Instructure, an edtech company, together with Internet2, a research and education community, established the Data Advisory Council. This new initiative aims to address the increasing data management and archiving needs faced by higher educational institutions worldwide. The council, composed of experts from Instructure, Internet2, and various academic institutions, will focus on developing and recommending consistent data hygiene and governance standards. It aims to tackle several pressing data-related issues including the management of vast quantities of data, safeguarding student privacy, and ensuring data security.
Sunday, June 30, 2024
GPTs are GPTs: Labor market impact potential of LLMs: Research is needed to estimate how jobs may be affected - TYNA ELOUNDOU, et al; Science
We propose a framework for evaluating the potential impacts of large-language models (LLMs) and associated technologies on work by considering their relevance to the tasks workers perform in their jobs. By applying this framework (with both humans and using an LLM), we estimate that roughly 1.8% of jobs could have over half their tasks affected by LLMs with simple interfaces and general training. When accounting for current and likely future software developments that complement LLM capabilities, this share jumps to just over 46% of jobs. The collective attributes of LLMs such as generative pretrained transformers (GPTs) strongly suggest that they possess key characteristics of other “GPTs,” general-purpose technologies (1, 2). Our research highlights the need for robust societal evaluations and policy measures to address potential effects of LLMs and complementary technologies on labor markets.
Ethan Mollick's GPT Complexifier - Just for Fun!
This being the weekend, I am adding a resource here that may have limited academic use, but certainly is descriptive of too many of my colleagues' lectures over the years. It was brought to my attention by Katherine Kerpan of the University of Illlinois Chicago who is a follower of Professor Ethan Mollick (UPenn, Wharton), the author of the GPT. He calls it the "complexifier." This GPT takes seemingly simple tasks and makes them more complex with all of the possible things that might impact or go wrong - along with a flow chart to address those. You may have some fun (or valid use) in complexifying processes or tasks. I know colleagues who have done this to their students for decades!
Saturday, June 29, 2024
Navigating the Evolution of Microcredentials and Open Badges - Brittany Gooding, atd
In recent years, there has been a notable transformation in how we prepare individuals for the workforce. Traditional methods are making way for new approaches driven by recognizing specific skills and experiences. The rise of technology and online learning platforms has brought microcredentials and open badges to the forefront, offering learners alternative paths to showcase their capabilities. While both concepts serve this purpose, they differ significantly in their structure, purpose, and application.
How to start your rewiring journey - McKinsey Themes
2024 is shaping up to be the year for generative AI (gen AI) to prove its value. But while building a gen AI model is often relatively straightforward, making it fully operational at scale is a different matter entirely. To break open the gen AI opportunity, companies need to rewire how they work. Enter Rewired: The McKinsey Guide to Outcompeting in the Age of Digital and AI, by McKinsey’s Eric Lamarre, Kate Smaje, and Rodney W. Zemmel. Since its release one year ago, the Wall Street Journal bestseller has served as a blueprint for companies looking to move from disjointed digital projects to digitally capable enterprises. The book serves as a detailed manual on the six capabilities needed to deliver the kind of broad change that harnesses digital and AI technology—which is particularly helpful for organizations seeking to capture value in the era of gen AI.
Can generative AI master emotional intelligence? - Mark Sullivan, Fast Company
Compared to humans, LLMs are still lacking in complex cognitive and communicative skills. We humans have intuitions that take into account factors beyond the plain facts of a problem or situation. We can read between the lines of the verbal or written messages we receive. We can imply things without explicitly saying them, and understand when others are doing so. Researchers are working on ways to imbue LLMs with such capabilities. They also hope to give AIs a far better understanding of the emotional layer that influences how we humans communicate and interpret messages. AI companies are also thinking about how to make chatbots more “agentic”—that is, better at autonomously taking a set of actions to achieve a larger goal. (For example, a bot might arrange all aspects of a trip or carry out a complex stock trading strategy.)
Friday, June 28, 2024
A New Guide for Responsible AI Use in Higher Ed - Lauren Coffey, Inside Higher Ed
Generative artificial intelligence holds “tremendous promise” in nearly every facet of higher education, but there need to be guardrails, policies and strong governance for the technology, according to a new report. The report from MIT SMR Connections, a subsection within MIT Sloan Management Review, classifies itself as a “strategy guide” for responsibly using generative AI in higher ed. It points toward several institutional practices that have reaped positive results in the last two years, following the debut of ChatGPT in November 2022, which kicked off a flood of AI tools and applications.
AI Index Report 2024 - Artificial Intelligence Index - Stanford University
Welcome to the seventh edition of the AI Index report. The 2024 Index is our most comprehensive to date and arrives at an important moment when AI’s influence on society has never been more pronounced. This year, we have broadened our scope to more extensively cover essential trends such as technical advancements in AI, public perceptions of the technology, and the geopolitical dynamics surrounding its development. Featuring more original data than ever before, this edition introduces new estimates on AI training costs, detailed analyses of the responsible AI landscape, and an entirely new chapter dedicated to AI’s impact on science and medicine. The AI Index report tracks, collates, distills, and visualizes data related to artificial intelligence (AI). Our mission is to provide unbiased, rigorously vetted, broadly sourced data in order for policymakers, researchers, executives, journalists, and the general public to develop a more thorough and nuanced understanding of the complex field of AI.
GPT-5 could be your new teacher - Eray Eliaçık, Data Economy
The future of ChatGPT is looking bright, and the next big step, GPT-5, is highly expected. OpenAI’s Chief Technology Officer, Mira Murati, recently unveiled some exciting insights about the much-anticipated GPT-5 during an interview with Dartmouth Engineering. Murati compared the progression from GPT-4 to GPT-5 to the educational journey from high school to university. “If you look at the trajectory of improvement, systems like GPT-3 were maybe toddler-level intelligence,” Murati explained. “And then systems like GPT-4 are more like smart high-schooler intelligence. And then, in the next couple of years, we’re looking at Ph.D. intelligence for specific tasks. Things are changing and improving pretty rapidly.”
Thursday, June 27, 2024
30 behavioral interview questions to assess soft skills - LinkedIn Talent Solutions
Asking behavioral interview questions is a good way to spot candidates who will thrive. We surveyed nearly 1,300 hiring managers about which soft skills they look for and the behavioral-based interview questions they ask. While every role and candidate is a little different, interviewers called out the following soft skills as the best indicators of which candidates will excel.
The Annual Report on the Economic Status of the Profession, 2023-24 - AAUP
This year's Annual Report on the Economic Status of the Profession presents findings from the AAUP’s annual Faculty Compensation Survey. The report also describes key institutional finance trends in US higher education and documents the ongoing shift in the makeup of the academic workforce from mostly full-time tenured or tenure-track faculty members to mostly faculty members holding contingent appointments that are ineligible for tenure. From fall 2022 to fall 2023, nominal average salaries for full-time faculty members increased 3.8 percent for all academic ranks combined. However, real average salaries for full-time faculty members are nowhere near prepandemic levels. The Annual Report presents a wide range of data on full-time faculty compensation, including salaries and expenditures for fringe benefits. Economic conditions remain dire for part-time faculty members, who make up just under half (48.7 percent) of the academic workforce. In 2022–23, part-time faculty members earned an average of $3,903 per three-credit course section. The Annual Report presents data on part-time faculty members who were paid on a per-course-section basis, including pay and fringe benefit coverage.
