changing business models

What if students had the power to design their own learning journeys?

Across the U.S., states are moving beyond one-size-fits-all education and embracing unbundled learning, creating personalized pathways that equip students with the skills they need for the future. Getting Smart’s Unbundled Learning Podcast Series explores how Colorado, Arizona, and New Hampshire are leading the way—expanding real-world learning, shifting to competency-based models, empowering learner agency, and aligning education with workforce needs.

For policymakers, the newly released Policymaker’s Guide offers a roadmap for fostering unbundled systems. It highlights key priorities such as competency-driven accountability, flexible credentialing, and funding models that prioritize equity, helping state leaders create policies that expand opportunities for all learners.

Explore how unbundled learning is shaping the future of education and how states can build more personalized, future-ready systems.

New Pathways > Unbundled Learning — from gettingsmart.com
We used to think that learning had to happen in a school building. Spoiler alert…that was never true.

How might we create an ecosystem where learning doesn’t just happen at school? With Unbundled Learning, learners don’t need permission to have equitable experiences. Unbundled Learning removes all the barriers and allows learning to happen at school, after school, with industry partners and anywhere a learner can imagine. Unbundled Learning is the foundation for which new learning models are built, learners are supported and systems are scaled.

If we used to think that school was the only answer, now we know we have options.
.

Law School Trends 2025: AI, Bar Exam Changes & Career Shifts [Lenin Laus] + other related items

On 02/01/2025, in 21st century, career development, change, changing business models, credentialing, curriculum, experimentation, higher education, law schools, legal reform, legal technologies, legislatures / government / legal, student-related, trends, United States, universities, by Daniel Christian

Law School Trends 2025: AI, Bar Exam Changes & Career Shifts — from jdjournal.com by Maria Lenin Laus
This comprehensive guide explores these significant trends, their implications, and what to expect in the coming years.
…
AI’s Growing Role in Legal Education
AI-powered platforms are being utilized for legal research, document automation, and predictive analytics. Tools like AI-driven case analysis systems are helping students develop advanced research and drafting capabilities.

3.2. Integration of AI into Law School Curricula

AI-Powered Research Labs: Schools are incorporating AI-driven tools to assist students in case law research and document drafting.
Ethics and AI Courses: New courses explore the ethical implications and legal ramifications of AI in law practice.
AI-Assisted Exam Prep: Intelligent tutoring systems and adaptive learning platforms are enhancing bar exam preparation.

3.3. Future Outlook
By 2030, AI proficiency will be a standard expectation for law graduates. Students who fail to familiarize themselves with AI tools risk falling behind in a technology-driven legal market.

4. The Bar Exam Is Changing: The NextGen Bar Exam
The introduction of the NextGen Bar Exam in 2026 marks a significant shift in how aspiring lawyers are tested. Unlike the traditional exam, this new format emphasizes practical legal skills over rote memorization.

4.1. Key Differences Between the Traditional and NextGen Bar Exam
The NextGen Bar Exam replaces multiple-choice and essay-based testing with performance-based tasks that assess practical legal skills. It aims to better prepare graduates for real-world practice by focusing on essential competencies rather than memorization.

4.2. Future Outlook
By 2028, at least half of U.S. states are expected to adopt the NextGen Bar Exam. Law schools will need to adjust their curricula accordingly to prepare students for a more skills-focused licensing process.

Also see:

Legal Career ResourcesThe Evolving Legal Talent Landscape: Key Trends Shaping 2025 and Beyond — from jdjournal.com by Maria Lenin Laus
Breaking News: The Future of Lawyer Salaries: Sustainability, Market Trends, and Predictions — from jdjournal.com by Maria Lenin Laus

Advice for students: Be adaptable. Be agile. Be lifelong learners. [Christian]

On 01/22/2025, in business, career development, change, changing business models, corporate / business world, Daniel S. Christian, ideas, lifelong learning, productivity / tips and tricks, reinvent, skills, society, staying relevant, student-related, surviving, training / L&D, United States, workplace, by Daniel Christian

Reflections on “The Rise of the Heretical Leader” [Fitzpatrick]

