Young adults with degrees say they need more real-world training - Kate Tornone, Higher Ed Dive

Individuals with degrees often find their education failed to prepare them for the realities of the workforce, according to Nov. 15 survey results from Multiverse. A majority of young adults (those age 18-26) with degrees said real-world workforce training is the most important element to preparing for a career. But that factor is missing from many higher education programs, they said. The top three elements that a college education lacks are “having a clear idea of what a job is like,” “real workforce training” and “quality time with industry professionals,” that group said.

https://www.highereddive.com/news/young-adults-with-degrees-say-they-need-more-real-world-training/636719/

Putting Students First: Balancing Priorities Like a CIO - Lois Brooks, Modern Campus

Technology no longer plays a supporting, peripheral role in the operations of a higher education institution. As digitization becomes our norm, technology—and leaders who can strategically deploy technologies—are playing a more central role than ever. On today’s episode of the Illumination by Modern Campus podcast, EvoLLLution Editor-in-Chief Amrit Ahluwalia sat down with Lois Brooks—Vice Provost and CIO at University of Wisconsin-Madison—to discuss the evolving role of technology leaders.

https://moderncampus.com/blog/balancing-priorities-illumination.html

Clarity, Confusion on ‘Regular and Substantive Interaction’ - Susan D'Agustino, Inside Higher Ed

The Education Department has left room for online colleges to innovate while maintaining eligibility for federal financial aid. But the lack of clarity carries some risk that colleges could run afoul of unarticulated rules. Only online colleges that provide “regular and substantive interaction” between faculty members and students are considered distance education providers; those that fall short are in the business of correspondence education. The regulation is intended to prevent bad actors from gaining access to federal financial aid funds for courses that are devoid of human interaction.

https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2022/11/17/regular-and-substantive-interaction-online-college

Most workers are thinking of quitting. The real surprise is what's forcing them to leave - Jada Jones, ZD Net

Riding the coattails of last year's Great Resignation, employees are demanding more out of their employers than ever. But according to an external survey conducted by Amazon, younger workers don't feel their employers are delivering, with 74% saying they are likely to quit their job in the next year - due to a lack of development opportunities.  In a survey of 3,000 US professionals conducted by Amazon and Workplace Intelligence, 64% of employees said they feared losing their job due to new skills requirements for which they have not been equipped. A further 58% of employees said they were worried that their skills had gone stale since the pandemic, while 70% reported feeling unprepared for the future of work.

https://www.zdnet.com/education/professional-development/most-workers-are-thinking-of-quitting-the-real-surprise-is-whats-forcing-them-leave/

Reflecting on Our Roots to Define Our Future: Establishing a Path for Lifelong Higher Ed - Rovy Branon, Modern Campus Illumination

The higher education space is transforming rapidly. Evolving learner demands and fast-changing demographic realities are pushing colleges and universities of all descriptions to find new ways to serve new students.  But in this quest for “the new”, Rovy Branon—Vice Provost of Continuum College at the University of Washington—says leaders should reflect back on their history for guidance.   “I think education itself is a technology, and I don't mean computers,” Branon continued. “It is a tool to get something done for humanity. And technologies must co-evolve or they get out of balance one with another. And you begin to lose the ability to have influence over our new technological environment if we're not recognizing that the technology that we call education also has to change to keep up with the reality of how the world is changing.”  

https://moderncampus.com/blog/lifelong-pathways-illumination-podcast.html

The Three Key Principals of Continuing and Professional Education - Rebecca Cook, Evolllution

Building and maintaining a successful and dynamic continuing and professional education portfolio can be a daunting proposition. It requires, in equal measure, old-world prognostication and new-world data analysis, an understanding of learner audiences past, present and future, and an appreciation for the institution’s mission, goals for equity and access, and the potential for new revenue streams. At the University of Arizona’s office of Continuing and Professional Education (CaPE), we approach this challenge with three key principles in mind: relevancy & demand, institutional alignment and balance.

