Top Software Engineering Newsletters in 2024 — from ai-supremacy.com by Michael Spencer Including a very select few ML, AI and product Newsletters into the mix for Software Engineers.
This is an article specifically for the software engineers and developers among you.
In the past year (2023-2024) professionals are finding more value in Newsletters than ever before (especially on Substack).
As working from home took off, the nature of mentorship and skill acquisition has also evolved and shifted. Newsletters with pragmatic advice on our careers it turns out, are super valuable. This article is a resource list. Are you a software developer, work with one or know someone who is or wants to be?
From DSC:
The cost of obtaining a degree is heavily on my mind this morning as I’m having to withdraw funds — again — to help our son get through his senior year of college. He’s a Marine Reservist and he continues to do his best to contribute to his expenses…but man o’ man, these expenses are just crazy.
So it’s no surprise this item caught my eye! Anything colleges and universities can do to bring down the prices — as well as make the total prices more transparent and upfront — would be greatly appreciated by students and families alike.
But she admits the issue is complicated. She said one of her own daughters, who is now 26, would have benefitted from a gap year. “The problem was the cost was a major factor,” Klein told me. “She was offered huge financial aid by a very good school, and I said, ‘We don’t know if you take a gap year if that offer is going to be on the table. And I can’t afford this school without that offer.’”
Horizon Three Learning — from gettingsmart.com How might we build the nation’s new learning ecosystem together?
America’s education system was a groundbreaking effort to help a growing nation thrive in the 19th century. Now, 200 years later, the world has changed; the horizon looks drastically different. Collectively, we need to redesign our education system to enable all of our children — and, by extension, our nation — to thrive today and tomorrow.
“Horizon Three” or “H3” names the future-ready system we need, one that is grounded in equity serving learners’ individual strengths and needs as well as the common good. This series provides a glimpse of where H3 is already being designed and built. It also includes provocations about how we might fundamentally reimagine learning for the future ahead.
As Americans live and work longer, many now find themselves needing to change jobs and careers several times within their lifetimes.
Now, Georgia Institute of Technology has created a new college to serve just these learners. Georgia Tech last week launched its College of Lifetime Learning, which will combine degree programs with non-degree programs, and seeks to educate 114K students by 2030. That would enable the university to double the current number of degrees granted and nondegree students served.
“What we’re hearing is that with the advancing pace of digitization taking place, changing demographics, people working longer, for example, higher ed needs to do something in addition to what it already has been doing” says Nelson Baker, interim dean of the new college.
Now a quarter way through the 21st century, higher education is again in need of a reboot. Post Covid, colleges are closing one per week. More than 40M U.S. learners have started college but never finished. Nearly two-thirds of those learners would complete their degree but can’t afford to. Student debt now sits at almost $2T. Americans are losing faith in higher education.
Enter the apprenticeship degree, where students can earn a debt-free, four-year degree entirely embedded within a full-time, paid job. In the U.K., with government tax incentives, the apprenticeship-to-degree model has surged in eight years from zero to 50K new enrollments, making progress toward an expected 20% of postsecondary starts within the decade. As I have previously written, I believe the apprenticeship degree is just what American higher education needs to meet the moment.
This week, as I kick off the 20th cohort of my AI-Learning Design bootcamp, I decided to do some analysis of the work habits of the hundreds of amazing AI-embracing instructional designers who I’ve worked with over the last year or so.
My goal was to answer the question: which AI tools do we use most in the instructional design process, and how do we use them?
Here’s where we are in September, 2024:
…
Developing Your Approach to Generative AI — from scholarlyteacher.com by Caitlin K. Kirby, Min Zhuang, Imari Cheyne Tetu, & Stephen Thomas (Michigan State University)
As generative AI becomes integrated into workplaces, scholarly work, and students’ workflows, we have the opportunity to take a broad view of the role of generative AI in higher education classrooms. Our guiding questions are meant to serve as a starting point to consider, from each educator’s initial reaction and preferences around generative AI, how their discipline, course design, and assessments may be impacted, and to have a broad view of the ethics of generative AI use.
AI technology tools hold remarkable promise for providing more accessible, equitable, and inclusive learning experiences for students with disabilities.
The Voice of the Online Learner report highlights the journey of online learners, and the vital role education plays in their personal and professional growth and development. This year’s report compiled responses from over 3,400 prospective, current, and recently graduated online learners.
Key findings from this year’s Voice of the Online Learner report include:
Decision Factors for Online Students: When evaluating online programs, the key decision for students is cost, with 86% saying it’s extremely or very important. After cost, 84% said accreditation is most important, 75% said program concentrations, followed by 68% of respondents who said it was the time it took to achieve a degree. 38% selected the lowest cost program they evaluated (up from 29% in 2023).
