changing business models

Students at This High School Do Internships. It’s a Game Changer — from edweek.org by Elizabeth Heubeck

Disengaged students. Sky-high absenteeism. A disconnect between the typical high school’s academic curriculum and post-graduation life.

These and related complaints about the American high school experience have been gathering steam for some time; the pandemic exacerbated them. State-level policymakers have taken note, and many are now trying to figure out how to give high school students access to a more relevant and engaging experience that prepares them for a future—whether it involves college or doesn’t.
…
After a slow start, the school’s internship program has grown exponentially. In 2019-20, just five students completed internships, mainly due to the logistical challenges the pandemic presented. This past year, it grew to over 180 participating seniors, with more than 200 community organizations agreeing to accept interns.

How Do Today’s High Schoolers Fare As They Enter Adulthood? View the Data — from edweek.org by Sarah D. Sparks

Even when students have access to high-quality dual-credit programs, they often do not get guidance about the academic and workplace requirements of particular fields until it’s too late, said Julie Lammers, the senior vice president of advocacy and corporate social responsibility for American Student Assistance, a national nonprofit focused on helping young people learn about college and careers.

“We need to start having career conversations with young people much earlier in their trajectory, at the time young people are still open to possibilities,” Lammers said. “If they don’t see themselves in science by 8th grade, STEM careers come off the table.”

Cost plays a big role in the decision to attend and stay in college. The Education Data Initiative finds that on average, students in 2024 racked up nearly$38,000 in debt to pursue a bachelor’s degree, with many expecting to take up to 20 years to pay it off.

Transforming Education From School-Centered to Learner-Centered
Centering Learners by Design: Shaping the Future of Education — from gettingsmart.com

What outcomes do we truly desire for young people? Many students feel that their current educational experiences do not prepare them adequately for real-world challenges. Supported by data on attendance, disengagement, and stress, it’s evident that a shift is needed. To move beyond outdated school-centered models, we must embrace a learner-centered paradigm that fosters flexibility, personalization, and authentic community engagement. Innovative approaches like multiage microschools and passion projects are transforming how students learn by fostering real-world skills, confidence, and community engagement.

These learner-centered models—ranging from personalized projects to collaborative problem-solving—provide actionable strategies to create environments where every student can thrive. Schools are moving away from one-size-fits-all systems and embracing approaches like flexible learning pathways, mentorship opportunities, and community-integrated learning. These strategies are not only closing the gap between education and the skills needed for the future but also reshaping public schools into dynamic hubs of innovation.

Key Points

Engaging parents, youth, teachers, principals, district leaders, community members, and industry experts in the co-design process ensures that education systems align with the aspirations and needs of the community.
Transitioning from a traditional school-centered model to a learner-centered approach is critical for preparing students with the skills needed to thrive in the 21st century.

Should we be concerned about what’s happening at OpenAI? What does this say about the leader of arguably 1 of the most powerful co’s in the world today?

On 09/27/2024, in Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, business, change, changing business models, corporate / business world, Daniel S. Christian, future, game-changing environment, generational differences, global / globalization, leadership, new business models, Open AI, society, strategy, the downsides of how people use tech, United States, vendors, by Daniel Christian

One left
byu/jim_andr inOpenAI

From DSC:
I’m not trying to gossip here. I post this because Sam Altman is the head of arguably one of the most powerful companies in the world today — at least in terms of introducing change to a variety of societies throughout the globe (both positive and negative). So when we’ve now seen almost the entire leadership team head out the door, this certainly gives me major pause. I don’t like it. Items like the ones below begin to capture some of why I’m troubled and suspicious about these troubling moves.

OpenAI board mulls equity stake for Sam Altman that could be a massive payday — from fortune.com by Dave Smith
And as Linus Ekenstam points out:

So. hear me out. it’s natural for leadership to change. but if we look at Apple, leadership changes over decades if not more.

Why, if everything is so fast paced, hyper growth oriented and groundbreaking. Do people choose to leave?

