Metaverse in Education Due for Exponential Growth Spurt - GovTech

In a new report, market researchers said the use of metaverse technology in education will increase greatly in the next four years. The industry, they estimated, will rise from $3.9 billion to $19.3 billion by 2028. Metaverse technologies like virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) are poised for significant development for educational use in the next few years, according to a recent report that found the global market for metaverse in education is also set for exponential growth. The report, from the market researching company MarketsandMarkets, estimates the global market for metaverse in education is worth $3.9 billion now and will grow to $19.3 billion by 2028 — representing a 37.7 percent compound annual growth rate.

https://www.govtech.com/education/metaverse-in-education-due-for-exponential-growth-spurt

It's the End of the World as We Know It: Do We Feel Fine? - Diane Stopyra, University of Delaware

The AI genie is out of the bottle. In 2024, artificial intelligence has infiltrated every sector of our lives, from healthcare to politics to dog walking (yes, you really can enlist a robot for that). But for all its ubiquity, AI remains a question mark in the collective consciousness. Are we optimistic… or afraid? Thinking about this new era feels like watching a Blue Hen playoff game: You’re excited but also on the edge of your seat with nervous energy.

https://www.udel.edu/udaily/2024/august/blue-hens-artificial-intelligence-the-world-as-we-know-it/

The Warning Signs of Academic Layoffs - Ryan Anderson, Inside Higher Ed

I am now writing this piece to help other faculty and staff members recognize the signs of their own institution’s instability and transition out of it before their positions are abruptly cut. How can you tell if your college or university is gearing up for layoffs and what can you do to safeguard your career? Here are some key indicators and actionable steps to consider.

https://www.insidehighered.com/opinion/career-advice/2024/08/20/how-prepare-and-protect-your-career-against-layoffs-opinion

Special Report: Reducing Points of Friction With AI - Colleen Flaherty, Inside Higher Ed

Inside Higher Ed’s new deep dive report, published with support from Amazon Web Services, reviews the wide variety of ways in which institutions are using AI, including that meaningful middle territory in which institutions are using both generative and nongenerative AI to optimize enrollment and other often-opaque processes for students to boost access and equity. It also considers how institutions such as the University of Michigan and Arizona State University are approaching AI from an enterprise perspective.

https://www.insidehighered.com/news/quick-takes/2024/08/20/report-reducing-points-friction-ai

New College of Florida tosses hundreds of library books, empties gender diversity library - Steven Walker, Sarasota Herald-Tribune

Hundreds of New College of Florida library books, including many on LGBTQ+ topics and religious studies, are headed to a landfill. A dumpster in the parking lot of Jane Bancroft Cook Library on the campus of New College overflowed with books and collections from the now-defunct Gender and Diversity Center on Tuesday afternoon. Video captured in the afternoon showed a vehicle driving away with the books before students were notified. In the past, students were given an opportunity to purchase books that were leaving the college's library collection.

https://www.heraldtribune.com/story/news/education/2024/08/15/new-college-of-florida-throws-away-hundreds-of-library-books-diversity-lgbtq/74814756007/

These Living Computers Are Made from Human Neurons - Jordan Kinard, Scientific American

Artificial intelligence systems, even those as sophisticated as ChatGPT, depend on the same silicon-based hardware that has been the bedrock of computing since the 1950s. But what if computers could be molded from living biological matter? Some researchers in academia and the commercial sector, wary of AI’s ballooning demands for data storage and energy, are focusing on a growing field known as biocomputing. This approach uses synthetic biology, such as miniature clusters of lab-grown cells called organoids, to create computer architecture. Biocomputing pioneers include Swiss company FinalSpark, which earlier this year debuted its “Neuroplatform”—a computer platform powered by human-brain organoids—that scientists can rent over the Internet for $500 a month.