Exploring use of ChatGPT among university students - Sivanisvarry Morhan, the Sun
Called ChatGPT Edu, it was launched on May 30 by American AI research organisation OpenAI, which said it provides cost-effective, high-security features tailored for educational institutions. The AI-driven tool is currently used at universities such as Oxford, Wharton, Texas, Arizona State and Columbia, and is said to “responsibly apply AI across students, faculty, researchers and campus operations”.
Wednesday, June 26, 2024
PROOF POINTS: Teens are looking to AI for information and answers, two surveys show - Jill Barshay, Hechinger Report
Two new surveys, both released this month, show how high school and college-age students are embracing artificial intelligence. There are some inconsistencies and many unanswered questions, but what stands out is how much teens are turning to AI for information and to ask questions, not just to do their homework for them. And they’re using it for personal reasons as well as for school. Another big takeaway is that there are different patterns by race and ethnicity with Black, Hispanic and Asian American students often adopting AI faster than white students.
Cut bloated textbook spending, not teachers' jobs - David J. Bobb, the Fulcrum
Abandoning our dependence on traditional textbooks may seem anathema to some, but this transition is already happening in higher education. International research firm WordsRated found spending on higher education textbooks hasdeclined for most of the past decade. More colleges are transitioning toward open educational resources (OER), open-license materials offered for free or at a low cost. The California Community College system launched a major OER initiative with the goal of creating"zero textbook cost" programs after many students spentmore on textbooks than on college courses themselves.
Alverno College to cut 14 majors after declaring financial exigency - Ben Unglesbee, Higher Ed Dive
Alverno College’s governing board declared financial exigency and unveiled a plan to cut 14 undergraduate majors and two graduate programs from its academic portfolio, according to an announcement Friday. With the program cuts, the Milwaukee-based Catholic women’s college said it would eliminate 25 full-time faculty positions and 12 full-time staff positions. It also plans to combine and restructure departments to boost efficiency, as well as nix its track and field program.
Tuesday, June 25, 2024
UK Turning to Micro-Credentials to Gain Digital Skills for Jobs - NIKOLAZ FOUCAUD, HR Director
The UK has seen a 961% increase in AI upskilling but lags behind other nations, including the US and Brazil. Despite government-backed efforts to cement the UK’s place as a science and technology superpower by 2030, with multi-million-pound investment in AI, new research*. The data reveals rapid growth in GenAI course enrolments – a 1,060% year-on-year increase – as the world races toward AI literacy. While the UK has seen a 961% increase in AI upskilling in the past 12 months, it has seen a lower uptake than the global average, and lags behind the US (1,058%). Nations across the world appear to be prioritising AI upskilling more than the UK. In Brazil, which ranks among the global top 20, and which attains cutting-edge proficiency in tech and data science, there has been a 1,079% year-on-year increase in GenAI course enrollments.
3 ways to help your staff use generative AI confidently and productively - Mark Samuels, ZDnet
Rakuten's commitment to artificial intelligence (AI) starts at the top. CEO Hiroshi Mikitani is determined to give the affiliate marketing giant a leading edge in emerging tech and has created a partnership with OpenAI to develop tailored AI solutions. Debra Bonomi, head of learning and development (L&D) at Rakuten, told ZDNET how this relationship pays dividends. Rakuten has worked with OpenAI to develop a private implementation of ChatGPT for staff across the business, much to the delight of the company's CEO.
FAU Nursing Offers New Fully Online and On--Demand Nursing Certivicate - GISELE GALOUSTIAN, FAU
Florida Atlantic University’s Christine E. Lynn College of Nursing is offering a 25-hour, fully online and on-demand “Teaching/Learning Grounded in Caring Science Certificate” course to provide the essential knowledge for engagement in the innovative process for studying nursing grounded in caring. The Teaching/Learning Grounded in Caring Science course is a virtual-learning certificate program for nursing faculty, graduate nursing students, and working nursing professionals interested in a teaching career. The focus of the program is to acquire knowledge and competencies for engagement in caring science-based teaching.
Monday, June 24, 2024
New graduate certificate to prepare students for global leadership challenges - Chris Hybels, Western Michigan University
Western Michigan University is launching a new graduate certificate that is designed for individuals interested in developing inclusive global leadership practices to support their work in a variety of educational and organizational learning contexts. The College of Education and Human Development's new graduate certificate in global leadership and learning (GLL) will be offered in both a hybrid and online format beginning fall semester 2024.
Purdue and Accenture develop online smart manufacturing program for employee upskilling - Purdue University
Purdue University is collaborating with industry leader Accenture on an online smart manufacturing education program for organizations looking to enhance employee skill sets. The Smart Manufacturing Academy curriculum is self-paced and structured asynchronously, meaning employees can engage with course materials at different times and from different locations. It is designed to teach foundational knowledge in digital transformation to machine and line operators, technicians, plant managers, engineers, and employees in other manufacturing roles. The program, which Purdue and Accenture are making available to businesses and industry associations, includes courses covering such topics as an introduction to smart manufacturing, the industrial Internet of Things, the connected worker, advanced automation and robotics, security, network infrastructure, and business skills.
Bringing together students from the UW and Taiwan through Collaborative Online International Learning - University of Washington
Professor Weng’s course, “Environmental Issues in East Asia”, was a five-week collaboration with Professor Chen-Chen Cheng’s course in Special Education from National Kaohsiung Normal University. The partnership was the result of a 2023-2024 UW Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) Fellowship. COIL Fellowship projects link university classes in different countries, provide students with critical digital literacy and virtual collaboration skills through shared assignments and projects and allow faculty members from each country to co-teach and manage coursework.
Sunday, June 23, 2024
Can we build a safe AI for humanity? | AI Safety + OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, Elon Musk - Julia McCoy, YouTube
Here's a trillion dollar question: can tech leaders and innovators build safe, harmless and beneficial systems for AGI and super intelligence in time before it gets here? Can we actually succeed at bringing to life an AGI that won't hurt humanity, but will be a catalyst to humanity's greatest age of abundance? In this video, I take a look at what OpenAI, Anthropic, Google are doing to build an AI; what AI safety teams are seeing in the current landscape as a threat; and what Elon Musk's goal is with xAI.
The impact of AI on education: What ChatGPT's outage taught us - Joseph John Nalloor, Khaleej Times
To add to the chaos or for the better, OpenAI recently unveiled ChatGPTEdu, a ChatGPT for universities version built for university students, faculties and researchers to use. In their blog post ‘Bringing AI into the new school year’, OpenAI offered universities the ability to build customised versions of ChatGPT to share within university workspaces. It will use GPT-4o, the latest flagship model with text interpretation, coding and mathematics and other key features, such as data analytics, web browsing, document summarisation and an added bonus of working in over 50 languages. Universities would have higher message limits with the caveat that conversations and data are not used to train OpenAI models.
