The Top 5 Tech Trends That Will Disrupt Education In 2020 - Bernard Marr, Forbes

Artificial intelligence will continue to fill gaps in learning and teaching and help personalize and streamline education.  Extended reality, including virtual, augmented, and mixed realities, helps create different learning opportunities that can engage students even further. Education is increasingly becoming mobile, and educational institutions are figuring out ways to enhance the student experience by implementing mobile technology solutions. Of course, this technology requires a capable network to handle the traffic demands, and 5G technology will provide powerful new mobile data capabilities. Finally, blockchain technology offers educational institutions to store and secure student records.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/bernardmarr/2020/01/20/the-top-5-tech-trends-that-will-disrupt-education-in-2020the-edtech-innovations-everyone-should-watch/#59aa2b0c2c5b

The Analytics Revolution in Higher Education - Jonathan S. Gagliardi, Tomorrow's Professor

If effectively harnessed, the massive amount of information born out of the analytics revolution can allow institutions to better understand student needs; enhance the quality of teaching, learning, and advising; drive down costs; and predict and avoid risks (Cai & Zhu, 2015; Denley, 2014). Despite this, the sheer volume of data and the multitude of tools for analysis are inconsequential to colleges and universities unless the conditions exist for their effective use. In fact, while artificial intelligence and machine learning grab headlines, most colleges lack that level of analytics sophistication, and they do not need it. Many institutions would benefit from a solid foundation of data that is based on accuracy, timeliness, relevancy, integration, and security.
https://tomprof.stanford.edu/posting/1763

Dawn of 5G: Empowering VR, AR and Much More - Ray Schroeder, Inside Higher Ed

The enormous learning potential of virtual and augmented reality will be enabled through the wide-scale rollout of 5G. In many ways, widespread deployment of 5G will enable online learning to leapfrog the traditional classroom in providing meaningful, realistic and impactful engagements for learners at a distance. Providing simulations and real-life engagements to students will take the learning field virtually outside the classroom and directly into the workplace and the world, from subatomic spaces to outer space. In addition to an assortment of reality formats reaching unlimited locations, 5G will enable even more robust-sized, larger group discussions than we have been able to support in the past.

https://www.insidehighered.com/digital-learning/blogs/online-trending-now/dawn-5g-empowering-vr-ar-and-much-more

Why Lifelong Learning is the Key to Entrepreneurial Success - Aytekin Tank, the Hour

How can we make learning our default mode? According to Holmes, it’s not about amassing random knowledge or memorizing copious amounts of information. It’s about turning what we absorb into strategic action. Many entrepreneurs get stuck believing they should acquire as much knowledge as possible or become a human Wikipedia. It’s now easier than ever to Google anything our heart desires, but all of this rapid browsing gives us the illusion that we’re processing more than we actually are. True learning, on the other hand, goes far beyond hoarding facts.
https://www.thehour.com/business/article/Why-Lifelong-Learning-is-the-Key-to-14983509.php

Experts Warn of Possible Sustained Global Spread of New Coronavirus - Helen Branswell, Scientific American

(Consider the role of online learning as this unfolds - ray) 

Dr. Tom Inglesby, director of the Center for Health Security at Johns Hopkins School of Public Health, urged countries to start planning to deal with global spread of the new virus. Such plans need to include far more aggressive efforts to develop a vaccine than have already been announced, he suggested.  “I’m not making a prediction that it’s going to happen,” Inglesby said, though he noted the mathematical modeling, the statements from Chinese authorities, and the sharply rising infection numbers make a case for this possible outcome. “I think just based on those pieces of limited information, it’s important for us to begin some planning around the possibility that this won’t be contained.”
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/experts-warn-of-possible-sustained-global-spread-of-new-coronavirus/

3 Secrets Behind Students’ Motivation To Learn - Scoop Empire

Online learning may seem perfect for students. You may study at home, from your own warm bed, in your favorite pajamas and with a cup of sweet cocoa. You may shift your schedule as you please, you may distribute the tasks evenly or take a day off whenever you want to do it. But still, online learning has one but very important drawback: it’s hard to stay motivated when you are studying online.
https://scoopempire.com/3-secrets-behind-students-motivation-to-learn-online/

New data shows earning power of college graduates - Jeremy Bauer-Wolf, Education Dive

