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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- Should online educational platforms offer courses following a schedule or release them on demand? - Marilyn Stone, Phys.orgResearchers from Carnegie Mellon University and University of Pennsylvania have published a new Journal of Marketing study that examines online educational platforms and the question of whether they should release content through a scheduled format that resembles a traditional university course or use an on-demand release strategy. The study is titled "More Likely to Pay […]
- Policies promoting digital education credentials - Sopiko Beriashvili & Michael Trucano, BrookingsPolicymakers, organizations, and practitioners around the world that are attempting to implement digital credentials and LERs at scale have identified three common challenges. Countries do not often consider employers as key stakeholders in the process of developing and implementing policies surrounding digital credentials and LERs. It is often unclear how digital credential and LER programs […]
- No-Code RAG and the Generative AI Knowledge Revolution - BRET KINSELLA, SynthediaRetrieval augmented generation (RAG) is probably the most referenced acronym in generative AI, aside from LLM. The reason for this is simple. RAG makes LLM-enabled knowledge assistants more accurate by grounding them in a specific dataset. Generative AI is a knowledge assistance revolution. It is unlocking access to information in our vast stores of text […]
- Wells College to close at the end of the spring term - Laura Spitalniak, Higher Ed DiveWells College, in New York, announced Monday that it will close at the end of the spring term. The private nonprofit institution said it has faced prolonged financial distress that it was unable to address through fundraising or other measures. Wells also cited demographic challenges, the pandemic, inflation and “an overall negative sentiment towards higher […]
- DeepMind researchers discover impressive learning capabilities in long-context LLMs - Ben Dickson, Venture BeatIn a few years, large language models (LLMs) have gone from handling a few hundred words of input to several books’ worth of content at the same time. These expanded input capacities, also referred to as the “context window,” are enabling new applications and use cases that were previously impossible without extensive engineering efforts. A […]
- AI has taken over education technology. What will come next? - Pavithra Mohan, Fast CompanyFor a time, online learning platforms were ascendant, meeting the moment when workplaces and schools alike went remote (and later, hybrid). With the public debut of ChatGPT in 2022, edtech companies—such as edX, which was one of the first online learning giants to launch a ChatGPT plugin—jumped at the opportunity to integrate generative AI into […]
- 11 Online Learning Trends to Know Now - Sarah Wood, US NewsWhile hastily planned remote instruction differs from fully planned online college programs, education experts say recent cultural shifts and a desire for flexibility accelerated the growth of online learning. Colleges are now poised to offer more choices in distance learning, but it takes time, expertise and resources to develop quality online degree programs, says Lisa […]
- OpenAI is rumored to be dropping GPT-5 soon — here's what we know about the next-gen model - Ryan Morrison, Tom's GuideChat GPT-5 is very likely going to be multimodal, meaning it can take input from more than just text but to what extent is unclear. Google’s Gemini 1.5 models can understand text, image, video, speech, code, spatial information and even music. GPT-5 is likely to have similar capabilities. One of the biggest changes we might […]
- The best free AI courses (and whether AI 'micro-degrees' and certificates are worth it) - David Gewirtz, ZDnetSo, do certificates have any value? Yes, but how much value they have depends on your prospective employer's perspective. A certificate says you completed some course of study successfully. That might be something of value to you, as well. You can set a goal to learn a topic, and if you get a credential, you […]
- Confronting the ethical issues of human-like AI - James Thomason, Venture BeatAs AI output quickly becomes indistinguishable from human behavior, are we prepared to handle the ethical and legal fallout? The practice of designing AI to intentionally mimic human traits, or “pseudoanthropy”, is raising urgent questions about the responsible use of these technologies. Key among these are questions of transparency, trust and the potential for unintended […]
- More than half of U.S. has tried generative AI according to Adobe Analytics - Carl Franzen, Venture BeatJust how far has generative AI — the latest tech trend from Silicon Valley, which rocketed to prominence with the November 2022 release of ChatGPT by OpenAI — permeated the mainstream? In the U.S., around 53 percent of people have tried it, according to a new survey of 3,000 participants from Adobe Analytics. By and […]
