A Grand Strategy for Grand Challenges: A New Approach through Digital Transformation - Susan Grajek and D. Christopher Brooks, EDUCAUSE Review

We propose a different approach, a way for higher education leaders to reframe the work ahead and to judiciously consider how technology can be most helpful. First, leaders should think about their institutional strategic priorities as a set of Grand Challenges: challenges that are as important as they are difficult and that pertain specifically to the institution as well as more broadly to the higher education ecosystem. Next, leaders should adopt a Grand Strategy, which can provide a cohesive principle and vision to help them consider their resources holistically and focus on their most consequential priorities. Finally, leaders should take into account digital transformation (Dx), which can advance this Grand Strategy.
https://er.educause.edu/articles/2020/8/a-grand-strategy-for-grand-challenges--a-new-approach-through-digital-transformation

Making Bets for Fall: Two Important Trends - John O'Brien, EDUCAUSE

Amid the unsettling uncertainties, two important trends that started well before fall have accelerated and intensified in the shadow of the pandemic. We should work to ensure these trends continue long after the current crisis has calmed. Amid the unsettling uncertainties, two important trends that started well before fall have accelerated and intensified in the shadow of the pandemic. We should work to ensure these trends continue long after the current crisis has calmed. Digital transformation and wellness are two important trends that have accelerated and intensified in the pandemic milestone of 2020.
https://er.educause.edu/articles/2020/8/making-bets-for-fall-two-important-trends

New course for faculty emphasizes inclusive virtual learning - Johns Hopkins University

A Coursera class is open to teachers worldwide; it shares perspectives on creating accessible coursework in a time of remote learning.  As faculty work to adjust their courses in the lead-up to Johns Hopkins University's first-ever fully-remote semester, they have to consider the ever-changing needs of the diverse undergraduate student population.
https://hub.jhu.edu/2020/08/18/coursera-inclusive-learning/

5 takeaways from the Ed Dept's final distance education rules - Natalie Schwartz, Education Dive

The U.S. Department of Education on Monday dropped the final version of its new regulations governing distance learning. It's the third and final set of new rules the department has published over the past year, and they touch on a sprawling number of issues in higher education, including accreditation and online learning.  The rules take effect in July 2021, but the department said institutions can use "the new flexibilities" as soon as they are published in the Federal Register. Here are five key questions the new rules raise that colleges should know.
https://www.educationdive.com/news/5-takeaways-from-the-ed-depts-final-distance-education-rules/584123/

Can VR help us understand layers of oppression? - Courtney Cogburn, Big Think

Often thought of first as gaming tech, virtual reality has been increasingly used in research as a tool for mimicking real-life scenarios and experiences in a safe and controlled environment. Focusing on issues of oppression and the ripple affect it has throughout America's political, educational, and social systems, Dr. Courtney D. Cogburn of Columbia University School of Social Work and her team developed a VR experience that gives users the opportunity to "walk a mile" in the shoes of a black man as he faces racism at three stages in his life: as a child, during adolescence, and as an adult.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iwPtkULgPpU

Thoughts on Creating an Inclusive Environment in Online Classes - Ray Schroeder, Inside Higher Ed

In preparing for the fall term, most colleges and universities are responding to the renewed public consciousness about equality, inclusiveness and fairness for all students.  The opportunities to begin to make a difference are endless through the online platform, where that platform is equitably available. Not limited to students recruited to the campus, not limited to students who can relocate and come to campus, online programs reach across cultures and locations to serve students where they are. And yet, minority and low-income students do not thrive at the same rates as others in the current system. So where can we begin in developing more successful diverse and inclusive online programs?
https://www.insidehighered.com/digital-learning/blogs/online-trending-now/thoughts-creating-inclusive-environment-online-classes

How Can We Fight Racial Bias in Technology - Nichol Turner Less and Darrell M. West, Brookings

Our inaugural episode focuses on racial bias in technology, which will add to the recent equity dialogues following the killing of George Floyd, an unarmed Black male, by the Minneapolis police and the nationwide protests that ensued. Nicol Turner Lee, Brookings senior fellow and director of the Center for Technology Innovation, moderates a conversation with Brookings scholars Rashawn Ray, a David M. Rubenstein fellow, and Tom Wheeler, former chairman of the Federal Communications Commission and a visiting fellow in Governance Studies.
https://www.brookings.edu/blog/techtank/2020/08/06/center-for-technology-innovation-partners-with-lawfare-to-launch-new-techtank-podcast/