Individuals with bachelor's degrees will earn $400,000 more in their lifetimes than those with just a high school diploma, according to a new report from the College Board.  College graduates who enrolled at age 18 and earned a degree in four years "can expect to earn enough relative to a high school graduate" by age 33 to make up for paying tuition and other costs and for being out of the workforce while in college, the report notes.  The study comes as polls show some Americans are skeptical of the value of higher education and whether a traditional degree is worth the investment.
https://www.educationdive.com/news/new-data-shows-earning-power-of-college-graduates/570410/

Spotting Mobile Learning Opportunities - Matthew Lynch, Tech Edvocate

It’s almost like a reflex, wanting to keep cell phones and tablets out of the hands of students and employees. These devices are a distraction, some argue, a distraction that takes the focus away from true learning or accomplishments. But what if mobile devices could do just the opposite? What if they could provide teachers and employers with an opportunity to achieve real, engaged learning within their student population or workforce? Below are three categories to explore when considering a switch to mobile learning.
https://www.thetechedvocate.org/spotting-mobile-learning-opportunities/

EdX launches for-credit credentials that stack into bachelor's degrees - Natalie Schwartz, Education Dive

Online education provider EdX is taking a big step into the undergraduate market by launching two programs called MicroBachelors that students can complete on its platform and earn credits toward a bachelor's degree. Students can earn credits in an information technology program offered by Western Governors University. A computer science program from New York University is pending approval for credit from Thomas Edison State University. The credits can also transfer to another institution that accepts them. The fully online programs consist of three courses each, cost between $500 and $1,500 total, and take roughly six months to complete.
https://www.educationdive.com/news/edx-launches-for-credit-credentials-that-stack-into-bachelors-degrees/570042/

Collaborative Education In An Online Setting - Robert Burrus, Wilmington Biz

What message do I attempt to deliver with this narrative? For some of the practical-based courses offered in a university, the potential may exist for “partnerships” with professionals from within the community. The Cameron School of Business prides itself on engagement with the Cape Fear business community. This includes placement of students with local companies and opportunities for business leaders to come to campus in guest teaching roles. Even though the impact of guest lecturing in an online environment might not be immediately perceived, the end results can be very rewarding. Wilmington definitely has its share – if not more than its share – of true professionals who have something to offer in augmenting the educational process in distance learning courses.   
http://www.wilmingtonbiz.com/insights/robert__burrus/collaborative_education_in_an_online_setting/2616

Many Nonprofit College Programs Would Fail Gainful Test - Kery Murakami, Inside Higher Ed

Only about 60 percent of programs at private nonprofit institutions, and 70 percent of those at public colleges and universities, would pass the Obama administration’s gainful-employment test, if it were in place and applied to them, according to an online tool developed by a conservative Texas policy group. Coming amid a stalemate over how to proceed with college accountability after Education Secretary Betsy DeVos repealed the gainful-employment rule in July, the tool made public by the Texas Public Policy Foundation was aimed in part to further the idea that public and nonprofit institutions -- and not just for-profit colleges -- should face scrutiny for how well graduates do financially.
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2020/01/16/profit-programs-not-only-ones-would-fail-gainful-employment-test

Moody's: Slow Student Loan Repayment Driving High Balances, Bringing Social, Credit Implications - Rick Seltzer, Inside Higher Ed

Slow repayments have become the most important contributor to rising student loan balances, Moody’s Investors Service. In the past, rising tuition and climbing college enrollments were the largest contributors to increasing student loan balances, according to the ratings agency. But the drivers shifted to slow repayment, which is likely to combine with continued elevated levels of borrowing to increase outstanding debt into the future. Moody’s singled out social and credit implications for increasing student debt burdens. Student debt is “weighing on household finances and the broader economy,” according to Moody’s.
https://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2020/01/17/moodys-slow-student-loan-repayment-driving-high-balances-bringing-social

The next decade of disruption in education? Unlocking networks - Julia Freeland Fisher, Christensen Institute

Who students know matters!  The power of connections is evident to any adult who has benefited from a friend or acquaintance helping him find a job along his professional path. The same is true for students today. In the past decade, we’ve seen how learning technologies have begun generating tectonic shifts in how the education sector now thinks about school as we know it. But the emergence of new networking tools suggests that in the next decade the disruptive potential of the edtech market is no longer confined to breakthroughs in online coursework, productivity tools, or adaptive software programs. Looking ahead, schools can begin to use edtech to connect; disrupting, over time, not just historical limits of how and when students learn, but also whom they know.
https://www.christenseninstitute.org/blog/the-next-decade-of-disruption-in-education-unlocking-networks/