I think I and many others are baffled

— Linus @ Meta Connect (@LinusEkenstam) September 26, 2024

OpenAI to Become For-Profit Company — from wsj.com by Deepa Seetharaman, Berber Jin, and Tom Dotan (behind paywall)
Planned restructuring comes amid personnel upheaval including resignation of chief technology officer
Three more execs out at OpenAI, including technology chief Mira Murati — from cnn.com by Clare Duffy
OpenAI’s executive exodus is continuing with three top leaders announcing their exits Wednesday, including Chief Technology Officer Mira Murati.

DSC: I agree with Brandon Busteed on this item — excellent pricing/tuition transparency!

On 09/18/2024, in changing business models, colleges, community colleges, cost of getting a degree, faculty/staff, higher education, ideas, law schools, leadership, learning ecosystem, new business models, parents/guardians, society, sociology, strategy, student-related, United States, universities, by Daniel Christian

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.

Also related, see:

How Rising Higher Ed Costs Change Student Attitudes About College — from edsurge.com by Jeffrey R. Young

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.’”

Georgia Tech Aims to Take Lifetime Learning from Pastime to Pro — from workshift.org by Lilah Burke

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.

Also see:

Is the Workplace the New College Campus? — from workshift.org by Joe Edelheit Ross

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.

School is back in session, and so are AI art classes [Farfan]

On 08/28/2024, in art, Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, business side of he, career development, change, changing business models, colleges, community colleges, creativity, curriculum, new business models, United States, universities, by Daniel Christian

School is back in session, and so are AI art classes — from hyperallergic.com by Isa Farfan
New university programs are incorporating generative tools into studio art courses while attempting to address the murky ethics of the technology.

There’s a new addition to the course catalog at Ringling College of Art and Design, a small private art school in southwest Florida: an Artificial Intelligence Undergraduate Certificate.

The college claimed its new program is the first-of-its-kind AI certificate at an undergraduate arts institution in a news release earlier this month. Other schools in the United States offer courses and certificates focused on the integration of artificial intelligence and creative work, and educators across the country have already brought the technology into the art studio. Critics, however, say pushing AI into arts education won’t level the playing field for professional artists competing against increasingly sophisticated generative tools.

From DSC:
Though this next item is not necessarily related to AI, the following is still art and it’s very fun to watch!

Wait for the magic pic.twitter.com/peHgBHCoti

— Learn Something (@cooltechtipz) August 27, 2024

A New Problem With Four-Year Degrees: The Surge in College Closures — from wsj.com by Milla Surjadi; article behind a paywall
Universities have buckled under the strain of tuition losses as the number of college-bound students continues to decline

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.)

68% of seniors say college has significantly boosted their ability to land well-paying jobs, poll finds — from highereddive.com by Natalie Schwartz
Although the survey suggests students believe higher education has improved their career prospects, they’re still worried about job market competition.

Dive Brief:

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.

Exploring the Landscape of College Instruction — from sr.ithaka.org by Sage Love and Melissa Blankstein
Highlights from the 2024 US Instructor Survey

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:

Will 25 Percent Of Colleges Consolidate? An Update On A Prediction — from forbes.com by Michael Horn

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.

2024 CHLOE 9 Report
August 13, 2024

CHLOE 9 | Strategy Shift: Institutions Respond to Sustained Online Demand

The ninth installment of the Changing Landscape of Online Education (CHLOE) report, produced by Quality MattersTM , Eduventures® and Educause — offers an overview of the current state of online learning in higher education as well as insights into its future development. The report was compiled by surveying chief online officers (COLOs) — the professionals best situated to assess the current state of this ever-developing field — at U.S. two- and four-year colleges and universities.

The majority of survey participants report both learner demand for online learning surging and institutional strategic priorities shifting to meet this demand, as well as the adaptation to the new presence of AI tools in the academic environment. Notable findings from the 53-page report include:

Priorities for Online Learning: Institutions are increasingly prioritizing the development of online versions of both on-campus courses (69%) and on-campus degrees (65%) in order to meet demand. In terms of their topmost priority, 43% of COLOs chose online versions of on-campus degrees (the majority of public four-year institutions identified this as their top priority), with online versions of on-campus courses selected as the top priority by 39%.
Tuition and Institutional Revenue: …
AI in Higher Education: …
Third-Party Servicers: …
Regular and Substantive Interaction: …

Two-thirds of colleges are prioritizing online versions of on-campus programs, poll finds — from highereddive.com by Natalie Schwartz
The ninth Changing Landscape of Online Education survey offers a glimpse into the distance education marketplace.