Ed Dept. Issues Final Distance Learning Rule - Kery Murakami, Inside Higher Ed

The U.S. Department of Education has released its final rule on distance learning, which it said would modernize regulations. The rule will not go into effect until July 1, 2021. The product of months of negotiations by a panel of experts, the final rule would among other things allow more flexibility to “emphasize demonstration of learning rather than seat time when measuring student outcomes,” the fact sheet said. For instance, the rule allows for more asynchronous online delivery of courses, or portions of courses, in traditional “clock-hour” hands-on programs. The biggest change is clarifying the term "regular and substantive" in the nation's main higher education law, said James Murphy, senior policy analyst with Education Reform Now. The new rule defines the interaction as meeting the standard if it satisfies at least two of five conditions.
https://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2020/08/25/ed-dept-issues-final-distance-learning-rule

Alternative Credentials, Scaled Degrees, and the New Higher Ed Matthew Effect - Joshua Kim, Inside Higher Ed

Enter into this picture the growth of alternative online credentials and scaled online degrees. Keep in mind that the schools that are pioneering these programs are mostly colleges and universities with national and sometimes global brands. Increasingly, working adults will have a choice of either enrolling in a traditional (often online) master's program from a college or university that is known mostly in the area in which they live (regional brand), or a non-degree online certificate or an affordable scaled online master's degree from a nationally or globally known university (elite brand).
https://www.insidehighered.com/blogs/learning-innovation/alternative-credentials-scaled-degrees-and-new-higher-ed-matthew-effect

Why It’s So Hard to Lower the Cost of Textbooks - Jeffrey R. Young and Rebecca Koenig, EdSurge

These arrangements, often called “inclusive access” programs, tend to stir up controversy—and sometimes even lawsuits—when colleges adopt them. On this episode of the EdSurge Podcast, we examine why that is. We discuss the changing economics of textbook publishing, analyze who benefits most from bulk book deals, and take a closer look at a new textbook subscription program at the University of California at Davis, hearing from both an excited administrator and a skeptical student.
https://www.edsurge.com/news/2020-07-28-why-it-s-so-hard-to-lower-the-cost-of-textbooks

Will Online College Courses Help Reduce Textbook Prices? - Robert Farrington, Forbes

While the textbook industry would obviously hate for that to happen, the realities of pursuing higher education in the midst of a pandemic might bring this change regardless. Like it or not, students attending school virtually don’t have a lot of incentive to purchase a big, bulky textbook when most of their materials are presented online. With that in mind, maybe — just maybe — Covid-19 will actually have a positive impact in this tiny part of our lives. If online school could bring down textbook prices, it would be a huge win for college students who desperately need a break.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/robertfarrington/2020/08/07/will-online-college-courses-help-reduce-textbook-prices/#459ec1fc133c

College in the time of coronavirus: Challenges facing American higher education - American Enterprise Institute

Forward-thinking institutions will recognize that the pandemic has accelerated preexisting demographic and financial challenges to their model and will translate necessary, short-term modifications in course delivery, student services, academic calendars, and pricing and fee structures into lasting reforms.
https://www.aei.org/research-products/report/college-in-the-time-of-coronavirus-challenges-facing-american-higher-education/

Many Are Reacting, but Who Is Visioning the Future? - Ray Schroeder, Inside Higher Ed

As we prepare for the fall term, most colleges and universities are reacting to the evolving pandemic, responding to changing conditions. But who is creating a vision for the future?  How do we replace campus face-to-face interaction with dispersed or virtual face-to-face, up-close, personal interaction? Beyond our already-proven online learning pedagogies and practices, can we leverage advancing VR, AR, AI, and associated technologies to create a more meaningful and satisfying personal experience? Who is leading the visioning on your campus?
https://www.insidehighered.com/digital-learning/blogs/online-trending-now/many-are-reacting-who-visioning-future?

Global Study Reveals There's No Unplugging from Online Learning for Most Learners - Pearson

Pearson has released the results of its second Global Learner Survey, an annual study capturing the voice of learners worldwide. The findings show learners believe there is little likelihood of ever returning to the pre-COVID world of fully in-person work and learning, with more than 75% saying the pandemic has fundamentally changed education as we know it. While learners come to terms with this new reality, they also are pushing for schools and government to address inequity and rushing to gather the digital skills that will help them adapt to the new economy.
https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/global-study-reveals-theres-no-unplugging-from-online-learning-for-most-learners-301108637.html

After the Pandemic, Higher Education Can’t Afford to Go Back to ‘Normal’ - Mordecai I. Brownlee, EdSurge

