strategy

How Do You Build a Learner-Centered Ecosystem? — from gettingsmart.com by Bobbi Macdonald and Alin Bennett

Key Points

It’s not just about redesigning public education—it’s about rethinking how, where and with whom learning happens. Communities across the United States are shaping learner-centered ecosystems and gathering insights along the way.
What does it take to build a learner-centered ecosystem? A shared vision. Distributed leadership. Place-based experiences. Repurposed resources. And more. This piece unpacks 10 real-world insights from pilots in action.
.

We believe the path forward is through the cultivation of learner-centered ecosystems — adaptive, networked structures that offer a transformed way of organizing, supporting, and credentialing community-wide learning. These ecosystems break down barriers between schools, communities, and industries, creating flexible, real-world learning experiences that tap into the full range of opportunities a community has to offer.

Last year, we announced our Learner-Centered Ecosystem Lab, a collaborative effort to create a community of practice consisting of twelve diverse sites across the country — from the streets of Brooklyn to the mountains of Ojai — that are demonstrating or piloting ecosystemic approaches. Since then, we’ve been gathering together, learning from one another, and facing the challenges and opportunities of trying to transform public education. And while there is still much more work to be done, we’ve begun to observe a deeper pattern language — one that aligns with our ten-point Ecosystem Readiness Framework, and one that, we hope, can help all communities start to think more practically and creatively about how to transform their own systems of learning.

So while it’s still early, we suspect that the way to establish a healthy learner-centered ecosystem is by paying close attention to the following ten conditions:

The 2025 Global Skills Report [Coursera]

On 06/04/2025, in Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, Asia, business, career development, colleges, community colleges, competency-based learning/education, corporate / business world, credentialing, curriculum, emerging technologies, Europe, expectations, faculty/staff, future, game-changing environment, higher education, human-computer interaction (HCI), innovation, instructional design, intelligent systems, IT in HE, learning ecosystem, legislatures / government / legal, microlearning, real-world assignments, society, staying relevant, strategy, student-related, teaching & learning, training / L&D, trends, United States, universities, vendors, workplace, by Daniel Christian

The 2025 Global Skills Report— from coursera.org
Discover in-demand skills and credentials trends across 100+ countries and six regions to deliver impactful industry-aligned learning programs.

GenAI adoption fuels global skill demands
In 2023, early adopters flocked to GenAI, with approximately one person per minute enrolling in a GenAI course on Coursera —a rate that rose to eight per minute in 2024. Since then, GenAI has continued to see exceptional growth, with global enrollment in GenAI courses surging 195% year-over-year—maintaining its position as one of the most rapidly growing skill domains on our platform. To date, Coursera has recorded over 8 million GenAI enrollments, with 12 learners per minute signing up for GenAI content in 2025 across our catalog of nearly 700 GenAI courses.

Driving this surge, 94% of employers say they’re likely to hire candidates with GenAI credentials, while 75% prefer hiring less-experienced candidates with GenAI skills over more experienced ones without these capabilities.8 Demand for roles such as AI and Machine Learning Specialists is projected to grow by up to 40% in the next four years.9 Mastering AI fundamentals—from prompt engineering to large language model (LLM) applications—is essential to remaining competitive in today’s rapidly evolving economy.

Countries leading our new AI Maturity Index— which highlights regions best equipped to harness AI innovation and translate skills into real-world applications—include global frontrunners such as Singapore, Switzerland, and the United States.

Insights in action

Businesses
Integrate role-specific GenAI modules into employee development programs, enabling teams to leverage AI for efficiency and innovation.

Governments
Scale GenAI literacy initiatives—especially in emerging economies—to address talent shortages and foster human-machine capabilities needed to future-proof digital jobs.

Higher education
Embed credit-eligible GenAI learning into curricula, ensuring graduates enter the workforce job-ready.

Learners
Focus on GenAI courses offering real-world projects (e.g., prompt engineering) that help build skills for in-demand roles.

Boys Are Struggling in School. What Can Be Done? — from edweek.org by Rick Hess
Scholar Richard Reeves says it’s time to take a hard look at gender equity

Rick: What kinds of strategies do you think would help?