https://evolllution.com/managing-institution/operations_efficiency/the-three-key-principals-of-continuing-and-professional-education/

A Life of Learning: Diversifying Continuing Education’s Audience - Ryan Torma, the Evolllution

Continuing, Professional, Workforce and Online Education divisions have a wide mandate to serve learners whose needs aren’t necessarily met by traditional, main campus programming. There are a wide and varied range of learners that fit this description—of all ages, at all levels of employment, at every stage of life. For future-oriented CE units, this presents a unique opportunity, so long as the pieces are in place to deliver a relevant experience to every learner coming through the door.

https://evolllution.com/revenue-streams/extending_lifelong_learning/a-life-of-learning-diversifying-continuing-educations-audience/

The Future of Leadership - Jacob Morgan, Futurati

Leadership. For as much as it's discussed in business-school textbooks and TED talks, there's a lot of confusion over what it is and why it matters. And with talk about 'headless organizations' and 'flat hierarchies' becoming so common, you might wonder whether leadership will even matter in a few decades. We had some of the same questions, so we got in touch with Jacob Morgan.  Jacob is a trained futurist and one of the world’s leading authorities on leadership, the future of work, and employee experience. He is also the best-selling author of four books: The Future Leader, The Employee Experience Advantage, The Future of Work, and The Collaborative Organization. 

https://futuratipodcast.com/future-of-leadership/

Will Tech Company Layoffs Spread to Higher Ed? - Joshua Kim, Inside Higher Ed

Higher ed people may think we are insulated from the layoff contagion spreading to our campuses. We aren’t. It is distressingly simple to come up with scenarios where many colleges and universities might need to resort to downsizing to stay financially viable. The drop in post-pandemic enrollments may not reverse. High inflation and low unemployment are major disincentives for working adults to take on graduate school debt. Labor costs, which comprise the vast majority of every university budget, continue to increase rapidly. 

https://www.insidehighered.com/blogs/learning-innovation/will-tech-company-layoffs-spread-higher-ed

The Top 10 IT Issues for Higher Ed in 2023 - Brandon Paykamian, GovTech

With students growing more accustomed to the flexibility of online and hybrid courses, higher ed leaders are grappling with how to give CIOs more say in institutional decision-making to better manage growing IT networks, as well as retaining professors who now teach more online courses than ever before. These were among the chief IT challenges for higher education described by Educause Vice President of Partnerships, Community and Research Susan Grajek in  — “Higher Education’s Top 10 IT Issues for 2023.” At the Educause Annual Conference, the webinar focused on a recent report from the ed-tech advocacy organization exploring solutions to challenges such as these.

https://www.govtech.com/education/higher-ed/educause-22-the-top-10-it-issues-for-higher-ed-in-2023

Rethinking how technology innovations can support students - Iain Sloan, University World News

After all, some students love the flexibility online learning gives them to study around part-time work, childcare and other commitments. Equally, there are students who find learning in large groups intimidating, challenging or simply uninspiring and they prefer to retreat to the back row, silent and unnoticed. Being able to access a course digitally can make a world of difference to students who, for whatever reason, do not flourish in face-to-face sessions. A sizeable group of students might prefer not to go back to a full timetable of on-campus teaching. On the other hand, many students fall behind without regular in-person sessions because they haven’t developed the independent learning skills they need to stay on track.

https://www.universityworldnews.com/post.php?story=20221112062521401

How to Use the Dall-E AI Art Generator to Create Stunning Images From Text - Eric Griffith, PC Mag

Dall-E is at the forefront of artificial intelligence art creation, which anyone can use. AI art generators have been in the news a lot this year, be it for their amazing advances or questionable uses. OpenAI’s Dall-E 2 is one of the major names in this space. It's now open to the public and developers, and soon it’ll be built into Microsoft software and the Bing search engine. But how, exactly, do you work with Dall-E? Is it really as simple as typing in a description—called a prompt—and getting back a picture? To be honest, yes. But there’s a lot more to be aware of if you want to get anywhere close to the perfect result.

