As we look at artificial intelligence in teaching and learning, we must look beyond facts, figures and formulas to ensure that the skills of perceiving and managing feelings, emotions and personalization are engaged in the process. Some might believe that AI, as a computer-based system, merely addresses the facts, formulas and figures of quantitative learning rather than emotionally intelligent engagement with the learner. In its initial development that may have been true, however, AI has developed the ability to recognize and respond to emotional aspects of the learner’s responses.
Wednesday, January 21, 2026
Microcredentials Explosion Is Imminent And What It All Means - Neil Wolstenholme, FE News
A very significant structural shift in British education since the expansion of universities in the 1990s is imminent. While the headlines focus on tuition fees or teacher retention, a more profound revolution is taking place – one that challenges the very monopoly of the three-year degree The imminent explosion of microcredentials is a policy inevitability. With the rollout of the Lifelong Learning Entitlement in 2025, the UK Government will effectively decouple funding from the “full degree,” allowing learners to borrow money for individual modules and short courses. This legislative change is the spark that will ignite the powder keg. For the first time, the “atomisation” of education – that is breaking learning down into stackable, verifiable blocks – will have the financial backing of the State.
MOOC Market Trends 2025: AI, Micro-Credentials, and Workforce Upskilling - Open PR
The global MOOC market is witnessing strong double-digit growth, fueled by digital transformation, remote work, and the rising need for continuous skill development.
Market Size: Multi-billion-dollar global industry
Forecast Period: 2025-2032
Expected CAGR: ~39.20%
The post-pandemic shift toward online and hybrid learning models has permanently changed how individuals and organizations view education, making MOOCs a long-term growth engine.
Tuesday, January 20, 2026
The “Micro-Credential” Boom: Why Degrees Are Losing to Certificates in 2026 - Srabanti Das, Editorialge
In 2026, the “Paper Ceiling” has not just cracked—it has shattered. With tuition for a four-year degree hitting record highs while the half-life of a technical skill shrinks to just 2.5 years, the math no longer favors the university. This analysis explores why a $300 certificate is currently outperforming a $100,000 diploma in the ROI economy.
Rethinking the community college’s role in the new economy - University Business
Community colleges have historically served as engines of regional economic development, drawing on strong community integration to translate labor market needs into accessible education. However, rapid technological change and the decline of entry-level jobs now require a recalibration of this mission. Instead, the contemporary economy requires strategic partnerships focused on co-designed curricula and long-term worker adaptability. The central question has shifted from whether colleges contribute to growth, to whether they can lead with the strategic vision needed in a labor market transformed by automation and rapid occupational change. Meeting this challenge requires an expanded economic development role—one that goes beyond training transactions toward shared-value partnerships, entrepreneurship ecosystem development and active technology diffusion.
https://universitybusiness.com/opinion-rethinking-the-community-colleges-role-in-the-new-economy/
AI’s benefits need to be distributed across all disciplines - Libing Wang and Tianchong Wang, University World News
AI stands at the forefront of discussions on the future of higher education, igniting both anticipation and concern. Universities are exploring how AI could reshape research, redefine disciplines and transform academic practices. While its impact is most evident in the sciences and engineering, AI is also challenging core concepts in the humanities and social sciences, such as interpretation, authorship and human understanding. AI’s influence is paradoxical. In science and engineering, it enhances traditional methods of measurement and prediction. Yet in the humanities and social sciences, AI’s ability to generate text and automate interpretation disrupts fundamental ideas about meaning, creativity and human knowledge.
https://www.universityworldnews.com/post.php?story=20260114091832715
Monday, January 19, 2026
Howard Updates AI Curriculum to Align With Workforce - Government Technology
Howard University is redesigning its Intro to Artificial Intelligence course, teaching the fundamentals of AI-assisted software development that are proving necessary for entry-level roles. The course introduces AI directly into instruction through hands-on, industry-aligned training, according to a news release Tuesday. Developed in partnership with CodePath, the course draws on curriculum originally designed by the industry-aligned education nonprofit and is co-taught by Howard faculty alongside an instructor from CodePath’s faculty network. CodePath shapes its courses around employer needs, which its surveys indicate are internship experience, technical interview performance, and side projects or portfolios
https://www.govtech.com/education/higher-ed/howard-updates-ai-curriculum-to-align-with-workforce
Humanities cuts leave us defenceless in the age of AI - Agnieszka Piotrowska, Time Higher Ed
There is no shortage of talk about risk in AI, in higher education and beyond. We discuss plagiarism, bias, fairness and governance. These are important challenges. But there are others. How do these systems behave over time, and what do their observable behaviours reveal about their underlying structures and about human responses to them? Engineers cannot answer this alone. Such questions are best addressed via the qualitative research methods in which the humanities specialise but these are increasingly viewed with suspicion by funders and university administrators. In the UK and elsewhere, departments that focus on this area are closed or are required to focus on narrower definitions of “impact”. These exclude open-ended engagement with AIs in pursuit of answers to the philosophical and psychological questions it throws up.