Chat with butterflies? - Martin Crowley, AI Tool Report
Ex-Snapchat engineer–Vu Tran–has launched a new social media network called Butterflies, which allows users to create an AI character (complete with emotions, backstories, and opinions) that can generate posts and interact with other accounts on the platform, via DMs and comments, on its own. The social app, which has an Instagram-like interface, has been in private beta testing for five months, and is now available on Apple and Google Play stores, for free. Thousands of testers have given Tran positive feedback, after spending, on average, between 1-3 hours on the app per day, with one user spending over five hours creating over 300 AI characters.
Saturday, June 22, 2024
The Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Online Learning and Distance Education Processes: A Systematic Review of Empirical Studies - Murat Ertan Dogan, Tulay Goru Dogan 2, andAras Bozkurt, Applied Science
Following a systematic review protocol and using data mining and analytics approaches, the study examines a total of 276 publications. Computer science and engineering are the research areas that make the most of the contribution, followed by social sciences. t-SNE analysis reveals three dominant clusters showing thematic tendencies, which are as follows: (1) how AI technologies are used in online teaching and learning processes, (2) how algorithms are used for the recognition, identification, and prediction of students’ behaviors, and (3) adaptive and personalized learning empowered through artificial intelligence technologies. Additionally, the text mining and social network analysis identified three broad research themes, which are (1) educational data mining, learning analytics, and artificial intelligence for adaptive and personalized learning; (2) algorithmic online educational spaces, ethics, and human agency; and (3) online learning through detection, identification, recognition, and prediction.
Jobs of the Future: Ontario funds new micro-credentials - Sudbury
The Ontario government is spending $5 million through the Micro-credentials Challenge Fund to bring post-secondary institutions and industry together to build or expand rapid training programs for priority job sectors like health care and advanced manufacturing. This is the second round of Ontario Micro-credentials Challenge Fund. “The Micro-credentials Challenge Fund brings industry and institutions together to create programs that strengthen Ontario’s workforce and economy,” said Colleges and Universities Minister Jill Dunlop in a news release. “Micro-credentials reflect current and local labour market needs and immediately prepare students for industry-relevant opportunities in their region.”
Distance education challenges: insight from a nationwide teacher-centric study post- COVID-19 for informed advancements - Yousef Alshaboul1* et al, Frontiers in Education
This national teacher-centric study uses a mixed-method methodology with a random sample of teachers from public and private schools in the State of Qatar to look extensively into the problems faced during the pandemic. The study points out a number of issues, such as teachers’ deficiency in pedagogical competencies, sophisticated technological proficiency in the classroom, curriculum density, inadequate teaching strategies, challenges with determining students’ needs and obtaining an honest and realistic assessment that accurately represents the students’ level of learning, and the lack of extracurricular activities. According to the findings, the challenges were influenced by a number of factors, including year of experience, gender, age, specialization, education level, and extracurricular activities.
Friday, June 21, 2024
While women outnumber men on campus, their later earnings remain stuck - Jon Marcus, NPR
The number of college-educated women in the workforce has now overtaken the number of college-educated men, according to the Pew Research Center. While this would seem to have significant implications for society and the economy — since college graduates make more money over their lifetimes than people who haven't finished college — other obstacles have stubbornly prevented women from closing leadership and earnings gaps. Women still earn 82 cents, on average, for every dollar earned by men, Pew reports — a figure that is nearly unchanged since 2002.
St. Cloud State University announces cuts to balance budget problems - KSTP
St. Cloud State University released an updated plan to balance its budget problems, which will include cutting faculty positions and several programs. Last year, the school had an $18 million operating loss. It is projected to lose another $5 million this year, according to school leaders. To make up some of the losses, the school plans to cut 11 administrator positions. In addition, all admin salaries will be cut by 10%. The university will also cut 42 degree programs, 50 minor programs and 54 full-time faculty positions.
Exclusive: Former Meta engineers launch Jace, an AI agent that works independently - Shubham Sharma, Venture Beat
Zeta Labs, a London-based startup founded by former Meta engineers Fryderyk Wiatrowski and Peter Albert, announced the launch of Jace, an LLM-powered AI agent that can execute in-browser actions on command. The company also announced it has raised $2.9 million in a pre-seed round of funding, led by Y Combinator’s former head of AI Daniel Gross and former GitHub CEO Nat Friedman. While AI agents have been in the news lately (Cognition’s Devin being the most popular one), Zeta claims its offering doesn’t need any guidance and can save users entirely from sitting in front of their computers. They just have to tell the agent what needs to be done and it will get to work.
Thursday, June 20, 2024
Higher Education Has Not Been Forgotten by Generative AI - Ray Schroeder, Inside Higher Ed
The generative AI (GenAI) revolution has not ignored higher education; a whole host of tools are available now and more revolutionary tools are on the way. Just as with the Internet, the personal computer and common office software that preceded the release of GenAI chatbots decades ago, graduates needed to be well versed in the operation and application of new technologies to be hired and function successfully in the workplace. Once again, we need to adapt to society-wide technological changes. Now, as GenAI develops and matures in business, industry, commerce and society as a whole, it is becoming an integral part of the design, implementation and delivery of higher education as a whole. Let’s look at some of the applications that are developing that will advance higher education.
Divided Over Digital Learning - Johanna Alonso, Inside Higher Ed
A new report finds that students are much less likely than their professors to favor in-person instruction, but far more inclined to use (and pay for) generative AI. While more than half of professors selected in-person learning as their favorite modality for teaching, only 29 percent of students prefer learning face-to-face, the 2024 “Time for Class” report found. A similar share of students, 28 percent, said they favor hybrid learning, a mixture of face-to-face and online learning—which marks an increase of six percentage points since 2023. Meanwhile, the percentage of students who prefer asynchronous online learning has decreased. The share of students who say they use generative AI at least once per month rose from 43 percent in spring 2023 to 59 percent this spring. And while more and more instructors and administrators are also using the technology, this year’s rates still lag behind, at 36 percent and 40 percent, respectively.
Lack of Awareness, Targeted Services Limit Online Students’ Mental Health Care - Ashley Mowreader, Inside Higher Ed
As online education grows as an option for college students, institutions are considering how best to accommodate students’ mental health and wellness needs. Recent research from Uwill and the Online Learning Consortium (OLC) found 82 percent of faculty, staff and administrators who work with online students have seen an increase in demand for mental health support over the past academic year. The survey, published May 30, found 54 percent of faculty and staff believe there’s a lack of services tailored to online student needs, highlighting a need for additional resources that accommodate distance learners.
Wednesday, June 19, 2024
UN Declares 2025 International Year of Quantum Science, Technology - Berenice Baker, Quantum
A General Assembly meeting of the United Nations (U.N.) has announced that 2025 will be the International Year of Quantum Science and Technology. The year-long global initiative aims to strengthen national basic sciences and science education capacities and celebrate the impacts of quantum science on technology, culture and understanding of the natural world. 2025 marks 100 years since Erwin Schrödinger developed wave mechanics and Werner Heisenberg, Max Born and Pascual Jordan developed matrix mechanics, the first way of expressing quantum physics using a mathematical formula.