Richard: In education, we should expand the use of male-friendly teaching methods, such as more hands-on and active learning approaches. We should also consider redshirting boys—starting them in school a year later—to account for developmental differences between boys and girls. We should also introduce more male mentors and role models in schools, particularly in elementary education, where male teachers are scarce. In the workforce, apprenticeship and vocational training programs need to be expanded to create pathways into stable employment for young men who may not pursue a four-year degree. Career counseling should also emphasize diverse pathways to ensure that boys who may not thrive in a traditional academic setting still have opportunities for success. Additionally, fatherhood policies should recognize the importance of male engagement in family life, supporting fathers in their role as caregivers and providers.

While on the topic of K12 education, also see:

How Electives Help All Students Succeed — from edutopia.org by Miriam Plotinsky
Giving students a choice of electives increases engagement and allows them to develop skills outside of core academic subjects.

I recently conducted a student focus group on the topic of school attendance. One of the participants, a high school junior who admitted to being frequently late or absent, explained why she still came to school: “I never want to miss Drama. My teacher is awesome. Her class is the reason I show up every day.” As the rest of the focus group chimed in with similar thoughts, I reflected on the power that elective courses hold for students of all ages.

These courses, from jazz band to yoga, cement students’ sense of self not just in their primary and secondary years, but also in their journey toward adulthood. In these tight economic times, schools or districts often slash electives to save money on staffing, which is highly detrimental to student success. Instead, not only should budget cuts be made elsewhere, but also elective offerings should increase to heighten student choice and well-being.

Learners need: More voice. More choice. More control. -- this image was created by Daniel Christian

The Public Microschool Playbook [GettingSmart.com]

On 05/18/2025, in education, education reform, experimentation, ideas, innovation, instructional design, K-12 related, leadership, learning ecosystem, Learning Experience Design, learning hubs & pods & microschooling, project-based learning, real-world assignments, strategy, teachers, United States, vocational / trades, by Daniel Christian

The Public Microschool Playbook — from gettingsmart.com

School systems today face a complex challenge: how to personalize learning while responding to the rapidly shifting needs of students, families, and communities. Enter the Public Microschool Playbook—a new, field-tested resource co-created by Getting Smart, Learner-Centered Collaborative, and Transcend to help public education leaders reimagine learning from the ground up.

This isn’t just about launching new schools. It’s about designing dynamic, student-centered ecosystems that live inside our public systems and reflect the aspirations of the communities they serve. With an intentional focus on access and opportunity, microschools offer more than just flexibility—they offer a path to more relevant, sustainable, and empowering learning for all.

Grounded in three key phases—Planning, Designing, and Implementing—the Playbook equips district leaders, charter networks, and innovators with real-world tools and insights to launch microschools that meet local needs and drive systemic transformation. From policy navigation and budgeting to learner-centered design elements like advisory, PBL, and multi-age cohorts, this guide is a blueprint for creating purpose-built environments that make learning personal and powerful.

Also from Getting Smart, see:

The Reboot of Readiness: It’s Time to Take Action in Renovating CTE from the Ground Up — from gettingsmart.com by Adam Kulaas

Key points:

CTE programs need to move beyond traditional frameworks and adopt the Career Clusters Framework to better prepare students for real-world opportunities.
It’s crucial to integrate career readiness into the entire educational experience, making it an intentional and structured pathway from early education through high school.

Rethinking Accreditation for Emerging Models [Raphael Gang]

On 05/18/2025, in accreditation, education, education reform, ideas, innovation, K-12 related, leadership, strategy, student-related, teachers, youth, by Daniel Christian

Rethinking Accreditation for Emerging Models — from permissionlessed.substack.com by Raphael Gang

What’s Next: Middle States’ Next Generation Accreditation
Inspired by the Iowa project, we teamed up with the Middle States Association (MSA)—a national accreditor that shared our belief that the process had become more of a hurdle than a help.

Together with partners like the National Microschooling Center, Kaipod, and Getting Smart, we’ve built something new: Next Generation Accreditation (NGA)—a faster, more flexible, more affordable process that respects school founders’ time, budgets, and models.

Flexible evidence: Schools can demonstrate quality in ways that fit their model.
More relevant standards: Built for founders, not bureaucrats.
Affordable: Annual dues of $650–$775 and a flat $500 site visit fee—no upsells or hidden costs.
Narrative-driven: Focused on how schools serve families and students, not just ticking boxes.
Fast: We’re piloting this in 2025, aiming to accredit schools in time for ESA eligibility for the 2026–27 school year.