Perception of Online Programs: Students see online programs as equally valid or better at meeting their needs than on-campus degree programs. 83% of respondents prefer the flexibility of online programs over hybrid or on-campus options, while 90% feel online programs are comparable to or better than an on-campus degree. 83% (up from 71% last year) want no on campus requirement.
Degree ROI: 92% of students who graduated from online degree programs reported tangible benefits to their career, including 44% who received a salary increase.
Value of the Degree: Career outcomes continue to be very important for students pursuing their degree.86% felt their degrees were important in achieving their career goals, and 61% of online undergraduates are likely to enroll in additional online degree programs to stay competitive.
Importance of Local Programs: Attending a university or college in the state where the student lives and works is also an important decision factor, with 70% enrolled at a higher education institution in the state where they live and/or work. These students say that local proximity creates greater trust, and that they also want to ensure the programs meet local licensing or accreditation requirements, when relevant.
Demographics: The average age for online students enrolled in undergraduate programs is 36 years old, while the average age for students enrolled in graduate programs is 38 years old. Of the students enrolled in undergraduate programs, 40% are first-generation college students.
Upskilling is lifelong: 86% of graduated and currently enrolled students are likely to do another online program in the future to upskill.
Generative AI is a concern: Students want guidance on generative AI, but 75% reported they have received none. 40% of students think it will affect their career positively and 40% believe it will impact them negatively. Nearly half (48%) have used it to help them study.
Using Video Projects to Reinforce Learning in Math — from edutopia.org by Alessandra King A collaborative project can help students deeply explore math concepts, explain problem-solving strategies, and demonstrate their learning.
To this end, I assign video projects to my students. In groups of two or three, they solve a set of problems on a topic and then choose one to illustrate, solve, and explain their favorite problem-solving strategy in detail, along with the reasons they chose it. The student-created videos are collected and stored on a Padlet even after I have evaluated them—kept as a reference, keepsake, and support. I have a library of student-created videos that benefit current and future students when they have some difficulties with a topic and associated problems.
AI can help educators focus more on human interaction and critical thinking by automating tasks that consume time but don’t require human empathy or creativity.
Encouraging students to use AI as a tool for learning and creativity can significantly boost their engagement and self-confidence, as seen in examples from student experiences shared in the discussion.
The speakers discuss various aspects of AI, including its potential to augment human intelligence and the need to focus on uniquely human competencies in the face of technological advancements. They also emphasize the significance of student agency, with examples of student-led initiatives and feedback sessions that reveal how young learners are already engaging with AI in innovative ways. The episode underscores the necessity for educators and administrators to stay informed and actively participate in the ongoing dialogue about AI to ensure its effective and equitable implementation in schools.
AI can be a powerful tool to break down language, interest, and accessibility barriers in the classroom, making learning more inclusive and engaging.
Incorporating AI tools in educational settings can help build essential skills that AI can’t replace, such as creativity and problem-solving, preparing students for future job markets.
Majors like hers are part of a broader wave of less conventional, avant-garde majors, in specialties such as artificial intelligence, that are taking root in American higher education, as colleges grapple with changes in the economy and a shrinking pool of students.
…
The trend underscores the distinct ways schools are responding to growing concerns over which degrees provide the best return on investment. As college costs soared to new heights in recent years, saddling many students with crippling loan debt, that discourse has only become increasingly fraught, raising the stakes for schools to prove their degrees leave students better prepared and employable.
“I’m a big believer in the liberal arts, but universities don’t get to print money,” he said. “If enrollment interests are shifting, they have to be able to hire faculty to teach in those areas. Money has to come from someplace.”
From DSC: Years ago, I remember having lunch with one of the finalists for the President position of a local university. He withdrew himself from the search because the institution’s culture would be like oil and water with him at the helm. He was very innovative, and this organization was not. I remember him saying, “The marketplace will determine what that organization ultimately does.” In other words, he was saying that higher education was market-driven. I agreed with him then, and I still agree with that perspective now.
The Success Rates report and data files show the number of degree-seeking students who enter a Michigan postsecondary community college or public university and achieve a successful outcome. This includes data for Michigan’s 28 community colleges and 15 public universities, along with aggregate metrics for the community college and public university sectors broken out by race/ethnicity and gender.
Successful outcomes include:
Earning a certificate
Earning an associate degree
Earning a bachelor’s degree
Transferring to a university (for community college students)
These rates capture both part- and full-time enrollment for all degree-seeking students as well as mobility between institutions.
The report and data files are updated in late spring. See the Recently Posted Reports page for when they were last updated.