LinkedIn’s AI Career Coaches Will See You Now - Amanda Hoover, Wired
On Thursday, the career site announced new features like a pilot for AI-powered expert advice, an interactive chat to break down information in LinkedIn courses, and more AI features that can be used to search for and apply for jobs for its premium users in English. The changes showcase a massive push by LinkedIn to capitalize on generative AI. (LinkedIn is owned by Microsoft, which has invested heavily in OpenAI, which in turn is powering the platform’s AI offerings.) And as LinkedIn continues its drive to become more than just a job site, people may spend their time there socializing or learning new skills through video courses.
Hackers target university’s e-learning system in Hong Kong, putting data of 20,000 at risk - Ng Kang-chung, South China Morning Post
The personal data of more than 20,000 students, staff and past graduates of the Chinese University of Hong Kong’s School of Continuing and Professional Studies could be at risk after an e-learning system was hacked earlier this month. In a statement on Thursday, the school said it found out on June 3 that its “moodle learning management system” had been hacked. “The data concerned involves name, email address and student registration number … of 20,870 [users of the system] who are staff, part-time instructors, students, graduates and some guest users,” it said.
Tuesday, June 18, 2024
Opinion: AI Must Augment, Not Replace, Human Coaches in Higher Ed - Ruth Bauer White, GovTech
Amid all this promise, there is great risk, too. Higher education should be careful not to confuse augmentation for substitution. Despite their impressive capabilities and potential, AI tools are no replacement for personalized advising, individualized coaching, and other forms of one-on-one student support. Human connection is at the core of what makes such support so profoundly effective — and that’s something AI is currently fundamentally incapable of replicating. At a time when students have rarely felt more lonely or isolated, inadvertently weakening those relationships can have significant consequences. Any approach to integrating AI into student support must be designed to keep these crucial human connections intact.
Penn State to pare down commonwealth leadership after buyout offers - Laura Spitalniak, Higher Ed Dive
Pennsylvania State University’s commonwealth campuses will reduce their workforce by 10% this summer after 383 employees accepted the institution’s voluntary buyout offer last month. The combined salaries and expenses of the departing workers is $43 million, which could ease Penn State’s $49 million budget deficit. But officials Tuesday said some positions will need to be backfilled and that they will determine the actual cost savings later this year. The same day, Penn State also announced a campus restructuring plan that will bring 11 universities under the leadership of four chancellors.
OpenAI's new financial milestone - Martin Crowley, AI Tool Report
During an internal all-hands meeting on Wednesday, OpenAI CEO, Sam Altman, announced that the company is set to hit $3.4B in annual revenue this year, which is double what it made last year. OpenAI’s revenue has grown rapidly since it launched ChatGPT—making $1.3B in 2023—thanks to its strategic initiatives, including enterprise partnerships and advancing its AI models. OpenAI clearly plans to maintain this rapid growth trajectory, as it recently hired a new CFO (ex-Nextdoor CEO, Sarah Friar) who will manage OpenAI’s finances and support global growth.This comes after Apple confirmed its partnership with OpenAI during its developer conference this week, which will see ChatGPT integrated into its devices and voice assistant, Siri, but this partnership might not contribute to OpenAI’s annualized revenue.
Monday, June 17, 2024
Grad programs have been a cash cow; now universities are starting to fret over graduate enrollment - Jon Marcus, Hechinger Report
“What we’re seeing now is a combination of a leveling off and a big question mark as to where this long-term trend will go,” said Brian McKenzie, director of research at the Council of Graduate Schools. Unlike undergraduate enrollment, which has been on a steady decline, graduate enrollment has gone up over the last decade. Undergraduate numbers fell by 15 percent between 2010 and 2021, according to the National Center for Education Statistics, while graduate enrollment grew by 9 percent. That was fueled in part by a change in 2007 that let graduate students borrow up to the full cost of their educations, unlike undergraduates, who can borrow only a limited amount.
6 Universities of Wisconsin campuses expect structural deficits in FY25 - Natalie Schwartz, Higher Ed Dive
Nearly half of Universities of Wisconsin campuses are projected to have structural deficits in the 2025 fiscal year, according to budget documents presented to the system’s board last week. Six out of 13 of the system’s campuses are expected to have ongoing expenses that exceed their recurring revenue. However, this marks an improvement from the previous fiscal year’s budget, which reported structural deficits at 10 campuses. Universities of Wisconsin System President Jay Rothman noted during a board meeting Thursday that some of the institutions projecting deficits still need to “effect some substantial budget reductions.” But he also stressed that state lawmakers must increase their investment into the system.
How calls for AI safety could wind up helping heavyweights like OpenAI - Mark Sullivan, Fast Company
Ultimately, companies such as OpenAI aren’t harmed by any of this hand-wringing over safety worries. In fact, they’re helped by it. This news cycle feeds the hype that AI models are on the cusp of achieving “artificial general intelligence,” which would mean models are generally better than human beings at thinking tasks (still aspirational today). And besides, if governments are moved to put tight regulations on AI development, it’ll only entrench the well-monied tech companies that have already built them.
Sunday, June 16, 2024
Is DEI Going Away? Here’s What Experts Say- Angie Basiouny, Knowledge at Wharton
Experts say DEI is being attacked by critics who don't want to face the real problem — inequality. Cooperation and discussion are essential in solving ongoing issues of inequality. Academics and practitioners can better advance DEI by sharing their expertise and bringing insights back to their workplaces.
Apple Integrates ChatGPT Across Platforms, Unveils Apple Intelligence - Liz Hughes, AI Business
Apple is integrating ChatGPT across its platforms with its new AI software, Apple Intelligence, bringing generative AI to the iPhone, iPad and Mac. The much-anticipated announcement was made during Monday’s keynote at Apple’s Worldwide Developer Conference where Apple CEO Tim Cook said Apple Intelligence will transform what users can do with Apple’s products and what the products can do for their users in this new chapter in Apple innovation.
https://aibusiness.com/nlp/apple-integrates-chatgpt-across-platforms-unveils-apple-intelligence
This Harvard dropout thinks AI recruiters are the future of college admissions - Shalene Gupta, Fast Company
In a demo, Fast Company spoke with an AI recruiter named “Sarah.” Sarah was able to rattle off answers to questions about academic programs and extracurriculars. She responded so promptly, and with so much tonal variety, she sounded almost human. However, when we made a sudden left turn into asking about campus administrators’ stance on Palestine and Israel, Sarah stumbled and went silent. She regained her footing when we redirected, asking about campus policy on student protests. Perkins later said we’d triggered a moderation process since Sarah’s not allowed to discuss politics. “That said, the lag wasn’t great,” he said. “We’ll work on that.”