Dive Brief:

Roughly two-thirds of colleges are making it a priority to create virtual versions of on-campus classes and programs, according to an annual survey of chief online learning officers.
College officials likely see creating online versions of existing programs as easier than launching entirely new academic programs, according to the report.
However, 48% of chief online learning officers still said their priorities included launching new online programs with no campus equivalent.

CHLOE 9 Report by Quality Matters, Eduventures, and EDUCAUSE Highlights Continuing Shift of Learner Demand and Institutional Strategy Toward Online Learning — from marketwatch.com
Key findings include increased demand from on-campus students for online options, a notable shift in institutional strategies to align with this demand, and the growing use of artificial intelligence in online education.

BOSTON, Aug. 13, 2024 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ — Quality Matters, EDUCAUSE, and Eduventures Research have released the ninth edition of the Changing Landscape of Online Education (CHLOE) report, compiling the perspectives of chief online learning officers (COLOs) around the United States. CHLOE 9: Strategy Shift: Institutions Respond to Sustained Online Demand reveals a continued increase in student preference for online learning and the strategies institutions are employing to address this demand.

The report also outlines institutional perspectives on a host of other factors contributing to the state of online education, including artificial intelligence, third-party servicers, OPMs and regular and substantive interaction.

Addendum on 8/15/24:

The State of Online Learning | The CHLOE 9 Survey – Part 1 — from onedtech.philhillaa.com by Glenda Morgan

For the uninitiated, since 2017 the CHLOE report has surveyed Chief Online Learning Officers (COLOs) at higher education institutions in the US to map the changing landscape of online education. It has become an invaluable resource in understanding the topography of online learning in the US as well as how it is changing as more institutions move online and that environment becomes more regulated and more competitive.

I found this year’s survey much more engaging than in recent years. Many of the questions asked and the way they were framed address the issues of concern to people managing online learning. There is a lot in the survey, and I am going to break my coverage into two parts. In this first post, I want to cover the more general findings of the survey as well as some of my concerns with it. In my next post, I want to do a deeper dive into what the CHLOE survey reports about outsourcing and OPMs, a topic that we have covered extensively in this newsletter.

Building a Collaborative Lifelong Learning Ecosystem [moderncampus.com]

On 08/13/2024, in changing business models, collaboration, colleges, community colleges, culture, curriculum, future of higher education, higher education, ideas, learning ecosystem, lifelong learning, podcasting, reinvent, skills, staying relevant, United States, universities, by Daniel Christian

Building a Collaborative Lifelong Learning Ecosystem — from by Bryan Benjamin and Amrit Ahluwalia

Staying current and relevant is essential for institutions in today’s rapidly evolving higher education landscape. However, innovative work cannot be accomplished in isolation.

On this episode, Bryan Benjamin, Executive Director of The Ivey Academy and Amrit Ahluwalia, Executive Director of Continuing Studies at Western University, discusses the importance of institutional collaboration and creating a scalable lifelong learning ecosystem.

The race to deploy GenAI in the legal sector — from sifted.eu by Kai Nicol-Schwarz
LegalFly’s €15m Series A is the latest in a string of raises for European GenAI legaltech startups

Speak to any lawyer and you’ll soon discover that the job is a far cry from the fevered excitement of a courtroom drama. Behind the scenes, there’s an endless amount of laborious and typically manual tasks like drafting, reviewing and negotiating contracts and other legal documents that have to be done manually daily.

It was this realisation that led four product managers at dating app giant Tinder, frustrated by what they saw as a lack of AI adoption at the company, to jump ship and found Belgium-based LegalFly last year. The startup is building a generative AI copilot for lawyers which eventually, it says, will be able to automate entire workflows in the legal profession.

