifying leap forward, GPT-5 will reportedly integrate OpenAI’s “o3” reasoning engine to enable stronger contextual memory and logical processing. This release is expected to take ChatGPT closer to AGI territory by improving its ability to chain thoughts together, hold long-term context, and handle complex tasks with minimal prompting. Early testing suggests […]
- Courses Are Dead? Google Gemini 2.5 Changes Everything for Online Educators - AI Learning Communities, YouTubeThe host discusses Google's Gemini 2.5 Pro experimental and how it can create interactive web apps from simple prompts [00:09]. These web apps can visually represent information and require user interaction, potentially replacing traditional courses [00:30]. The host demonstrates how to create a web app that teaches how to make coffee [05:55] and a sequencing […]
- Wikipedia’s letting AI help, not headline - MindstreamThe Wikimedia Foundation runs the site and is rolling out generative AI tools to support its volunteer editors and reduce the repetitive tasks that slow them down. The idea is simple: let AI handle things like background research, onboarding new contributors, and translating articles so that editors can focus on the more thoughtful bits. Chris […]
- Is college worth it? See which majors offer the highest return on investment - USA TodayOn average, a college graduate earns $32,000 more in a year than a worker with only a high school diploma, according to a new report from Federal Reserve economists. The payoff on a college degree stands near its all-time high, the economists report in an April 16 post from the Federal Reserve Bank of New […]
- A new AI model: The Human Guided Learning Ecosystem - Lee Lambert and Keith Rocci, CC DailyWhat if the future of higher education doesn’t just survive AI, but thrives because of it? Imagine a system where AI doesn’t diminish human connection but powerfully amplifies it. This is the vision behind the Human Guided Learning Ecosystem. This is a model where artificial intelligence serves as a dynamic assistant to both students and […]
- He died in 2021. He spoke in court in 2025 - Matt V, MindStreamFor the first time, AI was used during a sentencing hearing to recreate the voice and image of a murder victim. Christopher Pelkey, a 37-year-old Army veteran, was killed in a road rage incident in 2021. At his killer’s sentencing, Peley’s family used AI to create a video impact statement. It featured his real video […]
Other Curated News:
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What Matters More: Skills or Degrees?
We increasingly hear employers, prospective students, and futurists saying that it is all about the skills, not about the degree. What does that mean for higher ed? Historically, employers made the baccalaureate, and in some cases advanced degrees, the gateway to an interview. If you did…
UPCEA and U.S. News Hold Joint Focus Group About Online Program Rankings
UPCEA (the University Professional Continuing Education Association) and U.S. News & World Report recently hosted a lively and important discussion on the U.S. News rankings of online programs. The focus group convening, held on June 10 in the event space of 1 Dupont Circle in…
The state of higher education today is new for most institutions and disruptive for many. Having to lead through disruption can be rewarding yet risky. Leaders may have experience in continuing and online education, as well as strong business and operational insights, but do they…
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