The US wants more apprenticeships. The UK figured out how to make them coveted roles - Kelly Field, Hechinger Report
Most students here and in the United States wouldn’t get access to expensive equipment like this until graduate school. Goshawk — a 21-year-old undergraduate student and one of 149 “degree apprentices” employed by AstraZeneca across the U.K. — started using them his second week in. “It shows the trust we’ve been given,” said Goshawk, who is working nearly full time while studying toward a degree in chemical science at Manchester Metropolitan University that his employer is paying for. By the time he graduates next spring, he will have earned roughly 100,000 pounds (approximately $130,000) in wages, on top of the tuition-free education.
Sunday, January 18, 2026
Trump Admin. Touts 8,000 Student Visas Revoked - Johanna Alonso, Inside Higher Ed
The Department of State has revoked 8,000 student visas since the start of President Donald Trump’s second term, the department shared on the social media site X on Monday, as part of the president’s massive deportation campaign. In total, the administration has revoked 100,000 nonimmigrant visas, the department wrote, which is about double the number revoked in former President Joe Biden’s last year. According to Fox News, the department said that the majority of the student and specialized worker visas were revoked due to crimes; about half were because of drunk driving. U.S. colleges and universities enroll more than 1 million international students.
Artificial intelligence at the University of Hawaiʻi: ASAP! - Janis Magin, Hawaiʻi Public Radio
The University of HawaiÊ»i system has made progress in developing artificial intelligence as an area of study — and an asset to use at the school. UH is focusing even more on AI in 2026 with plans to introduce an online AI literacy course. It’s also using technology to make sure more students in HawaiÊ»i have the opportunity to complete a degree completely online. UH President Wendy Hensel sees higher education as vital to developing the next generation of workers to be critical thinkers and innovators — workers who won’t just follow, but lead the rapid development of AI in the workforce.
AI on Campus: Rethinking the Core Goals of Higher Education - Abby Sourwine, GovTech
For many professors, teaching has always been about more than delivering subject-specific content. Derek Bruff, director of the University of Virginia’s Center for Teaching Excellence, said the core mission of college is to help students develop critical thinking, problem-solving and judgment skills that prepare them for life beyond the classroom. But with artificial intelligence offering such a convenient tool to offload those skills, professors are re-evaluating how they approach their goals, sending ripple effects to instruction, assessments and student interactions. “I can’t recall another technology in my career that has had such a transformative effect on higher-ed teaching and learning,” he said.
Saturday, January 17, 2026
Navigating Higher Ed’s Digital Shift as a Technophobe - Robert Ubell, Evolllution
Psychologists say that some of us are drawn to behavior we fear because the experience creates an exhilarating rush in a safe, controlled environment, allowing us to feel the excitement in a fight-or-flight response without actually being in danger, leading to feelings of euphoria, heightened alertness and a sense of mastery. Or I may be trapped in what Freud recognized as repetition compulsion—a concept he coined—an unconscious tendency to repeat past, often traumatic, experiences and behaviors relived in the present. Freud claimed sufferers may be trying to master or resolve unresolved trauma experienced earlier in their lives by going through similar situations in the present, even if painful or unsatisfied. I am drawn to technology for its exciting, innovative possibilities but unnerved by fear of my tech inadequacy.
AI Agents in Higher Education: Transforming Student Services and Support - Tom Mangan, EdTech
Similarly, researchers have noted a host of ways that agentic AI tools can potentially drive improvements in higher education. Agents will be able to gather data from multiple sources to assess a student’s progress across multiple courses. If the student starts falling behind, processes could kick in to help them catch up. Agents can relieve teachers and administrators from time-consuming chores such as grading multiple-choice tests and monitoring attendance. The idea is catching on. Andrew Ng, co-founder of Coursera, launched a startup called Kira Learning to ease burdens on overworked teachers. “Kira’s AI tutor works alongside teachers as an intelligent co-educator, adapting in real-time to each student’s learning style and emotional state,” Andrea Pasinetti, Kira Learning’s CEO, says in an interview with The Observer.