Interested in exploring in-demand jobs in Michigan? Explore Michigan’s Hot 50 Job Outlook through 2030, which includes the anticipated job growth, the average wage and the minimum education requirements for each occupation through 2028. The publication is intended to provide valuable career information to students in high school, vocational and community colleges, as well as job seekers. Additional occupational forecasts and research are available in Michigan’s Online Job Demand, a publication from Michigan’s Labor Market Information.
The Roadmap to Opportunity highlights in-demand, high-wage careers. Explore hot job career pathways that require a certificate or an associate degree. Hear from Michigan residents who have chosen these careers and why. The website includes pathway information for the careers, including information on available programs, hourly wage rates, and cool classes you can take.
Pure Michigan Talent Connect is your launch pad for new jobs, careers and job fairs. It is a tool connecting Michigan’s job seekers and employers and serves as a central hub linking all public and private stakeholders who support Michigan’s workforce. Pure Michigan Talent Connect serves as the state’s labor exchange system.
The Michigan Department of Education (MDE) has partnered with the Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity (LEO) and other statewide stakeholders to develop a post-graduation opportunities informational packet available on LEO’s Pathfinder resources page.
To comply with Michigan law*, districts are required to distribute the link above to all students in grades 8-12 by October 1 of each year. The information below is supplemental and focused on local opportunities and resources, assembled by Kent ISD staff.
I’m Not Sure / Assess My Skills The Educational Development Plan (EDP) tools listed on the Pathfinder site are free and very useful. However, most school districts supply students with EDP software such as Xello, Naviance, and Mavin for Career Development starting in 7th grade. Parents and teachers of enrolled students have access to their students’ EDP data through (and, in some cases, past) graduation. Consult with your school district for access to this resource.
DC: While I’m glad that wasn’t part of my K-12 experience, I’m sad for our kids and the younger generations growing up in such a time. What if we truly cared about each other? How would our society look/be different? https://t.co/SySp78NAwk
From DSC:
I realize that’s a gross generalization, but I think we all experience numerous times these days when businesses and others don’t really care about us.
New Microschools for a New School Year — from the74million.org by Kerry McDonald As parent demand for more individualized education options grows, everyday entrepreneurs are stepping up to meet that demand by launching microschools
Microschools and similarly creative schooling options gained increased popularity in the wake of the pandemic, and they continue to gain momentum. Not only are new schools and spaces opening across the U.S. but existing ones are expanding.
New data from VELA, a philanthropic nonprofit organization and entrepreneur community, reveals that over 90 percent of the unconventional learning environments it surveyed had more learners last fall than they did at their launch date, and the median compound rate of growth for these programs was 25 percent a year.
86% of students globally are regularly using AI in their studies, with 54% of them using AI on a weekly basis, the recent Digital Education Council Global AI Student Survey found.
ChatGPT was found to be the most widely used AI tool, with 66% of students using it, and over 2 in 3 students reported using AI for information searching.
Despite their high rates of AI usage, 1 in 2 students do not feel AI ready. 58% reported that they do not feel that they had sufficient AI knowledge and skills, and 48% do not feel adequately prepared for an AI-enabled workplace.
The Post-AI Instructional Designer— from drphilippahardman.substack.com by Dr. Philippa Hardman How the ID role is changing, and what this means for your key skills, roles & responsibilities
Specifically, the study revealed that teachers who reported most productivity gains were those who used AI not just for creating outputs (like quizzes or worksheets) but also for seeking input on their ideas, decisions and strategies.
Those who engaged with AI as a thought partner throughout their workflow, using it to generate ideas, define problems, refine approaches, develop strategies and gain confidence in their decisions gained significantly more from their collaboration with AI than those who only delegated functional tasks to AI.
Leveraging Generative AI for Inclusive Excellence in Higher Education — from er.educause.edu by Lorna Gonzalez, Kristi O’Neil-Gonzalez, Megan Eberhardt-Alstot, Michael McGarry and Georgia Van Tyne Drawing from three lenses of inclusion, this article considers how to leverage generative AI as part of a constellation of mission-centered inclusive practices in higher education.
The hype and hesitation about generative artificial intelligence (AI) diffusion have led some colleges and universities to take a wait-and-see approach.Footnote1 However, AI integration does not need to be an either/or proposition where its use is either embraced or restricted or its adoption aimed at replacing or outright rejecting existing institutional functions and practices. Educators, educational leaders, and others considering academic applications for emerging technologies should consider ways in which generative AI can complement or augment mission-focused practices, such as those aimed at accessibility, diversity, equity, and inclusion. Drawing from three lenses of inclusion—accessibility, identity, and epistemology—this article offers practical suggestions and considerations that educators can deploy now. It also presents an imperative for higher education leaders to partner toward an infrastructure that enables inclusive practices in light of AI diffusion.