“We were looking at what GenAI was good at, which is synthesising data and generating content,” says founder and CEO Ruben Miessen. “What industry works like that? Law, and it does it all in a very manual way.”

“The legal industry is a global behemoth that’s seen minimal innovation since the advent of Microsoft Word in the 90s,” says Carina Namih, partner at Plural. “GenAI — especially with a human in the loop to keep accuracy high — is ideally suited to drafting, editing and negotiating legal documents.”

Legal Technology Company Relativity Announces OpenAI ChatGPT Integration — from lawfuel.com

CHICAGO– July 18 – Relativity, a global legal technology company, today announced it is integrating with OpenAI’s ChatGPT Enterprise Compliance API. The integration adds ChatGPT Enterprise as a Collect in RelativityOne data source, allowing users to seamlessly collect and process human-to-AI conversational data.

“The future around human and AI interaction is changing rapidly, calling for innovative legal data management solutions to include novel data sources, such as conversations with AI agents,” said Chris Brown, Chief Product Officer at Relativity. “In answering that call, we are committed to equipping our community with the tools they need to traverse the evolving future of human-to-AI conversational data and putting users in control of this new data landscape.”

“Deep Learning: Five New Superpowers of Higher Education” [Klitgaard] + other items re: AI in our learning ecosystems

On 07/19/2024, in Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, bots, Canvas - and other Instructure-related items, change, changing business models, CMS/LMS, colleges, community colleges, content development, aggregation, repositories, credentialing, digital learning, education, education technology, emerging technologies, engagement / engaging students, experimentation, future, future of higher education, game-changing environment, generational differences, higher education, human-computer interaction (HCI), ideas, innovation, instructional design, intelligent systems, interactivity, IT in HE, K-12 related, languages and translation, learning, learning agents, learning ecosystem, Learning Experience Design, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, learning spaces, liberal arts, Natural Language Processing (NLP), personalized/customized learning, platforms, productivity / tips and tricks, professional development, student-related, teachers, teaching & learning, tools, United States, universities, vendors, vision/possibilities, voice recognition / voice enabled interfaces, by Daniel Christian

What aspects of teaching should remain human? — from hechingerreport.org by Chris Berdik
Even techno optimists hesitate to say teaching is best left to the bots, but there’s a debate about where to draw the line

ATLANTA — Science teacher Daniel Thompson circulated among his sixth graders at Ron Clark Academy on a recent spring morning, spot checking their work and leading them into discussions about the day’s lessons on weather and water. He had a helper: As Thompson paced around the class, peppering them with questions, he frequently turned to a voice-activated AI to summon apps and educational videos onto large-screen smartboards.

When a student asked, “Are there any animals that don’t need water?” Thompson put the question to the AI. Within seconds, an illustrated blurb about kangaroo rats appeared before the class.

Nitta said there’s something “deeply profound” about human communication that allows flesh-and-blood teachers to quickly spot and address things like confusion and flagging interest in real time.

Deep Learning: Five New Superpowers of Higher Education — from jeppestricker.substack.com by Jeppe Klitgaard Stricker
How Deep Learning is Transforming Higher Education

While the traditional model of education is entrenched, emerging technologies like deep learning promise to shake its foundations and usher in an age of personalized, adaptive, and egalitarian education. It is expected to have a significant impact across higher education in several key ways.
…
…deep learning introduces adaptivity into the learning process. Unlike a typical lecture, deep learning systems can observe student performance in real-time. Confusion over a concept triggers instant changes to instructional tactics. Misconceptions are identified early and remediated quickly. Students stay in their zone of proximal development, constantly challenged but never overwhelmed. This adaptivity prevents frustration and stagnation.

InstructureCon 24 Conference Notes — from onedtech.philhillaa.com by Glenda Morgan
Another solid conference from the market leader, even with unclear roadmap

The new stuff: AI
Instructure rolled out multiple updates and improvements – more than last year. These included many AI-based or focused tools and services as well as some functional improvements. I’ll describe the AI features first.