DC: I’m not necessarily recommending this, but the next two items point out how the use of agents continues to move forward:

The Future is Here: Visa Announces New Era of Commerce Featuring AI

Global leader brings its trusted brand and powerful network to enable payments with new technologies
Launches new innovations and partnerships to drive flexibility, security and acceptance

SAN FRANCISCO–(BUSINESS WIRE)–The future of commerce is on display at the Visa Global Product Drop with powerful AI-enabled advancements allowing consumers to find and buy with AI plus the introduction of new strategic partnerships and product innovations.

Also related/see:

Find and Buy with AI: Visa Unveils New Era of Commerce — from businesswire.com

Collaborates with Anthropic, IBM, Microsoft, Mistral AI, OpenAI, Perplexity, Samsung, Stripe and more
Will make shopping experiences more personal, more secure and more convenient as they become powered by AI

Introduced [on April 30th] at the Visa Global Product Drop, Visa Intelligent Commerce enables AI to find and buy. It is a groundbreaking new initiative that opens Visa’s payment network to the developers and engineers building the foundational AI agents transforming commerce.

AI agents are the new buyers. How can you market to them? — from aiwithallie.beehiiv.com by Allie Miller
You’re optimizing for people. But the next buyers are bots.

In today’s newsletter, I’m unpacking why your next major buyers won’t be people at all. They’ll be AI agents, and your brand might already be invisible to them. We’ll dig into why traditional marketing strategies are breaking down in the age of autonomous AI shoppers, what “AI optimization” (AIO) really means, and the practical steps you can take right now to make sure your business stays visible and competitive as the new digital gatekeepers take over more digital tasks.

AI platforms and AI agents—the digital assistants that browse and actually do things powered by models like GPT-4o, Claude 3.7 Sonnet, and Gemini 2.5 Pro—are increasingly becoming the gatekeepers between your business and potential customers.
…
“AI is the new front door to your business for millions of consumers.”

The 40-Point (ish) AI Agent Marketing Playbook
Here’s the longer list. I went ahead and broke these into four categories so you can more easily assign owners: Content, Structure & Design, Technical & Dev, and AI Strategy & Testing. I look forward to seeing how this space, and by extension my advice, changes in the coming months.

Microsoft CEO says up to 30% of the company’s code was written by AI — from techcrunch.com by Maxwell Zeff

During a fireside chat with Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg at Meta’s LlamaCon conference on Tuesday, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said that 20% to 30% of code inside the company’s repositories was “written by software” — meaning AI.

The Top 100Gen AI Consumer Apps — from a16z.com

In just six months, the consumer AI landscape has been redrawn. Some products surged, others stalled, and a few unexpected players rewrote the leaderboard overnight. Deepseek rocketed from obscurity to a leading ChatGPT challenger. AI video models advanced from experimental to fairly dependable (at least for short clips!). And so-called “vibe coding” is changing who can create with AI, not just who can use it. The competition is tighter, the stakes are higher, and the winners aren’t just launching, they’re sticking.

We turned to the data to answer: Which AI apps are people actively using? What’s actually making money, beyond being popular? And which tools are moving beyond curiosity-driven dabbling to become daily staples?

This is the fourth installment of the Top 100 Gen AI Consumer Apps, our bi-annual ranking of the top 50 AI-first web products (by unique monthly visits, per Similarweb) and top 50 AI-first mobile apps (by monthly active users, per Sensor Tower). Since our last report in August 2024, 17 new companies have entered the rankings of top AI-first web products.

Deep Research with AI: 9 Ways to Get Started — from wondertools.substack.com by Jeremy Caplan
Practical strategies for thorough, citation-rich AI research

The AI search landscape is transforming at breakneck speed. New “Deep Research” tools from ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity autonomously search and gather information from dozens — even hundreds — of sites, then analyze and synthesize it to produce comprehensive reports. While a human might take days or weeks to produce these 30-page citation-backed reports, AI Deep Research reports are ready in minutes.

What’s in this post

- Examples of each report type I generated for my research, so you can form your own impressions.
- Tips on why & how to use Deep Research and how to craft effective queries.
- Comparison of key features and strengths/limitations of the top platforms

AI Agents Are Here—So Are the Threats: Unit 42 Unveils the Top 10 AI Agent Security Risks — from marktechpost.com

As AI agents transition from experimental systems to production-scale applications, their growing autonomy introduces novel security challenges. In a comprehensive new report, “AI Agents Are Here. So Are the Threats,” Palo Alto Networks’ Unit 42 reveals how today’s agentic architectures—despite their innovation—are vulnerable to a wide range of attacks, most of which stem not from the frameworks themselves, but from the way agents are designed, deployed, and connected to external tools.