The truth is, while many institutions have used the idea of “innovation” as a marketing ploy, the pandemic has exposed the lack of innovation in academe. But student retention and persistence in the remote, online environment can be improved—if faculty are better prepared to creatively deliver engaging instruction that is relevant to today’s job market.
https://www.edsurge.com/news/2020-08-06-after-the-pandemic-higher-education-can-t-afford-to-go-back-to-normal

Watch 3 Videos from Coursera’s New “Machine Learning for Everyone” - Eric Siegel, Predictive Analytics World

Machine learning is booming. It reinvents industries and runs the world. According to Harvard Business Review, machine learning is “the most important general-purpose technology of our era.” But while there are so many how-to courses for hands-on techies, there are practically none that also serve business leaders – a striking omission, since success with machine learning relies on a very particular business leadership practice just as much as it relies on adept number crunching.
https://www.predictiveanalyticsworld.com/machinelearningtimes/watch-3-videos-from-courseras-new-machine-learning-for-everyone/11555/

Embracing the Unknown: Why Online Postsecondary Study Is Worth the Risk - Kathleen Bortolin, EDUCAUSE Review

The COVID-19 pandemic has thrown much of higher education into disarray, but amid this storm are opportunities to redesign teaching and learning in dynamic, student-centered, and empathy-rich ways, with a mind to the skills that students will need to succeed now and in the future.  I think another dimension of this change is emerging: postsecondary teaching may evolve to be, somewhat counterintuitively, even more student-centered, wellness-based, and empathy-enriched. In my experience, many instructors are not just dumping content into online platforms, walking away, and calling it a day.
https://er.educause.edu/blogs/2020/8/embracing-the-unknown-why-online-postsecondary-study-is-worth-the-risk

Transitioning to Online Learning - Laura Otten, Diverse Education

Almost 20 years as a full-time, face-to-face teacher of both undergraduate and graduate students—and six years running as teacher in and director of a totally virtual master’s program—has taught me a thing or two about both pedagogical models. And while I continue to surprise myself every time I say it, I have developed a preference for virtual teaching. I would encourage my peers to think differently about this opportunity for skill acquisition, especially as public health experts are forecasting several waves of COVID-19 cases. Adaptation to what could be a new normal will be critically important for academics and students, alike. Done well and done right, virtual teaching is so much more challenging and far more time consuming for the faculty member than is face-to-face teaching, but the educational benefits to the students are exponentially greater.
https://diverseeducation.com/article/186510/

Collaboration Tools for the Future of Online Learning - Dana Corey, EdTech

As higher education leaders prepare for what remains an undefined fall semester, they face a whirlwind of decisions. With Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines on reopening changing seemingly every day, so do the on- and off-campus procedures for colleges across the nation. As a result, colleges and universities are depending on collaboration technologies to keep their students and faculty connected safely through the unforeseeable future of the global health crisis.
https://edtechmagazine.com/higher/article/2020/08/collaboration-tools-future-online-learning

Low-income households falling further behind on student debt due to COVID-19 - Jason Jabbari, et al; Brookings Institution

On January 20, 2020, the United States reported its first confirmed case of COVID-19. By March 13, New York City had declared a state of emergency. To better understand the influence of COVID-19 on American household finances, the Social Policy Institute at Washington University in St. Louis conducted a nationally representative survey with approximately 5,500 respondents in all 50 states from April 27 to May 12, 2020. Within our sample, roughly one-fourth of households (24 percent) had student loans with an average balance of $30,118 (median amount = $14,750). Of 1,264 households with student loans, roughly one-fourth (23 percent) reported being behind on their student loan payments, and over half of these households (58 percent) reported that they were behind on their student loan payments as a result of COVID-19.
https://www.brookings.edu/blog/up-front/2020/08/05/low-income-households-falling-further-behind-on-student-debt-due-to-covid-19/

10 Types of Credentials You Can Earn Online - Jordan Friedman and Josh Moody, US News

When it comes to online learning, students should choose a credential that fulfills their goals while providing flexibility – whether it's a single course certificate or a full degree. "There's such a wide range of offerings to them at economical prices that allow them to target their education specifically to their career plan," says Ray Schroeder, associate vice chancellor for online learning at the University of Illinois—Springfield. In fact, the nonprofit Credential Engine calculates more than 738,428 "unique credential programs" in the U.S., a number that Executive Director Scott Cheney expects to continue to rise. Here are 10 different credentials students can earn online.
https://www.usnews.com/education/online-education/slideshows/10-types-of-credentials-you-can-earn-online