Sal Khan was a surprise visitor to the keynote stage to announce the September availability of the full suite of AI-enabled Khanmigo Teacher Tools for Canvas users. The suite includes 20 tools, such as tools to generate lesson plans and quiz questions and write letters of recommendation. Next year, they plan to roll out tools for students themselves to use.
…
Other AI-based features include.

- Discussion tool summaries and AI-generated responses…
- Translation of inbox messages and discussions…
- Smart search …
- Intelligent Insights…

How AI will change education [Woodbury], Introducing Eureka Labs [Karpathy] + numerous other items re: AI in our learning ecosystems

On 07/18/2024, in adjunct faculty, Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, bots, career development, change, changing business models, colleges, community colleges, computer science, digital learning, education, education technology, emerging technologies, Europe, experimentation, faculty/staff, future, future of higher education, game-changing environment, generational differences, heutagogy, higher education, human-computer interaction (HCI), ideas, innovation, instructional design, intelligent systems, intelligent tutoring, K-12 related, learning ecosystem, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, lifelong learning, Open AI, platforms, productivity / tips and tricks, professional development, programming, student-related, teachers, teaching & learning, tools, UK, United States, universities, vendors, writing, by Daniel Christian

Introducing Eureka Labs — “We are building a new kind of school that is AI native.” — by Andrej Karpathy, Previously Director of AI @ Tesla, founding team @ OpenAI

However, with recent progress in generative AI, this learning experience feels tractable. The teacher still designs the course materials, but they are supported, leveraged and scaled with an AI Teaching Assistant who is optimized to help guide the students through them. This Teacher + AI symbiosis could run an entire curriculum of courses on a common platform. If we are successful, it will be easy for anyone to learn anything, expanding education in both reach (a large number of people learning something) and extent (any one person learning a large amount of subjects, beyond what may be possible today unassisted).

?? Excited to share that I am starting an AI+Education company called Eureka Labs.
The announcement:

—
We are Eureka Labs and we are building a new kind of school that is AI native.

How can we approach an ideal experience for learning something new? For example, in the case… pic.twitter.com/RHPkqdjB8R

— Andrej Karpathy (@karpathy) July 16, 2024

After Tesla and OpenAI, Andrej Karpathy’s startup aims to apply AI assistants to education — from techcrunch.com by Rebecca Bellan

Andrej Karpathy, former head of AI at Tesla and researcher at OpenAI, is launching Eureka Labs, an “AI native” education platform. In tech speak, that usually means built from the ground up with AI at its core. And while Eureka Labs’ AI ambitions are lofty, the company is starting with a more traditional approach to teaching.

San Francisco-based Eureka Labs, which Karpathy registered as an LLC in Delaware on June 21, aims to leverage recent progress in generative AI to create AI teaching assistants that can guide students through course materials.

What does it mean for students to be AI-ready? — from timeshighereducation.com by David Joyner
Not everyone wants to be a computer scientist, a software engineer or a machine learning developer. We owe it to our students to prepare them with a full range of AI skills for the world they will graduate into, writes David Joyner

We owe it to our students to prepare them for this full range of AI skills, not merely the end points. The best way to fulfil this responsibility is to acknowledge and examine this new category of tools. More and more tools that students use daily – word processors, email, presentation software, development environments and more – have AI-based features. Practising with these tools is a valuable exercise for students, so we should not prohibit that behaviour. But at the same time, we do not have to just shrug our shoulders and accept however much AI assistance students feel like using.

Teachers say AI usage has surged since the school year started — from eschoolnews.com by Laura Ascione
Half of teachers report an increase in the use of AI and continue to seek professional learning

Fifty percent of educators reported an increase in AI usage, by both students and teachers, over the 2023–24 school year, according to The 2024 Educator AI Report: Perceptions, Practices, and Potential, from Imagine Learning, a digital curriculum solutions provider.

The report offers insight into how teachers’ perceptions of AI use in the classroom have evolved since the start of the 2023–24 school year.

