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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  • High-tech meets high-touch: Harnessing AI for the modern university - Joe Sallustio, University Business
    Artificial intelligence isn’t just at the gates of higher education—it’s already inside, actively reshaping everything from enrollment processes to student support. The question is no longer whether to adopt AI—that ship has sailed. The real question is whether your institution will lead this transformation or get left behind by competitors who move faster. I’ve interviewed […]
  • Here are 6 ways data analytics will change in higher ed - Alcino Donadel, University Business
    Data analytics are increasingly vital for streamlining campus operations and driving strategy to improve the student experience. AI has spawned a web of technologies and practices that should lead to more advancements, according to a new report from EDUCAUSE, an education technology nonprofit. “The future of institutional effectiveness, student success and innovation will hinge on […]
  • Leading Off [Understanding Data Centers] - Alex Panas & Axel Karlsson, McKinsey
    In today’s increasingly digital economy, the need for better, more powerful infrastructure to fuel gen AI, agentic AI, and other emerging tech advancements is growing quickly. Enter data centers, the facilities that house and run critical IT infrastructure such as servers, storage devices, and network equipment. Global demand for more data centers—and their data processing, […]
  • Deploying agentic AI with safety and security: A playbook for technology leaders - McKinsey
    Autonomous AI agents present a new world of opportunity—and an array of novel and complex risks and vulnerabilities that require attention and action now. While agentic AI has the potential to deliver immense value, the technology also presents an array of new risks—introducing vulnerabilities that could disrupt operations, compromise sensitive data, or erode customer trust. […]
  • Google’s Quantum Chip Just Broke Physics: Scientists Are Freaking Out - Julia McCoy, YouTube
    The podcast highlights a monumental breakthrough on October 22nd, 2025, when Google's Willow quantum chip achieved "verifiable quantum advantage" by solving a problem that would take classical supercomputers longer than the age of the universe. More critically, the achievement is described as "breaking physics" because researchers demonstrated that quantum systems could exceed the limits set […]
  • AI Is Changing What High School STEM Students Study - Sophia Barnett, Wired
    A degree in computer science used to promise a cozy career in tech. Now, students’ ambitions are shaped by AI, in fields that blend computing with analysis, interpretation, and data. “Learn to code” now sounds a little like “learn shorthand.” Teenagers still want jobs in tech, but they no longer see a single path to […]
  • AI and Education: 10 ways to support or erode future skills resilience - Michael D. Watkins, IMD
    AI can boost critical thinking or undermine it. Educators and talent leaders must learn to navigate this fine line. The use of generative AI among learners has increased by 66% over the last 12 months. More than 90% of young people in higher education are now using ChatGPT and other tools to research, summarize, and […]
  • AI and the future of universities: How UON is on the right road - By Jason Day, Northampton Chronicle
    A recently published collection of essays about how Higher Education providers should make the most of Artificial Intelligence shows University of Northampton is streets ahead.AI Literacy: Universities should embed AI literacy for staff and students.Technology: Choice of technology is crucial; universities need a strategy and roadmap.Assessment: AI challenges traditional exams and essays, requiring a shift […]
  • Unlocking the power of communication in integrations - McKinsey
    Integrations can be difficult and perilous. They are characterized by major organizational disruptions, including job shifts, role changes, customer uncertainty, and the collision of often vastly differing cultures. Employee fatigue and burnout,1 combined with organizational misalignment, can derail leaders from unlocking the full potential of the integration and stymie efforts to create a one-company culture. […]
  • Bridging the Skills Gap: How Online Training Is Reshaping Workforce Readiness - Stuart Gentle, OnRec
    Employers are struggling to find candidates equipped with the practical and technical skills required for modern roles. At the same time, professionals are seeking ways to remain competitive and relevant in evolving job markets. That’s where digital learning platforms come into play, providing flexible, accessible, and industry-aligned training opportunities. For instance, many aspiring professionals turn […]
  • How do online students use digital technologies to manage their emotions? Jake Hilliard, Open University
    Emotions play a central role in learning and academic success (Pekrun, 2024). Pleasant emotions such as excitement and enjoyment can enhance motivation, focus, and persistence. On the other hand, unpleasant emotions such as frustration, anxiety, or boredom, if left unmanaged, can undermine engagement and achievement, and even have longer-term impacts on health and wellbeing. Being […]