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/these-living-computers-are-made-from-human-neurons/

Why competent workers become incompetent managers - TOMAS CHAMORRO-PREMUZIC AND SUNNY LEE, Fast Company

Some incompetent managers get ahead due to their overconfidence or narcissistic traits, as discussed in Why Do So Many Incompetent Men Become Leaders? Likewise, some individuals can get ahead through their powerful connections, political skills, or purely by some luck theory can’t explain. Unsurprisingly, this is even more common in political elections, where voters are not always skilled enough to evaluate candidates’ potential (or unwilling to scrutinize them properly) than in corporations. Even more intriguing is that it’s not uncommon for individuals who perform well in their jobs as individual contributors to fail to perform as expected when given managerial or leadership responsibilities, much like great individual athletes can disappoint after retiring and transitioning to team coaches or managers.

https://www.fastcompany.com/91170842/why-competent-workers-become-incompetent-managers

Demand for Online Courses Surges, Creating Cultural Tensions - Lauren Coffey, Inside Higher Ed

Students are demanding more online courses than ever, a new survey of colleges’ chief learning officer finds, but this is accompanied by tensions over faculty autonomy and budget challenges. According to the ninth annual “Changing Landscape of Online Education” (CHLOE) report, released today, roughly three-quarters of the chief learning officers polled reported an increasing demand for online options from campus-based students, with 60 percent noting that online sections typically fill first. Nearly half (46 percent) of the 324 online learning leaders surveyed added that online program enrollment is outpacing enrollment growth in on-campus programs at their institutions. The findings come alongside seven in 10 respondents stating they are actively negotiating or had previously resolved tensions between online initiatives and the institution’s mission and culture.

https://www.insidehighered.com/news/tech-innovation/teaching-learning/2024/08/13/report-most-institutions-see-tension-over-online

States With the Best & Worst Community Colleges (2024) - Adam McCann, WalletHub

University education is out of reach for many Americans, but thanks to community colleges, higher education is more accessible than ever. Compared with public four-year institutions, where tuition and fees cost almost three times as much on average, community colleges offer significant savings for students. Despite the fact that community colleges can offer significant cost advantages, not every state offers schools of the same quality. WalletHub drew from its 2024 ranking of the Best and Worst Community Colleges to create a state-by-state ranking of community-college system.

https://wallethub.com/edu/e/states-with-best-worst-community-college-systems/15073

The AI Scientist: Towards Fully Automated Open-Ended Scientific Discovery - Sakana.ai

At Sakana AI, we have pioneered the use of nature-inspired methods to advance cutting-edge foundation models. Earlier this year, we developed methods to automatically merge the knowledge of multiple LLMs. In more recent work, we harnessed LLMs to discover new objective functions for tuning other LLMs. Throughout these projects, we have been continuously surprised by the creative capabilities of current frontier models. This led us to dream even bigger: Can we use foundation models to automate the entire process of research itself?

https://sakana.ai/ai-scientist/

US colleges cutting majors, slashing programs after years of putting it off - Heather Hollingsworth, Associated Press

For years, many colleges held off making cuts, said Larry Lee, who was acting president of St. Cloud State but left last month to lead Blackburn College in Illinois. College enrollment declined during the pandemic, but officials hoped the figures would recover to pre-COVID levels and had used federal relief money to prop up their budgets in the meantime, he said. “They were holding on, holding on,” Lee said, noting colleges must now face their new reality. Higher education made up some ground last fall and in the spring semester, largely as community college enrollment began to rebound, National Student Clearinghouse Research Center data showed. But the trend for four-year colleges remains worrisome. Even without growing concerns about the cost of college and the long-term burden of student debt, the pool of young adults is shrinking.

https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/nation/2024/08/11/us-colleges-cut-majors-slash-programs-after-years-of-putting-it-off/74760884007/

Perplexity’s popularity surges as AI search start-up takes on Google - Madhumita Murgia and Cristina Criddle, Financial Times

Perplexity AI, an artificial intelligence search start-up, has increased its monthly revenues and usage seven-fold since the start of the year, after closing a new $250mn round of funding. The AI-powered search engine answered roughly 250mn questions in the last month, compared with 500mn queries for the whole of 2023, Dmitry Shevelenko, Perplexity’s chief business officer, told the Financial Times. The new figures underscore Perplexity’s position as one of the fastest-growing generative AI applications to emerge since OpenAI’s ChatGPT launched to huge acclaim in November 2022, despite controversy over the start-up’s data-gathering techniques.