https://www.pcmag.com/how-to/how-to-use-dall-e-ai-art-generator

Our future depends on the sharing of intellectual resources - Nic Mitchell, University World News

The pandemic showed the downsides of an interconnected world with the rapid spread of the virus. However, to address the global challenges of our time, higher education needs to strengthen global discourse and international collaboration, delegates to the first general conference of the International Association of Universities (IAU) for six years were told. Addressing higher education leaders from the four corners of the globe who were meeting together in Dublin, Ireland, Patrick Deane, principal of Queen’s University, Canada and president of the governing council of the Magna Charta Observatory, said there were still some who need convincing that international cooperation must triumph over self-reliance if the world is to learn the lessons of a pandemic that could have extinguished the population.

https://www.universityworldnews.com/post.php?story=20221103132315898

Critical thinking: More important than grades – IAU told - Nic Mitchell, University World News

Universities should develop critical thinkers who are able to identify and solve real problems rather than steering and controlling students just to get good grades, higher education leaders attending the 2022 International Association of Universities (IAU) General Conference in Dublin, Ireland, were told. Speaking at a plenary session on teaching and learning for tomorrow’s world, Hanne Leth Andersen, rector of Roskilde University in Denmark, urged university leaders to “practise what we preach about student-centred learning” and build skills and competencies for the future.

https://www.universityworldnews.com/post.php?story=20221104140730704

Universities Looking Beyond the Traditional For-Credit Semester Experiences - Ray Schroeder, Inside Higher Ed

A recent survey shows nearly half said they chose their college on the basis of potential career prospects, but only 11 percent felt prepared to enter the workforce.  In response to these concerns, we are seeing a flood of universities offering alternative credentials to document workforce skills and knowledge. Clearly, we are seeing a popular, but relatively uncoordinated, movement to address the disconnect between the university and the workforce. Finding the best ways to help rebuild that bridge may require looking back at the motivating factors of the past, including internships, apprenticeships, and credit-for-prior-learning.

https://www.insidehighered.com/digital-learning/blogs/online-trending-now/universities-looking-beyond-traditional-credit-semester

How college became so expensive, and how we can turn it around, according to a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist - Annie Nova, CNBC

 How college became so expensive, and its consequences on families and U.S. society, are the issues explored in Will Bunch’s new book, After the Ivory Tower Falls. “The impact of this decision to privatize higher education, which was done with shockingly little public debate, has been enormous,” Bunch said.

https://www.cnbc.com/2022/10/27/pulitzer-prize-winning-journalist-explains-how-college-became-so-expensive.html

The good and bad of virtual on-demand tutoring - Susanna Loeb and Carly D. Robinson, Brookings

Tutoring is perhaps the best-studied and consistently effective educational intervention we have. So it should come as no surprise that policymakers and educational leaders across the country are investing money, time, and political capital into tutoring initiatives. The influx of interest in tutoring is, at least in part, to support the struggling and marginalized students whose learning dropped most during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, educational programs can only benefit students if students access those resources, and tutoring is no different. 

https://www.brookings.edu/blog/brown-center-chalkboard/2022/10/31/the-good-and-bad-of-virtual-on-demand-tutoring/

These 3 trends are shaping the future of ed tech - Natalie Schwartz, Higher Ed Dive

Ed tech companies and college leaders shared their predictions for higher education’s future during Educause’s conference in late October.  “Things are different these days — they’re different from the way they were before the pandemic,” said Susan Grajek, vice president for partnerships, communities and research at Educause, during a speech at the conference. “We’re seeing that institutional and technology leaders are ready for a new approach.” Here are three major ed tech trends colleges can expect. 

https://www.highereddive.com/news/trends-shaping-future-edtech-microcredentials-online-learning-equity-gaps/635405/

Technology Continues to Transform Higher Education Pedagogy - Peggy Bresnick, Fierce Education