  • AI is a test higher education can’t afford to fail - Sam Dreyfus, University Business
    At its best, AI has the potential to:Act as a tutor, adapting to each learner’s paceSupport educators by freeing them from routine tasksUncover inefficiencies that redirect resources toward studentsPrepare graduates for a workforce where AI literacy will be as essential as computer literacy was a generation agoBut potential does not fulfill itself. If we have […]
  • AI-powered teaching and learning for all Microsoft 365 education customers - MikeTholfsen, Microsoft TechCommunity
    In our main Microsoft Education blog this morning, we announced the details of how Microsoft Education is bringing even more value to all EDU customers with Microsoft 365, including a new set of capabilities designed for relevant and powerful use by educators and students. These features will be included in all of the academic SKUs […]
  • The AI-centric imperative: Navigating the next software frontier - McKinsey
    The software industry is entering a new era—and it may yet prove even more disruptive than the software-as-a-service (SaaS) revolution that preceded it. The emergence of gen AI and, more recently, agentic AI is not just another technology wave; it is a foundational shift redefining what software is, who builds it, who uses it, and […]
  • The building blocks of transformation: A conversation with Udit Batra - McKinsey
    In 2020, Waters Corporation, a Boston-area life sciences company that has been manufacturing analytical instruments since 1958, found itself losing ground to competitors. That year, the company’s newly appointed CEO, Udit Batra, engaged employees, the board, and other important stakeholders in a transformation effort aimed at rediscovering what he calls the organization’s “indomitable spirit.”Udit is […]
  • Universities Teaching Wisdom Skills 2030 - Ray Schroeder, Inside Higher Ed
    Virtually all aspects and positions at universities will be touched by the AI transformation. The changes will come more rapidly than many of us in higher education are accustomed to or with which we are comfortable. In large part, the speed will be demanded by employers of our learners and by competition among universities. Change […]
  • How Can Leaders Adapt to AI? - Michael Platt, Knowledge at Wharton
    In this updated and expanded edition of his groundbreaking book The Leader’s Brain, Wharton Neuroscience Initiative director Michael Platt reveals how the latest advances in neuroscience — including new insights from artificial intelligence — are transforming our understanding of effective leadership. In the following excerpt from the book, Platt explains how leaders can adapt to […]
  • 2025 State of Credentialing Report - Accredible
    Our latest State of Credentialing research shows just how urgent this need has become:91% of employers actively look for digital credentials when reviewing candidates.86% say they would be more likely to interview someone with a digital credential proving a key skill.63% have hired a candidate, at least in part, because of a digital credential.Yet only […]
  • The Big Rethink: An agenda for thriving in the agentic age - Quantum Black by McKinsey
    Has there been a technology innovation in recent memory that has engendered more wildly divergent thinking than agentic AI? We’re hard-pressed to think of one. Depending on who you talk to or what you read, AI agents—systems based on gen AI foundation models that can act in the world and execute multistep processes—will lead to […]
  • AI-powered teaching and learning for all Microsoft 365 education customers - MikeTholfsen, Microsoft TechCommunity
    In our main Microsoft Education blog this morning, we announced the details of how Microsoft Education is bringing even more value to all EDU customers with Microsoft 365, including a new set of capabilities designed for relevant and powerful use by educators and students. These features will be included in all of the academic SKUs […]

Other Curated News: 

News from UPCEA: 

Fixing Higher Education As We Move Into the New Economy

Is the degree dead, dying, or about to thrive in the new economy? Over the past two decades, higher education has adapted with online master’s and bachelor’s degrees. However, it took two decades to fully embrace the changes of the evolution of the Internet economy…

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Virtual Labs Coming of Age

Online: Trending Now #144 Have we finally arrived at a point where we can effectively teach laboratory classes online? Recently, the University of Pennsylvania announced that they will launch a baccalaureate degree at scale online next fall. They are not the only ones to offer…

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Next for SNHU: Game-Based Learning and Digital Badges for Middle Schoolers (Inside Higher Ed)

Southern New Hampshire University is again trying to disrupt the status quo in higher ed — this time by attempting to link middle schoolers with college degrees. The nonprofit university, which has one of the largest online enrollments in the country, announced today that it…

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