Learning Ecosystems

Priority 1: Getting a View and Setting a Vision Across Systems — from michaelbhorn.substack.com by Michael B. Horn, Angela Jackson, Mallory Dwinal-Palisch, and Danny Curtis

The shift required to prepare learners for a labor market defined by rapid skill change and more complex transitions cannot be accomplished by any one system. Nor is it enough for K–12, higher education, and workforce development to improve independently. They must work together—aligning programs, sharing resources, creating smoother transitions, and building models that combine academic learning with real workplace experience. Career readiness is not simply a goal these systems share. It is a shared outcome that they produce together as parts of a single talent pipeline.

For that reason, the first priority for states is not a single programmatic reform. It is creating a coherent, cross-system strategy. K–12, higher education, and workforce agencies— and the providers they oversee—need a common understanding of the current system, the future state they are trying to build, the changes required to get there, and the progress they are making toward those changes.
.

Some wisdom for us

On 09/27/2026, in Daniel S. Christian, faith, global, hearts -- matters of the heart, relationships, religion, society, youth, by Daniel Christian

James 3:13

Two Kinds of Wisdom
13 Who is wise and understanding among you? Let them show it by their good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom.

Philippians 2:3-4

3 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, 4 not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.

Matthew 6:33

But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.

From DSC:
Coming out of Northwestern, that verse was a life changer for me. It was pointed out to me by a wiser, older person…and it helped me reprioritize things in my life from then on.

Enabling the Citizen Lawyer [Furlong]

On 09/23/2026, in Access to Justice (A2J), Australia, Canada, law schools, Legal operations, legal reform, legal technologies, legislatures / government / legal, society, sociology, United States, by Daniel Christian

Enabling the Citizen Lawyer — from jordanfurlong.substack.com by Jordan Furlong
We’ve neglected the second half of lawyers’ professional identity: the civic duty to serve society, defend the rule of law, and support public institutions. It’s time we restored it to equal billing.

So, what are those particular citizenship duties that lawyers owe to society? To my mind, it comes down to defending and advancing the rule of law. In practical terms, that means lawyers bear the primary responsibility to:

Uphold constitutional values,
Support vital public institutions,
Enable universal access to justice,
Demand accountability from power holders,
Lead truth and reconciliation, and
Help ensure peace, order, and good government.

Lawyers possess a unique combination of legal knowledge, professional status, institutional access, and proximity to power. That gives us a distinctive, and I’d argue heightened, responsibility to safeguard the rule of law.

It’s that our duty to society, as lawyer citizens, is equally as important as our duty to clients as legal practitioners — that our civic role and our commercial role are each central to our professional identity and should have equivalent priority in our professional lives.

Your Next Job Interview Could Be With a Bot. Here’s How to Prepare. [Rumage]

On 09/23/2026, in Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, business, career development, change, communications, corporate / business world, productivity / tips and tricks, student-related, workplace, by Daniel Christian

Your Next Job Interview Could Be With a Bot. Here’s How to Prepare. — from builtin.com by Jeff Rumage
More employers are using AI to screen candidates before they ever speak with a recruiter. Here’s what to expect from an AI interview and how to put your best foot forward.

Summary: AI-led interviews are becoming a common early-stage hiring screen as employers use conversational AI to evaluate applicants at scale. Candidates can prepare by practicing aloud, keeping answers concise, using mock AI interview platforms and avoiding scripted responses.

Diverse and Dramatic Behaviors Top the 2026 Bird Photographer of the Year Contest

On 09/23/2026, in creativity, digital photography, global, photography, by Daniel Christian

Diverse and Dramatic Behaviors Top the 2026 Bird Photographer of the Year Contest — from thisiscolossal.com by Kate Mothes & various photographers

It’s all things avian at Bird Photographer of the Year, the world’s largest contest dedicated to images of feathered creatures planet-wide. This year, the program welcomed more than 24,000 entries from photographers around the globe, capturing diving penguins, urban denizens, mating rituals, dramatic flights, and more.

Highlighting birds of all kinds, the competition emphasizes the diverse appearances and behaviors of the animals and also raises awareness of the challenges they face due human-triggered habitat loss, poaching, pollution, and other factors. Categories include Best Portrait, Bird Behavior, Conservation, Urban Birds, and others, plus three youth categories for budding photographers aged 17 years and younger.
.

Learning used to cascade—now it must circulate [Ravitch]

On 09/22/2026, in business, corporate / business world, corporate universities / corporate training, ideas, instructional design, leadership, learning ecosystem, Learning Experience Design, training / L&D, United States, by Daniel Christian

Learning used to cascade—now it must circulate — from chieflearningofficer.com by Sharon M. Ravitch
Long-held structural and procedural assumptions undergird how organizations promote and deepen learning that precedes its flow through organizations. What replaces the cascade isn’t a smarter platform. It’s a deliberate act of leadership; a set of adaptive mindsets that make circulation possible in the first place.