OPINION: What teachers call AI cheating, leaders in the workforce might call progress — from hechingerreport.org by C. Edward Waston and Jose Antonio Bowen
Authors of a new guide explore what AI literacy might look like in a new era

Excerpt (emphasis DSC):

But this very ease has teachers wondering how we can keep our students motivated to do the hard work when there are so many new shortcuts. Learning goals, curriculums, courses and the way we grade assignments will all need to be reevaluated.

The new realities of work also must be considered. A shift in employers’ job postings rewards those with AI skills. Many companies report already adopting generative AI tools or anticipate incorporating them into their workflow in the near future.

A core tension has emerged: Many teachers want to keep AI out of our classrooms, but also know that future workplaces may demand AI literacy.

What we call cheating, business could see as efficiency and progress.

It is increasingly likely that using AI will emerge as an essential skill for students, regardless of their career ambitions, and that action is required of educational institutions as a result.

Teaching Writing With AI Without Replacing Thinking: 4 Tips — from by Erik Ofgang
AI has a lot of potential for writing students, but we can’t let it replace the thinking parts of writing, says writing professor Steve Graham

Reconciling these two goals — having AI help students learn to write more efficiently without hijacking the cognitive benefits of writing — should be a key goal of educators. Finding the ideal balance will require more work from both researchers and classroom educators, but Graham shares some initial tips for doing this currently.

Why I ban AI use for writing assignments — from timeshighereducation.com by James Stacey Taylor
Students may see handwriting essays in class as a needlessly time-consuming approach to assignments, but I want them to learn how to engage with arguments, develop their own views and convey them effectively, writes James Stacey Taylor

Could they use AI to generate objections to the arguments they read? Of course. AI does a good job of summarising objections to Singer’s view. But I don’t want students to parrot others’ objections. I want them to think of objections themselves.

Could AI be useful for them in organising their exegesis of others’ views and their criticisms of them? Yes. But, again, part of what I want my students to learn is precisely what this outsources to the AI: how to organise their thoughts and communicate them effectively.

How AI Will Change Education — from digitalnative.tech by Rex Woodbury
Predicting Innovation in Education, from Personalized Learning to the Downfall of College

This week explores how AI will bleed into education, looking at three segments of education worth watching, then examining which business models will prevail.

Personalized Learning and Tutoring
Teacher Tools
Alternatives to College
Final Thoughts: Business Models and Why Education Matters

New Guidance from TeachAI and CSTA Emphasizes Computer Science Education More Important than Ever in an Age of AI — from csteachers.org by CSTA
The guidance features new survey data and insights from teachers and experts in computer science (CS) and AI, informing the future of CS education.

SEATTLE, WA – July 16, 2024 – Today, TeachAI, led by Code.org, ETS, the International Society of Technology in Education (ISTE), Khan Academy, and the World Economic Forum, launches a new initiative in partnership with the Computer Science Teachers Association (CSTA) to support and empower educators as they grapple with the growing opportunities and risks of AI in computer science (CS) education.
…

The briefs draw on early research and insights from CSTA members, organizations in the TeachAI advisory committee, and expert focus groups to address common misconceptions about AI and offer a balanced perspective on critical issues in CS education, including:

Why is it Still Important for Students to Learn to Program?
How Are Computer Science Educators Teaching With and About AI?
How Can Students Become Critical Consumers and Responsible Creators of AI?

Predicting college closures — from hechingerreport.org by Jon Marcus
Colleges across the country are closing at a rapid rate – on average, about one a week. Some of the closures were unexpected, shocking people at institutions that enrolled new students and hired new faculty right up until the decision was made to close. We chatted with Jon Marcus, our senior higher education reporter, to learn more about how students and faculty can protect themselves.

Q: What made you decide to devote an entire episode of your College Uncovered podcast to college closures?

Jon Marcus: The number of colleges that are closing has grown so fast that it’s become a big part of what we cover on our beat. And since the College Uncovered podcast is meant to help consumers navigate the complicated process of pursuing higher education, we wanted to answer a question we increasingly hear from prospective students and their parents: How do I know if the college I pick will be around long enough for me to graduate? (The fact that this has become something people wonder speaks to the low level of confidence the public has in higher education these days.)