To evaluate the breadth of these risks, Unit 42 researchers constructed two functionally identical AI agents—one built using CrewAI and the other with AutoGen. Despite architectural differences, both systems exhibited the same vulnerabilities, confirming that the underlying issues are not framework-specific. Instead, the threats arise from misconfigurations, insecure prompt design, and insufficiently hardened tool integrations—issues that transcend implementation choices.

LLMs Can Learn Complex Math from Just One Example: Researchers from University of Washington, Microsoft, and USC Unlock the Power of 1-Shot Reinforcement Learning with Verifiable Reward — from marktechpost.com by Sana Hassan

2025 EDUCAUSE Teaching and Learning Workforce in Higher Education

On 05/02/2025, in adjunct faculty, business side of he, career development, colleges, community colleges, education technology, experimentation, faculty/staff, higher education, IT in HE, leadership, learning ecosystem, strategy, teaching & learning, United States, universities, workplace, by Daniel Christian

2025 EDUCAUSE Teaching and Learning Workforce in Higher Education — from library.educause.edu

This report is the first in a series that examines three distinct workforce domains in higher education in 2025 (teaching and learning, cybersecurity and privacy, and IT leadership) to determine the priorities and challenges facing the profession. The findings in this report, taken from a survey of teaching and learning professionals in higher education, highlight their perspectives on a range of topics:

Flexible work arrangements
Integration of technologies
Workload and staffing
Job satisfaction and transition/succession planning
Mental health and well-being
Culture of belonging
Professional development

Some teaching tips for K-12 teachers — from edutopia.org

On 05/01/2025, in education, ideas, instructional design, K-12 related, leadership, learning, learning ecosystem, Learning Experience Design, pedagogy, productivity / tips and tricks, professional development, strategy, teachers, United States, youth, by Daniel Christian

Encouraging Students’ Curiosity With Animal Observations — from edutopia.org by Shelby Guthrie
Watching animals—either outdoors or via an online live cam—is an engaging way for students to build their critical thinking skills.

A moment of stillness can spark a lifetime of curiosity. Watching animals—whether it’s a bird outside or a zoo cam online—helps learners slow down, notice patterns, and ask questions. Structured observation builds patience, critical thinking, and a stronger connection to nature.

More than just engaging, these small moments contribute to bigger ideas—like understanding ecosystems, animal behavior, and the ever-changing world. Observation teaches learners to care, question, and conserve. These skills are foundational not only for scientific thinking but also for fostering empathy and awareness. When students observe closely, they begin to notice patterns, ask better questions, and connect deeply with the natural world. This kind of curiosity-driven learning empowers them to take informed action, whether that means advocating for a local habitat, participating in citizen science, or simply seeing their environment through a more thoughtful lens.

3 Ways to Help Students Build Attention Stamina — from edutopia.org by Donna Phillips
These simple tools and strategies can improve focus in the classroom.

I set out to create some helpful tools and strategies for my students, who have diverse learning profiles, including processing delays, anxiety, attention challenges, and autism. I knew going in that whatever I came up with needed to be flexible. The goal was never perfection; it was access and agency.

What’s resulted are three classroom strategies that don’t feel like extra work for students. Instead, they help students own their attention. I named the strategies “The Listening Gym,” “The Noise Diet,” and “Focus GPS.”

Keeping Students Engaged During Long Class Periods — from edutopia.org by Maggie Espinola
By chunking class time using gradual release of responsibility, teachers can vary their teaching strategies to help students maintain focus.

For a new teacher, figuring out how to manage a long class period can feel particularly daunting. In order to maximize the attention of your students during longer class periods, consider the following tips.

Creating a Student Leadership Program — from edutopia.org by Danica Derksen
These strategies for building leadership skills can be implemented as an elective or by creating other opportunities for students.

Running an effective student leadership program takes structure and vision from all levels of a school. When we create opportunities for students to lead, we are building competencies that they will take with them for the rest of their lives.

I currently co-teach a middle school student leadership elective each semester. I am passionate about teaching my students to lead by example, find solutions to problems, and make their school a place where all students know they belong. Here are four ideas to create a strong student leadership program or other student leadership opportunities.