Saturday, June 15, 2024
What to do when salaried employees fall below the new overtime threshold - Ryan Golden, Higher Ed Dive
There is more to the decision-making process than colleges may realize, especially with future increases and litigation on the horizon, attorneys said. the U.S. Department of Labor. The agency published its final rule updating overtime pay eligibility, which increases the FLSA’s minimum annual salary threshold via a pair of changes set to take effect over the next several months. July 1 marks the first increase from the current minimum of $35,568 per year to $43,888 per year. After that, the threshold will next increase to $58,656 per year on Jan. 1, 2025, roughly 65% higher than the present-day mark — and will automatically increase every three years thereafter using a formula outlined by the DOL. The HR department at our hypothetical administrative professional’s college now has a series of choices to make.
Pittsburgh Technical in ‘imminent’ danger of closing, MSCHE says - Ben Unglesbee, Higher Ed Dive
Pittsburgh Technical College is in “is in danger of imminent closure,” according to its accreditor, the Middle States Commission on Higher Education. In a Thursday show-cause order, MSCHE gave the private nonprofit college until June 28 to prove compliance with its standards or face a loss of accreditation. The notice came just days after the private for-profit Triangle Tech announced it would close all of its six U.S. locations, which are all in Pennsylvania.
GPT-5 to take AI forward in these two important ways - Andrew Tarantola, MSN
We could soon see generative AI systems capable of passing Ph.D. exams thanks to more “durable” memory and more robust reasoning operations, Microsoft CTO Kevin Scott revealed when he took to the stage with Reid Hoffman during a Berggruen Salon in Los Angeles earlier this week. “It’s sort of weird right now that you have these interactions with agents and the memory is entirely episodic,” he lamented. “You have a transaction, you do a thing. It’s useful or not for whatever task you were doing, and then it forgets all about it.” The AI system isn’t learning from or even remembering previous interactions with the user, he continued. “There’s no way for you to refer back to a thing you were trying to get [the AI] to solve in the past.”
Friday, June 14, 2024
The Future Of Online Education: A Look Ahead At 10 Trends And Innovations - JOY LIWANAG, University Herald
Online education has been on a steady rise for years, but the COVID-19 pandemic accelerated its growth and acceptance in ways no one could have predicted. What started as a temporary shift to remote instruction for many colleges and universities has sparked a broader cultural shift towards online learning. As we look to the future, it's clear that online education is here to stay, with colleges and universities poised to offer more choices and opportunities in distance learning than ever before. Here is a glimpse into the forthcoming trends in remote learning, as anticipated by professionals in the field of online education.
Students reflect on effects of global, schoolwide changes over last 4 years - Anna Gu and Anthony Li, Daily Bruin.
While many Bruins faced challenges in the new online learning environment, others found the remote format conducive to productivity and supportive social circles. Aiden Chan, a fourth-year biology student, said he made friends online during the pandemic and maintained those friendships after activities transitioned back in person. “I met my first friend group at UCLA, and we got very close over Discord online for the entire freshman year,” Chan said. “Those are some of my best friends I ever had.” Alongside the academic impacts of remote learning, many students experienced major adaptations to their socialization, especially those involved in interactive activities, such as team sports and student organizations.
The takers, shapers, and makers of gen AI - McKinsey
After the entrance and buzz of generative AI (gen AI) led to surges in adoption and scaling, 2024 is the year organizations truly began using—and deriving business value from—this new technology. Today, the takers, shapers, and makers use gen AI models off the shelf, customize them with proprietary data, or develop them from scratch. But who is leading the pack, and what are they doing differently? Not surprisingly, say McKinsey’s Michael Chui and coauthors, only a small group of high performers report that a meaningful share of their organizations’ EBIT can be attributed to their deployment of the technology. These high performers use gen AI in more business functions, pay more attention to challenges, and follow a set of risk-related best practices.
Thursday, June 13, 2024
Google funds new cybersecurity clinics at 15 colleges - Skylar Rispens, EdScoop
Google, in coordination with the Consortium of Cybersecurity Clinics, granted 15 colleges, universities and community colleges up to $1 million each to create new cybersecurity clinics at campuses across the country. In addition to the financial support, the selected higher education institutions will also receive opportunities for student mentorship from Google. The company’s cybersecurity clinics fund seeks to strengthen members of the Consortium of Cybersecurity clinics and bolster the cyber workforce, according to a Google announcement. “It’s essential that we invest in growing a strong, diverse and widespread cybersecurity workforce to help protect everyone—from critical infrastructure to small businesses and schools,” Heather Adkins, Google’s vice president of security engineering, said in a press release. “The 15 clinics that we’re helping to establish serve a wide variety of students across all corners of the U.S. and we’re excited to see the impact they’ll have in their local communities.”
Working-age adult population with some college but no credential jumps 2.9%, report finds - Natalie Schwartz, Higher Ed Dive
However, over 943,000 stopped-out students reenrolled in 2022-23, according to the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center. Yet those improvements haven’t halted the growth of the stopped-out population. “Higher education regularly generates more students leaving school without a credential than returning to finish one,” Doug Shapiro, the research center’s executive director, said in a statement. The population of U.S. adults under age 65 with some college but no credential reached 36.8 million by July 2022, up 2.9% compared to the year before, according to a new analysis from the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center.
https://www.highereddive.com/news/working-age-population-some-college-no-degree/718150/
Google’s AI startup program - Martin Crowley, AI Tool Report
Google has announced it's launching a new (equity-free) AI-focused program for start-ups called “Google for Startups AI Academy: American Infrastructure” which will bring AI technology to the public sector, improving services at a local, state, and national level. The program will run for 12 weeks. In that time participants will receive training from AI experts and companies involved in public sector challenge areas, like education, public safety, healthcare, transportation, and urban development. They will be guided by Google’s AI curriculum, created by its People + AI Research (PAIR) team, and attend advanced sales and go-to-market workshops. They’ll also get access to all of Google’s latest AI tools, and some key industry connections.
Wednesday, June 12, 2024
First State Passes Law to Ban Tuition Sharing with OPMs - Noah Sudow, Alex Davis; Whiteboard Advisors
On May 24, Minnesota Gov. Tim Waltz (D) signed into law HF 4024, making Minnesota the first state in the nation to codify a ban on tuition sharing between its public state colleges and universities and Online Program Management Companies (OPMs) when a contract involves recruitment and marketing services. The state law will supersede the federal safe harbor for incentive compensation.
2024 EDUCAUSE Action Plan: AI Policies and Guidelines - Jenay Robert Mark McCormack, EDUCAUSE
More than a year after the "AI spring" suddenly upended notions of what could be possible both inside and outside the classroom, most institutions are still racing to catch up and establish policies and guidelines that can help their leaders, staff, faculty, and students effectively and safely use these exciting and powerful new technologies and practices. Thankfully, institutions need not start from scratch in developing their AI policies and guidelines. Through the work of Cecilia Ka Yuk Chan and WCET, institutions have a foundation to build on, a policy framework that spans institutional governance, operations, and pedagogy. Built around these three pillars, this framework helps ensure that institutional AI-related policies and guidelines comprehensively address critical aspects of institutional life and functioning.