Technology is transforming higher education in many ways and colleges and universities need to keep pace in order meet the evolving needs of students. “The big change post-2020 has been the pedagogical improvements that have occurred across the board because faculty needed to switch to online within two to three weeks at the beginning of the pandemic” Cardelle pointed out.  “An opportunity now exists for instructional continuity over time, so snow days and faculty having to be away are less of an issue with a hybrid model.”

https://www.fierceeducation.com/student-engagement/technology-continues-transform-higher-education-pedagogy

Opinion: Higher Ed CIOs Need More Than Technical Skills - Brian Cohen, GovTech

I am encouraged to see how the role of the technology leader has evolved over the years. I can’t imagine any higher education institution going through this transformation now without one. Higher education needs CIOs who are strategic partners to all business leaders and who can align functional needs to their technology plans; who know how to balance the technical challenges and priorities they already face with new demands for innovation and progress; who are risk takers, but not so risky that they put continuity of operations at risk; who understand cybersecurity and will do what is needed to protect the college or university; who can communicate in basic terms and put away the technical dictionary; and who know how to lead a team, advocate for them and in the end manage the work successfully.

https://www.govtech.com/education/higher-ed/opinion-higher-ed-cios-need-more-than-technical-skills

Coursera's global CEO says companies now look for candidates with both offline and online qualifications - Nidhi Singal, Business Day

The advent of Covid-19 saw online learning platform Coursera clocking high growth, going from 47 million learners worldwide at the beginning of the pandemic to 77 million in just one year. Professionals acknowledged the need for upskilling and reskilling for better career prospects, with many management students and executives opting for a professional certificate along with a management degree, says CEO Jeff Maggioncalda. "This space has changed tremendously. And it’s going to be some kind of a new normal. What the pandemic did was it made virtually every campus in the world shut down. Now, what’s been interesting is that people are going back to campuses, but they are still learning online. There’s that permanent presence of online learning."

https://www.businesstoday.in/magazine/interview/story/courseras-global-ceo-says-companies-now-look-for-candidates-with-both-offline-and-online-qualifications-351693-2022-11-03

What does the ‘metaverse’ mean for education? - Javeria Salman, Hechinger Report

In a true metaverse experience, your digital identity travels between the physical and virtual worlds, Platt said. With the help of blockchain technology, that identity — your preferences, your achievements, your educational records, other elements of who you are — is maintained across platforms and applications. “So, when you get credit for classes, when you get badges and certificates and minors and majors and all these kinds of academic credentialing,” Platt said, “it can be cobbled together from various different digital and physical places and all attached to this single identity.”

https://hechingerreport.org/what-does-the-metaverse-mean-for-education/

Emerging Models of Education and Career Preparation - Annie Galvin Teich, Fierce Education

A new report asserts that “requiring a degree as a condition of employment restricts the size of the labor pool, limiting employers’ access to talent and resulting in workforces that aren’t racially and ethnically diverse.” The research was commissioned by American Student Assistance (ASA) and Jobs for the Future (JFF) and conducted by Morning Consult earlier this year. While a college degree used to be the most important requirement for a good job, now 81% of employers in this poll believe that organizations should hire based on skills instead of degrees.

https://www.fierceeducation.com/leadership/emerging-models-education-and-career-preparation

Cisco Networking Academy Partners with Universities to Provide Digital Skills - Susan Fourtané, Fierce Education

According to the World Economic Forum, by 2025, 97 million new jobs will be created due to advances in technology and automation. However, according to a Korn Ferry extensive report, by 2030, over 85 million jobs could go unfilled due to lack of enough skilled people to take them. Today, colleges and universities must step up their game in order to update and upgrade their offers in order to offer their graduates the right and necessary skills they will need tomorrow. 

https://www.fierceeducation.com/teaching-learning/cisco-networking-academy-partners-universities-provide-digital-skills

Don't Hire for Skills, Hire for Personality Instead - Tommy Mello, Inc.