Private colleges likely won’t see big net tuition growth anytime soon, Fitch says — from highereddive.com by Ben Unglesbee
Fitch Ratings found a 1.1% year over year increase in net tuition revenue for fiscal 2023, but this isn’t enough to preserve margins at private nonprofits.

Dive Brief:

Fitch Ratings found net tuition grew in fiscal 2023 among the colleges it rates but warned that the hikes would not be sufficient to preserve margins for private nonprofits.
Across its portfolio of rated institutions, Fitch found a 1.1% year-over-year increase in net tuition and fees, marking renewed growth after two years of declines, according to Fitch Senior Director Emily Wadhwani.
“In our view, prospects for future growth in net tuition for 2024 and beyond remain limited, and will likely remain near or below 2%-2.5% annually on average for the next few years,” Wadhwani said by email.

Do Shocking College Tuition Prices Reflect What Students Actually Pay? — from edsurge.com by Nadia Tamez-Robledo

It’s no secret that high school students are looking at the prospect of college more skeptically, and a large part of their hesitation comes from worry about taking on thousands of dollars in student loans.

It’s only natural that they would experience sticker shock after researching the annual cost of attendance at universities that have caught their eye — which might be equivalent to a parent’s annual salary.

But should students count on having to scrape together that full amount?

Not likely, based on EdSurge’s number crunching.

From DSC:
But the problem is that many don’t know the games that are played behind the scenes within the world of higher education. Some families/students might see the retail price of a degree and say, “No way man…no can do.” The sticker shock is real in many cases (and not to mention the stories of seeing other friends and family members in debt decades after graduating).

How merit aid is expanding — from jeffselingo-14576223.hs-sites.com by Jeffrey Selingo

Excerpt (emphasis DSC):

Bottom line: Discounting is so widespread in higher ed now that the frequent comparisons of merit aid to “Kohl’s cash,” the discount strategy employed by the mid-market retailer–where basically every day is a sale–are not wrong.

“With a few exceptions, colleges all now have an opening bid with families,” said Brian Zucker, who runs Human Capital Research Corporation, one of several firms that assists colleges with their discounting strategies.
This discounting approach worked when institutions were able to raise their top-line prices and thus extract more revenue each year from students.
But at many colleges, net-tuition revenue is flat or falling. Fitch Ratings said last week that institutions it rates for bonds saw their net-tuition revenue rise just 1.1% last year–not enough to keep up with inflation or have enough of a financial cushion to weather the current enrollment storms.
Just like in the 1970s, when colleges developed tuition discounts, the time has come for higher ed to come up with a new pricing scheme in addition, of course, of finding ways to reduce costs.

The New Trick Families Are Using to Lower College Tuition Bills — from nymag.com by Jeffrey Selingo
Many schools are eager for paying students — and ready to offer deals.

“Colleges keep giving out more merit aid to more families because they can’t get them to pay more,” Mark Salisbury told me. Salisbury, a former administrator at Augustana College in Illinois, runs TuitionFit, a website where people can share their financial-aid offers and see what others like them got. Most of the money that colleges are giving out in merit aid isn’t coming from the endowment. Rather, it’s revenue the college never receives — a simple price cut off the top. Salisbury and others in the business refer to it as “Kohl’s cash,” after the discount strategy employed by the mid-market retailer.

Enrollment Planning in the Specter of Closure — from insidehighered.com by Mark Campbell and Rachel Schreiber; via GSV
Misunderstandings about enrollment management and changing student needs can make a bad situation worse, Mark Campbell and Rachel Schreiber write.

Excerpts (emphasis DSC):

However, we find that many institutions provide little to no information to prospective students about actual outcomes for graduates. Examples include: What does applying to graduate school look like for graduates? Employment and earning potential? Average student loan debt? What do alumni say about their experience? What data do you have that is compelling to answer these and related questions? Families increasingly ask, “What is the ROI on this investment?”
…
Another important issue relates to the unwillingness of leaders to evolve the institution to meet market demands. We have too often seen that storied, historic institutions have cultures that are change averse, and this seems to be particularly true in the liberal arts. This statement might appear to be controversial—but only if misunderstood.