Sam Altman Admits That OpenAI Doesn't Actually Understand How Its AI Works - Futurism
During last week's International Telecommunication Union AI for Good Global Summit in Geneva, Switzerland, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman was stumped after being asked how his company's large language models (LLM) really function under the hood. "We certainly have not solved interpretability," he said, as quoted by the Observer, essentially saying the company has yet to figure out how to trace back their AI models' often bizarre and inaccurate output and the decisions it made to come to those answers. Other AI companies are trying to find new ways to "open the black box" by mapping the artificial neurons of their algorithms. For instance, OpenAI competitor Anthropic recently took a detailed look at the inner workings of one of its latest LLMs called Claude Sonnet as a first step.
Tuesday, June 11, 2024
I've tested dozens of AI chatbots since ChatGPT's debut. Here's my new top pick - Sabrina Ortiz, ZDnet
Looking for an AI chatbot that can help lighten your workload, from writing emails to generating code, images, and more? Here are your best options and what they can do for you.For the last year and a half, I have taken a deep dive into AI and have tested as many AI tools as possible -- including dozens of AI chatbots. Using my findings and those of other ZDNET AI experts, I have created a list of the best AI chatbots on the market. The list details everything you need to know before choosing your next AI assistant, including what it's best for, pros, cons, cost, its large language model (LLM), and more. Whether you are entirely new to AI chatbots or a regular user, this list should help you discover a new option you haven't tried before.
To Hire the Perfect Job Candidate, Organizational Psychologist Adam Grant Says These 2 Words Matter Most - Jeff Hayden, Inc.
So how does experience correlate to job performance and turnover? Job performance: 0.06 correlation;
Training performance: 0.11 correlation; Turnover: zero correlation. Yep. In effect, basically no correlation, oddly enough even with "training performance," the degree to which people can effectively be trained to perform tasks that, to some degree, they already know how to do. Experience doesn't even help with that. The most valuable indicator of future potential is not past performance. It's recent progress. The people who exceed expectations tomorrow are the ones who improved the most yesterday. Getting better shows the drive and dexterity to learn. Growth is an accomplishment in itself.
Four Pillars of Decision-driven Analytics - Stefano Puntoni & Bart De Langhe, Knowledge at Wharton
Managers are like astronomers, looking to solve problems and find solutions in a complex world, where data is abundant but often hard to make sense of. The message is clear: Data and algorithms are crucial to making good decisions. But human judgment and intelligence are crucial, too. Many companies are witnessing an expanding gap between data and decisions, even with the goal of being a “data-driven organization.” The increasing complexity of data and algorithms can make it harder for decision-makers to collaborate with data analysts. For a business to thrive, it’s essential for both groups to understand and value each other’s expertise.
Monday, June 10, 2024
Budget Axe Falls At Lynchburg And Brandeis; University Of The Arts To Close - Forbes
In a period where budget woes continue to wrack colleges and universities across the nation, the last two weeks have brought particularly bad news on higher education’s financial front. The University of Lynchburg in Lynchburg, Virginia, and Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts both announced large-scale budget cuts involving academic programs and/or personnel; and the University of the Arts in Philadelphia abruptly announced it was closing in the face of insurmountable financial challenges.
Pew Research: Is college worth it? Yes, with caveats - Nathan M Greenfield, University World News
Almost one third of Americans do not believe that a college education is worth the cost and 47% believe it is worth it only if they don’t have to take out loans, says a new study by the Pew Research Center. These findings are in line with a trend dating back to at least 2017 when only 49% of Americans reported believing that a college education was worth the cost.
Gen AI and the future of work - McKinsey Quarterly
Generative AI is front and center for nearly every industry and is poised to change just about everything. What will it mean for your workers? The development and widespread public use of generative AI (gen AI) accelerated dramatically in the months following ChatGPT’s launch. Gen AI is hardly a passing fad or a niche innovation: it means business and could add as much as $4.4 trillion annually to the global economy. Gen AI has the potential to enhance productivity across industries. While that may affect some workers more than others, it will change ways of working for almost everyone.
Sunday, June 9, 2024
With 1 Sentence, Mark Cuban Just Provided the Perfect Definition of Leadership - Jeff Haden, Inc.
For example, a study published in the Journal of Positive Psychology found that humble people were more than twice as likely to give more of their time to those in need than those who were not. Leaders who help employees in need -- who need additional training, mentoring, help making connections, or even just a second chance -- tend to produce better outcomes because they help average employees become better employees, and good employees to become great employees. Cuban says: Leadership is having a vision: what's my goal. Then, part two is getting to know the people that are working with me, and what their goals are. And then the real definition of leadership is making those two merge.
OpenAI is making ChatGPT cheaper for schools and nonprofits - Emma Roth, the Verge
OpenAI is making ChatGPT more accessible to schools and nonprofit organizations. In a pair of blog posts, the company shared that it’s launching a version of ChatGPT for universities, along with a program that lets nonprofits access ChatGPT at a discounted rate. OpenAI says ChatGPT Edu will allow universities to “responsibly deploy AI to students, faculty, researchers, and campus operations.” It’s built on its faster GPT-4o model, which offers improved multimodal capabilities across text, vision, and audio. For example, OpenAI says universities can use the tool to review student resumes, write grant applications, and assist professors with grading. ChatGPT for Edu offers “enterprise-level” security and doesn’t use data to train OpenAI’s models. It’s offered at an “affordable” rate for universities.
AI products like ChatGPT much hyped but not much used, study says - Tom Singleton, BBC
Very few people are regularly using "much hyped" artificial intelligence (AI) products like ChatGPT, a survey suggests. Researchers surveyed 12,000 people in six countries, including the UK, with only 2% of British respondents saying they use such tools on a daily basis. But the study, from the Reuters Institute and Oxford University, says young people are bucking the trend, with 18 to 24-year-olds the most eager adopters of the tech. The findings were based on responses to an online questionnaire fielded in six countries: Argentina, Denmark, France, Japan, the UK, and the USA. The majority expect generative AI to have a large impact on society in the next five years, particularly for news, media and science. Most said they think generative AI will make their own lives better. When asked whether generative AI will make society as a whole better or worse, people were generally more pessimistic.
Saturday, June 8, 2024
An Early Look at ChatGPT-5: Advances, Competitors, and What to Expect - Marc Emmer, Inc.
Details surrounding ChatGPT-5 remain shrouded in secrecy, yet some clues offer a glimpse into its potential. CEO Sam Altman has hinted at a smarter, more versatile model capable of handling a more comprehensive array of tasks. Industry speculation is that GPT-5 may be multimodal, potentially processing text, images, video, and even music. One intriguing possibility is a shift from a chatbot model to an agent, enabling GPT-5 to autonomously execute real-world actions. This could revolutionize how AI interacts with the digital and physical world, potentially automating complex tasks and decision-making processes.
https://www.inc.com/marc-emmer/an-early-look-at-chatgpt-5-advances-competitors-what-to-expect.html
PNC targets young talent, brings hundreds of summer interns to Pittsburgh HQ - Patty Tascarella, Pittsburgh Business Times
An estimated 1,500 interns come to the Pittsburgh region each year and 500 have descended on PNC for a two-day summit at the bank’s corporate headquarters downtown. It’s an annual gathering at the region’s biggest — and nation’s 6th-largest — bank. And it’s also a key component of the talent acquisition strategy at PNC Financial Services Group Inc. The program is one of PNC’s primary early career talent pipelines and it has become increasingly important as the bank expands into new markets.