2025: The Year the Frontier Firm Is Born — from Microsoft

We are entering a new reality—one in which AI can reason and solve problems in remarkable ways. This intelligence on tap will rewrite the rules of business and transform knowledge work as we know it. Organizations today must navigate the challenge of preparing for an AI-enhanced future, where AI agents will gain increasing levels of capability over time that humans will need to harness as they redesign their business. Human ambition, creativity, and ingenuity will continue to create new economic value and opportunity as we redefine work and workflows.

As a result, a new organizational blueprint is emerging, one that blends machine intelligence with human judgment, building systems that are AI-operated but human-led. Like the Industrial Revolution and the internet era, this transformation will take decades to reach its full promise and involve broad technological, societal, and economic change.

To help leaders understand how knowledge work will evolve, Microsoft analyzed survey data from 31,000 workers across 31 countries, LinkedIn labor market trends, and trillions of Microsoft 365 productivity signals. We also spoke with AI-native startups, academics, economists, scientists, and thought leaders to explore what work could become. The data and insights point to the emergence of an entirely new organization, a Frontier Firm that looks markedly different from those we know today. Structured around on-demand intelligence and powered by “hybrid” teams of humans + agents, these companies scale rapidly, operate with agility, and generate value faster.

Frontier Firms are already taking shape, and within the next 2–5 years we expect that every organization will be on their journey to becoming one. 82% of leaders say this is a pivotal year to rethink key aspects of strategy and operations, and 81% say they expect agents to be moderately or extensively integrated into their company’s AI strategy in the next 12–18 months. Adoption is accelerating: 24% of leaders say their companies have already deployed AI organization-wide, while just 12% remain in pilot mode.

The time to act is now. The question for every leader and employee is: how will you adapt?

On a somewhat related note, also see:

Exclusive: Anthropic warns fully AI employees are a year away — from axios.com by Sam Sabin

Anthropic expects AI-powered virtual employees to begin roaming corporate networks in the next year, the company’s top security leader told Axios in an interview this week.

Why it matters: Managing those AI identities will require companies to reassess their cybersecurity strategies or risk exposing their networks to major security breaches.

The big picture: Virtual employees could be the next AI innovation hotbed, Jason Clinton, the company’s chief information security officer, told Axios.

Higher Ed Institutions Rely Less on OPMs While Increasingly Hiring Fee-For-Service Models — from iblnews.org

A market report from Validated Insights released this month notes that fewer colleges and universities hire external online program management (OPM) companies to develop their courses.

For 2024, higher education institutions launched only 81 new partnerships with OPMs — a drop of 42% and the lowest number since 2016.

The report showed that institutions increasingly pay OPMs a fee-for-service instead of following a revenue-sharing model with big service bundles and profit splits.

Experts say revenue-sharing models, which critics denounce as predatory arrangements, incentivize service providers to use aggressive recruiting tactics to increase enrollments and maximize tuition revenue.

According to the report, fee-for-service has become the dominant business model for OPMs.

6 Online Edtech Professional Learning Communities & Resources for Teachers — from techlearning.com by Stephanie Smith Budhai, Ph.D.
These resources can help provide training, best practices, and advice, for using digital tools such as Canva, Curipod, Kahoot!, and more

While school-led professional development can be helpful, there are online professional learning communities on various edtech websites that can be leveraged. Also, some of these community spaces offer the chance to monetize your work.

Here is a summary of six online edtech professional learning spaces.

4 ways community colleges can boost workforce development — from highereddive.com by Natalie Schwartz
Higher education leaders at this week’s ASU+GSV Summit gave advice for how two-year institutions can boost the economic mobility of their students.

SAN DIEGO — How can community colleges deliver economic mobility to their students?

College leaders at this week’s ASU+GSV Summit, an annual education and technology conference, got a glimpse into that answer as they heard how community colleges are building support from business and industry and strengthening workforce development.

These types of initiatives may be helping to boost public perception of the value of community colleges vs. four-year institutions.

