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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- Academic Freedom and Civil Discourse in Higher Education: A National Study of Faculty Attitudes and Perceptions - AAC&UThe American Association of Colleges and Universities, in partnership with the American Association of University Professors and NORC at the University of Chicago, conducted a national survey of faculty in higher education to understand their perspectives and experiences related to academic freedom. Selected Findings+More than one in three faculty members perceive a recent decline in […]
- Understanding And Preparing For The 7 Levels Of AI Agents - Douglas B. Laney, ForbesThe following framework I offer for defining, understanding, and preparing for agentic AI blends foundational work in computer science with insights from cognitive psychology and speculative philosophy. Each of the seven levels represents a step-change in technology, capability, and autonomy. The framework expresses increasing opportunities to innovate, thrive, and transform in a data-fueled and AI-driven […]
- Online Degrees Out of Reach - Liam Knox, Inside Higher EdFewer than half of students at the largest nonprofit online institutions earn a degree after eight years. Is it an unfortunate reality or a cry for accountability? Demand for remote degree programs has surged in the past decade, and especially since the COVID-19 pandemic normalized the online classroom. But for students in many exclusively online […]
- Bridging the Gap: How Higher Education and Employers Can Collaborate to Prepare Futures-Empowered Graduates - Chris Mayer, Futures EmpoweredA survey from Intelligent.com found that 6 of 10 companies surveyed fired a recent college graduate they hired this year. Why? The top reasons given for recent college graduates’ lack of success are (in order) a lack of motivation or initiative, lack of professionalism, poor organizational skills, poor communication skills, challenges with feedback, lack of […]
- OpenAI is turning its attention to ‘superintelligence’ - Kyle Wiggers, TechCrunchAGI, or artificial general intelligence, is a nebulous term, but OpenAI has its own definition: “highly autonomous systems that outperform humans at most economically valuable work.” OpenAI and Microsoft, the startup’s close collaborator and investor, also have a definition of AGI: AI systems that can generate at least $100 billion in profits. When OpenAI achieves […]
- Sam Altman's STUNNING Statement, "We're Working on Superintelligence" - Mattthew Berman, YouTubeThe OpenAI CEO Sam Altman recently posted a cryptic tweet and a blog post discussing the company's progress in artificial intelligence (AI). He believes that they have a clear path to achieving Artificial General Intelligence (AGI), which is the point where AI can perform any intellectual task that a human can. They are now shifting […]
- Indispensable Instructional Designers at Professional Schools - Patricia Baia, Faculty FocusIDs can bring transformative benefits to professional schools (programs offering terminal degrees for a specific profession) and support faculty in their endeavors to innovate and engage students. Professional schools, such as pharmacy, medical, dental, law, etc., should consider incorporating instructional designers into their academic teams to boost the quality of education and to help reshape […]
- December Brings Late Round of Job, Program Cuts - Josh Moody, Inside Higher EdAs 2024 drew to a close, some institutions announced job and academic program cuts, structural deficits, and other changes, with one even declaring financial exigency last month. Many of the colleges listed below cited the usual factors such as rising costs and declining enrollment. While many institutions facing budget issues have modest or minimal assets, […]
- Watch "Sam Altman's STUNNING New Statement "EVERYTHING is About to Change" - Wes Roth, YouTubeSam Altman shared a six-word story on Twitter: "Near the singularity, unclear which side." This statement encapsulates the uncertainty and excitement surrounding the rapid advancement of AI. It also alludes to the simulation hypothesis, suggesting that we may be approaching a point where we can determine if our reality is simulated. In a blog post […]
- How to be a better leader in 2025 - Arne Gast, McKinseyIf you want to step into 2025 as the leader you aspire to be, start by taking an honest look at your current approach. Are you prioritizing strategically? Are you maximizing your time and energy? Are you cultivating a resilient team? As McKinsey's Arne Gast writes, "Leaders who continually upgrade their personal operating model report […]
- The AI skills you’ll need for 2025: IBM SkillsBuild education forecast - IBMThis trend is common across industries. A new report from IBM reveals that 87% of executives expect jobs to be augmented rather than replaced by generative AI. As for the human element, the challenge today is that about half (47%) of executives say their people lack the knowledge and skills to effectively implement and scale […]
