University Business caught up with Amber Garrison Duncan, the “Godmother of LERs,” to better understand what federal and state participation in talent marketplaces means for higher education. Duncan is executive vice president at the Competency-Based Education Network, a nonprofit organization advancing skills-based learning across education, government and industry. During our interview, Duncan was attending the National Governors Association’s Skills in the States Annual Convening. At the event, public and national employers from 22 states discussed actionable strategies to sustain skills-based hiring practices in the wake of AI-driven labor market disruptions.
Professional, Continuing, and Online Education Update by UPCEA
Daily updates of news, research and trends by UPCEA
Click on the URL at the end of posting to visit the relevant article or website mentioned in the post.
Thursday, July 2, 2026
Panelists say state, colleges must meet workforce needs as AI use grows - Matthew McFarland, News Tribune
The use of artificial intelligence will continue to grow at higher education institutions around the state, a panel of AI and education experts said Thursday. As part of a statewide forum on AI and data centers at the Missouri University of Science & Technology in Rolla, two Missouri education administrators and the CEO of a Cape Girardeau nonprofit focused on AI training took part in a panel on workforce development. Their message, overwhelmingly, was that higher education must adapt to AI, not fight it. "Are you going to stop fire? Are you going to stop the wheel? Are you going to stop the industrial revolution? You're not going to stop AI," said Hal Higdon, chancellor of Ozarks Technical Community College. "Fighting is futile, but learning to use it responsibly is the way."
Personalized talent cultivation and academic prediction framework for higher education based on the HA-GNN-LSTM architecture - Qi Gong & Jing Shi, Nature
To address the dilemma of homogeneous talent training and the efficiency bottleneck of human resource management in universities, this study proposes an innovative personalized training framework integrating artificial intelligence, big data, and deep learning. Based on the 18-dimensional full-cycle behavior dataset of 5,000 students and OULAD dataset, a multimodal heterogeneous data fusion pipeline is constructed. The simulation results demonstrate that, under established constraints and historical sample distributions, advisor allocation response time could be reduced by 60% and resource idle rate could be decreased by 63.4%. These findings indicate the framework’s potential for optimizing educational resource allocation. However, its managerial benefits require further validation through subsequent real-world deployment and long-term follow-up studies.
Wednesday, July 1, 2026
Reform education to conform to Artificial Intelligence - Technical universities urged - Alberto Mario Noretti, Graphic Online
The call was made by the Rector of Wittenborg University of Applied Sciences in Netherlands, Professor Dr. Ron S.J. Tuninga, when he delivered the Seventh Vice-Chancellor’s Distinguished Lecture at Ho Technical University (HTU) on Wednesday (June 17). He explained that rapid advances in machine learning, robotics, block chain, quantum computing, cybersecurity and digitalisation were fundamentally reshaping the future of work and the skills required in modern industries. “The focus should shift from memorisation to judgement, critical thinking, creativity and problem-solving,” Professor Tuninga said, adding that higher-order cognitive skills would become increasingly valuable as AI assumes routine cognitive functions.
Will ChatGPT Kill the Self-Help Book Market - Emma Jacobs, Financial Review
Pippa Wright, publishing director at Penguin Life, has a word of caution: non-fiction “has always been boom and bust. At the point it goes up, everyone says, ‘No one is interested in fiction, they want answers.’ And then romantasy goes up and everyone wants escapism.” According to NielsenIQ BookData for the UK, although sales have declined from their 2022 peak, they remain significantly higher than in 2015. Wright thinks one kind of self-help has “probably gone”: the “prescriptive book with five bullet points, with information that is summarised very easily... If it can be summarised in a paragraph, then why buy the book?”
https://www.afr.com/technology/will-chatgpt-kill-the-self-help-book-market-20260621-p608ow
Studying the Use of Generative Artificial Intelligence in Undergraduate Research at the U.S. Military AcademyPeer-Review - John Scudder1, et al; Journal of Military Learning
At the U.S. Military Academy (USMA) in West Point, New York, where academic integrity and pedagogical rigor are foundational, initial guidance on generative AI was introduced in 2023. While it emphasized the importance of integrity and instructor-specific policies, the use of generative AI remained decentralized and varied across disciplines (Reeves, 2023). Given this context, faculty members across five academic programs initiated a collaborative, multiyear research project to track the adoption, utility, and implications of generative AI in student-driven research activities. This study aims to document and analyze the technological engagement and ethical considerations among cadets from the class of 2024 through the class of 2029.