https://www.ft.com/content/87af3340-2611-4650-9ae3-036927e9f65c

2024 Online Learning Statistics - Ilana Hamilton, Forbes

• About 10 million college students take distance education courses.1
• Approximately 54% of college students took distance education courses in fall 2022, down from 75% in fall 2020. 1,2 
• Primarily online colleges enroll around 1.1 million students.3 
• Black students make up 23.3% of students at primarily online colleges, versus just 12.5% of all college students.3 
• Out-of-state tuition rates are significantly cheaper at fully online public colleges than other public colleges.4
• The e-learning market is projected to grow by 20.5% from 2022–30.5
  

https://www.forbes.com/advisor/education/online-colleges/online-learning-stats/

Google's Rise Was Inevitable. So Was Its Antitrust Ruling - Steven Levy, Wired

Google—now called Alphabet—is indeed worth multiple trillions. Internet search is deeply baked into all our lives, as common as breathing—and Google has a 90 percent global share.  Larry and Sergey, while still board members and shareholders with fortunes topping $100 billion each, are no longer employees. And this week US federal district court judge Amit P. Mehta issued a 286-page ruling, based on millions of documents, thousands of exhibits, and a nine-week trial, that Google violated antitrust law. “Google,” he wrote, “is a monopolist and has acted as one to maintain its monopoly.” What’s more, the company whose founders hated ads now faces another trial to determine whether it is also a monopolist in digital advertising.

https://www.wired.com/story/googles-rise-was-inevitable-so-was-its-antitrust-ruling/

Self-Paced E-Learning Market size is set to grow by USD 6.17 billion from 2024-2028 - Technavio

The global self-paced e-learning market size is estimated to grow by USD 6.17 billion from 2024-2028, according to Technavio. The market is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 2.31% during the forecast period. Availability of subject proficiency assessments and certifications is driving market growth, with a trend towards growing popularity of microlearning. However, increase in number of free online courses poses a challenge.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/self-paced-e-learning-market-210500465.html

Peak higher education: seeing what AI makes of recent enrollment data - Bryan Alexander (blog)

As I write my new book, Peak Higher Education, I research a good amount of statistics.  Enrollment data, publication numbers, number of colleges and universities over time – all of these feed into the hopper for analysis, reflection, and representation.  I thought it would be interesting to see what generative AI made of it. So I came up with a simple experiment and applied it to a range of AI tools.  I used the same  basic prompt on each one: “Find American higher education enrollment from 2000-2024 and visualize it as a graph.” I didn’t upload or link to data because I wanted to see how generative AI applications are doing with search and retrieval.  TL;DR – response were generally disappointing, but ChatGPT came out on top.

https://bryanalexander.org/enrollment/peak-higher-education-seeing-what-ai-makes-of-recent-enrollment-data/

University of Delaware uses AI to build interactive study aides - Colin Wood, EdScoop

The University of Delaware is using artificial intelligence to tap into thousands of instructor transcripts and videos to create interactive study tools, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported Tuesday. The university is starting with 12 years of lectures by Agnes Ly, an associate professor of psychological and brain sciences. The Inquirer reported that the lectures will be use to produce study materials that will be tested with students over the next semester, while an additional eight professors across various fields have also volunteered for when the program expands. “So rather than going out on the internet and finding flashcards on general psychology or borrowing a friend’s notes, it’s directly coming from the content of the course,” Erin Sicuranza, director of academic technology services, told the paper.

https://edscoop.com/university-delaware-ai-study-aides/

Generative AI And Gen Z: Opportunities And Obstacles In Higher Ed - Marybeth Gasman, Forbes

College Rover, a company focused on simplifying the college search process, surveyed over 1000 Gen Z students about their use of AI in college, specifically AI assistants such as ChatGPT. One of the most interesting results was that 58% of the students indicated that at least one of their professors had warned that them that they may fail a class over unauthorized AI use in course assignments. In 2023, only 36% of students reported being warned of failure for the use of AI. The survey results also indicated that 61% of the students receive guidance on how to use AI-based tools such as ChatGPT from their college or university. The year before 29% of students indicated that they received guidance.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/marybethgasman/2024/08/08/generative-ai-and-gen-z-opportunities-and-obstacles-in-higher-ed/

The psychology of Disruptive Innovation - THOMAS ARNETT, The Christensen Institute

New business models that rethink fundamental technologies, processes, and success metrics of an industry often fail to resonate with the established players in that industry. When Apple and others launched the first personal computers, indomitable incumbents like Digital Equipment Corp. (DEC) couldn’t see the sense in selling cheap, inferior computers to consumers who had shown no need for computers before. Likewise, taxi companies didn’t get serious about ride-hailing apps until after Uber and Lyft revealed the demand for that kind of convenience; and taxis were never going to see the sense in ride-sharing. As I’ve come to discover over the last few months, this same pattern also holds true in education.