ChatGPT Is Coming For Higher Education, Says OpenAI - Forbes
OpenAI has announced ChatGPT Edu. This will be a specialized version of its AI platform designed specifically for universities. This move aims to deploy AI across academic, research and operational teams on campuses around the world. Set to launch this summer, ChatGPT Edu includes the latest GPT-4o model with advanced reasoning capabilities across text, audio and vision. It offers robust administrative controls, data security and high usage limits. Kyle Bowen, deputy CIO at ASU, stated, “Integrating OpenAI’s technology into our educational frameworks accelerates transformation. We’re collaborating to harness these tools, extending our learnings as a scalable model for other institutions.”
Friday, June 7, 2024
A Basic Guide to Open Educational Resources (OER) - OER Commons
Overview: Its purpose is to provide readers with a quick and user-friendly introduction to Open Educational Resources (OER) and some of the key issues to think about when exploring how to use OER most effectively. The second section is a more comprehensive analysis of these issues, presented in the form of a traditional research paper. For those who have a deeper interest in OER, this section will assist with making the case for OER more substantively. The third section is a set of appendices, containing more detailed information about specific areas of relevance to OER. These are aimed at people who are looking for substantive information regarding a specific area of interest.
Marymount Manhattan College to merge with Northeastern University - Ben Unglesbee, Higher Ed Dive
Marymount Manhattan College, in New York City, has struck a deal to merge with Northeastern University, in Boston. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. The boards of both institutions approved the merger agreement, which is subject to final approval by state and federal regulators, according to a letter to campus Wednesday from Northeastern President Joseph Aoun. Once the merger is complete, Marymount Manhattan students will transition into comparable Northeastern programs, at no additional cost, Aoun said. The new entity, once fully formed, will be called Northeastern University – New York City.
Employers appear more likely to offer interviews, higher pay to those with AI skills, study says - Carolyn Crist, Higher Ed Dive
Employers are significantly more likely to offer job interviews and higher salaries to job candidates with experience related to artificial intelligence, according to a new study published in the journal Oxford Economics Papers. Specifically, college graduates with “AI capital” or business-related AI studies listed on their resumes and cover letters were far more likely to receive an interview invitation and higher wage offers. “In the UK, AI is causing dramatic shifts in the workforce, and firms need to respond to these demands by upgrading their workforces through enhancing their AI skills levels,” study author Nick Drydakis, a professor of economics at Anglia Ruskin University in Cambridge, said in a statement.
Thursday, June 6, 2024
How and When Might the Great AI Job Replacement Take Place? - Ray Schroeder, Inside Higher Ed
The rollout of large-scale, broadly useful AI agent software is just about to begin. We can expect to see agent models become far more prevalent in the second half of this year and in 2025. However, the sociological aspects of such changes are not to be minimized. Humans, in many cases, may prefer to work with and support other humans. Other market changes will need to take place in order to most efficiently employ AI agents. For example, AI agents are less likely to be persuaded by Web marketing than are humans. In sum, while in some career paths and job classifications AI will be implemented very soon, in most areas, the current infrastructure and entrenched practices will take months and years to change in order to take full economic advantage of GenAI.
ASU faculty create AI-powered ‘buddy’ to help online students learn language - Stephanie King, ASU News
When it comes to language learning, communication is the ultimate goal. But for communication to take place, you need a partner. And that’s not always possible for students in ASU Online language courses; diverse student body learning needs and scheduling demands can make it challenging to hold synchronous instruction and virtual peer meetups. Christiane Reves, an assistant teaching professor of German in Arizona State University’s School of International Letters and Cultures, and colleagues in her department think that “Language Buddy” — a custom GPT they created in ChatGPT Enterprise as part of the university’s AI Innovation Challenge — could be the solution. Powered by generative artificial intelligence (AI), Language Buddy will allow students to participate in conversations at their language level — anytime, anywhere.
Soldiers take online classes while deployed - Renee Berg, Mankato Free Press
While she was deployed with the Minnesota National Guard from 2022-23, Specialist Zoe Rickheim of Mankato completed 39 online credits through Minnesota State University. Tough? Perhaps. But Rickheim managed after overcoming some early misgivings. “I didn’t know whether I would be successful taking courses online, but I let my instructors know I was on deployment and they were very supportive,” she said in a press release distributed by Minnesota State, an umbrella organization which includes MSU. And she isn’t alone. Other members of the Minnesota National Guard are taking advantage of the many ways that Minnesota State colleges and universities are helping service members achieve their goals — even while deployed.
Wednesday, June 5, 2024
University of the Arts announces abrupt closure, citing unexpected cash shortfall and expenses - Ben Unglesbee, Higher Ed Dive
The 148-year-old Philadelphia college will close June 7 after years of enrollment declines.The University of the Arts, in Philadelphia, plans to close June 7 after an unexpected shortfall of cash to run its operations, according to a message on its website. With the abrupt closure, the university is canceling scheduled summer classes. Its transfer partners include Temple University, Drexel University and Moore College of Art and Design. “Under extraordinary circumstances, we diligently assessed the urgent crisis presented and pathways to keep the institution open,” the university’s board said in a statement Sunday. “Despite our best efforts, we could not ultimately identify a viable path for the institution to remain open and in the service of its mission.
The Importance of Understanding Non-Degree Credential Quality - the Burning Glass Institute
The number of non-degree credentials (NDCs) has ballooned in the past decade. But despite having hundreds of options to choose from, learners, funders, and employers have little guidance on which NDCs may be best for them. This report offers an overview of NDCs, their significance in the modern labor market, and the pressing need for a framework to evaluate non-degree credential quality.
Sal Khan on 'How AI Will Revolutionize Education (and Why That’s a Good Thing)' - KQED
Sal Khan, the founder and CEO of Khan Academy, says generative AI can be a force for good in education. Khan Academy now has an educational AI chatbot, Khanmigo, which can guide students while still promoting critical thinking. Khan says developments like these could allow for every student to have a personal AI tutor and every teacher an AI teaching assistant. And Khan thinks incorporating AI in the classroom can allow for exciting new learning opportunities — with the right programming and guardrails. His new book is “Brave New Words.”
Tuesday, June 4, 2024
A ‘Great Misalignment’ Between Credentials and Jobs - Sara Weissman, Inside Higher Ed
A new report from the Georgetown Center on Education and the Workforce found a “great misalignment” between projected job demand in many local labor markets and the mix of credentials available to workers seeking jobs requiring more than a high school diploma but less than a bachelor’s degree. The report, released on Wednesday, focuses on “middle-skills credentials,” which include sub-baccalaureate certificates and associate degrees, in 565 local labor markets across the country. The report found that in 283 of the 565 local labor markets studied, at least half of middle-skills credentials would have to be offered in different fields than currently offered to satisfy projected job demand. https://www.insidehighered.com/news/tech-innovation/alternative-credentials/2024/05/29/report-finds-misalignment-between
GPT-5? OpenAI Starts Training 'Next Frontier Model' - Michael Kan, PC Mag
OpenAI is training a new cutting-edge AI model that promises to replace its current flagship product, GPT-4o. "OpenAI has recently begun training its next frontier model and we anticipate the resulting systems to bring us to the next level of capabilities on our path to AGI," or artificial general intelligence, the company says. OpenAI executives have been teasing the next generation ChatGPT as a major advancement, but for now, the company is declining to reveal more, including what the AI model will be called and whether it's the long-awaited GPT-5.
