Also see:
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.
On 03/23/2026,
in accessibility / UDL, adjunct faculty, Africa, Asia, Australia, career development, collaboration, colleges, community colleges, curriculum, faculty/staff, higher education, instructional design, leadership, learning ecosystem, Learning Experience Design, liberal arts, library / librarians, organizational change, productivity / tips and tricks, strategy, teaching & learning, UK, universities, using teams,
by Daniel Christian
Across the divide: reimagining faculty-staff collaboration in higher education — from timeshighereducation.com by Saskia van de Gevel
Academic units do best when they harness different viewpoints – from field scientists and curriculum designers to extension professionals – to drive innovation and relevance. Saskia van de Gevel offers proactive advice
Universities are not sustained by individual leaders or isolated units. They are sustained by teams of people who bring different kinds of expertise to a shared mission. When faculty and professional staff collaborate as genuine partners – aligned around outcomes, clear about roles and committed to mutual respect – institutions become more resilient, innovative and effective.
Also from timeshighereducation.com, see:
- The five levels of learning designer support — from timeshighereducation.com by Daniel Searson
Learning designers and academics may have different expectations when it comes to collaborating on course design. Here’s how a five-point scale can help - Harness the power of your university librarian in the age of information chaos — from timeshighereducation.com by Ben Meunier
Find out how to tap the mine of knowledge your university library has, for trustworthy research sources, data expertise and information literacy advice - How employability teams can strengthen academic programmes — from timeshighereducation.com by Hanene Duprat
Working like recruitment partners, rather than just career advisers, can help align teaching with industry needs, writes Hanene Duprat
Excerpts:
Again, we don’t send them 200 CVs. We might send 20, but they’re meticulously shortlisted. The employer saves time, the student feels they are being taken seriously and trust builds quickly on both sides.
And because we work closely with employers, we learn something universities often struggle to find out early enough: what the market is asking for now.
What academics need to know: we can’t do this without you
If I could say one thing to academic colleagues anywhere, it’s that employability can’t sit next to the curriculum. It has to live with it.
- The benefits of engaging third space practitioners in curriculum development — from timeshighereducation.com by Steve Briggs
Third space practitioners are often overlooked in the curriculum development process, to everyone’s detriment. Here’s a look at the viewpoints they can offer and how to engage them better - Teaching deaf, deafblind and hard-of-hearing students: practical steps that benefit everyone — from timeshighereducation.com by Annelies Kusters
When educators design communication to work across multiple modes from the outset, classrooms become more accessible – and more effective – for everyone, says Annelies Kusters
On 03/23/2026,
in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, adult learning, analytics, Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, assessment, business, career development, cloud-based computing / apps / other cloud-related, content development, aggregation, repositories, corporate / business world, corporate universities / corporate training, educational games / serious games, emerging technologies, ideas, innovation, instructional design, intelligent systems, intelligent tutoring, languages and translation, learning, learning agents, learning ecosystem, Learning Experience Design, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, lifelong learning, platforms, skills, training / L&D, United States, workplace,
by Daniel Christian
Here is Pradnya’s posting out on LinkedIn.com:
From DSC…note these excerpts from Pradnya’s posting:
- I’m not manually assigning 400 people anymore ? They’re actually taking relevant courses now
Shows me the data ? Suggests courses to fix it ? I look like a strategic genius
Completion rates up 34% ? Nobody’s “stuck” anymore
Pradnya links to a page out at ParadisoSolutions.com. Check out some of the functionality this AI-powered system provides:
