workplace

AI can improve performance, but did anyone learn? [Rodrigues]

On 10/27/2026, in adult learning, Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, business, career development, corporate / business world, corporate universities / corporate training, digital learning, emerging technologies, human-computer interaction (HCI), ideas, instructional design, learning, learning ecosystem, research, society, training / L&D, United States, workplace, by Daniel Christian

AI can improve performance, but did anyone learn? — from chieflearningofficer.com by Alexandre Rodrigues
Better AI-assisted performance does not always mean better learning. Here’s what L&D leaders can do about it.

A randomized field experiment involving thousands of knowledge workers found measurable productivity benefits from generative AI, including faster document completion. But productivity and learning are not the same outcome.

As organizations integrate AI more deeply into everyday work, L&D may need to confront an uncomfortable possibility: Employees can become better at producing results without becoming proportionally better at producing those results independently. Performance is visible. Learning is harder to see.

L&D researchers have long distinguished between performance during practice and learning that persists after practice. As Nicholas Soderstrom and Robert Bjork observed, what people do successfully while training is not always a reliable indicator of what they will retain or transfer later.

That distinction becomes particularly consequential in AI-enabled workplaces.

If we truly cared about our employees, would this be the case? [Christian]

On 10/27/2026, in business, corporate / business world, Daniel S. Christian, hearts -- matters of the heart, society, trends, workplace, by Daniel Christian

DC: If we truly cared about our employees, would this be the case?

https://t.co/Sq3hH8Mo8q https://t.co/xG7SUB59xK

— Daniel S. Christian (@dchristian5) October 27, 2026

We’re Waiting Too Long to Talk to Kids About Their Futures (Julie Lammers, Britebound) — from thehumanist.xyz by Julie Lammers and Allison Dulin Salisbury
“By eighth grade, kids are already ruling out careers they’ve never had a chance to explore.”

Per Allison:

Julie Lammers, who leads Britebound, makes a compelling case for starting career exploration in middle school for precisely this reason. The goal isn’t to get a 12-year-old to choose a profession, but to help them discover possibilities they might otherwise never consider, while they’re still forming their sense of who they are and what they’re capable of.

I love the implication of this argument. If we care about preserving choice, we should start career exploration earlier, not later. Done well, it could be one of the most powerful ways to expand opportunity for young people whose circumstances might otherwise define the limits of their ambition.

Julie and I talked about what this looks like in practice, why career navigation should be a skill we develop rather than only a service we deliver, and what young people themselves are telling Britebound about the support they want. It’s a conversation that challenged some of my assumptions about when and how we should prepare kids for their futures.

Also from Allison, check out:

[Special Report] AI Could Radically Accelerate How We Learn About Learning — from thehumanist.xyz by Allison Dulin Salisbury and Mandy McLean
AI is making a virtual laboratory for human learning possible, opening the door to testing ideas we could never afford or safely attempt with actual students.

Recent advances in AI raise the possibility of building something education has never really had: a virtual laboratory for learning.

At the center of this possibility are synthetic students—AI models designed to simulate aspects of how real students behave and, eventually, how they learn. Researchers could test hundreds of ways to teach a concept, give feedback, or sequence a curriculum and identify the most promising approaches for different kinds of learners. Developers could try out a new assessment or AI tutor on thousands of simulated students before putting it in front of real ones. Districts could stress-test AI products for safety and begin to understand which tools might work for whom and under what circumstances.

True, this could make running education studies faster and cheaper. But change the cost of experimentation enough and you change what gets experimented on. The promise of synthetic students is that researchers could ask more questions, test more ambitious ideas, explore edge cases, and discard failures before spending years and millions of dollars studying them with actual students.

The Faculty Bargain Of 2040: What Should The University And Its Faculty Owe One Another? — from forbes.com by David Rosowsky

What if we stopped reforming the existing faculty career for a moment? What if we started over?

Suppose we were designing the faculty career today for the university of 2040, starting with a blank sheet of paper. There would be no rigid departmental affiliations, ranks, tenure systems, promotion policies, or inherited assumptions. We could keep anything that still made sense. But nothing would be presumed necessary simply because it has been around for decades.

What would we build?

When machines can increasingly perform parts of the work that once consumed enormous amounts of human time, the scarce attributes may shift toward judgment, curiosity, creativity, disciplinary depth, the ability to frame consequential questions, the capacity to connect ideas across fields, and the ability to know when a machine is wrong.

That is not an argument for fewer faculty. It may be an argument for different faculty – and for a faculty employment system capable of recognizing those important (even desirable) differences.

The fourth annual AI in L&D report [Taylor & Vinauskaite]

On 10/19/2026, in adult learning, analytics, Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, career development, communications, communities of practice, content development, aggregation, repositories, corporate / business world, corporate universities / corporate training, data related items, emerging technologies, experimentation, Google, human-computer interaction (HCI), ideas, innovation, instructional design, intelligent systems, interactivity, learning, learning ecosystem, Learning Experience Design, multimedia, Open AI, personalized/customized learning, platforms, productivity / tips and tricks, skills, tools, training / L&D, UK, United States, vendors, workplace, by Daniel Christian

In case it’s helpful, here is Donald’s posting on LinkedIn

[Gifted article] This used to be a cornerstone of every job application. Not anymore. [Carpenter]

On 10/16/2026, in 21st century, Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, career development, change, skills, student-related, surviving, United States, workplace, youth, by Daniel Christian

This used to be a cornerstone of every job application. Not anymore. — from washingtonpost.com by Julia Carpenter; this is a gifted article
Has AI finally killed the cover letter?

“It’s not just easier to write a cover letter, it’s easier to write a phenomenal cover letter,” Kessler said. “That’s become more of a prerequisite and less of a differentiator.”

At the same time, the use of AI has contributed to an explosion of applications. For every open role in 2026 there are twice as many applicants as there would have been for similar roles in 2022, according to a recent study from LinkedIn Research.

That makes hiring managers and recruiters less likely to give cover letters even a perfunctory glance. They have too much else to handle during a busy job search, said Johnny C. Taylor, president and chief executive officer of the Society for Human Resource Management.

“The cover letter is literally dead, never to be resuscitated,” he said. “There’s too much volume for this beautiful piece of prose.”

“It’s tough when no one can give you a right answer,” Ogunlana said. “You have some recruiters saying ‘It’s worth it’ and others saying ‘No.’”

If there is any consensus, it’s that cover letters with a “human element” still can help an applicant stand out.

They need to sound different from all the ones written with AI, said Jason Baker, vice president of talent acquisition at Arctic Wolf, a security operations firm.

Baker recalled one applicant who didn’t land the job they originally applied for, but because their cover letter made such an impression, Baker invited them back when the company was hiring again for a similar position.

New tests show that AI can design like an expert Instructional Designer: so what next? [Hardman]

On 10/16/2026, in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, adult learning, Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, content development, aggregation, repositories, corporate / business world, corporate universities / corporate training, education, education technology, emerging technologies, faculty/staff, future, future of higher education, game-changing environment, generational differences, Google, higher education, human-computer interaction (HCI), ideas, innovation, instructional design, intelligent systems, IT in HE, learning, learning ecosystem, Learning Experience Design, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, Open AI, tools, United States, universities, vendors, vision/possibilities, workplace, by Daniel Christian

Here is Phillipa’s posting on LinkedIn.

The Reinvention of Liberal Arts Colleges — from educationnext.org by Jon Marcus; via Ryan Craig
To remain relevant amid evolving attitudes toward higher education, Brandeis University and institutions like it are redefining their purpose

By the fall, the university will have reorganized itself into four new schools that bring together existing professional programs in areas such as business, technology, and public policy with liberal arts disciplines including history, biology, philosophy, and sociology. Before the first semester starts, each arriving student will be assigned not only an academic adviser, but also a career counselor. And in what has become the most prominent symbol of the strategy, graduates will leave with “career-competency” transcripts alongside their conventional ones, listing what skills they have learned that employers value, from communicating and writing to proficiency with AI. This second transcript also will include internships and jobs students have held as well as microcredentials, which the university now gives them a chance to earn, at no additional cost, in digital-knowledge-economy subjects such as data analytics and statistical analysis.