Donald Trump is an enormous threat to our constitutional democracy! [Christian]

On 04/16/2025, in culture, dangers of the status quo, Daniel S. Christian, ethics, law schools, leadership, legislatures / government / legal, morals/values, strategy, United States, by Daniel Christian

From DSC:
We had better not lose the rule of law in the United States! Donald Trump is an enormous threat to our constitutional democracy! He has NO respect for the rule of law, the judicial branch of our government, our constitution, telling the truth, or having virtues and strong character. He is a threat to the entire world. People are already feeling that in their wallets, purses, and 401(k)s. Supply chains throughout the globe have been negatively impacted. Many have lost their jobs, and more people will likely lose their jobs as a recession is becoming increasingly likely as each day passes.

At minimum, the USA has lost the respect and goodwill of many nations. And I understand why.

From Bloomberg on 4/11/25:

The Trump administration, which admitted to wrongly sending a man to a notorious prison in El Salvador (violating a court order in the process) and declined to try and get him back, on Friday went a step further. Lawyers for Trump, despite an order by the US Supreme Court, refused to tell a federal judge where the man was or what it’s doing to get him back. A federal judge, following the Supreme Court’s direction, set a deadline today for Trump’s lawyers to explain how the government planned to follow the high court’s ruling. Trump’s lawyers rejected the court’s order, saying it didn’t have enough time, and questioned her authority.

The Supreme Court ruling against Trump was one of his first defeats tied to the administration’s attempt to broadly expand executive powers. It followed a series of recent procedural rulings that saw the Republican-appointee controlled court rule in his favor. But this latest refusal by Justice Department lawyers to fully comply with court orders, unlike previous cases tied to Trump policies, directly implicates a ruling from the highest court in the land, intensifying an ongoing and unprecedented constitutional crisis between the two branches of government.

Link to this item on LinkedIn

No one should be above the law, most especially the President.

Ignoring a Supreme Court ruling to facilitate Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s return isn’t just cruel; it’s unconstitutional.

They’re saying the quiet part aloud — if they get away with it now, they’ll do it to anyone. https://t.co/7D8nBWhOZc

— Governor JB Pritzker (@GovPritzker) April 14, 2025

I want to tell you why the case of Kilmar Abrego Garcia should matter to you.

The one power you cannot give the executive is the ability to imprison or expel anyone regardless of their legal rights. That is our key check against autocracy. And we are watching it disappear. pic.twitter.com/aod5nTsMmz

— Chris Murphy ? (@ChrisMurphyCT) April 15, 2025

BREAKING: Attorney Andrew Weissmann says we have reached a Constitutional Crisis regarding the Abrego Garcia case, after Trump and El Salvador President Bukele say he will not be returned to the U.S.

“I want to make sure people understand. We are here. I’ve tried to say we are… pic.twitter.com/SH9sY2ZGnf

— Ed Krassenstein (@EdKrassen) April 14, 2025

Addendum on 4/17 from DSC:
And speaking of the rule of law…what in the world does a President of the U.S. have to do with which cases law firms can and can’t take up? That’s not his job. Yet he threatens people, law firms, universities, and others to do his will or face the consequences (normally, that has to do with withdrawing funding or getting fired). One billion dollars worth of legal services donated to causes that Trump supports?!?!?! WHAT?

Trump announces deals with more law firms for a combined $600 million — from washingtonpost.com by Mark Berman
Firms seeking to avoid sanctions from President Donald Trump have agreed to provide nearly ***$1 billion*** in legal services to causes he supports.

President Donald Trump on Friday announced that he had reached agreements with five more law firms pledging to provide a combined $600 million in legal services for causes he supports, the latest deals firms have struck with him in apparent bids to avoid punishment.

Since February, Trump has issued several executive orders sanctioning prominent law firms with ties to his political adversaries or that had opposed his policies, seeking to strip them of government contracts and block them from federal buildings. Three firms targeted by Trump have sued to fight back, while several others made deals with Trump that some framed as necessary to keep their businesses afloat. A fourth firm filed a lawsuit Friday evening challenging Trump’s actions.

Addendum from Above the Law on 4/17/25:

Biglaw Is Under Attack. Here’s What The Firms Are Doing About It.
Introducing the Biglaw Spine Index.

The President of the United States is using the might and power of the office to attack Biglaw firms and the rule of law. It’s pretty chilling stuff that is clearly designed to break major law firms and have them bend a knee to Trump or extract a tremendous financial penalty. This is an assault not just on the firms in the crosshairs, but on the very rule of law that is the backbone of our nation, without which there’s little to check abuses of power.

But in the face of financial harm, too many firms are willing to proactively seek out Trump’s seal of approval and provide pro bono payola, that is, free legal services on behalf of conservative clients or causes in order to avoid Trumpian retribution. So we here at Above the Law have decided to track what exact Biglaw firms are doing in response to the bombardment on Biglaw and the legal system. Some have struck a deal with Trump, some are fighting in court, some have signed an amicus brief in the Perkins Coie case, but the overwhelming majority have stayed silent.

Addendum from Bloomberg on 4/16/25:

The Trump administration’s resistance to and in some cases rejection of the federal judiciary’s constitutional powers has earned it its first finding of contempt, a grave escalation in the deepening crisis at the heart of American government. A federal judge who had been repeatedly attacked by Trump and his aides found there is “probable cause” to hold administration officials in criminal contempt of court for sending scores of men and boys to an El Salvador prison despite his order to halt the deportations. The administration has claimed without providing evidence that the deportees are gang members. A Bloomberg investigation revealed the vast majority had never been charged in the US with anything other than immigration or traffic violations. A Maryland US senator meanwhile was turned away from meeting with a man imprisoned in El Salvador who the Trump administration illegally deported and now refuses to bring back—despite a US Supreme Court order that it facilitate his return.

Reflections on “Are You Ready for the AI University? Everything is about to change.” [Latham]

On 04/10/2025, in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, accreditation, adjunct faculty, adult learning, Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, assessment, Blockchain, bots, career development, change, changing business models, cloud-based computing / apps / other cloud-related, CMS/LMS, collaboration, colleges, communities of practice, community colleges, content development, aggregation, repositories, corporate / business world, cost of getting a degree, credentialing, culture, curriculum, dangers of the status quo, Daniel S. Christian, data related items, Design Thinking, digital learning, disruption, education technology, emerging technologies, Emotion, engagement / engaging students, expectations, experimentation, faculty/staff, future, future of higher education, game-changing environment, generational differences, global / globalization, Google, higher education, human-computer interaction (HCI), IBM, ideas, innovation, instructional design, intelligent systems, intelligent tutoring, IT in HE, leadership, learner profiles, learning, learning ecosystem, Learning Experience Design, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, learning preferences, learning spaces, liberal arts, lifelong learning, MBA, Michigan, new business models, online learning, online media, online tutoring, organizational change, pace of change, pedagogy, personalized/customized learning, platforms, productivity / tips and tricks, professional development, reinvent, skills, society, staying relevant, strategy, student-related, surviving, teaching & learning, technologies for your home, tools, trends, United States, universities, usability, user experience (UX), virtual tutoring, vision/possibilities, web-based collaboration, workplace, by Daniel Christian

.
Are You Ready for the AI University? Everything is about to change. — from chronicle.com by Scott Latham

Over the course of the next 10 years, AI-powered institutions will rise in the rankings. US News & World Report will factor a college’s AI capabilities into its calculations. Accrediting agencies will assess the degree of AI integration into pedagogy, research, and student life. Corporations will want to partner with universities that have demonstrated AI prowess. In short, we will see the emergence of the AI haves and have-nots.
…
What’s happening in higher education today has a name: creative destruction. The economist Joseph Schumpeter coined the term in 1942 to describe how innovation can transform industries. That typically happens when an industry has both a dysfunctional cost structure and a declining value proposition. Both are true of higher education.
…
Out of the gate, professors will work with technologists to get AI up to speed on specific disciplines and pedagogy. For example, AI could be “fed” course material on Greek history or finance and then, guided by human professors as they sort through the material, help AI understand the structure of the discipline, and then develop lectures, videos, supporting documentation, and assessments.
…
In the near future, if a student misses class, they will be able watch a recording that an AI bot captured. Or the AI bot will find a similar lecture from another professor at another accredited university. If you need tutoring, an AI bot will be ready to help any time, day or night. Similarly, if you are going on a trip and wish to take an exam on the plane, a student will be able to log on and complete the AI-designed and administered exam. Students will no longer be bound by a rigid class schedule. Instead, they will set the schedule that works for them.

Early and mid-career professors who hope to survive will need to adapt and learn how to work with AI. They will need to immerse themselves in research on AI and pedagogy and understand its effect on the classroom.

From DSC:
I had a very difficult time deciding which excerpts to include. There were so many more excerpts for us to think about with this solid article. While I don’t agree with several things in it, EVERY professor, president, dean, and administrator working within higher education today needs to read this article and seriously consider what Scott Latham is saying.