https://www.christenseninstitute.org/blog/the-psychology-of-disruptive-innovation/

OpenAI says it’s taking a ‘deliberate approach’ to releasing tools that can detect writing from ChatGPT - Anthony Ha, Tech Crunch

OpenAI has built a tool that could potentially catch students who cheat by asking ChatGPT to write their assignments — but according to The Wall Street Journal, the company is debating whether to actually release it. In a statement provided to TechCrunch, an OpenAI spokesperson confirmed that the company is researching the text watermarking method described in the Journal’s story, but said it’s taking a “deliberate approach” due to “the complexities involved and its likely impact on the broader ecosystem beyond OpenAI.” “The text watermarking method we’re developing is technically promising, but has important risks we’re weighing while we research alternatives, including susceptibility to circumvention by bad actors and the potential to disproportionately impact groups like non-English speakers,” the spokesperson said.

https://techcrunch.com/2024/08/04/openai-says-its-taking-a-deliberate-approach-to-releasing-tools-that-can-detect-writing-from-chatgpt/

EU AI Act Takes Effect, Industry Reacts - Ben Wodecki, AI Business

As the world's first comprehensive AI law comes into force aiming to protect citizens' rights, businesses face steep penalties for non-compliance. Europe's pioneering framework for innovative and safe AI. It will drive AI development that Europeans can trust. And provide support to European SMEs and startups to bring cutting-edge AI solutions to market. The act categorizes AI applications used across the bloc by their risk level, with applications that could violate citizens’ rights facing outright bans. High-risk AI systems are subject to stringent obligations, requiring users to conduct thorough risk assessments, maintain detailed logs of AI usage and ensure human oversight.

https://aibusiness.com/responsible-ai/eu-ai-act-takes-effect-industry-reacts

What is generative engine optimization (GEO)? - Christina Adame, Search Engine Land

Change is the only constant in today’s rapidly evolving digital marketing landscape. Keeping up with the latest innovations isn’t just a choice – it’s a necessity for survival. Generative engine optimization (GEO) is the latest major development revolutionizing the way people search and interact with information online. As GEO and its effects on SEO and digital marketing continue to evolve, we’ll cover the basics to equip you with the knowledge to navigate these dynamic changes and stay ahead.

https://searchengineland.com/what-is-generative-engine-optimization-geo-444418

Only 36% of adults say higher education is ‘fine how it is,’ survey finds - Natalie Schwartz, Higher Ed Dive

Just 36% of surveyed adults said they think higher education in the U.S. is “fine how it is,” down 5 percentage points from last year, according to an annual survey from New America, a left-leaning think tank. Adults across the political divide shared this view — 39% of Republicans and 36% of Democrats agreed the sector is currently fine. A large majority of adults from both parties also agreed that cost is the biggest factor preventing people from attending college. The survey is the latest in a long string of polls that show confidence in higher education is falling. Despite this, U.S. adults still value college, with 75% of respondents saying they think postsecondary education provides a good return on investment. 

https://www.highereddive.com/news/higher-education-survey-new-america-varying-degrees-2024/722992/

States with the Most and Least Student Debt (2024) - Adam McCann, WalletHub

 At the end of the second quarter of 2024, total outstanding college-loan balances stood at nearly $1.62 trillion, according to the Department of Education. That comes out to an average of nearly $38,000 for each of the 42.8 million borrowers. Not all states are equal when it comes to the burden of student loans, though. WalletHub compared the 50 states and the District of Columbia based on 12 key measures of indebtedness and earning opportunities. Our data set ranges from the average student loan balance to the unemployment rate for 25- to 34-year-olds to the share of students with past-due loan balances.

https://wallethub.com/edu/e/best-and-worst-states-for-student-debt/7520

New ED Guidelines for Designing Trustworthy AI Tools in Education - Rhea Kelly, Campus Technology

The United States Department of Education recently released a new report called "Designing for Education with Artificial Intelligence: An Essential Guide for Developers." The guide seeks to inform ed tech developers as they create AI products and services for use in education — and help them work toward AI safety, security, and trust. We spoke with Kevin Johnstun, education program specialist in ED's Office of Educational Technology, about the ins and outs of the report and what it means for education institutions.