On 01/17/2025, in 21st century, Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, business side of he, change, changing business models, collaboration, colleges, communications, community colleges, curriculum, dangers of the status quo, Daniel S. Christian, education, education reform, emerging technologies, experimentation, faculty/staff, future of higher education, game-changing environment, generational differences, higher education, ideas, K-12 related, leadership, learning ecosystem, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, learning preferences, liberal arts, lifelong learning, MOOCs -- Massive Open Online Courses, more voice more choice more control, new business models, online learning, personalized/customized learning, reinvent, skills, society, staying relevant, strategy, student-related, surviving, teaching & learning, teaching online, United States, universities, vision/possibilities, by Daniel Christian

The Rise of the Heretical Leader — from ditchthattextbook.com; a guest post by Dan Fitzpatrick

Now is the time for visionary leadership in education. The era of artificial intelligence is reshaping the demands on education systems. Rigid policies, outdated curricula, and reliance on obsolete metrics are failing students. A recent survey from Resume Genius found that graduates lack skills in communication, collaboration, and critical thinking. Consequently, there is a growing trend in companies hiring candidates based on skills instead of traditional education or work experience. This underscores the urgent need for educational leaders to prioritize adaptability and innovation in their systems. Educational leaders must embrace a transformative approach to keep pace.
…
[Heretical leaders] bring courage, empathy, and strategic thinking to reimagine education’s potential. Here are their defining characteristics:

Visionary Thinking: They identify bold, innovative paths to progress.
Courage to Act: These leaders take calculated risks to overcome resistance and inertia.
Relentless Curiosity: They challenge assumptions and seek better alternatives.
Empathy for Stakeholders: Understanding the personal impact of change allows them to lead with compassion.
Strategic Disruption: Their deliberate actions ensure systemic improvements.
These qualities enable Heretical leaders to reframe challenges as opportunities and drive meaningful change.

From DSC:
Readers of this blog will recognize that I believe visionary leadership is extremely important — in all areas of our society, but especially within our learning ecosystems. Vision trumps data, at least in my mind. There are times when data can be used to support a vision, but having a powerful vision is more lasting and impactful than relying on data to drive the organization.

So while I’d vote for a different term other than “heretical leaders,” I get what Dan is saying and I agree with him. Such leaders are going against the grain. They are swimming upstream. They are espousing perspectives that others often don’t buy into (at least initially or for some time).

Such were the leaders who introduced online learning into the K-16 educational systems back in the late ’90s and into the next two+ decades. The growth of online-based learning continues and has helped educate millions of people. Those leaders and the people who worked for such endeavors were going against the grain.

We haven’t seen the end point of online-based learning. I think it will become even more powerful and impactful when AI is used to determine which jobs are opening up, and which skills are needed for those jobs, and then provide a listing of sources of where one can obtain that knowledge and develop those skills. People will be key in this vision. But so will AI and personalized learning. It will be a collaborative effort.

By the way, I am NOT advocating for using AI to outsource our thinking. Also, having basic facts and background knowledge in a domain is critically important, especially to use AI effectively. But we should be teaching students about AI (as we learn more about it ourselves). We should be working collaboratively with our students to understand how best to use AI. It’s their futures at stake.

10 Higher Ed Trends to Watch In 2025 — from insidetrack.org

While “polarization” was Merriam-Webster’s word of the year for 2024, we have some early frontrunners for 2025 — especially when it comes to higher education. Change. Agility. Uncertainty. Flexibility. As we take a deep dive into the trends on tap for higher education in the coming year, it’s important to note that, with an incoming administration who has vowed to shake things up, the current postsecondary system could be turned on its head. With that in mind, we wade into our yearly look at the topics and trends that will be making headlines — and making waves — in the year ahead.

#Highereducation #learningecosystems #change #trends #businessmodels #trends #onlinelearning #AI #DEI #skillsbasedlearning #skills #alternatives #LearningandEmploymentRecords #LERs #valueofhighereducation #GenAI

Thought Bomb #1: Boot camps helped my daughter skill up without a degree, so why are they dying off? [Kathleen deLaski ]

On 01/09/2025, in Alternatives, business, change, changing business models, collaboration, colleges, community colleges, computer science, credentialing, higher education, microlearning, programming, skills, United States, universities, vendors, by Daniel Christian

Thought Bomb #1: Boot camps helped my daughter skill up without a degree, so why are they dying off? — from linkedin.com by Kathleen deLaski

How Generative AI Is Shaping the Future of Law: Challenges and Trends in the Legal Profession — from thomsonreuters.com by Raghu Ramanathan

With this mind, Thomson Reuters and Lexpert hosted a panel featuring law firm leaders and industry experts discussing the challenges and trends around the use of generative AI in the legal profession.?Below are insights from an engaging and informative discussion.

