Key points:
- Digital learning is redefining how institutions adapt, share, and support students
- Redefining accessible, AI-powered global higher education
- Redefining accessible, AI-powered global higher education
- For more news on digital transformation, visit eCN’s Digital Innovation hub
Five years after the pandemic drove a move toward online learning and three years into the transformative, widespread use of generative AI tools, the higher education teaching and learning ecosystem continues to adjust and evolve.
Time for Class 2025: Empowering Educators, Engaging Students, from Tyton Partners, asserts that higher education is still in the nascent stages of “renorming”–reshaping how institutions connect with learners by offering a broader range of tools and approaches that support both educators and students.
The rapid growth of digital tools has not only expanded what’s technically possible in teaching and learning but also revealed new patterns in how students and faculty look for support.
The report was produced with support from the Gates Foundation and McGraw Hill Education, along with additional contributions from D2L. It is the latest report in Tyton’s annual series examining how higher education is responding to the rapid rise of generative AI, deepening student engagement challenges, and shifting expectations around flexibility and support.
Time for Class 2025 highlights the urgency for institutions and solution providers to adapt quickly, developing tools, practices, and policies that more effectively meet the needs of today’s students and educators.
The report outlines several persistent needs:
- Instructors continue to face ongoing and new challenges, from improving student attendance–particularly in getting them to show up for class–to addressing concerns about student cheating, an issue that has been a key focus for educators since ChatGPT’s public release in fall 2022.
- Limited data on student demographics makes it more difficult to personalize the learning experience in ways that foster a sense of belonging and boost student attendance.
- Students are looking for more personalized, human-centric, and technology-assisted support as they navigate mental health struggles and work to develop strong study skills. And while generative AI is gaining acceptance, it still falls short in meeting their needs for deep concept learning.
- Administrators aim to implement solutions that address these overlapping needs–providing clear guidance and safeguards for responsible AI use while strategically improving attendance and engagement. Institutions are looking for digital tools that move beyond simple content delivery, offering capabilities like identifying at-risk students and gauging student sentiment.
Along with insights designed to meet those needs:
- Face-to-face is back: Instructor preference for in-person teaching jumped to 64 percent from 55 percent in 2023. At the same time, student interest in face-to-face and hybrid formats is also on the rise, reflecting a growing demand for in-person connection in the classroom.
- Student challenges go beyond academics: Nearly half of instructors identify academic anxiety as a key concern. Meanwhile, students report low motivation and poor study habits as ongoing obstacles to their learning.
- Generative AI presents promise and pressure: Weekly use of generative AI now includes 42 percent of students and 30 percent of instructors. Although AI provides efficiency benefits, many faculty members are challenged by the need to redesign assessments and worries about maintaining academic integrity.
- Data gaps limit timely support: Most instructors continue to depend on observation instead of platform analytics to assess student engagement, which can lead to missed chances for intervention and potential bias.
- Platforms must do more: Faculty members who see platforms as tools for student success rather than merely content hosts report higher satisfaction and better access to data that guides their instruction and support efforts.
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