Admitting “I don’t know what I’m doing with this yet” felt like exposure, a confession of falling behind, and surfacing a workaround carried the calculated risk of “going rogue.” By the time the CLO scheduled a refresher, the tool had evolved again, and whatever either camp learned in the meantime had nowhere to go.

The issue wasn’t adoption. It was circulation. Without this step, learning cannot move through the organization quickly enough to keep pace with technological adoption.

The problem has both widened and deepened. Organizations are moving to roughly double AI investment as a share of revenue, with 72 percent of CEOs now personally directing AI strategy. Capability requirements are shifting at the pace of leadership attention, not curriculum cycles.

Tech & Learning Announces Winners of Best for Back to School 2026 — from techlearning.com by TL Editors
This annual award celebrates the products that offer schools versatility, value, and solutions to specific problems to support innovative, effective teaching and learning.

The 2026-27 school year is off and running, and it’s already shaping up to be another pivotal year for education. While AI remains a massive topic, the biggest headline this fall is the screentime debate, hands down. Communities nationwide—including the country’s two largest school districts—are advocating for strict limitations and outright bans to reclaim screen-free classrooms.

Yet, if there’s one constant in education, it’s resilience. We adapt, we evolve, and we keep going because at the heart of it all, we want what’s best for our students. Instead of a setback, this heightened scrutiny around screentime and AI has forced the edtech community to be better. It demands that the tools we bring into the classroom are safe and built to inspire active creation rather than passive consumption.
.

More people than ever are trying to get into college classes in Illinois prisons. Getting a seat hasn’t gotten any easier. [West]

On 09/22/2026, in colleges, communities of practice, community colleges, liberal arts, society, sociology, student-related, United States, universities, by Daniel Christian

More people than ever are trying to get into college classes in Illinois prisons. Getting a seat hasn’t gotten any easier. — from college-inside.beehiiv.com by Charlotte West
The college waitlist in Illinois has grown 80% since last year, with 3,700 people waiting and 2,600 enrolled.

Excerpt from highlights:

Illinois waitlists are outpacing seats. The college waitlist has grown 80% since last year, with 3,700 people waiting and 2,600 enrolled. Read [the] full story, published with WBEZ Chicago’s Prisoncast!
Wisconsin’s prisons hit a record population, straining access to programs, reports our partner Wisconsin Watch.
Delaware Tech is ending its prison education program after graduating current students, reports the Delaware News Journal.

Measuring the Microschool Experience: A National Analysis [microschoolingcenter.org]

On 09/19/2026, in assessment, education, K-12 related, learning ecosystem, Learning Experience Design, learning hubs & pods & microschooling, parents/guardians, student-related, by Daniel Christian

Measuring the Microschool Experience: A National Analysis — from microschoolingcenter.org

Findings:

Student assessments. Microschool students in this analysis exhibited average academic growth that was generally consistent with expected trajectories, but overall student performance was somewhat stronger in ELA than in mathematics. Although this study’s assessment data suggest that microschool students largely perform no better or worse than expected on standardized tests in ELA and math, both students and parent/caregivers report extraordinarily positive experiences in microschools across a range of non-academic and academic indicators.

Parent/Caregiver Survey. Families report choosing microschools primarily because of their small class sizes, individualized attention, levels of safety, and positive school culture, with individualized attention being the most important factor for parent/caregivers. Parent/caregivers also hold strong positive perceptions of their child’s microschool across academic, social-emotional, and life skills domains. In the survey, a striking 97% of respondents say that they are satisfied/very satisfied with their child’s microschool overall. When families compare their child’s current microschool to their child’s previous public school, parent/caregivers report stronger relationships, increased home-school communication, and enhanced safety in their child’s current microschools.

Student Survey. More than 90% of microschool students report strong relationships with teachers across a range of measures while 95% say that they feel safe at school. Ninety-three percent say that they participate in class most of the time. Additionally, students who are new to their current microschool are more likely to report that their current school experience was better than the previous year and that they are currently learning more. Among students who completed both fall and spring surveys, they report enhanced perceptions of their problem-solving ability, communication skills, and respect for others improved from fall to spring.

More than 95% of students report being treated with respect by their teachers, and 97% indicate that their teachers care about them, want what is best for them, and care about their learning.

Sample characteristics. The schools in this study served substantial numbers of students with unique learning needs. Approximately 40% to 47% of students across the study samples had an identified disability, special learning need, or chronic medical condition, and roughly one in five participating schools explicitly focused on serving students with disabilities.

How to Improve Your AI Skills [Andrade & Caplan]

On 09/19/2026, in Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, Google, human-computer interaction (HCI), Open AI, platforms, productivity / tips and tricks, professional development, skills, tools, United States, vendors, by Daniel Christian

How to Improve Your AI Skills — from wondertools.substack.com by Frank Andrade and Jeremy Caplan
What to learn next, from prompts to workflows
.