Here's what Herb Kelleher, the late co-founder and CEO of Southwest Airlines, said in a Bloomberg interview: "We will hire someone with less experience, less education and less expertise, than someone who has more of those things and has a rotten attitude. Because we can train people. We can teach people how to lead. We can teach people how to provide customer service. But we can't change their DNA."

https://www.inc.com/tommy-mello/hire-personality-attitude-not-skill-experience.html

Whose learning counts? State actions to value skills from outside the classroom - Annelies Goger and Felix Laniyan, Brookings

What are states’ roles in reducing these labor market frictions and providing more accessible opportunities for quality jobs and higher education, especially to those who are priced out of formal degree programs? This report provides an overview of the policy mechanisms that U.S. states can leverage to build systems that support learners without degrees. It addresses two challenges. First, how can states help learners without degrees communicate their skills and qualifications to employers more effectively? And second, how can states enable learners to receive credit for skills and knowledge attained outside of a formal accredited program, so they can complete a degree without having to repeat content they already mastered? 

https://www.brookings.edu/essay/whose-learning-counts-state-actions-to-value-skills-from-outside-the-classroom/

Our future demands critical and creative thinking skills - Patrick Blessinger, Abhilasha Singh, Amudha Poobalan and Sarwat Nauman, University World News

A paradigm shift must take place in the global education system worldwide by narrowing the education-industry knowledge and skill gap. The focus has shifted from employment to employability; that is, educating students so they are capable of evolving and adapting to any changes that may arise. This is no small task but one that higher education is well-suited for. This will require input from students, faculty, employers and government authorities. Part of this paradigm shift entails shifting the focus from a competence-based learning model to a lifelong-lifewide learning model, which is critical in an intensely competitive and highly fluid knowledge-based economy and society.

https://www.universityworldnews.com/post.php?story=20221019140828579

Opinion: Higher Ed CIOs Need More Than Technical Skills - Brian Cohen, GovTech

I am encouraged to see how the role of the technology leader has evolved over the years. I can’t imagine any higher education institution going through this transformation now without one. Higher education needs CIOs who are strategic partners to all business leaders and who can align functional needs to their technology plans; who know how to balance the technical challenges and priorities they already face with new demands for innovation and progress; who are risk takers, but not so risky that they put continuity of operations at risk; who understand cybersecurity and will do what is needed to protect the college or university; who can communicate in basic terms and put away the technical dictionary; and who know how to lead a team, advocate for them and in the end manage the work successfully.

https://www.govtech.com/education/higher-ed/opinion-higher-ed-cios-need-more-than-technical-skills

5 Signs to Immediately Recognize a Toxic Manager at Work - Marcel Schwantes, Inc.

I've seen enough corporate disasters ending in failed businesses because of catastrophic mistakes by managers who lacked successful people leadership skills. It shouldn't come down to this, but here's the plain truth that will save your bottom line: Stop hiring or promoting people and putting them into leadership roles when they don't have the human skills and traits to do the job well. Period. 

https://www.inc.com/marcel-schwantes/5-signs-to-immediately-recognize-a-toxic-manager-at-work.html

Students' Message to Higher Education: Time to Rebalance - Annie Galvin Teich, Fierce Education

New results from a spring 2022 undergraduate survey, using both quantitative and qualitative research methods, revealed key findings: The physical campus is still an important piece of a student’s access to education. While respondents generally deal with their own tech issues, they still use computer labs and campus Wi-Fi. Face-to-face instruction is being disrupted. Students’ preferences have shifted to online options since the pandemic. Even students who prefer face-to-face courses want more online resources and activities. All respondents want more flexibility, social interaction, and academic engagement. Device access is an equity issue. Students with disabilities and pandemic-related housing issues were less likely to use their preferred devices. Assistive technology helps all students. For example, more than one third of respondents said they need captions on videos.

https://www.fierceeducation.com/student-engagement/students-message-higher-education-time-rebalance