Online: Trending Now
Unique biweekly insights and news review from Ray Schroeder, Senior Fellow at UPCEA.
Academic Cheating: Are We Asking the Right Questions?
In recent months we have frequently seen reports of cheating among students at colleges, universities and even military academies. Is this entirely the fault of students or are faculty contributing to the problem by emphasizing rote memory of facts, figures and formulas? The popular press seems to attribute an apparent rise in academic cheating to…
OER and Teaching Through the Rearview Mirror
Course content is a sacred compact between the instructor and the learner. Truth, relevancy and currency are among the key components of that agreement. In this 21st century, technologies are changing the landscape of industry and society at a rate not previously documented. Are our courses keeping up? I recall teaching communication technology classes in…
Rising Threat of Ransomware and Other Malware
The major threats to operations in higher education in past years were funding shortfalls, natural disasters and dropping enrollments. Now, criminal cyberactivity has risen to a top concern. This is a red-alert crisis for all of us: students, faculty, staff and institutions as a whole. The rising extortion of money from government and business entities…
Networking Gets Graduates and Certificate Completers Hired
There is an appropriate emphasis on relevant knowledge and skill development for degree and certificate students — that’s what gets employees retained and promoted. Professional contacts and networking are often what get them hired. It was Jerod Kintz who wrote, “It’s not who you know that matters — it’s who knows you that’s important. Personal branding…
A Second Demographic Cliff Adds to Urgency for Change
The demographic cliff we have been anticipating since the drop in births with the 2008 recession now has a younger sibling — the COVID-19 cliff is coming with another deep drop in recent births. One of the most common annual refrains I have heard in my decades on the faculty and in administration in higher…
What Ed Tech Could Be Today’s Antikythera Mechanism?
The Antikythera mechanism is an astounding device dating to antiquity. It has been hailed as the first mechanical computer, but more precisely it is an educational device. Let me begin by admitting my lifelong inability to sleep through the night. And, while I am at it, I may as well admit that for the past…
Ray Schroeder is Professor Emeritus, Associate Vice Chancellor for Online Learning at the University of Illinois Springfield (UIS) and Senior Fellow at UPCEA. Each year, Ray publishes and presents nationally on emerging topics in online and technology-enhanced learning. Ray’s social media publications daily reach more than 12,000 professionals. He is the inaugural recipient of the A. Frank Mayadas Online Leadership Award, recipient of the University of Illinois Distinguished Service Award, the United States Distance Learning Association Hall of Fame Award, and the American Journal of Distance Education/University of Wisconsin Wedemeyer Excellence in Distance Education Award 2016.