‘Techlash’ Hits College Campuses - Emma Goldberg, NY Times

Many students still see employment in tech as a ticket to prosperity, but for job seekers who can afford to be choosy, there is a growing sentiment that Silicon Valley’s most lucrative positions aren’t worth the ethical quandaries. Claire Stapleton worked at Google and YouTube for 12 years. “There was this ambient glow of being part of a company that was changing the world,” she said. “Working at Google or Facebook seemed like the coolest thing ever my freshman year, because you’d get paid a ton of money but it was socially responsible,” said Chand Rajendra-Nicolucci, 21, a senior at the University of Michigan. “It was like a utopian workplace.” Now, he said, “there’s more hesitation about the moral qualities of these jobs. It’s like how people look at Wall Street.”
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/11/style/college-tech-recruiting.html

When is higher ed worth it? - LAURA ASCIONE, eCampus News

For years, stakeholders have sought to define what, exactly, Americans value from their education. Many have focused on wages, in part due to studies demonstrating that college graduates earn more over a lifetime than their non-graduate peers. But the answer might not be related to wages at all. Instead, people say they see more value in their education when their courses strongly relate to their work, and when they have high-quality, applied-learning experiences and top-notch career and academic advising opportunities.
https://www.ecampusnews.com/2020/01/10/when-is-higher-ed-worth-it/

3 Tips To Easily Create Interactive eLearning - Matthew Lynch, Tech Edvocate

The reality is this: students will not find boring content interesting simply because it is placed in an online setting. Instructors and course builders must think creatively and use available interactive assets in order to engage learners. Doing so, of course, requires consideration of learning purpose and course objectives. Simply employing interactive tools or templates without consideration of purpose will yield adverse results (i.e. students will not learn or see the value in learning if the tools and/or templates are seemingly pointless). Thus, online learning should be well thought out and carefully planned, just as a course is that is taught solely in a brick and mortar setting. The difference here, of course, is that instructors and learners now have an entire digital world at their disposal.
https://www.thetechedvocate.org/3-tips-to-easily-create-interactive-elearning/

Reimagining the public university - Naomi Schaefer Riley & James Piereson, AEI

The great state universities are not going to disappear, and many will maintain a standard of excellence, but in an age of inefficient governments trying to do all things for all people, they will not have the money to compete as they once did with high-performing private institutions. The financial model built in the post-war years is no longer sustainable under present circumstances. Academic leaders have tried to circumvent this reality by raising tuition, recruiting out-of-state students, and employing other short-term fixes that fail to address the fundamental problems at hand. It is time they adapt their practices to a new and, in some ways, fundamentally different education marketplace.
https://www.aei.org/articles/reimagining-the-public-university/

Universities need to learn the early lessons of lifelong learning - Andrew Norton, Times Higher Education

Ongoing falls in Australian postgraduate recruitment suggest a trend away from structured education for people in mid-career, says Andrew Norton. For years, future of work reports have warned of major disruption. Artificial intelligence is spreading automation from the factory floor to the offices of university-educated professionals. Workers in jobs that don’t disappear will need different skills and regular retraining. This scenario sounds promising for universities and other education providers, who can prosper from lifelong learners. But recent enrolment data suggest a more complex relationship between work and further education.
https://www.timeshighereducation.com/opinion/universities-need-learn-early-lessons-lifelong-learning

3 Major Theories of Motivation That Massively Boost Engagement In eLearning Courses - Matthew Lynch, Tech Edvocate

In order to create an eLearning framework that truly engages learners on a multiplicity of levels, LMS designers and theorists must look to the innate factors within learners to both capture their attention and push them to truly engage in the courses offered to them. By utilizing established principles and theories of motivation, eLearning administrators can boost engagement across the board and truly maximize what their services have to offer. With that in mind, here are three theories of motivation that appeal to the eLearning experience. Utilizing aspects of these theories can do wonders for an LMS company looking to enhance their offerings to give learners an experience worth remembering.
https://www.thetechedvocate.org/3-major-theories-of-motivation-that-massively-boost-engagement-in-elearning-courses/

Report: Shrinking share of adults thinks college is 'important' - Jeremy Bauer-Wolf, Education Dive

