Podcast Series: Innovations in Education

Explore the full series of eCampus News podcasts hosted by Kevin Hogan—created to keep you on the cutting edge of innovations in education.

4 key ways AI is impacting higher ed

What is the potential of artificial intelligence (AI) in higher education? A new report from The Learning House, Artificial Intelligence in Higher Education: Current Uses and Future Applications, outlines some of the ways AI is impacting higher ed and also examines implementation challenges.

The report also highlights important policy guidance and recommendations that are likely to accelerate AI innovation or, if unrealized, stifle its growth and adoption. For example, the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) last updated in 2001, predates many common education technologies including smartphones, tablets, wireless data, MOOCs, and even online education programs in general. The brief also cites necessary changes to policies on data security and accreditation.

“Imagine a world where grading a full course’s papers takes 15 minutes, and teaching assistants, student advisers and enrollment counselors are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Imagine a world where faculty can create immersive, real-world experiences for students without leaving the classroom, map out a class’s misconceptions about material down to discrete learning outcomes and select a series of intervention strategies targeted to each student’s unique learning needs,” the authors write. “Many of these elements have always been possible through extensive human effort, but AI will make this world available at scale, freeing up faculty and staff to deliver a more personal, tailored experience that better meets students’ needs and prepares them for success.”…Read More

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3 takeaways from North Carolina Community College System’s AI projects

Colleges, universities, and community college systems are grappling with how best to plan, implement, and deliver artificial intelligence (AI) solutions to the maximum benefit of students, faculty, administration, and community stakeholders. As I interact with colleagues across the country, they all know it’s no longer a question of “if” but “how and when and to what end.”

While the needs of every institution are obviously going to vary based on size, student profile, public versus private, I would like to offer up some useful observations and takeaways based on our first steps in this AI journey at the North Carolina Community College System (NCCCS).

About us: We’re the third-largest community college system in the United States, with 58 campus locations, more than 750,000 students, and more than 30,000 faculty and staff. The taxpayer investments in the system have been consistent, considerable, and continue to generate economic growth and development across North Carolina.…Read More

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4 ways we can start using AI in higher ed to humanize teaching

Artificial intelligence (AI) has fascinating implications for instruction, and some educators are already using AI in higher ed to humanize teaching.

“We hear that AI will take away faculty—AI is, in fact, going to supplement the work we already do,” said Jennifer Sparrow, senior director of teaching and learning with technology at Penn State. In that role, she focuses on innovation and technology-enhanced teaching and learning.

Last fall, during EDUCAUSE 2018, Sparrow, along with Kyle Bowen, director of innovation for teaching and learning with technology, shared how we can use AI in higher ed to help with teaching from different points of view, including ideation, design, assessment, facilitation, and reflection.…Read More

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7 ways AI will shape the future of work & higher ed

With so many industries seeing the potential for artificial intelligence (AI) applications come to fruition, we will need highly trained workers to fill what is likely to be a rising demand for such skills.

1. LinkedIn research shows that AI skills are among the professional networking platform’s fastest-growing skills. In fact, the number of LinkedIn members adding these skills to their profiles saw a 190 percent increase between 2015 and 2017.

2. The World Economic Forum’s The Future of Jobs 2018 forecasts that AI will have applications in almost every sector. Software and IT services saw incredible growth in the past two years, but education, hardware and networking, finance, and manufacturing saw increases as well.…Read More

The future of AI in digital learning is in our daily work, not the classroom

In academia, instruction usually stops at the (real or virtual) classroom door. When students enter the workforce, they’re typically on their own if they have questions about how to apply what they learned in a real-world situation. Certainly, it’s unreasonable to expect instructors to field emails, texts, and calls from former students during the workday, but a lot of learning happens while actually on the job, where people apply the skills learned in a classroom.

Learning by doing

I and many others believe learning works best when it’s driven by the learner’s questions in an interactive and personalized setting. People learn best through doing. And even within the context of online learning, we think the most value comes from using knowledge to complete a real-world task.

Certainly, many topics can be learned by reading a book or watching a video outside of a class. But when you get confused, you may need an interaction to help you understand where your train of thought diverged or to show you a different way of learning you’ve not seen before.…Read More

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5 top-ranked AI programs in higher ed

Artificial intelligence has morphed from a sci-fi movie hypothetical to a field with real potential and impact in different industries, prompting many research institutions to offer AI concentrations–or even full degrees.

AI studies offers what many experts say is a secure future in career paths from video game design and software engineering to robotics programming and military specializations.

In fact, it is now so widespread that several groups rank AI degree programs and paths of study. In addition to its general university ranking, U.S. News also ranks schools by specific programs, including top AI programs. The ranking methodology notes that the field is evolving and will require broad training, and courses will span engineering, computer science, and other related areas.…Read More

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Is AI a game-changer for higher ed?

According to a Northeastern University/Gallup poll, most Americans are optimistic about artificial intelligence’s (AI) impact on their futures while, at the same time, expecting the net effect of AI to be an overall reduction in jobs. If we manage AI effectively, I believe it can be a net benefit to both society and the economy.

The question is: How will higher education manage AI?

Unfortunately, higher education does not have a reputation for managing change effectively. Our experience is much more one of coming late to the party—and not of our own accord. We cannot and should not do this with AI.…Read More

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4 key ways AI can take higher ed to the next level

Conversations around artificial intelligence’s potential in higher education are growing, and a new report outlines some of the ways in which AI could revolutionize higher education.

Artificial Intelligence in Higher Education: Current Uses and Future Applications, from The Learning House, casts a critical eye on the immediate and future applications of AI in higher ed, and it also examines implementation challenges.

The report also highlights important policy guidance and recommendations that are likely to accelerate AI innovation or, if unrealized, stifle its growth and adoption. For example, the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) last updated in 2001, predates many common education technologies including smartphones, tablets, wireless data, MOOCs, and even online education programs in general. The brief also cites necessary changes to policies on data security and accreditation.…Read More

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How AI will reshape our universities

In light of the fact that only 59 percent of students who begin pursuing a four-year degree at a higher-ed institution graduate within six years, many in the industry are seeking innovative ways to improve student outcomes.

Recent advancements in artificial intelligence (AI) have led to its adoption across many sectors. The multidisciplinary field presents a wide variety of opportunities for application, giving it great potential for use in higher education. AI encompasses these sub fields:

  • machine learning, used in everything from search engines to recommendation systems
  • natural-language processing, a prominent use case being the language understanding of Amazon’s Alexa
  • computer vision, which is used for tasks such as facial recognition.

We are only beginning to scratch the surface of the many ways this technology could be used to help universities improve the student experience.…Read More

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Indiana U builds community and empowers students with machine learning

In the past decade, higher education has experienced a major shift toward digital experiences. This change reflects the way in which the rising generation prefers to engage with each other and with their instructors—as well as how they desire to learn. It’s an evolution that is echoed at campuses across the nation.

This means that the way faculty and staff interact with students is fundamentally changing. Students expect to be able to connect with us anytime, from anywhere. This is particularly challenging for us at Indiana University (IU) because we are so geographically dispersed and touch an enormous diversity of individuals and groups, with a fall 2018 enrollment of more than 114,000 across eight campuses and multiple satellite locations. At IU, we have a compelling need to create new pathways to support our students and to give them digital options to engage with faculty, staff, and each other across disciplines and locations.

To address this challenge, we believe it’s important to leverage smart tools that not only tap into the expertise of our staff but also incorporate emerging capabilities such as artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning.…Read More

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