Better Decisions with Data: Asking the Right Question - Stefano Puntoni and Bart De Langhe, Knowledge at Wharton
Many leaders excessively rely on existing data that may or may not address the issue at hand, or they pass key decisions to data scientists who don’t really understand the business dilemma they are trying to solve. Decision-makers are also prone to leading with a preference, arriving at a solution, and then finding the data to back it up. Alternatively, decision-driven analytics puts decision-makers at the center, resolving the common mismatch between analytics and actual business decisions. It starts from the decision that needs to be made and works backward toward the data that is needed. But it also requires more from leaders, who must shift the focus from getting answers to asking the right questions.
Monday, June 3, 2024
Why AI Could Be Good for the Liberal Arts - JEFFERY TYLER SYCK, Ordinary Times
The advent of artificial intelligence has inaugurated a wave of economic and social transformations whose full implications we may not know for decades. In the realm of higher education, we are currently scrambling to cope with the rapid changes in our classrooms and curriculum development. Many in academia see A.I. as the death of the liberal arts – after all, what is the purpose of an English degree in a world where the computer can write your papers? However, this question misses the whole point of liberal arts disciplines. The liberal arts do not teach students skills but instead how to think and individuals who can think for themselves will soon be more important than ever.
AI concerns for college students in NC seeking jobs - News & Observer
“I think for the industry, [AI] is actually good. But for a graduating senior — or even a junior, a sophomore computer science student now, or even graduating high school students who might want to study computer science — that’s a pretty big worry,” Kim said. “I don’t know what’s gonna happen. I don’t think anyone does. But we’ll have to adapt somehow, like always.” The fear of AI replacing jobs isn’t just affecting computer science students. As a UNC sophomore, Sarayu Thondapu has already had multiple conversations about AI’s impact on her future. Thondapu is currently studying economics and political science on the pre-law track. During her winter break at home in Charlotte, her uncle told her to be wary of AI’s potential impact on legal professions. For example, the AI program LegalGPT can perform similar tasks to legal assistants or paralegals.
How to assess and enhance students’ AI literacy - Rohini Rao, Times Higher Ed
The infiltration of AI into various aspects of modern daily life raises questions about whether we are prepared to understand, use and interact with it. This is where AI literacy, a combination of theoretical knowledge and practical and critical thinking skills related to artificial intelligence, comes in. This article explores the capabilities and knowledge we must empower our students to develop. Using ChatGPT as an example, students must know how large language models work and how the tool was trained for tasks like question answering. They need to know how to write prompts to get relevant answers to their questions. They must understand that the chatbot is trained on data from diverse internet sources such as books, articles and encyclopedias and incorporates human feedback. They must be able to evaluate the responses it gives to decide whether to accept them.
Sunday, June 2, 2024
Why Are Your Workers Leaving in Droves? It Comes Down to 1 Simple Reason - Marcel Schwantes, Inc.
Want to solve your employee turnover problems? First, fix the selection criteria for those getting promoted to higher ranks. According to Gallup's research, the two most common reasons U.S. workers are promoted to managerial positions are their tenure with the company and their success in a non-managerial role. However, neither of these factors necessarily indicates that a person has the right talent to thrive as a manager. In fact, according to Gallup estimates, organizations make the wrong decision in this regard a staggering 82 percent of the time. Gallup asserts that employees with good management potential may be hiding inside their own company's walls. But first, decision-makers have to stop promoting people into managerial positions because they think they seemingly deserve it rather than have the talent for it.
Effectiveness of the Flipped Classroom Teaching and Learning Method Among Underachievers in Physiology: Experience From a Tertiary Care Teaching Hospital - Reshma Shireesha, et al; Cureus
Traditional classroom teaching involves a process where knowledge is disseminated to students by the teachers through a one-way process. Such a learning environment makes students passive and muted, which can be improved by alternative teaching and learning (TL) methods like the flipped classroom (FC) technique. The FC approach involves a student-inclusive TL process. FC is a student-centered approach that benefits teachers and students by emphasizing the key information during the learning process. The present study aimed to understand the efficacy of the FC TL method and evaluate students' perception of FC among underachieving first-year medical students in learning physiology.
‘Transformative’: More college programs are slowly coming into prisons - AMANDA HERNANDEZ, the Montanan
When the U.S. Department of Education announced last summer that federal Pell Grants would become available to incarcerated college students, lawmakers and state corrections agencies scrambled to adjust statutes and step up potential partnerships with universities. But nearly a year later, colleges and agencies are recognizing the steep administrative challenge to winning approval from the U.S. Department of Education. So far, just one new program eligible for the federal financial aid grant — in California — has gotten off the ground. “We’re going to see an impact — it’s coming. It’s been a bit slow to arrive because of this quality focus within the regulations,” said Ruth Delaney, who leads a program at the Vera Institute of Justice to help scale up college programs in correctional institutions.
Saturday, June 1, 2024
The Crucial Difference Between AI And AGI - Forbes
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a transformative force that is reshaping industries from healthcare to finance today. Yet, the distinction between AI and Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) is not always clearly understood and is causing confusion as well as fear. AI is designed to excel at specific tasks, while AGI is a theoretical concept that would be capable of performing any intellectual task that a human can perform across a wide range of activities. While AI already improves our daily lives and workflows through automation and optimization, the emergence of AGI would be a transformative leap, radically expanding the capabilities of machines and redefining what it means to be human.
Unlocking access through open educational resources - Andrew DeCapua, CT Mirror
As education costs soar, students face barriers when accessing essential learning resources. Open educational resources break down these barriers, granting all students access to vital materials regardless of financial standing. Connecticut colleges should integrate more open educational resources to ease the financial burden, provide free or low-cost learning materials and reduce overall education expenses.
States are leading the effort to remove degree requirements from government jobs - Papia Debroy, et al; Brookings
Over the past two years, more than 20 states have expanded access to state jobs through a simple move: assessing or removing bachelor’s degree requirements. With state, local, and federal governments employing 15% of the U.S. workforce, these actions are of enormous consequence, especially for “STARs,” or workers who are skilled through alternative routes. STARs—who have gained their skills through community college, the military, partial college, certification programs, and, most commonly, on-the-job training—represent over half of the nation’s workforce, and currently occupy approximately 2 million state jobs. Government leaders see removing bachelor’s degree requirements as critical to meeting their hiring needs and public service delivery obligations. And at a time when states are struggling to fill a high number of open roles, removing these requirements can attract a larger pool of talent.
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