Change is already here, but according to Scott, we haven’t seen anything yet. I agree with him and, as a futurist, one has to consider the potential scenarios that Scott lays out for AI’s creative destruction of what higher education may look like. Scott asserts that some significant and upcoming impacts will be experienced by faculty members, doctoral students, and graduate/teaching assistants (and Teaching & Learning Centers and IT Departments, I would add). But he doesn’t stop there. He brings in presidents, deans, and other members of the leadership teams out there.

There are a few places where Scott and I differ.

The foremost one is the importance of the human element — i.e., the human faculty member and students’ learning preferences. I think many (most?) students and lifelong learners will want to learn from a human being. IBM abandoned their 5-year, $100M ed push last year and one of the key conclusions was that people want to learn from — and with — other people:

To be sure, AI can do sophisticated things such as generating quizzes from a class reading and editing student writing. But the idea that a machine or a chatbot can actually teach as a human can, he said, represents “a profound misunderstanding of what AI is actually capable of.”

Nitta, who still holds deep respect for the Watson lab, admits, “We missed something important. At the heart of education, at the heart of any learning, is engagement. And that’s kind of the Holy Grail.”

— Satya Nitta, a longtime computer researcher at
IBM’s Watson Research Center in Yorktown Heights, NY
.

By the way, it isn’t easy for me to write this. As I wanted AI and other related technologies to be able to do just what IBM was hoping that it would be able to do.

Also, I would use the term learning preferences where Scott uses the term learning styles.

Scott also mentions:

“In addition, faculty members will need to become technologists as much as scholars. They will need to train AI in how to help them build lectures, assessments, and fine-tune their classroom materials. Further training will be needed when AI first delivers a course.”

It has been my experience from working with faculty members for over 20 years that not all faculty members want to become technologists. They may not have the time, interest, and/or aptitude to become one (and vice versa for technologists who likely won’t become faculty members).

That all said, Scott relays many things that I have reflected upon and relayed for years now via this Learning Ecosystems blog and also via The Learning from the Living [AI-Based Class] Room vision — the use of AI to offer personalized and job-relevant learning, the rising costs of higher education, the development of new learning-related offerings and credentials at far less expensive prices, the need to provide new business models and emerging technologies that are devoted more to lifelong learning, plus several other things.

So this article is definitely worth your time to read, especially if you are working in higher education or are considering a career therein!

Addendum later on 4/10/25:

U-M’s Ross School of Business, Google Public Sector launch virtual teaching assistant pilot program — from news.umich.edu by Jeff Karoub; via Paul Fain

Google Public Sector and the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business have launched an advanced Virtual Teaching Assistant pilot program aimed at improving personalized learning and enlightening educators on artificial intelligence in the classroom.

The AI technology, aided by Google’s Gemini chatbot, provides students with all-hours access to support and self-directed learning. The Virtual TA represents the next generation of educational chatbots, serving as a sophisticated AI learning assistant that instructors can use to modify their specific lessons and teaching styles.

The Virtual TA facilitates self-paced learning for students, provides on-demand explanations of complex course concepts, guides them through problem-solving, and acts as a practice partner. It’s designed to foster critical thinking by never giving away answers, ensuring students actively work toward solutions.

Online higher education is projected to pass an impressive if little-noticed milestone this year [The Hechinger Report]

On 03/21/2025, in business side of he, changing business models, colleges, community colleges, cost of getting a degree, funding / grants, higher education, leadership, new business models, online learning, parents/guardians, strategy, student-related, teaching online, United States, universities, by Daniel Christian

Online higher education is projected to pass an impressive if little-noticed milestone this year: For the first time, more American college students will be learning entirely online than will be learning 100 percent in person.

Most college students are taking online classes, but they’re paying just as much as in-person students — from hechingerreport.org by Jon Marcus
Rather than lowering the price, some universities use online courses to subsidize everything else

Online higher education is projected to pass an impressive if little-noticed milestone this year: For the first time, more American college students will be learning entirely online than will be learning 100 percent in person.

Bittner’s confusion about the price is widespread. Eighty percent of Americans think online learning after high school should cost less than in-person programs, according to a 2024 survey of 1,705 adults by New America.

Learning Ecosystems

2025 EDUCAUSE Teaching and Learning Workforce in Higher Education

Donald Trump is an enormous threat to our constitutional democracy! [Christian]

Categories

Tags