Sections included:

Lawyers are excited to implement generative AI solutions
Unfounded concerns about robot lawyers
Changing billing practices and elevating services
Managing and mitigating risks

Adopting Legal Technology Responsibly — from lexology.com by Sacha Kirk

Here are fundamental principles to guide the process:

Start with a Needs Assessment…
Engage Stakeholders Early…
Choose Scalable Solutions…
Prioritise Security and Compliance…
Plan for Change Management…

Modernizing Legal Workflows: The Role Of AI, Automation, And Strategic Partnerships — from abovethelaw.com by Scott Angelo, Jared Gullbergh, Nancy Griffing, and Michael Owen Hill
A roadmap for law firms.

Angelo added, “We really doubled down on AI because it was just so new — not just to the legal industry, but to the world.” Under his leadership, Buchanan’s efforts to embrace AI have garnered significant attention, earning the firm recognition as one of the “Best of the Best for Generative AI” in the 2024 BTI “Leading Edge Law Firms” survey.

This acknowledgment reflects more than ambition; it highlights the firm’s ability to translate innovative ideas into actionable results. By focusing on collaboration and leveraging technology to address client demands, Buchanan has set a benchmark for what is possible in legal technology innovation.
…
The collective team followed these essential steps for app development:

Identify and Prioritize Use Cases…
Define App Requirements…
Leverage Pre-Built Studio Apps and Templates…
Incorporate AI and Automation…
Test and Iterate…
Deploy and Train…
Measure Success…

Navigating Generative AI in Legal Practice — from linkedin.com by Colin Levy

The rise of artificial intelligence (AI), particularly generative AI, has introduced transformative potential to legal practice. For in-house counsel, managing legal risk while driving operational efficiency increasingly involves navigating AI’s opportunities and challenges. While AI offers remarkable tools for automation and data-driven decision-making, it is essential to approach these tools as complementary to human judgment, not replacements. Effective AI adoption requires balancing its efficiencies with a commitment to ethical, nuanced legal practice.

Here a few ways in which this arises:

Christina Blacklaws: “We’re on the cusp of meaningful A2J change” — from legaltechnology.com by Caroline Hill

As 2024 draws to a close, we took a look at the past year and the year ahead with Christina Blacklaws, the former president of the Law Society of England and Wales who, after leaving office, has developed a career supporting businesses as a non-executive director, consultant and strategic advisor. One of those advisory roles is chair of LawtechUK, an initiative to “turbocharge” the UK’s lawtech sector, delivered by CodeBase and LegalGeek and funded by the Ministry of Justice.

For Blacklaws, one of the huge areas of potential for GenAI technology is in helping to solve the access to justice crisis and she talks through some of the exciting work being done in this space and why we’re on the cusp of meaningful change.

2024 In Legal Ops: AI, Adaptation, And What’s Next — from abovethelaw.com by The Uplevel Ops Advisory Team
Reflections on the wild ride that was 2024 and bold predictions for the new year.

The Legal Operations landscape is evolving faster than ever, and UpLevel Ops is at the forefront of this transformation. With advancements like generative AI subscriptions, custom GPT services, and value-based pricing shaking up traditional approaches, legal departments are navigating uncharted territory.
…
From revolutionary uses of AI to new strategies in outside counsel management, their insights provide a roadmap for legal teams ready to embrace the next wave of innovation.

Judges Are Using Virtual Reality Headsets in the Courtroom — from vice.com by Luis Prada

A judge in Florida has just set a precedent that might forever change the US legal system—and maybe even the global legal system—forever.
…
But now the technology has advanced to the point where the judge and jury can be almost literally in his client’s shoes.

This allows the judge to not just understand the words of his testimony, but the physical conditions of it in a much more tactile way. Whether or not this will make his case more convincing is up to the jury.

The Evolution of a Virtual Court System — from law.com by Sondra Mendelson-Toscano (behind a paywall)
“It is my prediction that the future of the court system includes a hybrid employment model for the bench.”