- Llama 3 launches alongside new stand-alone Meta AI chatbot - Carl Franzen, Venture BeatIt’s been anticipated for a while now, but today it’s finally here: Llama 3, the latest large language model (LLM) from Meta Platforms, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, Threads, Oculus VR and more, is making its debut with claims of being among the most powerful “open source” AI models yet released. The release […]
- What’s the world without innovation? - McKinseyInnovation is the lifeblood of progress and the driving force behind the advancement of sustainable development goals. In a business context, it’s the ability to conceive, develop, deliver, and scale new products, services, processes, and business models. Innovation can create value, enhance productivity, and foster competitiveness. The potential of innovation fuels hope. But all too […]
- Application of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) in language teaching and learning: A scoping literature review - Locky Law, Science DirectThe results of this scoping review highlight several implications and future directions for research and practice. Firstly, there is a clear need for more empirical studies to provide a comprehensive understanding of the short and long-term effectiveness and impact of GenAI tools. This includes exploring both text-based and multimodal-based tools and their specific applications in […]
- AI ‘blind spots’ the biggest threat to universities - John Ross, Times Higher EdNevertheless, universities could not afford to ignore AI because it was revolutionising many of the disciplines they taught, from medicine to information technology. Students denied insights into these changes faced a “complete mismatch” between their subject knowledge and workplace realities after they graduated. “Regulatory, technological, pedagogical, societal – you need to be aware of it […]
- If AI takes over more work of college graduates, where does that leave higher ed? - Ben Unglesbee, Inside Higher EdWith massive increases in computing power and data storage, AI can perform some of the same tasks through the blunt forces of processing and analysis that higher ed has traditionally helped to hone in humans. “So a whole realm of activity that, until very recently, we thought was out of reach of these technologies turns […]
- Keeping qualifications relevant in an ever-changing world - Kevin Ebenezer, University World NewsThe world in 2044 will be very different to that in 2024. As educators, we must do our best to equip students to be ready for this new world. In the face of such transformation, a significant challenge for international qualification providers like Cambridge is recognition: ensuring that we develop the kinds of qualifications universities […]
- Steady progress in approaching the quantum advantage - McKinsey DigitalQuantum technology could create value worth trillions of dollars within the next decade. The third annual Quantum Technology Monitor synthesizes the latest opportunities in this burgeoning field. A year of strong funding coupled with sturdy underlying fundamentals and significant technological advances reflected strong momentum in quantum technology (QT). Updated McKinsey analysis for the third annual […]
- How to be a better leader in the age of AI - Fran Maxwell, Fast CompanyA recent paper written by professors from Princeton University, the University of Pennsylvania, and New York University has determined that the vast majority of jobs will be impacted by artificial intelligence. Our research suggests that talent management strategies of the past will not adequately serve organizations in 2024, a year that will bring a new […]
- Integrating AIGC into product design ideation teaching: An empirical study on self-efficacy and learning outcomes - Kuo-Liang Huang, et al; Science DirectThe emergence of artificial intelligence-generated content (AIGC) in the realm of education, notably in product design, signifies a watershed moment, heralding significant enhancements over conventional pedagogies by potentially catalyzing unparalleled innovation. This investigation assesses the ramifications of assimilating AIGC into product design instruction, focusing on its advantages, constraints, and consequent influence on students’ design cognition […]
News from UPCEA:
Why Do Students Leave College Before Finishing? New Study Looks at Common Scenarios. (EdSurge)
When a student stops out of college before getting a degree, the college should act fast if it wants to get them back. That’s because there’s a correlation between how long a student has been disengaged and the likelihood that they’ll return. “As soon as…
[…] For college administrators, reenrolling students starts with acknowledging that students are stopping out in the first place, said Jim Fong, founding director of UPCEA’s Center for Research and Strategy. “Colleges often don’t want to admit how many students leave school before graduating,” Fong said….
2021 UPCEA MEMS Award Recipients Announced
11 Recipients Chosen For Three Award Categories WASHINGTON, D.C., December 2, 2021 — UPCEA, the leader in professional, continuing, and online education, has announced the recipients of the 2021 Crisis Management Marketing Award, 2021 Excellence in Enrollment Management Award, and the new Excellence in Diversity,…
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