- Biden drops plan to ban flexible online learning for trade programs - Matt Lamb, the College FixPresident Joe Biden’s administration will no longer try to ban asynchronous learning for trade programs and career certificates. The Biden administration is wrapping up remaining regulations in the final several weeks before President Donald Trump returns to the White House. It recently announced that while the Department of Education will collect more information on distance […]
- UTSA Gives Details on College of AI, Cyber and Computing - Scott Huddleston, San Antonio Express-NewsSet to launch this fall, a new college at the University of Texas at San Antonio is expected to enroll more than 5,000 undergraduate and graduate students in programs driving workforce and economic development. The university recently released details of its new College of AI, Cyber and Computing. The new college is part of its […]
- 25 experts predict how AI will change business and life in 2025 - Mark Sullivan, Fast CompanyExpect to see the rise of AI agents and multimodal models, along with an end to “AI theater.” Expectations are high that AI will move beyond just generating text and images and morph into agents that can complete complex tasks on behalf of users. Here’s what 25 of them said. (The quotes have been edited […]
- Why more colleges are embracing AI offerings - Lilah Burke, Higher Ed DiveEver since the public release of ChatGPT in November 2022, artificial intelligence has dominated conversations related to higher education and the future of work in the U.S. Now, some colleges are investing significantly in AI-related programs, from specific degrees to integrating AI literacy into other disciplines. They are doing so for several reasons. Those include […]
- Your Facebook & Instagram feeds may soon be filled with AI bots in the future - Rafly Gilang, MS Power UserThe bots will have their own bios and profile pictures and will be able to create and share AI-generated content—just like real-life users—making sure it’s labeled “AI” of course, as Meta is on the C2PA Steering Committee. Meta first started talking about this in August, and although they haven’t given a timeframe for a full […]
- How could Project 2025 change education? - Jackie Mader, et al; Hechinger ReportThe document calls for prosecuting “all state and local governments, institutions of higher education, corporations, and any other private employers” that maintain affirmative action or DEI policies. That position matches the views expressed by Donald Trump and his running mate, Sen. J.D. Vance of Ohio, about the use of race in college admissions and beyond. […]
- What might happen if the Education Department were closed? - Jill Barshay, et al; Hechinger ReportThe mere specter of shuttering an agency that commands more than $200 billion has led parents, students, teachers, policy experts and politicians to wonder about (and in some cases plan for) the possible effects on their children and communities. Collectively, state and local governments spend far more on education than the federal government does. With […]
- Impact of Synchronous Online Learning on the Theoretical Training of New Pediatric Nurses: A Prospective Randomized Trial - Shaodan Qi, et al; CureusForty-five newly graduated pediatric nurses participated with 23 allocated to the control cohort and 22 allocated to the experimental cohort. The baseline characteristics revealed no statistically significant disparities between the two groups. The post-session 10-minute assessment (T2) revealed a slight, yet not statistically significant, advantage for the experimental group over the control group. However, in […]
- The end of in-person learning? Setting higher ed’s online goals for 2025 - Joe Ferraro, University BusinessHigher education is undergoing a profound transformation, with online learning shifting from a temporary solution during the pandemic to a core component of many institutions’ long-term strategies. Students today read less than 15% of their assigned materials—a concerning trend that demands a new approach to how learning content is delivered and consumed. This shift raises […]
Other Curated News:
News from UPCEA:
How and When Might the Great AI Job Replacement Take Place?
While there are isolated examples of wholesale layoffs among a few individual companies, the broad scale loss of jobs has not yet materialized. So far, the impact of Generative AI (GenAI) on the general workforce has been to enhance productivity rather than to reduce the…
Advocating for FAFSA Fixes and State Authorization Reciprocity | Policy Matters (May 2024)
Major Updates UPCEA Co-Signs Request to Congress on FAFSA Fix Proposal In a letter led by the American Council on Education (ACE), UPCEA joined with other organizations to seek legislation for crucial adjustments to the FAFSA process to enhance its efficiency and fairness. Key proposals…
From Degrees to Microcredentials: Higher Education Must Evolve to Embrace the Modern Economy
America’s appetite for four-year, 120-credit bachelor’s degrees has been declining for well over a decade. In addition, the National Student Clearinghouse recently released a report showing that undergraduate degree completion fell yet again. Bachelor’s degree graduates declined to their lowest level since 2015-16, with Associate’s degree graduates at their lowest level in…
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