Resource News – June 2023

Teaching Professor Annual Conference – Faculty Focus – June 9-11 (New Orleans)

Expand your love of teaching at the Teaching Professor Annual Conference in New Orleans, June 9-11, 2023. Give yourself something to look forward to at the end of your school year: a conference to network, learn, and refocus on why you got into teaching in the first place! This is the conference to delve into pedagogy, share experiences with peers, and reengage your mind and teaching with new insights, new sights, and new friends.

36th USDLA National Distance Learning Conference – USDLA July 17-20 (Orlando)

Many lessons have been learned over the past few years and there are countless new participants and practitioners in the distance and digital learning space. To help us all to reflect on the power and importance of distance education and to collaborate on the ideas and innovations that will move everyone forward, we have selected the theme: Distance Learning’s Time to Shine.”

InstructureCon 2023 – Instructure – July 26-28 (Denver)

In 2023, InstructureCon is happening in Denver, Colorado, at the beautiful Gaylord Rockies Resort and Convention Center! It’s finally time to get back together again and have the best “eduventure” yet. We’ll have more ways than ever before to collaborate, learn, and have fun, not to mention a very special secret line-up of entertainment.

QM Connect Conference – Quality Matters – November 5-8 (Bloomington, MN)

As an educator, your bold ideas lead the charge in improving experiences and outcomes for learners. From forward-thinking processes to your biggest moon-shot concepts, your expertise can advance QA practices for the entire QM community. You’re invited to take the stage this November to share how you achieve milestones, build momentum and innovate to uplift your colleagues and advance learner success. This is your opportunity to make your voice heard within the QM community!

The State of Higher Education 2023 Report – Gallup-Lumina

College enrollment rates are lower now than they were before the pandemic, and perhaps even more concerning, undergraduate credential completions fell for the first time in a decade in the 2021-2022 academic year.

Gallup and Lumina Foundation have partnered to better understand barriers to enrollment, why currently enrolled students may be considering leaving their programs — and what makes them stay.

Spring 2023: Current Term Enrollment Estimates – National Student Clearinghouse Research Center

After two years of falling college and university enrollments, head counts seem to be settling into a slow descent, according to a new report on spring enrollment data from the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center.

Faculty Outreach Boosts Online College Completion Rates – Fierce Education

Progress in the college completion rate in the U.S. has stalled with data showing that the current completion rate of 62.3 percent is essentially the same as for the previous year. That said, more faculty involvement can have a profound impact on this completion rate.

Statehouses’ Targeting of Diversity and Tenure Is Starting to Scare Away Faculty Job Candidates – The Chronicle of Higher Education

Applications are down, and some prospective professors are rejecting job offers even if they don’t have others in hand, say union representatives in Florida and Texas.

‘Huge Sense of Relief’: How New FAFSA Could Help Homeless Students – Inside Higher Education

On the new form, students will have to answer fewer questions about their status as unaccompanied homeless youth. Advocates are hoping the changes make it easier for students to access financial aid but worry about implementation.

Fed Ready to Adopt New Student Loan Payment Plan – Fierce Education

The federal government aims to adopt a new student loan repayment plan that reimagines how borrowers repay their loan and will likely be the most affordable repayment plan for most borrowers. President Biden’s new income-driven repayment plan would permit borrowers to dissolve remaining debt after 20 years of continual payments.

How to Design Online Classes for Higher Engagement and Retention – EdTech Magazine

Making remote learning feel like the in-classroom experience remains a challenge in higher ed. Here’s how one instructor is making it happen.

Online college for working adults gains momentum – The Chronicle of Higher Education

After a slow start, California’s Calbright College recalibrates on preparing students for today’s labor market.

Grasping for a Foothold on the Enrollment Cliff – Inside Higher Ed

Higher ed experts gathered in D.C. Thursday to take stock of a three-year enrollment plunge. Some charted a path forward, while others saw only dark clouds ahead.

I’m a Student. You Have No Idea How Much We’re Using ChatGPT. – The Chronicle of Higher Education

No professor or software could ever pick up on it.

A Decade Into Experiments With Gamification, Edtech Rethinks How to Motivate Learners – EdSurge

Manuj Dhariwal and Shruti Dhariwal, a pair of Ph.D. candidates at MIT’s Lifelong Kindergarten research group, say it all started with a single piece of feedback: “Just make learning fun.” Scrawled across a form, the advice came from a group of 12 year olds at a mindfulness retreat hosted at a school near MIT. “These kids had spent all their free time at the retreat talking about online shooting-based video games,” says Manuj Dhariwal, laughing.

Future Prospects and Considerations for AR and VR in Higher Education Academic Technology – Educause

Imagining how the future might unfold, especially for emerging technologies like AR and VR, can help prepare for what does end up happening.