Today I’m sharing a guest post on how to strengthen your AI skills. It’s by Frank Andrade, an AI instructor who has helped thousands of people on Substack master ChatGPT and Claude with beginner-friendly guides and in-depth tutorials.

New study: 15 community college presidents on what it will take to lead higher ed’s next chapter [eddesignlab.org]

On 09/19/2026, in career development, change, changing business models, community colleges, competency-based learning/education, experimentation, faculty/staff, future, future of higher education, game-changing environment, generational differences, higher education, skills, student-related, teaching & learning, United States, workplace, by Daniel Christian

New study: 15 community college presidents on what it will take to lead higher ed’s next chapter — from eddesignlab.org

Community colleges are at a pivotal moment.

As learners, employers, and regional economies change, these institutions have an opportunity to lead the next evolution of higher education — if they can move beyond structures built for a different era.

In the Lab’s new study, Insights from 15 Community College Presidents on the Future of Learning in a New Economy, leaders share their perspectives on the opportunities and barriers facing the sector, as well as the institutional changes needed to help more learners access economic mobility.

Their insights validate Education Design Lab’s Future of Learning framework, which asks five essential design questions:

How might we make skills and competencies visible?
How might we create stackable pathways that credential skills along the way?
How might we make learning universally flexible through multiple modalities?
How might we guarantee applied learning opportunities for every learner?
How might we ensure every learner has access to adequate support services?

OpenAI Releases Astra for Law

On 09/19/2026, in 24x7x365 access, Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, emerging technologies, law schools, Legal operations, legal technologies, legislatures / government / legal, Open AI, platforms, tools, United States, vendors, by Daniel Christian

Another day, another frontier AI company moving into legal. First it was @AnthropicAI with Claude for Legal, and now it is @OpenAI, which today announced Astra for Law, a version of its latest GPT-6 Astra model configured for legal work. https://t.co/TqJbfU9tfO

— Bob Ambrogi (@bobambrogi) September 17, 2026

Astra for Law: Frontier intelligence built for your practice.

A new offering powered by GPT-6 Astra with tools, settings, and context to support the expertise and judgment of lawyers and legal technology firms. pic.twitter.com/qxVRXkvp4o

— OpenAI (@OpenAI) September 17, 2026

Will smart glasses make it too risky to speak up in class? — from timeshighereducation.com by Georgia Luckhurst & Kieran Phelan
AI-powered glasses may boost learning but they also pose obvious threats to privacy, academic integrity and the sanctity of the seminar room as a safe space to explore ideas. Are universities doing enough to head off the risks, asks Georgia Luckhurst – while Kieran Phelan suggests they are not

Smart glasses can superimpose information on to a viewer’s field of vision, and they can access apps and communicate with your phone. Some are hands-free while some require touch, and some also respond to voice automation. Most controversially, they can take pictures and record footage, potentially without anyone else knowing that it is happening. And they are becoming ever more common.

But, for academia, the biggest issue associated with smart glasses may be a decline in intellectual risk-taking and freedom of expression, Murray said.

How useful are smart glasses in improving accessibility in higher education? — from timeshighereducation.com by Helen Nicholson-Benn
Smart glasses have the potential to support learning for disabled students, but this technology also comes with significant privacy concerns. Helen Nicholson-Benn looks at how to balance functional benefits with data security and safeguarding

Consider how different models of smart glasses might be used to improve accessibility in higher education. A deaf student might use XRai’s ar2 captioning glasses during a lecture to view live captions in their eyeline, allowing them to follow the content without looking down at a separate screen. A visually impaired student might use Envision’s Ally Solos glasses to generate a description of images on printed material or read text during a class. The glasses provide a hands-free option rather than scanning the materials with their smartphone.

These examples are hypothetical, and smart glasses are far from an everyday teaching tool, but that may be about to change. Smart glasses available today are far more capable than their predecessors, particularly boosted by developments in artificial intelligence (AI) technology.

Which brings up the topic of how to handle these technologies in the classroom:

Are device-free classrooms the way forward? — from timeshighereducation.com by Georgia Luckhurst
US universities embrace laptop and phone bans, but professor suggests policies may be more about political positioning than pedagogy

Growing numbers of US universities are making some of their courses “device free”, drawing mixed enthusiasm from edtech experts.

In the latest move the University of Chicago is introducing a no-laptops and no-phones policy on three of its 15 required undergraduate modules, aiming to “reduce distractions and encourage face-to-face discussions”. Exceptions remain, including for students with disabilities.
…
Device-free policies appear in other countries, experts suggested, despite the trend picking up pace in the US.

Learning Ecosystems

Some wisdom for us

Enabling the Citizen Lawyer [Furlong]

Diverse and Dramatic Behaviors Top the 2026 Bird Photographer of the Year Contest

Learning used to cascade—now it must circulate [Ravitch]

Greetings!

Categories

Tags