Online: Trending Now
Unique biweekly insights and news review from Ray Schroeder, Senior Fellow at UPCEA.
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…
It’s Time for Open Educational Resources
Learning before the 21st century was mostly about accessing and retaining theories, facts and figures; now it is mostly about applying theories, facts and figures in creative and critical ways to solve problems and advance society. Increasingly, higher education is less about memorization and more about problem solving. In years gone by, access to facts…
From Badging to Blockchain: Documenting Skills Learned
Employers are seeking graduates with both hard and soft skills that enable them to be effective employees on day one. Are we documenting those skills for our grads? Increasingly, higher education is placed in the position of updating and upgrading the curriculum to assure that students are prepared for the careers of today — not…
Our New Digital Colleagues and Friends
There is an intriguing anthropomorphic trend underway to apply human attributes and attitudes to artificial intelligence-driven chat bots and assorted personal assistant tools. This is not unique in the history of humans. We tend to assign human attributes and names to tools and conveyances. We all have known over the years individuals who given their…
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.