Why Students & Teachers Should Get Excited about ChatGPT – IvyPanda

This overview article will explain the different aspects of this technology, its significance, and its application. Our experts will also explore the current limitations of ChatGPT and why students, in particular, might be interested in checking out this tool.

Why Calls for a ‘Return to Rigor’ Are Wrong – The Chronicle of Higher Education

What’s the point of pursuing “solutions” that exacerbate student disengagement, the very problem they are supposed to solve?

There Is No Going Back: College Students Want a Live, Remote Option for In-Person Classes – CampusTechnology

Based on a survey of college students over the last three semesters, students understand that remotely attending a lecture via remote synchronous technology is less effective for them than attending in person, but they highly value the flexibility of this option of attending when they need it.

How ChatGPT Could Help or Hurt Students With Disabilities – The Chronicle of Higher Education

Teaching experts urge professors and administrators to consider how artificial-intelligence tools can help students learn and succeed.

May 2023 Newsletter  – Instructure

This month’s newsletter includes a great new Dear Danielle video specific to scheduling appointments in Canvas, updates on the Rich Content Editor in New Quizzes, cool product updates, and much more!

Turnitin: Of 38M Submissions Since April 4, 3.5% Had At Least 80% AI-Written Text – CampusTechnology

In the first six weeks of educators using Turnitin’s new AI writing detection feature, the platform processed 38.5 million submissions, and the results — as well as plenty of feedback from educators and administrators — led Turnitin to tweak the detector and to further explain the meaning and accuracy rates of the detection scores.

Current College Students Say Their Degree Is Worth the Cost – Gallup

Seventy-one percent of currently enrolled bachelor’s degree students nationally strongly agree or agree that the degree they are receiving is worth the cost, and just 8% strongly disagree or disagree.

Higher Ed’s Longtime Chief Lobbyist, Unplugged – Inside Higher Ed

Terry Hartle talks about the state of U.S. politics, higher ed policy making, and colleges’ role in the culture wars as he concludes 30 years of advocacy for colleges.

How Generative AI Will Enable Personalized Learning Experiences – Campus Technology

With today’s advancements in generative AI, the dream of ultra-personalized learning may not be far off from reality. We spoke with Dr. Kim Round, associate dean of the Western Governors University School of Education, about the potential of technologies like ChatGPT for learning, the need for AI literacy skills, why learning experience designers have a leg up on AI prompt engineering, and more.

The Strange Past and Messy Future of ‘Gifted and Talented.’  – EdSurge

Sometime early in elementary school, kids are put on one of two paths: regular or gifted. Where did this idea come from? The answer goes back more than a 100 years, to a once-famous scholar named Lewis Terman. And it turns out his legacy, and the future of gifted programs, are still very much under debate.

Creating Higher Ed Experiences That Transform Lives – Inside Higher Ed

How can colleges ensure that all students emerge with a sense of agency and purpose that improves their well-being decades later?

Guide to Digital Accessibility – Quality Matters

During the webinar, the book’s editors, Drs. Rae Mancilla and Barbara A. Frey discussed the process for assembling the the new book Guide to Digital Accessibility: Policies, Practices and Professional Development, the reasons for its creation and the methods they used to compile and organize its chapters. Additionally, the editors shared some of the major takeaways they uncovered during the editing process. These included guidance on institutional policy, best practices for course design, useful digital accessibility tools, professional development strategies, and the importance of having staff dedicated solely to digital accessibility.

Accessibility Summer Camp – WSU Tech – June 2

The Accessibility Summer Camp is a FREE annual conference based in Wichita, KS, with the goal of connecting professionals and educators with best practices in accessibility with individuals who have the desire to learn.

QM Rubric Update Seventh Edition (RU) 2023 – Quality Matters – June 5

The free Rubric Update session will be available to all QM members from June 5, 2023 to January 5, 2024. Throughout the session, you will learn about all the important changes and updates you’ll find in the QM Higher Education Rubric, Seventh Edition — including a deeper focus on accessibility, new annotations for synchronous online courses, an emphasis on inclusion and belonging, and more.

Diving Deep into Canvas Admin Analytics and Canvas Data 2 – Instructure

You’ve been asking, and we’ve answered! It’s time to dive deep into Canvas New Analytics and Canvas Data 2 offerings to find the right solution for you. Equipped with these tools, you’ll be able to pull deep insights out of Canvas including feature usage, student performance and success, and more. During our time together we’ll tackle the following:

  • Overviews on both Canvas Data 2 and Admin Analytics
  • Example use cases for both features
  • Steps to move, enable and move forward with both features

Create Your Most Engaging Classroom Yet – Education Summit with CourseHero – June 29

Learn how to foster a positive classroom culture that values and celebrates diversity at Education Summit ‘23.