Shortly thereafter, the New York Office of Court Administration designed and executed a plan whereby judges were able to handle their assigned matters electronically. Such seemed like a natural progression under the circumstances, given that prior to the advent of the Coronavirus, electronic testimony was successfully utilized in many different types of proceedings in various ways (e.g. vulnerable child witnesses, interstate custody and child support, elderly material witnesses, medically disabled defendants, and incarcerated individuals).

A virtual court online resource center was created for judges, staff, and the public for information related to remote operations. Despite some initial resistance by attorneys (who argued violations of the right to confrontation, that virtual is less effective and not as persuasive, computer illiteracy, and so forth), the Unified Court System pushed forward.

OCA’s course of action proved to be effective and, eventually, attorneys and litigants enjoyed the option of appearing virtually. Lawyers could handle multiple matters from their home offices in less time than it would have taken them to drive back and forth between courthouses, thus maximizing their work day.

Parties appreciated the flexibility of appearing from home and those who were essential workers valued joining proceedings on breaks while at work. Being in court remotely alleviated the stress of having to ask for, and take off, time from work, or making arrangements to address child care issues, elder care issues, and the like. Litigants with physical disabilities and other hardships, such as lack of transportation, received an automatic accommodation without having to request one.

Microsoft partners with ABA on new pilot project to help asylum-seekers — from abajournal.com by Amanda Robert

“In an ideal world, we would get everyone an in-person attorney to represent them for the full length of their case,” says Baez, the Commission on Immigration’s director of pro bono. “But in the reality we live in, where that’s really not possible, we are trying to be thoughtful and innovative on how we engage the most volunteers to help the most people who would otherwise not be able to access any legal assistance.”

In June, the Commission on Immigration partnered with Microsoft to launch a new virtual clinic to help pro se asylum-seekers complete their asylum applications. During this clinic, which included four sessions, nearly 30 volunteers from Microsoft worked with asylum-seekers to gather necessary information and prepare their applications for submission.

How to adopt GenAI within your legal department or law practice [Bachman] + A four-part series from Artificial Lawyer re: their predictions for 2025

On 12/12/2024, in Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, change, changing business models, Legal operations, legal technologies, legislatures / government / legal, new business models, vendors, by Daniel Christian

How to adopt GenAI within your legal department or law practice — from legaldive.com by Justin Bachman
Capital spending and ROI will be top of mind for legal executives moving forward with AI legal tools in 2025. Here are some best practices.

Dive Brief:

Debate about whether to use artificial intelligence in legal practice has ended. Discussions today are focused on costs, returns and how to best incorporate the technology into departments and outside law firms, according to an expert panel of legal tech specialists.
Buyers of generative AI solutions will encounter “a lot of confusion and a lot of opacity” on pricing, with multiple commercial models, George Socha, senior vice president of brand awareness at legal tech firm Reveal, said on a recent webinar. Long-term or firm contracts are best avoided for most legal tech customers, said Lee Wielenga, chief information officer at U.S. Legal Support.
Legal executives should consider small-group pilot projects for AI tools, focused on areas where routine, mundane tasks would benefit from automation, according to the panel. Software used in a business setting typically comes with permissioning access for employees, and generative AI adoption is likely to follow similar models.

Along the lines of legaltech, also see:

Artificial Lawyer’s 2025 Predictions – Part Four — from artificiallawyer.com
Artificial Lawyer’s 2025 Predictions – Part Three — from artificiallawyer.com
Artificial Lawyer’s 2025 Predictions – Part Two — from artificiallawyer.com
Artificial Lawyer’s 2025 Predictions – Part One — from artificiallawyer.com

“OpenAI wants to pair online courses with chatbots” [Wiggers] + other items re: AI in our learning ecosytems

On 12/07/2024, in adjunct faculty, Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, Australia, business, career development, change, changing business models, content development, aggregation, repositories, corporate / business world, corporate universities / corporate training, education, education technology, emerging technologies, experimentation, faculty/staff, future, future of higher education, game-changing environment, Google, higher education, homeschooling/homeschoolers, human-computer interaction (HCI), ideas, innovation, instructional design, intelligent systems, IT in HE, K-12 related, learning, learning ecosystem, Learning Experience Design, new business models, online learning, Open AI, platforms, productivity / tips and tricks, professional development, research, skills, society, sociology, student-related, teachers, teaching & learning, the downsides of how people use tech, tools, training / L&D, trends, United States, universities, vendors, workplace, writing, youth, by Daniel Christian

What Students Are Saying About Teachers Using A.I. to Grade — from nytimes.com by The Learning Network; via Claire Zau
Teenagers and educators weigh in on a recent question from The Ethicist.

