On 05/02/2026,
in 21st century, A/V -- audio/visual, animation, art, career development, change, collaboration, colleges, communications, communities of practice, community colleges, creativity, digital audio, digital photography, digital storytelling, digital video, graphics, higher education, human-computer interaction (HCI), ideas, innovation, learning ecosystem, Learning Experience Design, learning spaces, liberal arts, media/film, multimedia, photography, United States, universities, vendors,
by Daniel Christian
6 Reasons Universities Are Building Media Labs Now — from edtechmagazine.com by Brad Grimes
Digital production centers help institutions close the gap between academic training and professional practice.
Higher education is undergoing a significant transformation in how it prepares the next generation of media professionals. Across the country, universities are investing in state-of-the-art media labs — facilities built not around traditional classroom instruction, but around the tools, workflows and collaborative environments that define today’s professional production landscape. These spaces represent a fundamental rethinking of what it means to train students for careers in film, animation, gaming and digital storytelling.
On 04/17/2026,
in apprenticeships, collaboration, credentialing, education, education reform, engagement / engaging students, experimentation, ideas, internships, K-12 related, learning ecosystem, Learning Experience Design, more voice more choice more control, society, student-related, teachers, United States, youth,
by Daniel Christian
“Learning ecosystems begin with people.” — Getting Smart
ASU/GSV Summit
There’s something about walking into a space like the ASU+GSV Summit that feels a little like stepping into a living, breathing idea. You hear fragments of possibility in passing conversations, see it in the way people lean in a little closer during sessions, feel it in the quiet moments when something lands and you know it’s going to stay with you. This year, what lingered wasn’t just the talk of innovation; it was a deeper pull toward something more human. A reminder that before we build better systems, we have to create better conditions for dreaming. And there’s a kind of quiet joy that emerges when educators find each other in that work, when ideas connect, and you can feel the bridges across networks and ecosystems getting stronger in real time.
And dreaming is not a given. It requires space, safety, and adults who understand the weight of what they’re holding. The most powerful moments weren’t about what we can do for learners, but how we show up with them. Adults who are still learning, still stretching, still willing to have their thinking reshaped are the ones who make room for young people to imagine beyond what they’ve seen. That kind of space doesn’t happen by accident. It’s protected. It’s intentional. It’s built by people who know their non-negotiables, who draw clear lines around dignity and belonging so learners can take risks without fear of losing themselves in the process.
Across conversations on pathways, experience, and AI, there was a steady undercurrent. Knowledge alone isn’t carrying the day anymore. Young people need chances to test, to try, to wrestle with ideas in real contexts. That’s where wisdom starts to take shape. AI showed up as a partner in that work, not the main character, but a tool that can expand thinking when used well. Still, the heartbeat of it all is human. It’s the relationships, the networks, the shared belief that we don’t have to do this alone. When adults come together to learn, to challenge each other, and to build something bigger than their own corner, they create the kind of ecosystems where young people don’t just prepare for the future, they begin to shape it.
Also from Getting Smart:
- Knowledge is No Longer Enough: Why Experience and Wisdom are Education’s New Priorities — from gettingsmart.com/ by Mason Pashia and Aaron Schorn
- Town Hall: Experience Matters
- Jean-Claude Brizard on the Center for Learner Pathway Innovations
Key Points
* Design pathways as “unbounded” and co-created: Build systems where learners have real agency and visibility into options—without being locked into narrow tracks or regional constraints.
* Modernize credentialing to recognize all learning: Districts should capture and verify learning from internships, projects, and out-of-school experiences (e.g., via learner records/verified experiences) so students can communicate value to employers and colleges.
On 04/15/2026,
in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, apprenticeships, Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, collaboration, colleges, communities of practice, community colleges, corporate / business world, credentialing, emerging technologies, experimentation, faculty/staff, future of higher education, game-changing environment, higher education, ideas, innovation, instructional design, intelligent systems, internships, learning agents, learning ecosystem, Learning Experience Design, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, lifelong learning, Michigan, real-world assignments, student-related, teaching & learning, United States, universities, workplace,
by Daniel Christian
What the Future of Learning Looks Like in the Era of AI — from the Center for Academic Innovation at the University of Michigan, by Sean Corp
AI & the Future of Learning Summit brings industry, education leaders together to discuss higher education’s opportunity to lead, what students need, and what partnerships are possible
As artificial intelligence rapidly reshapes the nature of work and learning, speakers at the University of Michigan’s AI & the Future of Learning Summit delivered a clear message: higher education must take a leading role in defining what comes next.
One CEO of a leading educational technology company put it like this: “The only bad thing would be universities standing still.”
Universities must embrace their roles as providers of continuous, lifelong learning that evolves alongside technological change.
…
This shift is already affecting early-career pathways. Employers are placing greater emphasis on experience, while traditional entry-level roles are becoming less accessible. There is often a gap between what a credential represents and the expectations of employers.
That gap is particularly evident in access to internships. Chris Parrish, co-founder and president of Podium, noted that millions of students compete for a limited number of internships each year, making it increasingly difficult to gain the experience employers demand.
“If you miss out on an internship, you’re twice as likely to be unemployed,” Parrish said.
On 04/07/2026,
in adult learning, corporate / business world, corporate universities / corporate training, emerging technologies, ideas, instructional design, intelligent systems, learning, learning agents, learning ecosystem, Learning Experience Design, productivity / tips and tricks, training / L&D, UK, workplace,
by Daniel Christian
The Course Is Dying as the Unit of Learning — from drphilippahardman.substack.com by Dr Philippa Hardman
Here’s why, and what’s replacing It
What the Bleeding Edge Looks like in Practice
So what does “the new stack” actually look like when organisations lean into this? Here are four real patterns already in play.
Engineering: from engine courses to in-workflow AI coaching.
Product development: from courses to craft-specific agents.
Compliance: from annual course to nudge systems.|
Enablement systems, not catalogues.
…
On 04/06/2026,
in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, digital learning, education, education technology, emerging technologies, engagement / engaging students, future, game-changing environment, generational differences, homeschooling/homeschoolers, human-computer interaction (HCI), ideas, innovation, instructional design, intelligent systems, intelligent tutoring, K-12 related, learning, learning agents, learning ecosystem, Learning Experience Design, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, learning theories, online learning, participation, personalized/customized learning, research, student-related, teachers, technologies for your home, United States, universities,
by Daniel Christian
The quest to build a better AI tutor — from hechingerreport.org by Jill Barshay
Researchers make progress with an older ed tech idea: personalized practice
One promising idea has less to do with how an AI tutor explains concepts and more with what it asks students to practice next.
A team at the University of Pennsylvania, which included some AI skeptics, recently tested this approach in a study of close to 800 Taiwanese high school students learning Python programming. All the students used the same AI tutor, which was designed not to give away answers.
But there was one key difference. Half the students were randomly assigned to a fixed sequence of practice problems, progressing from easy to hard. The other half received a personalized sequence with the AI tutor continuously adjusting the difficulty of each problem based on how the student was performing and interacting with the chatbot.
The idea is based on what educators call the “zone of proximal development.” When problems are too easy, students get bored. When they’re too hard, students get frustrated. The goal is to keep students in a sweet spot: challenged, but not overwhelmed.
The researchers found that students in the personalized group did better on a final exam than students in the fixed problem group. The difference was characterized as the equivalent of 6 to 9 months of additional schooling, an eye-catching claim for an after-school online course that lasted only five months.
…
To address this, Chung’s team combined a large language model with a separate machine-learning algorithm that analyzes how students interact with the online course platform — how they answer the practice questions, how many times they revise or edit their coding, and the quality of their conversations with the chatbot — and uses that information to decide which problem to serve up next.
On 04/06/2026,
in career development, education, education reform, K-12 related, learning ecosystem, Michigan, neurodivergent/special needs, teachers,
by Daniel Christian
Michigan schools may be leaning harder on subs. See your district’s shift in teaching staff. — from mlive.com by Jackie Smith
School districts across Michigan could be increasingly leaning on new and substitute teachers in the classroom, according to the latest K-12 staffing data tracked by the state.
Michigan’s Center for Educational Performance and Information updated staffing counts for districts through the current 2025-26 school year in late March, and the numbers largely confirm trends illustrated in other datasets.
The total number of teachers is on the rise ? with fewer sticking around more than a handful of years ? even as student enrollment goes down, and districts are continuing to use subs to fill in the gaps.
.
From DSC:
One of our daughters obtained the credentials to teach in the elementary schools of Michigan. She was a very relational teacher and she taught at several schools over several years, but the straw that broke the camel’s back was when she taught at a school where:
- They would have to evacuate the classrooms at times if a student was going through the roof (emotion-wise)
- The students hit the principal
- The students often didn’t listen to or obey her instructions — which constantly tested her patience and drained her energy
- Many of the parents were not on the same team as the teachers — for a variety of complex reasons
- …and for other reasons as well.
The system was discouraging. It was too much to bear. So the system lost another good teacher.
Also see:
Michigan’s teacher shortage could be stabilizing, but data shows there’s a catch — from mlive.com by Jackie Smith
Michigan’s K-12 teacher workforce could be stabilizing, but schools across the state may be increasingly relying on educators working virtually or across multiple districts and those who are not fully certified, according to the latest data.
The Education Policy Innovation Collaborative (EPIC) at Michigan State University released its 2026 teacher shortage report earlier this month, which tracks hiring and vacancy trends, as well as what subjects are particularly impacted by fluctuations.
.
.
Special education positions see the biggest vacancy rates
The vacancy rate for special education teachers is nearly double is nearly double the statewide average overall.According to the report, more than 5% of special ed full-time equivalent positions were vacant in fall 2024.
MSU’s Education Policy Innovation Collaborative attributed at least some of that to the higher attrition from teachers that special ed positions see compared to other disciplines.