Tuesday, June 30, 2026
How Artificial Intelligence Is Changing Healthcare, Manufacturing, Recycling and Education - Tech Business News
Artificial intelligence (AI) is no longer a future-facing technology sitting inside research labs. It is now being used in doctor’s offices, classrooms, factories, recycling plants, semiconductor research facilities and government departments. The real shift is not just that AI can generate text, images or code. The bigger change is that AI systems are now being connected to daily decision-making, physical infrastructure and professional workflows. That makes the technology more useful, but also more difficult to manage. Across industries, AI is being used to detect disease, support teachers, predict machine failures, sort waste, discover new semiconductor materials, analyse risk, automate service desks and assist with policy planning. At the same time, it is raising hard questions about bias, privacy, security, accountability and whether people can understand how an AI system reached its answer.
Re-educating graduates for the competitive job market - Amber Wang, University World News
As another record number of university graduates enter China’s job market this month, authorities are increasingly encouraging both students and unemployed graduates to be “re-educated” through vocational and skills-based training. Across China, cities and provinces are offering “technician class” programmes aimed at improving employment outcomes among young people. With strong backing from local governments, initiatives typically combine vocational education with internships and job placement opportunities in strategic industries. Local authorities in Beijing, Guangdong, Zhejiang and Anhui, together with vocational institutions, have recently launched a range of full-time training programmes as well as shorter subsidised skills courses.
Can microcredentials drive new demand for higher ed? - Alcino Donadel, University Business
Higher education leaders, employers and students agree that microcredentials are critical for strengthening enrollment, improving workforce readiness and modernizing curriculum amid rapid AI-driven change. A new Coursera survey of more than 3,500 respondents worldwide found broad support for embedding industry-recognized credentials into degree pathways as institutions face mounting pressure to improve career outcomes and adapt curricula more quickly. In many cases, U.S. respondents expressed greater confidence in microcredentials than their global peers in India, the United Kingdom and other countries.
Monday, June 29, 2026
Medical students’ perceptions of learning modalities: development and psychometric validation of the e-learning and face-to-face learning experience questionnaire - Zahra Karimian, et al; Nature
The analysis revealed six primary factors influencing student learning experiences, including Peer Interaction, Teacher-Student Interaction, Examination and Assessment methods, Emotional Comfort, Content Quality, and Assignments. The highest factor loading was observed for peer interaction and collaborative learning.... The findings suggest that effective educational practices must integrate diverse teaching methods and assessment strategies to accommodate various learning styles. Both F2F and online environments offer unique advantages that can be leveraged through a blended approach. The study underscores the importance of creating inclusive and supportive learning environments that prioritize student comfort and engagement, ultimately enhancing educational outcomes.
Two Professors, Two Approaches to AI and Assignment Design - Luke Mello, Faculty Focus
All this considered, a question has arisen from teachers of every discipline: how do we develop assignments that facilitate learning with AI constantly present? This question does not have a single correct answer. Different instructors have different opinions on the role AI should play in education due to their discipline or personal teaching philosophy. I interviewed two professors of electrical engineering at my graduate university to get their points of view in the context of STEM classes. They were both professors that taught classes in my electrical and computer engineering undergraduate degree. I knew beforehand that these professors had differing views on the role of AI in their courses. The following interviews seek to show that even in the same disciplines, educators can have different approaches to their course and assignment design when it comes to AI
The AI-centric imperative: Navigating the next software frontier - McKinsey
The software industry is entering a new era—and it may yet prove even more disruptive than the software-as-a-service (SaaS) revolution that preceded it. The emergence of gen AI and, more recently, agentic AI is not just another technology wave; it is a foundational shift redefining what software is, who builds it, who uses it, and how companies are organized and operate. Gen AI alone is projected to unlock $4.4 trillion or more in annual value across the global economy, with software companies poised to capture 10 to 15 percent of that total—and agentic AI may well accelerate the speed at which this value is realized. But capturing it is far from guaranteed, and incumbent companies will face heightened competitive intensity and complex new challenges.
Friday, June 26, 2026
What Is AI Infrastructure? Why the model is only one layer of the AI stack. - Qamar Zia, INVENEW
AI infrastructure is everything underneath the application that lets models train, serve, scale, route, retrieve context, stay observable, and run at a cost the business can live with.
For builders, this matters because many AI apps do not fail because the model is weak.
They fail because the system around the model is weak.
Latency was not planned for.
Inference costs ran away.
The serving layer could not scale.
The data layer did not provide the right context.
The agent had no audit trail.
No one could explain what happened when something broke.
That is the real infrastructure problem.