Is it unethical for teachers to use artificial intelligence to grade papers if they have forbidden their students from using it for their assignments?

That was the question a teacher asked Kwame Anthony Appiah in a recent edition of The Ethicist. We posed it to students to get their take on the debate, and asked them their thoughts on teachers using A.I. in general.

While our Student Opinion questions are usually reserved for teenagers, we also heard from a few educators about how they are — or aren’t — using A.I. in the classroom. We’ve included some of their answers, as well.

OpenAI wants to pair online courses with chatbots — from techcrunch.com by Kyle Wiggers; via James DeVaney on LinkedIn

If OpenAI has its way, the next online course you take might have a chatbot component.

Speaking at a fireside on Monday hosted by Coeus Collective, Siya Raj Purohit, a member of OpenAI’s go-to-market team for education, said that OpenAI might explore ways to let e-learning instructors create custom “GPTs” that tie into online curriculums.

“What I’m hoping is going to happen is that professors are going to create custom GPTs for the public and let people engage with content in a lifelong manner,” Purohit said. “It’s not part of the current work that we’re doing, but it’s definitely on the roadmap.”

15 Times to use AI, and 5 Not to — from oneusefulthing.org by Ethan Mollick
Notes on the Practical Wisdom of AI Use

There are several types of work where AI can be particularly useful, given the current capabilities and limitations of LLMs. Though this list is based in science, it draws even more from experience. Like any form of wisdom, using AI well requires holding opposing ideas in mind: it can be transformative yet must be approached with skepticism, powerful yet prone to subtle failures, essential for some tasks yet actively harmful for others. I also want to caveat that you shouldn’t take this list too seriously except as inspiration – you know your own situation best, and local knowledge matters more than any general principles. With all that out of the way, below are several types of tasks where AI can be especially useful, given current capabilities—and some scenarios where you should remain wary.

Learning About Google Learn About: What Educators Need To Know — from techlearning.com by Ray Bendici
Google’s experimental Learn About platform is designed to create an AI-guided learning experience

Google Learn About is a new experimental AI-driven platform available that provides digestible and in-depth knowledge about various topics, but showcases it all in an educational context. Described by Google as a “conversational learning companion,” it is essentially a Wikipedia-style chatbot/search engine, and then some.

In addition to having a variety of already-created topics and leading questions (in areas such as history, arts, culture, biology, and physics) the tool allows you to enter prompts using either text or an image. It then provides a general overview/answer, and then suggests additional questions, topics, and more to explore in regard to the initial subject.

The idea is for student use is that the AI can help guide a deeper learning process rather than just provide static answers.

What OpenAI’s PD for Teachers Does—and Doesn’t—Do — from edweek.org by Olina Banerji
What’s the first thing that teachers dipping their toes into generative artificial intelligence should do?

They should start with the basics, according to OpenAI, the creator of ChatGPT and one of the world’s most prominent artificial intelligence research companies. Last month, the company launched an hour-long, self-paced online course for K-12 teachers about the definition, use, and harms of generative AI in the classroom. It was launched in collaboration with Common Sense Media, a national nonprofit that rates and reviews a wide range of digital content for its age appropriateness.

…the above article links to:

ChatGPT Foundations for K–12 Educators — from commonsense.org

This course introduces you to the basics of artificial intelligence, generative AI, ChatGPT, and how to use ChatGPT safely and effectively. From decoding the jargon to responsible use, this course will help you level up your understanding of AI and ChatGPT so that you can use tools like this safely and with a clear purpose.

Learning outcomes:

Understand what ChatGPT is and how it works.
Demonstrate ways to use ChatGPT to support your teaching practices.
Implement best practices for applying responsible AI principles in a school setting.

Takeaways From Google’s Learning in the AI Era Event — from edtechinsiders.substack.com by Sarah Morin, Alex Sarlin, and Ben Kornell
Highlights from Our Day at Google + Behind-the-Scenes Interviews Coming Soon!

NotebookLM: The Start of an AI Operating System
Google is Serious About AI and Learning
Google’s LearnLM Now Available in AI Studio
Collaboration is King
If You Give a Teacher a Ferrari

Rapid Responses to AI — from the-job.beehiiv.com by Paul Fain
Top experts call for better data and more short-term training as tech transforms jobs.