https://campustechnology.com/Articles/2024/07/30/New-ED-Guidelines-for-Designing-Trustworthy-AI-Tools-in-Education.aspx

How the Education Department Wants to Police Online Education - Katherine Knott, Inside Higher Ed

Jordan DiMaggio, vice president of policy and digital strategy at UPCEA, the online and professional education association, said that the department’s goals are laudable, but this proposal and other actions raise questions about the agency’s motivations. “There’s questions on whether the department is truly focused on protecting students’ outcomes and taxpayer dollars,” he said. “Or do they kind of reveal an antiquated bias against online education that’s framed by some suspicion and distrust of the field as a whole?”

https://www.insidehighered.com/news/government/2024/07/30/education-department-wants-more-data-about-distance-ed

What to read next: books on AI - McKinsey

Literature on artificial intelligence (AI) is everywhere, and for good reason. McKinsey research estimates that generative AI could add between $2.6 trillion to $4.4 trillion annually to the economy while increasing the impact of all AI by 15 to 40 percent. No matter how much you already know, there's always more to learn about the quickly evolving technology. Here are six books recommended by leaders, including McKinsey’s Yuval Atsmon and Lareina Yee. For more suggestions from 50-plus global executives, editors in chief, and McKinsey leaders, check out “What to read next: McKinsey’s 2024 annual book recommendations.”

https://www.mckinsey.com/Featured-Insights/Themes/what-to-read-next-books-on-AI

3 Years Ago, 2U Purchased edX From Harvard and MIT for $800 Million. It Just Filed for Bankruptcy. - Matan H. Josephy, Harvard Crimson

The decision to file for bankruptcy protection raises further questions about the long-term sustainability of edX — which continues to offer free, on-demand courses taught by faculty members at Harvard — even as 2U insisted that all of its educational platforms would “continue seamlessly with no interruption for partners or learners.” Vice Provost for Advances in Learning Bharat N. Anand ’88 wrote in an email to Harvard faculty members on Thursday that the University’s digital learning initiatives were “anchored in the creation of high-quality learning.” Anand added that 2U’s restructuring “avoids impacting students, courses, programs, and university partners.”

https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2024/7/27/2u-bankruptcy-harvard-mit-edx/

Steve Jobs Knew the Moment the Future Had Arrived. It's Calling Again - Steven Levy, Wired

That sounds to me like society’s current status with artificial intelligence. Like computer technology 40 years ago, it’s been stealthily baked into infrastructure and is finally becoming available to all in a powerful form. But only a minority of people are actually using it, and a relatively modest subset are making full use of it. Others are, well, intimidated or skeptical. But for better or worse, it’s coming, and it will be transformative. Jobs himself in the speech flicked at the idea when he said in the next 50 years we might “come up with these machines that can capture an underlying view of the world.” A future Aristotle, he speculated, might log all his thoughts into one of those systems. “Someday after the person is dead and gone, we could ask this machine, ‘Hey what would Aristotle have said?’”

https://www.wired.com/story/steve-jobs-speech-personal-computers-ai/

Why Gen Z and millennial workers are motivated differently - Avery Morgan, Fast Company

Where millennials desire a healthy dose of downtime, for Gen Z it’s a top priority. In fact, 7 out of 10 Gen Zers prioritize family and relationship over their career. Excessive overtime, blocked vacation requests, and calls outside of working hours are almost certain to tank the morale of Gen Z employees. Millennials, however, tend to be more willing to go the extra mile if it improves their career prospects. However, flexibility, when it comes to when and where they work, is a must for millennials and Gen Zers alike. For both of these generations, flexibility and working remotely aren’t benefits; they’re “nonnegotiables.”

https://www.fastcompany.com/91155458/why-gen-z-and-millennial-workers-are-motivated-differently

For College Students—And For Higher Ed Itself—AI Is A Required Course - Jamie Merisotis, Forbes

While nobody knows how many jobs will be lost—or created—due to artificial intelligence, it’s already clear that AI, besides being a great subject for learning, will make it cheaper and more convenient to upskill and prepare for the future. AI will also be ubiquitous. Most major computer applications now have an AI assistant. Understanding how to use those and interpret what they share will help leverage human ability in our interaction with machines.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/jamiemerisotis/2024/07/17/for-college-students-and-for-higher-ed-itself-ai-is-a-required-course/