Free and Affordable Platforms for Issuing Online Badges to Students in 2026 - Marc Berman, Programming Insider
Digital credentials, micro-credentials, and digital badges have become the standard way universities, training providers, and event organizers verify and share what students have learned. The platforms that issue them vary widely in price, features, and flexibility, and Credly, while well known, charges a minimum of around $2,500 for 500 badges with no published pricing and no free tier, putting it out of reach for most smaller institutions and programs. In this guide, we reviewed the best free and affordable platforms for issuing digital badges and micro-credentials to students in 2026, with Certifier ranked first. Whether you run a university program, a professional training course, or an online certification, this list covers the options that deliver real value without locking you into annual contracts or opaque pricing.
In California’s ‘Lithium Valley,’ students are training for jobs that haven’t yet materialized - Erin Lode, Hechinger Report
The situation speaks to a conundrum faced by local colleges when a new industry promises to come to town: Local residents want the new jobs. Companies say they want to hire local residents, but they’d need additional skills and training. In the middle are schools like Imperial Valley College, left to figure out the best timing to launch a new program that will prepare students for the new industry: soon enough that they can apply for jobs before they’re filled by skilled out-of-towners, but not so soon that students are left waiting for jobs.
Thursday, June 25, 2026
Work-based Learning: Who Gets Paid? - Nichole Torpey-Saboe & Akua Amankwah-Ayeh, Strada
Work-based learning is linked to better early career outcomes, including higher earnings and greater likelihood of securing college-level employment. As part of the 2025 State Opportunity Index, states were benchmarked using student-reported participation in at least one of five types of paid work-based learning at public two- and four-year institutions: internships, apprenticeships, co-ops, practica, and undergraduate research experiences. The findings, based on surveys of more than 56,000 students at public four- and two-year institutions, showed that despite growing recognition of the value of work-based learning, access remains uneven. Nationally, only 43 percent of students at public four-year institutions report at least one of these experiences. At public two-year institutions, participation rates are even lower.
An augmented reality tool for accessible learning - Cindy Lam, Sai Kit Yeung, Kenichiro Takei; Times Higher Education
Combining GenAI with simple augmented reality tools offers a practical way to support accessible, adaptable and interdisciplinary learning. So, how can we make GenAI more intuitive, accessible and relevant across disciplines? One approach is to pair it with simple visual tools. GenAI-powered AquaReality cards offer a low-cost and scalable way to bring abstract concepts to life, while supporting interactive and interdisciplinary learning.
10 ways micro-credentials are changing how companies hire - Jenny Milam, MSN
For decades, the path to a good job was fairly straightforward: earn a degree, build a resume, and start applying. But hiring is changing. Employers increasingly care less about where candidates went to school and more about whether they can actually do the job. Enter micro-credentials. These short, focused certifications validate specific skills and can often be completed in weeks rather than years. From technology and healthcare to marketing and project management, micro-credentials are helping job seekers prove their abilities while giving employers a faster, more practical way to identify talent. Here are 10 ways micro-credentials are transforming hiring practices.
Wednesday, June 24, 2026
A Course Refresh this Summer - Ray Schroeder, Inside Higher Ed
While in the past century college was about filling student minds with the “facts of the field,” one key aspect of refreshing the courses and curriculum is to recognize that rote memorization is no longer a foundation of college education. Teaching and learning now is far less about a list of historical facts that are instantly available anywhere and at any time using the ever-enhancing technologies. Rather, our courses should be more about the skills of accessing relevant facts and information as well as the refinement of our own perspectives, ethos, philosophies and strategies in interpreting and applying the data tapped through new technologies. Reviewing our course materials and assessments with this in mind is a very useful step in updating courses to the current realities of the workplace. This calls for connecting students with industry before they graduate.
Can microcredentials drive new demand for higher ed? - Alcino Donadel, University Business
Higher education leaders, employers and students agree that microcredentials are critical for strengthening enrollment, improving workforce readiness and modernizing curriculum amid rapid AI-driven change. A new Coursera survey of more than 3,500 respondents worldwide found broad support for embedding industry-recognized credentials into degree pathways as institutions face mounting pressure to improve career outcomes and adapt curricula more quickly. In many cases, U.S. respondents expressed greater confidence in microcredentials than their global peers in India, the United Kingdom and other countries.
Colleges hit in cyberattack by group behind Canvas breach, Google says - Laura Spitalniak, Higher Ed Dive
Dozens of higher education institutions may have been hit by another attack from the cybercrime group behind the May hack against Canvas, according to the Google Threat Intelligence Group and cybersecurity firm Mandiant. From May 27 and June 9, the group ShinyHunters potentially gained access to the systems of over 100 organizations by targeting the Oracle PeopleSoft software suite. A majority of them are based in the U.S., and 68% are within the higher education sector, GTIG and Mandiant said in a post Thursday. ShinyHunters twice gained unauthorized access to Instructure’s Canvas learning management system last month, disrupting final exam season at colleges nationwide.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)