To be clear, the humanities and the arts are vital, critical aspects of our institutions. But today’s prospective students are highly focused on career outcomes, given the financial investment they and their families are being asked to make. We believe that curricular offerings can place a high value on the core principles of the humanities and liberal arts while also preparing students for careers.

By contrast, curricular innovation, alterations to long-held marketing practices, openness to self-reflection regarding out-of-date programs, practices and policies—in short, a willingness to change and adapt—are all key. Finally, vital and successful institutions develop long-term strategic enrollment plans that are tactical, realistic and assessable and for which there is clarity about accountability. Putting these practices in place now can avert catastrophe down the road.

DSC: A reminder of the importance of culture — even within higher education.

On 07/08/2024, in business side of he, change, changing business models, colleges, community colleges, corporate / business world, culture, Daniel S. Christian, future, future of higher education, game-changing environment, higher education, United States, universities, by Daniel Christian

“More colleges are breaching their debt requirements: S&P” [Unglesbee] + other items re: the higher education learning ecosystem

On 07/03/2024, in Alternatives, business side of he, change, changing business models, colleges, community colleges, cost of getting a degree, credentialing, future of higher education, game-changing environment, higher education, leadership, learning ecosystem, microlearning, parents/guardians, student-related, United States, universities, by Daniel Christian

More colleges are breaching their debt requirements: S&P — from highereddive.com by Ben Unglesbee
Amid operating pressures, some institutions are struggling to meet financial metrics stipulated in their bond and loan covenants.

Dive Brief:

A growing number of colleges are breaching bond and loan stipulations, known as covenants, that require them to stay within certain financial health parameters, according to a new report from S&P Global Ratings.
The agency cited 12 colleges it rates that have breached covenants since last June. In most cases, bondholders waived the violation. Some covenants could allow debtholders to accelerate repayment, which could add to an institution’s liquidity and ratings risks.
S&P downgraded ratings for about half the institutions with violations, typically because of underlying financial issues. “We see continued credit quality divergence in the U.S. higher education sector, with weaker-positioned institutions experiencing budgetary pressure and covenant violations,” the analysts said.

Student Loan Borrowers Owe $1.6 Trillion. Nearly Half Aren’t Paying. — from nytimes.com by Stacy Cowley (behind a paywall)
Millions of people are overdue on their federal loans or still have them paused — and court rulings keep upending collection efforts.

After an unprecedented three-year timeout on federal student loan payments because of the pandemic, millions of borrowers began repaying their debt when billing resumed late last year. But nearly as many have not.

That reality, along with court decisions that regularly upend the rules, has complicated the government’s efforts to restart its system for collecting the $1.6 trillion it is owed.

Universities Investing in Microcredential Leadership — from insidehighered.com by Lauren Coffey
As microcredential programs slowly gain traction, more universities are looking for leaders to coordinate the efforts.

Microcredentials—also known as digital badges, credentials, certificate, or alternative credentials—grew in popularity during the COVID-19 pandemic. Now they are attracting renewed interest as institutions look to widen their nets for nontraditional students as an enrollment cliff looms.

In addition to backing these programs, some universities are going further by hiring staff solely to oversee microcredential efforts.

A Plan to Save Small Colleges — from insidehighered.com by Michael Alexander
Small colleges could join forces through a supporting-organization model, Michael Alexander writes.

The challenges are significant. But there is a way to increase the probability of survival for many small colleges or spare them from a spartan existence. It involves groups of colleges affiliating under a particular structure that would facilitate both (1) a significant reduction in operating costs for each college and (2) a rationalization of each college’s academic offerings to concentrate on its strongest programs.

Learning Ecosystems

The 2024 CHLOE 9 Report is out. The Changing Landscape of Online Education Project.

Building a Collaborative Lifelong Learning Ecosystem [moderncampus.com]

DSC: A reminder of the importance of culture — even within higher education.

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