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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- Duolingo CEO says AI is a better teacher than humans—but schools will still exist ‘because you still need childcare’ - Irina Ivanova, FortuneNow the company has much broader ambitions. With a community of 116 million users a month, Duolingo has amassed loads of data about how people learn, accumulating tricks to keep learners engaged over the long term and even know how well a student will score on a test before they take it. According to founder […]
- Why you shouldn’t say ‘please’ to ChatGPT - Ritesh Chugh, ACS Information AgeOpenAI CEO Sam Altman recently revealed that including polite phrases when prompting AI systems costs the company tens of millions of dollars in additional electricity expenses. Every word we type is processed as part of a "token" — a unit of data that the AI system must analyse and respond to. The more tokens used, […]
- From debt to dollars: Gen Z shifts from college loans to skilled trades - Salt Lake City TribuneAs the class of 2025 prepares for the leap into life after high school, Penelope Masotti, a high school senior, is charting a less traditional course. With a passion for cosmetology and a pragmatic view of the future, she is opting for trade school, joining a growing wave of Gen Z students redefining what higher […]
- The upskilling imperative: Required at scale for the future of work - McKinzieAmid overall uncertainty, including about the future that AI will bring, two things are clear. One, jobs and occupations will change as new technologies are used to handle and support more tasks. The transition to AI is already underway, according to the results of the latest McKinsey American Opportunity Survey (AOS) in which roughly 20 […]
- Google Unveils A.I. Chatbot, Signaling a New Era for Search - Tripp Mickle, NY TimesGoogle became the gateway to the internet by perfecting its search engine. For two decades, it surfaced 10 blue links that gave people access to the information they were looking for. But after a quarter century, the tech giant is betting that the future of search will be artificial intelligence. On Tuesday, Google said it […]
- OpenAI taps iPhone designer Jony Ive to develop AI devices - Cecily Mauran, MashableAltman also shared that he has a prototype of what Ive and his team have developed, calling it the "coolest piece of technology the world has ever seen." As far back as 2023, there were reports of OpenAI teaming up with Ive for some kind of AI-first device. Altman and Ive's bromance formed over ideas […]
- Google’s AI Boss Says Gemini’s New Abilities Point the Way to AGI - Will Knight, WiredDemis Hassabis, CEO of Google DeepMind, says that reaching artificial general intelligence or AGI—a fuzzy term typically used to describe machines with human-like cleverness—will mean honing some of the nascent abilities found in Google’s flagship Gemini models. Google announced a slew of AI upgrades and new products at its annual I/O event today in Mountain […]
- At Khan Academy, AI Is Changing the Lesson Plan - Angie Basiouny, Knowledge at WhartonKhan spoke during the debut episode of Creative Intelligence, a podcast series hosted by Wharton marketing professor Kartik Hosanagar, who is also co-director of Wharton Human-AI Research. (Listen to the episode here.) The podcast covers the future of human creativity, the impact of AI on work, and maximizing human potential in the age of AI. […]
- Maryland regents allow furloughs and salary cuts for public universities - Ben Unglesbee, Higher Ed DiveColleges within the University System of Maryland can consider employee furloughs and temporary salary reductions to manage budget shortfalls following unanimous approval of a resolution by the system’s board of regents Monday. Under the resolution, any furloughs or salary reductions planned for fiscal 2026 must generate enough savings to contribute “meaningfully to the institution’s financial […]
- 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 […]
Other Curated News:
News from UPCEA:
The Job – Open Tabs: Noncredit Microcredentials (Work Shift)
“While colleges are increasingly interested in alternative credentials, higher education lacks consistent processes for developing and pricing noncredit, short-term credentials, according to UPCEA. The group’s new playbook for accelerating growth in the space includes case studies on the development of noncredit microcredentials by 10 universities, which represent a…
UPCEA Announces 2024 Diversity in Leadership Scholars
UPCEA is pleased to announce the 2024 cohort of Bethaida “Bea” González Diversity in Leadership Scholars. Representative and diverse leadership is a cornerstone of UPCEA’s Commitment to Diversity and Inclusive Excellence. The goal of the Diversity Scholars program is to equip diverse professionals at any…
AI in a Lingering Age of Loneliness Among Students
The COVID-19 Pandemic brought about greater awareness of an even larger epidemic, one of loneliness in America. In higher education, it is incumbent on us to help our learners with overcoming the pain and other ill-effects of this condition. The World Health Organization has staggering…
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