Let’s record the durable skills. Let’s record the life skills. Let’s record the career skills.” That way, employers will understand exactly what students have been taught to do—as will students themselves.

…
The liberal arts are in a quiet crisis of their own. The number of bachelor’s degrees awarded in the liberal arts—generally defined as a broad education offering majors in humanities, social sciences, natural sciences, and math—fell to a 30-year low in 2024, the latest period for which data are available, according to the American Academy of Arts & Sciences. That was 30 percent below the peak in 2012. Students have instead been choosing majors in subjects they consider tied directly to careers, including business, management, and health professions.

The Small Business Hub at National Disability Institute (NDI) is excited to welcome you to this year’s Disability Owned Convening

On 10/14/2026, in Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, Bias | Diversity Equity & Inclusion (DE&I), business, career development, collaboration, communications, communities of practice, corporate / business world, entrepreneurship, marketing/social marketing, policy, presentations, skills, society, sociology, training / L&D, workplace, by Daniel Christian

The Small Business Hub at National Disability Institute (NDI) is excited to welcome you to this year’s Disability Owned Convening, a fully virtual, national event taking place on October 21 and 22, 2026.

This accessible event offers a wide range of topics aiming to empower entrepreneurs to navigate an ever-changing business landscape, including leveraging AI, achieving financial health, marketing, accessing support and resources and panels highlighting how entrepreneurs with disabilities seize opportunities and overcome challenges to build thriving businesses.

Over the past four years, this dynamic event has connected thousands of entrepreneurs and small business owners with disabilities, entrepreneurial support organizations, state vocational rehabilitation counselors, policy makers, financial institutions and disability advocates from across the country.

Previous Disability Owned Convening Materials
Discover a trove of insights and inspiration by exploring our collection of archived trainings from previous Disability Owned Convenings! Over the past four years, this dynamic event has united entrepreneurs and advocates, offering invaluable resources and actionable advice tailored for individuals with disabilities. Whether you’re seeking guidance on access to capital, innovative marketing strategies, or tools to enhance your business organization, these archived collections offer a wealth of information.

Social Learning in a Skills-Based Economy [Hall]

On 10/13/2026, in adult learning, career development, change, communications, communities of practice, corporate / business world, corporate universities / corporate training, Emotion, engagement / engaging students, skills, social learning / networks, training / L&D, workplace, by Daniel Christian

Social Learning in a Skills-Based Economy — from learningguild.com by George Hall

In a skills-based economy, social learning should not be understood merely as interaction around content. It should be understood as part of the learning architecture itself: the social and emotional structure that helps people ask questions, test ideas, practice judgment, receive feedback, and stay open when learning feels personally risky.

That distinction matters.

In a defensive culture, social learning creates the conditions in which people can stay engaged with difficult ideas long enough to learn from them.

People often need other people to help them think:

They need to hear others reason their way through complexity
They need to see peers ask questions they were afraid to ask
They need to practice disagreement without rupture
They need to discover that uncertainty is shared
They need to see that changing one’s thinking does not have to mean losing face

This is not soft. Far from it.

It is foundational.

2026 National Disability Employment Awareness Month (NDEAM): Celebrating Value and Talent

On 10/13/2026, in Bias | Diversity Equity & Inclusion (DE&I), neurodivergent/special needs, parents/guardians, society, sociology, student-related, workplace, youth, by Daniel Christian

Each October, during National Disability Employment Awareness Month, or “NDEAM,” we recognize the positive impact of people with disabilities in the American workforce. This year’s NDEAM theme will be “Celebrating Value and Talent,” carrying the spirit of last year’s celebration forward through 2026 in honor of America’s 250th birthday. Learn more: dol.gov/ndeam

Also relevant/see:

The American Dream Employment Network (ADEN)

ADEN is an administrative EN – a consortium of service providers and employers working together to create a path for individuals with disabilities, who are currently receiving Social Security disability benefits, and want to return to, or begin working for the first time. ADEN is an approved Employment Network operating under Social Security’s Ticket to Work program.