An example way to leverage AI:
How to Leverage AI for Identity Inclusion Educators can use the following strategies to intentionally design instructional content with identity inclusion in mind.
Provide a GPT or AI assistant with upcoming lesson content (e.g., lecture materials or assignment instructions) and ask it to provide feedback (e.g., troublesome vocabulary, difficult concepts, or complementary activities) from certain perspectives. Begin with a single perspective (e.g., first-time, first-year student), but layer in more to build complexity as you interact with the GPT output.
Gen AI’s next inflection point: From employee experimentation to organizational transformation — from mckinsey.com by Charlotte Relyea, Dana Maor, and Sandra Durth with Jan Bouly As many employees adopt generative AI at work, companies struggle to follow suit. To capture value from current momentum, businesses must transform their processes, structures, and approach to talent.
To harness employees’ enthusiasm and stay ahead, companies need a holistic approach to transforming how the whole organization works with gen AI; the technology alone won’t create value.
Our research shows that early adopters prioritize talent and the human side of gen AI more than other companies (Exhibit 3). Our survey shows that nearly two-thirds of them have a clear view of their talent gaps and a strategy to close them, compared with just 25 percent of the experimenters. Early adopters focus heavily on upskilling and reskilling as a critical part of their talent strategies, as hiring alone isn’t enough to close gaps and outsourcing can hinder strategic-skills development.Finally, 40 percent of early-adopter respondents say their organizations provide extensive support to encourage employee adoption, versus 9 percent of experimenter respondents.
Change blindness — from oneusefulthing.org by Ethan Mollick 21 months later
I don’t think anyone is completely certain about where AI is going, but we do know that things have changed very quickly, as the examples in this post have hopefully demonstrated. If this rate of change continues, the world will look very different in another 21 months. The only way to know is to live through it.
Over the subsequent weeks, I’ve made other adjustments, but that first one was the one I asked myself:
What are you doing?
Why are you doing it that way?
How could you change that workflow with AI?
Applying the AI to the workflow, then asking, “Is this what I was aiming for? How can I improve the prompt to get closer?”
Documenting what worked (or didn’t). Re-doing the work with AI to see what happened, and asking again, “Did this work?”
So, something that took me WEEKS of hard work, and in some cases I found impossible, was made easy. Like, instead of weeks, it takes 10 minutes. The hard part? Building the prompt to do what I want, fine-tuning it to get the result. But that doesn’t take as long now.
The start of the school year can be stressful, but parents of neurodivergent children are more likely to report feeling overwhelmed, unprepared and scared than other parents, according to a new survey shared with The Hechinger Report.
About 2,100 parents answered the survey this summer from Understood.org, a nonprofit that publishes resources for people with dyslexia, attention deficit disorder and other learning differences. Those with neurodivergent children say they were stressed about their child’s social life, whether the school would meet their child’s needs and whether their child would have access to adequate resources to succeed in school. About 82 percent of those parents said neurodivergent students are often misunderstood by their peers, and 76 percent said they are often misunderstood by teachers.
Over 500 private, nonprofit four-year institutions have closed in the last 10 years, according to the State Higher Education Executive Officers Association. That is three times what it was in the decade prior. Rachel Burns, a senior policy analyst at SHEEO, estimates at least 1.25 million students were affected by these closures. (Many more for-profit institutions have closed in this period as well.)
Around two-thirds of incoming college seniors said college has significantly contributed to their ability to land a well–paying job, according to a new survey from job platform Handshake.
A slightly higher share, 72%, said higher education has appreciably improved their ability to secure a meaningful job. And 85% of surveyed seniors said college significantly helped them understand their own career goals.
College seniors also indicated that higher education has helped them beyond their career development. According to the survey, 88% said college significantly contributed to their personal growth.
We are excited to announce the publication of the 2024 US Instructor Survey. This survey, adapted from our longstanding US Faculty Survey, provides a detailed snapshot of over 5,200 faculty members from different disciplines, institution types, ages, and titles across the US at four-year institutions. This new report offers a comprehensive overview of how college instructors across the country are navigating and shaping the current educational landscape.
Overall, we heard that instructors are increasingly adopting innovative, technology-driven teaching methods, while recognizing the critical role libraries play in supporting student success. The growing use of open educational resources (OERs) reflects a commitment to affordable education, though fewer instructors create their own. Additionally, strong institutional support remains essential for effective teaching, particularly IT and with pedagogical practices. Below we share several key findings:
But starting with the 2013-14 academic year, a whopping 726 degree-granting institutions closed through the 2022-23 school year, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. That means in just nine years, 15 percent of the-then 4,724 degree-granting colleges or universities closed. … Ultimately, after all, the prediction is a result of business model failure, in which rising expenses outpace revenue, as the students cease to enroll or have the capacity to pay enough.
But non-profit institutions are in their own world of hurt as well. According to Higher Ed Dive, 18 have announced their closure this year so far. But 141 closed between 2013-14 and 2022-23—or roughly 8.4 percent.
Survey: Over Half of Rising Seniors Feel Pessimistic About Starting Their Careers — from insidehighered.com by Ahsley Mowreader New data from Handshake finds 57 percent of the Class of 2025 have low expectations for their future after graduation, largely tied to a competitive job market, student loan debt and current political climate.
Entering senior year can be a stressful time for college students as they prepare for their next step after graduation. Inside Higher Ed’s 2024 Student Voice survey found 68 percent of fourth-year students (n=703) are at least somewhat stressed when they think about their life postgraduation, with 25 percent feeling “extremely stressed.”
This year’s graduating class is feeling less hopeful than their peers before them, with almost three in five students sharing that they feel pessimistic about their immediate future, according to new data from Handshake.
The results highlight a challenging job market for new graduates, the role of affordability in higher education and how institutions are supporting students as they launch into careers.
The long-term decline in church attendance is linked to a drop in religious identification in general — particularly for Protestant religions — but also to decreasing weekly attendance among U.S. Catholics.
Steep Decline in U.S. Church Membership
Additionally, less than half of Americans, 45%, belong to a formal house of worship. Church membership has been below the majority level each of the past four years. When Gallup first asked the question in 1937, 73% were members of a church, and as recently as 1999, 70% were. The decline in formal church membership has largely been driven by younger generations of Americans. Slightly more than one-third of U.S. young adults have no religious affiliation. Further, many young adults who do identify with a religion do not belong to a church. But even older adults who have a religious preference are less likely to belong to a church today than in the past.
What is powerfully revealing — and deeply concerning — is that when younger Americans are asked about the importance of community service and volunteer work (not if they have done the work), real differences between those with and without faith emerge.
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I’ve known about this decline for years now, but Rex’ posting and graphs were disheartening nonetheless. And Samuel Abrams’ article contains many reflections that I’ve had as well.
The Christian journey is about transformation — our hearts and minds are changed so that we become more like Jesus Christ (the pioneer and perfecter of [our] faith, per Hebrews 12:2). This transformation involves how we see and experience the world as well as how we are supposed to treat others. We receive new “glasses” if you will — new lenses on the world. In fact, Jesus said inMatthew 22:37-40:
37 Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”
So Christians are taught to love our neighbors. I/we mess up on this constantly, but many of us are trying to get better at it.
But what happens when we don’t love — or even care for/about — our neighbor? Do you know that if you are living in the United States right now, you are already feeling and experiencing the impact of this in an enormous way?
Here are a few ways that you can see this playing out — even from a secular/business standpoint:
Numerous businesses don’t care at all if their products harm you, your family, or your future. For example, food companies don’t care if their products aren’t good for you — they just want your repeat business. They are concerned FAR more about Wall Street and their shareholders than about your health. With knowing that I am a chief sinner, I could also point to those businesses pushing marijuana/cannabis (especially right next to universities and colleges), cigarettes, gambling, and others. There are some dubious folks within the healthcare and pharmaceutical industries as well.
Many businesses lie to you when you call into their 800 #’s and they tell you that they care about you and your business. Again we see that they greatly appreciate your money, but they really don’t care about you or your time. They often put you in a long queue. The worst voice response units are programmed to make it extremely difficult — if not impossible — to let you talk to a live person.
Many businesses have embarked on the shrinkification of their products: offering smaller amounts but charging the same.
Many businesses don’t care if our youth are being negatively impacted (social media companies may come to some peoples’ minds. Disclaimer: I use Twitter/X and LinkedIn frequently).
Many businesses don’t care if their technologies are beneficial to society. They don’t stop to think about whether they should design and produce their products…just whether or not they can. Little to no wisdom is being displayed here.
…and I — and you — could list many more here.
So you and I are already being impacted when we push God out of our lives and out of our institutions. When we Americans look around these days..how’s that going for us? In my own life, the further I get away from God, the worse things get.
Also, we could talk about mental health*, shootings in our schools and on our streets, and several other things.
Do we care? I do. I think about this kind of thing more and more these days. LORD, forgive us. We need your help.
* I realize that Christians can struggle with mental health too