AI could displace middle-skill workers and widen the wealth gap, says landmark study, which calls for better data and more investment in continuing education to help workers make career pivots.
…
Ensuring That AI Helps Workers
Artificial intelligence has emerged as a general purpose technology with sweeping implications for the workforce and education. While it’s impossible to precisely predict the scope and timing of looming changes to the labor market, the U.S. should build its capacity to rapidly detect and respond to AI developments.
That’s the big-ticket framing of a broad new report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. Congress requested the study, tapping an all-star committee of experts to assess the current and future impact of AI on the workforce.

“In contemplating what the future holds, one must approach predictions with humility,” the study says…

“AI could accelerate occupational polarization,” the committee said, “by automating more nonroutine tasks and increasing the demand for elite expertise while displacing middle-skill workers.”
…
The Kicker: “The education and workforce ecosystem has a responsibility to be intentional with how we value humans in an AI-powered world and design jobs and systems around that,” says Hsieh.

AI Predators: What Schools Should Know and Do — from techlearning.com by Erik Ofgang
AI is increasingly be used by predators to connect with underage students online. Yasmin London, global online safety expert at Qoria and a former member of the New South Wales Police Force in Australia, shares steps educators can take to protect students.

The threat from AI for students goes well beyond cheating, says Yasmin London, global online safety expert at Qoria and a former member of the New South Wales Police Force in Australia.

Increasingly at U.S. schools and beyond, AI is being used by predators to manipulate children. Students are also using AI generate inappropriate images of other classmates or staff members. For a recent report, Qoria, a company that specializes in child digital safety and wellbeing products, surveyed 600 schools across North America, UK, Australia, and New Zealand.

Why We Undervalue Ideas and Overvalue Writing — from aiczar.blogspot.com by Alexander “Sasha” Sidorkin

A student submits a paper that fails to impress stylistically yet approaches a worn topic from an angle no one has tried before. The grade lands at B minus, and the student learns to be less original next time. This pattern reveals a deep bias in higher education: ideas lose to writing every time.

This bias carries serious equity implications. Students from disadvantaged backgrounds, including first-generation college students, English language learners, and those from under-resourced schools, often arrive with rich intellectual perspectives but struggle with academic writing conventions. Their ideas – shaped by unique life experiences and cultural viewpoints – get buried under red ink marking grammatical errors and awkward transitions. We systematically undervalue their intellectual contributions simply because they do not arrive in standard academic packaging.

Google Scholar’s New AI Outline Tool Explained By Its Founder — from techlearning.com by Erik Ofgang
Google Scholar PDF reader uses Gemini AI to read research papers. The AI model creates direct links to the paper’s citations and a digital outline that summarizes the different sections of the paper.

Google Scholar has entered the AI revolution. Google Scholar PDF reader now utilizes generative AI powered by Google’s Gemini AI tool to create interactive outlines of research papers and provide direct links to sources within the paper. This is designed to make reading the relevant parts of the research paper more efficient, says Anurag Acharya, who co-founded Google Scholar on November 18, 2004, twenty years ago last month.

The Four Most Powerful AI Use Cases in Instructional Design Right Now — from drphilippahardman.substack.com by Dr. Philippa Hardman
Insights from ~300 instructional designers who have taken my AI & Learning Design bootcamp this year

AI-Powered Analysis: Creating Detailed Learner Personas…
AI-Powered Design: Optimising Instructional Strategies…
AI-Powered Development & Implementation: Quality Assurance…
AI-Powered Evaluation: Predictive Impact Assessment…

How Are New AI Tools Changing ‘Learning Analytics’? — from edsurge.com by Jeffrey R. Young
For a field that has been working to learn from the data trails students leave in online systems, generative AI brings new promises — and new challenges.

In other words, with just a few simple instructions to ChatGPT, the chatbot can classify vast amounts of student work and turn it into numbers that educators can quickly analyze.

Findings from learning analytics research is also being used to help train new generative AI-powered tutoring systems.
…
Another big application is in assessment, says Pardos, the Berkeley professor. Specifically, new AI tools can be used to improve how educators measure and grade a student’s progress through course materials. The hope is that new AI tools will allow for replacing many multiple-choice exercises in online textbooks with fill-in-the-blank or essay questions.