Make Work Pay

U.S. Department of Labor – Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP) launched Make Work Pay Hub which includes the important role ABLE accounts can play in growing savings for people with disabilities. The hub provides additional resources including The Secure Your Financial Future Toolkit, developed in collaboration with NDI’s LEAD Center. Visitors of the hub will find employment lifecycle stages and tools for employers, service providers and workforce leaders. Thank you to Assistant Secretaries, Julie Hocker and Dan Aronowitz, for sharing how we can all work, save, and build our futures.

AKF Consulting Group published an insightful article this summer, ABLE 2026 Expanding the Reach, encouraging further ABLE outreach to financial planners and other trusted advisors.

Want to Close the Skills Gap? Bring Learning Closer to Work — from campustechnology.com by Elise Awwad

Key Takeaways

The skills gap is a workforce access problem as much as a talent problem: Employers broadly plan to upskill workers, yet many employees still lack sufficient time or access to AI training.
AI fluency compounds where workers already have access: Employees who use AI regularly build confidence and capability, while those whose jobs keep them farther from the technology risk falling further behind.
Upskilling works better when learning is integrated with work: Employers and higher education should create pathways that combine technical and durable skills with on-the-job application, rather than treating reskilling as an individual responsibility.

The skills employers say they cannot find are increasingly the skills they expect employees and candidates to arrive with, fully formed, at their own expense.
…
Upskilling or reskilling is often framed as an individual responsibility: a matter of initiative, of staying current. But if employers need these skills, they have a stake in making sure workers have a realistic way to develop them.

[Gifted article] The unexpected toll of searching endlessly for a new job [Carpenter]

On 10/08/2026, in business, career development, Daniel S. Christian, Emotion, engagement / engaging students, expectations, hearts -- matters of the heart, society, sociology, student-related, United States, vendors, workplace, by Daniel Christian

The unexpected toll of searching endlessly for a new job — from washingtonpost.com by Julia Carpenter [this is a gifted article]
“Ghost job” postings, AI interviewers and a lack of in-person connection can take a toll on your mental health.

A prolonged job search doesn’t just sap job seekers of time, money and energy — for many, the hunt takes a devastating toll on their mental health.

Although unemployment rates in the United States have been historically low, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that more than a quarter of jobless people qualify as “long-term unemployed,” meaning they have been hunting for 27 weeks or more.
…

“A prolonged job search isn’t simply a logistical challenge,” she said. “It erodes a person’s confidence over time and their sense of agency, along with their financial security, obviously.”

Studies show unemployment is linked to the development of mental disorders, including anxiety and depression. Long-term job seekers describe heightened stress and exhaustion, which can make the everyday work of a job hunt feel even more burdensome, said Mindy Shoss, professor of industrial and organizational psychology at the University of Central Florida.

From DSC:
I retired at the end of 2021, so I haven’t been in any kind of job search for years now. But I went through a time of job searching back in 2017 that lasted 9 months. I had some part-time work during that time, but nothing like the long work weeks that I was used to for years. It was a highly emotional time for me. Putting in the work to apply for a job took me at least a day per job application. Over time, not hearing anything back was discouraging. It’s hard not to take things personally, even though I knew these were business decisions. (But I also strongly believed that I faced age discrimination.) Putting oneself out there in a job search can be highly grueling and discouraging.

As any good job searching firm will tell you, networking is key. Students — know that up front. Go find out about networking, and if you aren’t doing it now, start doing it as soon as you can. Start to:

Share relevant and useful information via a blog, out on LinkedIn, or via other types of social media
Develop contacts and help them out whenever possible
Connect people to each other

Don’t just initiate something with your network when you need something. Feed your network constantly. (Though I will say, my network on LinkedIn was very little help to me. It turned out that the people I knew locally came through for me the most.)

October is National Disability Employment Awareness Month [nationaldisabilityinstitute.org]

On 10/05/2026, in accessibility / UDL, Bias | Diversity Equity & Inclusion (DE&I), career development, collaboration, Daniel S. Christian, innovation, legislatures / government / legal, neurodivergent/special needs, society, workplace, by Daniel Christian

October is National Disability Employment Awareness Month — from nationaldisabilityinstitute.org

Every October, we pause to honor something that should be obvious all year long: people with disabilities are part of the American workforce, and they always have been.

