Looking Back or Looking Forward — It’s AI or Bust for Edcuation

(Looking Back and Looking Forward takes a look at the articles and posts I found interesting from the previous week, along with reflections about how the trends they point to might shape my thinking about education, technology, and culture.)

Not for nothing, EDUCAUSE has released the latest version of its Horizon Report for Teaching and Learning. And, while some might look at the section on key technologies and practices and say, “Well, that’s obvious,” I find this year’s list particularly important for higher ed leadership and administration.

Unlike previous years, this list reads more like “imperatives for competition and survival” than “things to keep in mind. This reminds me of a conversation I had this week with an instructor at an R1 university. She shared her surprise at the reaction of university librarians when suggesting that generative AI offered librarians an opportunity to reestablish their institutional significance by taking ownership of prompt engineering for the purposes of connecting students and faculty to information resources. Their response was, “We can’t do that! ChatGPT is trying to take our jobs!”

Having worked in and around higher education for more than four decades, I am in agreement with those who say this is a “different” moment of disruption for educational institutions. I agree with George Siemens that colleges and universities need to take a stance of AI-first. At the same time, I think Donald Clark makes a good point when he says that we need to get over biases based on human exceptionalism. I all think Martin Weller’s calm admonition to surrender is something anyone and everyone working in educational technology should consider.

One clear evolution brought on by the embrace of AI and, related, learning algorithms is the disaggregation of “course” into specific skills and competencies that can be measured. It will take time — less than people might assume, however — but we are moving toward a reality horizon that is much less concerned with long-from credentials (degrees) for most jobs and where higher education (of all kinds) is part of a wide-reaching and integrated education-to-employment ecosystem. NB: If you are an educator or employer and this isn’t already on your planning radar, you are lagging behind.

For those of you tracking the latest (impactful) AI tools being rolled out, here are three to note.

Finally, since the current academic year is closing out (along with legislative sessions in many states) and there will be less news on that front in the coming months, I thought I would share this update on the OPM market landscape from Phil Hill. In summary:

We still get a picture of a chaotic market that is not for the faint of heart, and one that is seeing consolidations and category changes, and these changes will continue. All of this in a Mad Max-style pursuit of college online course and program revenue (whether rev share or fee-for-service or a blend, and whether degree- or certificate-based).

Have a great week!

Looking Back or Looking Forward — It’s AI or Bust for Edcuation

Further Reading

Higher Education

K-!2 Education

Workforce and Organizational Trends

Online Learning, Learning Design, and Education Technology

Technology, Science, and Culture