Increasing AI Fluency Among Enterprise Employees, Senior Management & Executives — from learningguild.com by Bill Brandon

This article attempts, in these early days, to provide some specific guidelines for AI curriculum planning in enterprise organizations.

The two reports identified in the first paragraph help to answer an important question. What can enterprise L&D teams do to improve AI fluency in their organizations?

You could be surprised how many software products have added AI features. Examples (to name a few) are productivity software (Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace); customer relationship management (Salesforce and Hubspot); human resources (Workday and Talentsoft); marketing and advertising (Adobe Marketing Cloud and Hootsuite); and communication and collaboration (Slack and Zoom). Look for more under those categories in software review sites.

Reflections on “US College Closures Are Expected to Soar, Fed Research Says” [Bloomberg.com]

On 12/07/2024, in 21st century, Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, assessment, business side of he, change, changing business models, colleges, community colleges, cost of getting a degree, dangers of the status quo, Daniel S. Christian, data related items, economics, faculty/staff, game-changing environment, higher education, ideas, law schools, learning ecosystem, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, legislatures / government / legal, liberal arts, new business models, parents/guardians, policy, reinvent, society, staying relevant, student-related, surviving, United States, universities, vendors, by Daniel Christian

US College Closures Are Expected to Soar, Fed Research Says — from bloomberg.com

Fed research created predictive model of college stress
Worst-case scenario forecasts 80 additional closures

The number of colleges that close each year is poised to significantly increase as schools contend with a slowdown in prospective students.

That’s the finding of a new working paper published by the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia, where researchers created predictive models of schools’ financial distress using metrics like enrollment and staffing patterns, sources of revenue and liquidity data. They overlayed those models with simulations to estimate the likely increase of future closures.

Excerpt from the working paper:

We document a high degree of missing data among colleges that eventually close and show that this is a key impediment to identifying at risk institutions. We then show that modern machine learning techniques, combined with richer data, are far more effective at predicting college closures than linear probability models, and considerably more effective than existing accountability metrics. Our preferred model, which combines an off-the-shelf machine learning algorithm with the richest set of explanatory variables, can significantly improve predictive accuracy even for institutions with complete data, but is particularly helpful for predicting instances of financial distress for institutions with spotty data.

From DSC:
Questions that come to my mind here include:

Shouldn’t the public — especially those relevant parents and students — be made more aware of these types of papers and reports?
.
How would any of us like finishing up 1-3 years of school and then being told that our colleges or universities were closing, effective immediately? (This has happened many times already.) and with the demographic cliff starting to hit higher education, this will happen even more now.
.
Adding insult to injury…when we transfer to different institutions, we’re told that many of our prior credits don’t transfer — thus adding a significant amount to the overall cost of obtaining our degrees.
.
Would we not be absolutely furious to discover such communications from our prior — and new — colleges and universities?
.
Will all of these types of closures move more people to this vision here?

Relevant excerpts from Ray Schroeder’s recent articles out at insidehighered.com:

Winds of Change in Higher Ed to Become a Hurricane in 2025

A number of factors are converging to create a huge storm. Generative AI advances, massive federal policy shifts, broad societal and economic changes, and the demographic cliff combine to create uncertainty today and change tomorrow.

Higher Education in 2025: AGI Agents to Displace People

The anticipated enrollment cliff, reductions in federal and state funding, increased inflation, and dwindling public support for tuition increases will combine to put even greater pressure on university budgets.

On the positive side of things, the completion rates have been getting better:

National college completion rate ticks up to 61.1% — from highereddive.com by Natalie Schwartz
Those who started at two-year public colleges helped drive the overall increase in students completing a credential.

Dive Brief:

Completion rates ticked up to 61.1% for students who entered college in fall 2018, a 0.5 percentage-point increase compared to the previous cohort, according to data released Wednesday by the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center.
The increase marks the highest six-year completion rate since 2007 when the clearinghouse began tracking the data. The growth was driven by fewer students stopping out of college, as well as completion gains among students who started at public two-year colleges.
“Higher completion rates are welcome news for colleges and universities still struggling to regain enrollment levels from before the pandemic,” Doug Shapiro, the research center’s executive director, said in a statement dated Wednesday.

