Online: Trending Now

Unique biweekly insights and news review from Ray Schroeder, Senior Fellow at UPCEA.

Quantum Computing Is Poised to Change Everything

October 17, 2019

I recall the advent of the ILLIAC computer, ARPANET (that grew into the internet), the personal computer, the mobile phone, the smartphone, and other advancements in technology that have had such a huge impact on our society. Yet these are mere drops in the ocean compared to the impact we will see from the advent…

The Impact of “At-Scale” and Mega-U Degrees

October 4, 2019

The landscape of online higher education is changing with the growth of mega-universities and the advent of scores of MOOC-sized at-scale degree programs from prestigious universities. Mid and small sized regional universities are seeing the some of the largest declines in enrollments. In assessing the cause of this disproportionate decline I believe, not enough consideration is…

Adaptive Learning to Personalized Learning

September 9, 2019

Nowhere is artificial intelligence more prominent or controversial in education than in personalized learning. Computer driven adaptive learning has been around for decades; in its most basic form it is simply the computer program branching the learning path based upon responses the student makes. Some learners may be best served by materials delivered in a…

Affective Artificial Intelligence: Better Understanding and Responding to Students

August 26, 2019

Artificial intelligence is recognizing and responding to human emotions, oftentimes better than many humans. As a long-time professor of communication, I am fascinated with the cognitive characteristics of artificial intelligence as they relate to human communication. Image processing, computer vision, speech recognition, and pattern recognition are parts of the sophisticated processes in artificial intelligence communicating with…

Visioning Your Unit’s Future

August 16, 2019

Visioning is an essential, active process, requiring daily attention. We have both the good fortune and bothersome misfortune to live in a time of rapid change in online higher education. Technologies, pedagogies, practices and competition are in flux. Choosing among the options is a critical task of the online learning administrator. The stakes are very…

Leading Faculty Support in Online Learning

July 26, 2019

These might seem to be a rare combination of qualities, but I have seen them come together time and again in the successful leaders and their operations at colleges and universities across the country. I write often about the changing technologies and trends, but today I want to address the special qualities of successful leadership in…

A man (Ray Schroeder) is dressed in a suit with a blue tie and wearing glasses.

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.