This is National Disability Employment Awareness Month, or NDEAM. The 2026 theme, set by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Disability Employment Policy, is “Celebrating Value and Talent.” It’s the same theme as last year, carried forward as the country marks its 250th birthday.

We love that choice. It doesn’t ask anyone to prove their worth. It starts from the truth that the value and talent are already here.

A month with a long history
NDEAM began in 1945 as a single week. Congress expanded it to a full month in 1988, and today it’s observed by employers, schools, community groups and advocates across the country.

Eighty years in, the work is far from done.

Also relevant/see:

National Disability Institute (NDI) has launched a new podcast series. — from nationaldisabilityinstitute.org

“Moving the Needle” explores the ideas, innovations and partnerships that shape NDI’s work and are defining what comes next.

Episode 1 chronicles the gaps that existed prior to NDI’s formation, the organization’s humble beginnings and how far NDI has moved the needle toward building a better financial future for people with disabilities.

From vinyl records and paper checks to QR codes and smartphone apps, the first episode takes listeners on a then-and-now journey through NDI’s history, told through personal and professional reflections from members of its leadership team.

From DSC:
The topic of disability hits close to our home. One of our daughters was born with Mosaic Down Syndrome. She is different, but wonderfully so. Literally, from day one, the LORD said that He was going to teach me through her, and He has absolutely done so. I won’t get into all the ways that that has occurred, but valuing differences is not a cliché for me. For one thing, I don’t use the word “normal” much anymore…as there is no “normal.” I might use the word typical, but not normal.

Our daughter flavors the world in wonderful ways. For example:

Even as a little girl, she would go up and give hugs to people — surprising them in wonderfully positive ways.
She thrived in preschool all the way up through 5th grade, but then struggled mightily in 6th grade and 7th grade; she then went into homeschooling in 8th-12th grade. She also went to a Christian High School and a Career Technical Center.
Within the last several years, she’s really hit her stride in school. Her note-taking and skills have jumped to a completely new level. She learns, but she learns at her own pace.
She loves to dance and to draw things. She loves to write fantastical stories.
She has successfully worked two jobs already.
She’s in a special program for college and is learning a lot — but not without challenges.
She has an imagination that is off the charts. She can see movies in her head and hear songs without issue. We’re hoping that this special program will give her access to creative writing classes, art, criminology, and other topics that she’s interested in.

The LORD has made good on His word — again. I’ve learned a lot through her. I’ve changed because of her — no doubt about it. But I’ve also learned the incredible challenges that people with disabilities face. If their unique physical and/or cognitive situations weren’t enough, the way policies are created puts them at huge disabilities that the rest of society would balk at in an instant (and our Senators and Representatives would not stand for it if this were them or someone in their families). This involves budgetary items, big time. But also, people with disabilities are often pigeonholed into certain jobs/industries. This needs to stop.

So I’m posting the above items to give more visibility to this subculture within our society, and the challenges that they face. Let’s help straighten this situation out.

Making real work visible: Credentialing Community Justice Workers with Frontline Justice [eddesignlab.org]

On 09/29/2026, in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, Access to Justice (A2J), change, communities of practice, credentialing, law schools, Legal operations, legal reform, legal technologies, legislatures / government / legal, skills, society, vision/possibilities, workplace, by Daniel Christian

Making real work visible: Credentialing Community Justice Workers with Frontline Justice — from eddesignlab.org (also educationdesignlab.org)

Frontline Justice is working toward a simple, ambitious vision: By 2035, anyone, no matter their background or location, can access the legal help they need for everyday civil issues. To move toward that future, the work is organized around two goals that run in parallel: (1) rapidly growing a new workforce of justice workers now, and (2) laying out long-term vocational paths so this role becomes a lasting and respected part of the justice ecosystem.

Learning Ecosystems

If we truly cared about our employees, would this be the case? [Christian]

October is National Disability Employment Awareness Month [nationaldisabilityinstitute.org]

Making real work visible: Credentialing Community Justice Workers with Frontline Justice [eddesignlab.org]

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