Evaluating Recent Advances in Affective Intelligent Tutoring Systems: A Scoping Review of Educational Impacts and Future Prospects - Jorge Fernández-Herrero, Journal of Education Sciences, MDPI
Affective intelligent tutoring systems (ATSs) are gaining recognition for their role in personalized learning through adaptive automated education based on students’ affective states. This scoping review evaluates recent advancements and the educational impact of ATSs, following PRISMA guidelines for article selection and analysis. A structured search of the Web of Science (WoS) and Scopus databases resulted in 30 studies covering 27 distinct ATSs. These studies assess the effectiveness of ATSs in meeting learners’ emotional and cognitive needs. This review examines the technical and pedagogical aspects of ATSs, focusing on how emotional recognition technologies are used to customize educational content and feedback, enhancing learning experiences.
Friday, January 16, 2026
Here are 4 ways AI will impact higher ed in the new year - Alcino Donadel, University Business
1. Emotionally intelligent AI
Institutions will use technology to drive deeper human connection amid the rapid rise of AI assistants, chatbots and algorithmically tailored content, Researchers from MIT, the University of Pittsburgh and other institutions found that AI use in the classroom lowered brain activity and led to student anxiety and confusion. Teachers also feared losing instructional autonomy and human connections. One student panel demanded that institutions and industry place the campus community at the heart of technological innovation. “In 2026, the push for ethically designed, emotionally aware tech will gain momentum,” said Betheny Gross, director of research at WGU Labs. “The next generation of technology will aim to rebuild what the last era of digital tools too often eroded.”
The Limits of Artificial Intelligence in Professional Military Education - Matthew Woessner, Real Clear Defense
The purpose of this paper is not to prescribe how to incorporate AI into specific courses, but rather to highlight potential student vulnerabilities and offer suggestions for how they can be managed within a broad curricular framework across PME. Even as AI is incorporated into PME, faculty must ensure that the technology does not supplant student progress in reading, writing, and critical thinking. In his “All AI—All the Time” rebuttal, Jim Lacey takes issue with my general framework, arguing that PME is not “grade school.” He maintains that students entering PME already know how to read and write. He further expresses doubt that “there is a PME student alive who does not know that AI systems are fallible and often make things up.”
Artificial Intelligence in Education Market Growing at a CAGR of 37.68% During 2025 - 2035 - IT, New Media & Software, Market Reasearch Future (MRFR)
AI technologies, including machine learning, natural language processing, and computer vision, are no longer futuristic concept they are becoming integral to classrooms, online platforms, and administrative systems worldwide. The integration of AI in education enhances personalization, efficiency, and accessibility, creating opportunities for a more inclusive and effective learning experience. The Artificial Intelligence in Education market was valued at USD 34.7 billion in 2024 and is projected to experience significant growth in the coming decade. The market is expected to reach USD 47.78 billion in 2025 and surge to USD 1,169.44 billion by 2035, representing a robust compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 37.68% during the forecast period from 2025 to 2035.
Thursday, January 15, 2026
After being falsely branded an AI plagiarist, how can I accuse students? - David Mingay, Times Higher Ed
The executive editor emailed back to say that the article aligned with the scope of the journal but that some formatting amendments were required. Also, it lacked a statement on whether AI had been used in its production. I duly made the amendments and included the factually correct line: “No generative AI or AI-supported technologies were used at any stage of this research.” I was surprised, then, to get a reply from the editor saying an AI detection program had judged our paper to have been mainly written using AI. Even more oddly – and ironically – he referred to the paper by the title of an entirely unrelated study examining chatbots’ very limited ability to pass scientific tests.
Using Machine Learning to Understand College Closures - Abby Sourwine, GovTech
As financial pressures mount across higher education, researchers are turning to machine learning to better predict which colleges are at risk of closing. In recent work, higher education researchers collaborated with the Federal Reserve to develop a predictive model that combines hundreds of institutional characteristics to estimate the likelihood a college might close. The model outperforms financial monitoring systems currently used by the federal government, offering a more nuanced understanding of financial distress in higher ed.
The ChatGPT Generation: How AI Is quietly rewriting the global student search experience - Tim O'Brien, ICEF Monitor
In September 2025, we conducted a cross-institution survey of over 1,600 newly enrolled international students in the US and UK. Our goal was simple: to understand how students are using AI in the crucial, early part of their journey – identifying and applying to university – long before they ever step into a lecture hall. Approximately one in six respondents (17%) indicated they used AI (Chat GPT etc) as part of their initial search, but that varies significantly by home country. The most critical finding however appears to deliver a clear message on the value students ascribe to Large Learning Models (LLMs): 96% of AI users found the guidance they received from AI tools (ChatGPT, etc.) either met or exceeded the quality of information provided by traditional sources (websites, brochures, agents).
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)