About half of U.S. adults (51%) think having a college education is "very important," according to a recent poll from Gallup that solicited responses from around 2,000 people.  However, the data shows the public's view of higher education has diminished in recent years. In 2013, 70% of respondents to a similar survey said college was "very important," though a bigger share of respondents in 2019 said college was "fairly" important (36%) than did in 2013 (23%).  The decline was pronounced among two groups: adults ages 18 to 29 and self-identified Republicans. Pundits have expressed concern about research that shows waning trust in academia among conservatives.
https://www.educationdive.com/news/report-shrinking-share-of-adults-thinks-college-is-important/569701/

Exploiting The Unbundling Of Education - Forbes Technology Council

Four out of 10 recent college grads in 2019 are in jobs that didn't require their college degree. Student loan debt is at an all-time high, as it has climbed to more than $1.5 trillion this year. For students in graduate and undergraduate programs in hot fields like data science, machine learning, computer science, etc., you can create our own "bundle." By mixing the benefits of your institution's economies of scale and the unbundling of elite training, you can leapfrog the competition. I have had many students that I have taught machine learning to in graduate programs thank me for recommending they add an online bundle to their current degree. It made them uniquely relevant for a position.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbestechcouncil/2019/12/26/exploiting-the-unbundling-of-education/#2d78b7d0692b

12 Proactive Actions Employees Can Take To Sharpen Skills Outside of Work - Forbes Coaches Council

The best companies provide training for their employees to help them perform their jobs better. However, the sad fact of the matter is that employers don't always offer—or are even able to offer—time or resources for professional growth. For ambitious employees, this could be a stifling situation, but there is hope. Once you have the drive to improve your professional abilities and reputation, several avenues exist for you to expand your skill set.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbescoachescouncil/2019/12/26/12-proactive-actions-employees-can-take-to-sharpen-skills-outside-of-work/#1f2e00e66674

How short-course training programs could change the landscape of higher ed - Richard Price and Alana Dunagan, Christiansen Institute

Whirlwind growth in the technology sector has led to heightened demand for workers with specialized skills in coding and computer science. Projections for continued expansion of the sector feed a persistent fear that traditional educational offerings won’t generate enough graduates with the skills the economy demands. Bootcamps focused on coding and computer science have emerged as an important pipeline for tech talent. These short, intense, workforce-aligned training programs are already graduating over 36,000 students each year.
https://www.christenseninstitute.org/publications/bootcamps/

OpenAI has published the text-generating AI it said was too dangerous to share - James Vincent, the Verge

GPT-2 is part of a new breed of text-generation systems that have impressed experts with their ability to generate coherent text from minimal prompts. The system was trained on eight million text documents scraped from the web and responds to text snippets supplied by users. Feed it a fake headline, for example, and it will write a news story; give it the first line of a poem and it’ll supply a whole verse. It’s tricky to convey exactly how good GPT-2’s output is, but the model frequently produces eerily cogent writing that can often give the appearance of intelligence (though that’s not to say what GPT-2 is doing involves anything we’d recognize as cognition).
https://www.theverge.com/2019/11/7/20953040/openai-text-generation-ai-gpt-2-full-model-release-1-5b-parameters

Adult learner enrollment keeps sliding, new data shows - Jeremy Bauer-Wolf, Education Dive

The number of students who are older than 24 and enrolled in college declined by 2.7% to 6.2 million in the fall of 2019, according to new data from the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center.  The adult student population has been declining since the fall of 2011, and it contributed to the continued downturn in college enrollment this year.  The decrease in adult students occurred across all institution types: public and nonprofit private four-year colleges, public two-year colleges and private for-profit four-year institutions. Students in the traditional college-age range of 18 to 24 are expected to enroll at higher rates than their older peers in the coming years.
https://www.educationdive.com/news/adult-learner-enrollment-continues-to-contract/569285/

Our Greatest Strength Is Our Greatest Vulnerability - Ray Schroeder, Inside Higher Ed

The greatest strength of online learning is the anytime and anywhere characteristic, but the online aspect is also our greatest vulnerability.  We tend to think often about the worldwide reach and impact of online learning. Through online, we have the power to change lives and societies. However, we are seriously vulnerable, more so, one might argue, than our campus-based colleagues. The online digital nature of our field is such that we are subject to outages and cyberattacks.  As we move toward the integration of more “smart” AI applications such as neural networks,   concerning strategies are emerging. Intelligent chat boxes, “smart” assistant programs and learner face- or voice-recognition programs all carry vulnerabilities due to the emergence of adversarial machine learning, creating another approach to compromising our online learning programs. 

https://www.insidehighered.com/digital-learning/blogs/online-trending-now/our-greatest-strength-our-greatest-vulnerability