Addendum:

Attention Please: Professors Struggle With Student Disengagement — from edsurge.com

The stakes are huge, because the concern is that maybe the social contract between students and professors is kind of breaking down. Do students believe that all this college lecturing is worth hearing? Or, will this moment force a change in the way college teaching is done?

Adapting to the future | Educause

Institutions are balancing capacity issues and rapid technological advancements—including artificial intelligence—while addressing a loss of trust in higher education.

To adapt to the future, technology and data leaders must work strategically to restore trust, prepare for policy updates, and plan for online education growth.

Hopping on the Affordability Bandwagon [Knox]

On 11/27/2024, in business side of he, change, changing business models, colleges, cost of getting a degree, higher education, parents/guardians, student-related, United States, universities, by Daniel Christian

Hopping on the Affordability Bandwagon — from insidehighered.com by Liam Knox
Five selective colleges launched strikingly similar student aid initiatives last week for low- and middle-income students. What’s behind the frenzy to boost financial aid?

The announcements have come pouring in at a time when public resentment of elite institutions has reached a fever pitch, doubts about the value of college are at a historic high and the impact of the Supreme Court’s affirmative action ruling on demographics is becoming clear. And after last year’s bungled FAFSA rollout, families are warier than ever of financial aid promises.

“We know what’s going on with confidence in higher education, and one element of that is increasing cost and increasing debt levels,” said James Milliken, chancellor of the UT system.

It’s part of a broader marketing and recruitment effort to raise awareness of the financial aid resources at colleges with staggeringly high sticker prices—she calls it a “clear cost” initiative. And as more colleges expand financial aid, it creates a domino effect among peer institutions looking to compete for highly qualified applicants from lower income brackets, she said.

Tania LaViolet, director of research and innovation at the Aspen Institute

Building the lawyer of the future [Furlong]

On 11/21/2024, in career development, change, changing business models, competency-based learning/education, Emotion, ethics, law schools, legal reform, legal technologies, legislatures / government / legal, morals/values, workplace, by Daniel Christian

Building the lawyer of the future — from jordanfurlong.substack.com by Jordan Furlong
Here’s my latest “Future Lawyer Starter Kit.” Tell me what you think.

Building upon this knowledge foundation, I suggest that future lawyers should develop the following ten human competencies (through a completely overhauled education, training, and licensing process, but that’s a topic for another day):

Acting ethically
Advocating and negotiating
Demonstrating character
Displaying empathy
Exercising judgment
Giving advice
Reasoning legally
Relating with people
Resolving conflicts
Solving problems

What DICE does in this posting will be available 24x7x365 in the future [Christian]

On 11/20/2024, in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, adjunct faculty, adult learning, Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, business, career development, changing business models, colleges, communities of practice, community colleges, content development, aggregation, repositories, corporate / business world, corporate universities / corporate training, cost of getting a degree, Daniel S. Christian, digital learning, distance education, education technology, elearning, emerging technologies, entrepreneurship, experimentation, faculty/staff, future, future of higher education, game-changing environment, global / globalization, heutagogy, higher education, homeschooling/homeschoolers, human-computer interaction (HCI), ideas, innovation, instructional design, intelligent systems, intelligent tutoring, internet, K-12 related, law schools, learning, learning agents, learning ecosystem, Learning Experience Design, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, learning hubs & pods & microschooling, learning preferences, learning spaces, liberal arts, library / librarians, lifelong learning, MBA, microlearning, multimedia, Natural Language Processing (NLP), neurodivergent/special needs, new business models, online learning, online media, online tutoring, personalized/customized learning, platforms, productivity / tips and tricks, remote teaching and learning, skills, staying relevant, student-related, surviving, teachers, teaching & learning, teaching online, technologies for your home, training / L&D, universities, vendors, videoconferencing, virtual field trips, virtual K-12 schools, Virtual Reality (VR) / worlds / learning, virtual tutoring, vision/possibilities, vocational / trades, voice recognition / voice enabled interfaces, web-based collaboration, Web3, webinars, workplace, by Daniel Christian

From DSC:
First of all, when you look at the following posting:

What Top Tech Skills Should You Learn for 2025? — from dice.com by Nick Kolakowski

…you will see that they outline which skills you should consider mastering in 2025 if you want to stay on top of the latest career opportunities. They then list more information about the skills, how you apply the skills, and WHERE to get those skills.