Leadership Lessons In The Age Of Technology - Sophia Matveeva, Forbes

Technology is changing business and enabling us to do more than we have ever done. Coding bootcamps and online programming courses are creating new developers and governments are launching programs to get more students to learn STEM subjects. Yet, without good leadership, technologies are nothing but blunt hammers. In the quest for coding skills, many businesses are becoming dismissive of the essential human skill it takes to grow an organization.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/sophiamatveeva/2019/12/15/leadership-lessons-in-the-age-of-technology/#2bbd2606a8c0

Higher ed enrollment reaches 10-year low, federal data shows - Hallie Busta, Education Dive

The number of students enrolled in college has dipped slightly below 18 million for the first time in a decade, according to new data from the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center. Overall higher ed enrollment fell 1.3%, or more than 231,000 students, year-over-year in the fall of 2019. While four-year, for-profit schools experienced the biggest percentage drop, public two- and four-year schools and private nonprofits also saw enrollment decreases during the period. There are some bright spots in the data: enrollment at private nonprofit institutions that enroll at least 10,000 students increased by 2.7% during the period. Public two-year colleges, meanwhile, saw their dual enrollment population increase for the second-straight year.
https://www.educationdive.com/news/higher-ed-enrollment-reaches-10-year-low-federal-data-shows/569091/

What Will the 2020s Hold? Assessment Trends, Past and Future - James McBride, THE Journal

A 50-year veteran of psychometrics — the science of measuring mental abilities and processes — offers a brief history and insights into the future of testing. Adaptive testing has been around since at least the early part of the 20th century. The goal has always been to measure something — such as IQ, academic progress or personality traits — with the same precision as more traditional assessments but with fewer questions and less time, or with greater precision. Early efforts had their drawbacks, of course, but we’ve come a long way in the intervening century or so. There is still much progress to be made, but some promising research today will likely  change the way we assess students in the coming decade and beyond.
https://thejournal.com/articles/2019/12/11/what-will-the-2020s-hold-assessment-trends-past-and-future.aspx

Now [Just] Half in U.S. Consider College Education Very Important - STEPHANIE MARKEN, Gallup

About half of U.S. adults (51%) now consider a college education to be "very important," down from 70% in 2013. Over the same period, the percentages rating college as "fairly important" and "not too important" have both increased, to 36% and 13%, respectively.
https://news.gallup.com/poll/270008/half-consider-college-education-important.aspx

Student Loans A Lot Like The Subprime Mortgage Debacle, Watchdog Says - CHRIS ARNOLD, NPR

"Once again, it's the mismatch between the debt and the borrower's income, their ability to repay," Calhoun says. This time around it's the government making the vast majority of the loans. That's effectively turned the Department of Education into the country's largest consumer lender. And, Calhoun says, more and more people can't pay. "Already in the student loan world, we are seeing default levels that approach what there was in the subprime mortgage world," he says.
https://www.npr.org/2019/12/09/785527874/student-loans-a-lot-like-the-subprime-mortgage-debacle-watchdog-says

Required Pedagogy - Colleen Flaherty, Inside Higher Ed

Online conversation shines a spotlight on graduate programs that teach students how to teach -- and those programs that don't.   And of course many Ph.D.s do still want, and snag, part- or full-time professorships across a variety of institution types. Yet graduate education has historically treated this fact a kind of inconvenient truth, overlooking or flat out ignoring students’ need for pedagogical training. That’s explicit pedagogical training, not the sink-or-swim method adopted by so many programs that throw their graduate student instructors into teaching undergraduates with no real preparation.
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2019/12/13/online-conversation-shines-spotlight-graduate-programs-teach-students-how-teach

Why We Are Using Blockchain for Digital Credentialing - Jeff Arthur, Campus Technology

It's been just over a year since the East Coast Polytechnic Institute began issuing digital diplomas as an early adopter of blockchain technology and the Blockcerts open standard. During that time, our institution has issued nearly 1,600 digital diplomas and become a leading advocate for the use of blockchain for secure digital credentials. I realized that the blockchain work being done at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) had the potential to dramatically change the way graduates interacted with the school and future employers. Instead of relying on paper diplomas or alterable PDF files and lengthy requests for verification, students could present employers with digital credentials that would be immediately and securely verified.
https://campustechnology.com/articles/2019/12/12/why-we-are-using-blockchain-for-digital-credentialing.aspx