Resource News – September 9, 2022

Educause 2022 Annual Conference – Educause – October 25-28

With the best presenters, the best content, and the best networking, the premier higher ed IT event brings together professionals and technology providers from around the world to discuss their discoveries, grow professionally, and explore solutions to continuing challenges.

QM Connect Conference Expanding Possibilities – QM – November 6-9

It’s time to look beyond what you know and look instead at what is possible. Join your peers at this fall’s QM Connect Conference to see how they are Expanding Possibilities.

OLC Accelerate – Reflecting Onward: Evidence for a Changed World – OLC – November 1-3 (Virtual), 14-17 (Orlando)

The Online Learning Consortium’s Accelerate 2022 conference, Reflecting Onward: Evidence for a Changed World, emphasizes the most innovative and impactful research and effective practices in the field of online, blended, and digital learning. Supporting administrators, designers, and educators alike, this conference offers attendees a comprehensive list of sessions and activities tailored to addressing the challenges and goals of our entire community.

Accessing Higher Ground 2022 – Association on Higher Education and Disability – November 14-18

Accessing Higher Ground focuses on the implementation and benefits of:

  • Accessible media, Universal Design and Assistive Technology in the university, business and public setting;

  • Legal and policy issues, including ADA and 508 compliance;

  • The creation of accessible media and information resources, including Web pages and library resources.

OLC Innovate: Education Reimagined – OLC  April 2-6 (Virtual), 18-21 (Nashville)

OLC and MERLOT are pleased to announce OLC Innovate 2023 and the opening of our Call for Proposals. Join us onsite April 18-21, 2023 at the Gaylord Opryland Resort and Convention Center in Nashville, TN (or virtually April 4-6, 2023). Share your innovative ideas with your global network of colleagues, your community, and those who inspire and seek inspiration.

Digitally Divided: The Varying Impacts of Online Enrollment on Degree Completion – Institute of Higher Education, University of Florida

Black, Hispanic and low-income community college students who take up to half their courses online increase their odds of completing degrees, a working paper finds. Fully online learners are less likely to earn a credential.

A Face-to-Face Approach to the Online Learning Space – Educause

At Texas State University, a new blended video studio and faculty office space elevate the online teaching and learning experience for instructors and students.

No Paywall for Taxpayer-Funded Research, U.S. Declares – Inside Higher Ed

White House mandates free, immediate public access to government-funded research. Many open-access advocates celebrate the decision, but some scholars wonder who will fund the policy.

How to Teach a Good First Day of Class – The Chronicle of Higher Education

The first day of class is crucial both for your students and for you. This guide will help you make opening day as effective as possible.

Higher Ed Leaders Are Making Long-Term Investments in Teaching and Learning Tools – EdTech Magazine

A recent EDUCAUSE report places the continued evolution of hybrid courses and AI learning tools among top tech trends.

 Tips for Fighting Impostor Syndrome in Academe – Inside Higher Ed

If you have experienced such fears once, you’ll probably confront them again as your career advances, writes Angela Fowler, who recommends having a set of tools that will assist you in overcoming them.

2020-21 IPEDS Data: Profile of Mid-Pandemic 12-Month Enrollments – Phil on EdTech

IPEDS has been invaluable to researchers and analysts trying to understand enrollment trends, but a well-known weakness is that the data come from the Fall Enrollment survey, which takes a census approach.

WCAG 2.2 – A Quick Start Guide – Barrier Break

Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.2 is scheduled to be published by December of 2022. The candidate recommendation is expected in September 2022 and thus it is the right time to figure out what WCAG 2.2 version has in store for us.

Hand Signals Improve Zoom Meetings – Inside Higher Ed

Students who use a set of gestures in video gatherings feel closer to their classmates and believe they learn more than students who don’t, a new study suggests. Using emojis doesn’t deliver the same benefits.

Online Learning Can Lead to Increased Success for Minority Students in Higher Education – EdTech Magazine

Research shows that student performance in gateway courses can predict retention, the likelihood of graduation, and all-around student success. Historically, minority students have been underserved in these courses. This leads to more minority students receiving D or F grades, withdrawing, or receiving incomplete grades, often resulting in lower retention rates. While online learning is not without its challenges, experts say it can be a catalyst for improving course outcomes for disadvantaged and historically marginalized students.

The Numbers That Show Why So Many College Students Need Help With Loans – Forbes

The Biden administration’s plan to forgive up to $20,000 per borrower in student loans has its supporters and detractors.Each side to varying degrees has its points, and it is possible to disagree on how much society should pay for higher education—cost and fairness versus benefit to society. It’s necessary to put things into an economic context.

Student Retention: More Profitable Than Enrollment? – Watermark

Combatting decreasing enrollment and retention is key to ensuring higher education institutions fulfill their promise of shaping students into leaders and innovators. But, figuring out exactly how to do so is a challenging task.

8 big questions as colleges start fall 2022 – Higher Ed Dive

Will higher ed’s financial picture clear? Can campuses innovate? Is a new generation of presidents ready to rise to the moment?

Bucking the Trend: Enrollment Rising at Some Institutions – Fierce Education

Much speculation has been generated by the most recent national enrollment statistics from the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center (NSCRC), with reports indicating a continued two-year downward enrollment trend of nearly 10%. However, hope is on the horizon as many schools are bucking this trend, reporting higher than expected and even record-breaking enrollment numbers.

Weathering the Storm: Targeted and Timely Analytics to Support Disengaged Students – Educause

Analyzing data across the institution to build a true picture of student engagement and using targeted, scripted reporting for meaningful insights has significantly impacted student retention at Charles Sturt University.

To Improve Outcomes for Students, We Must Improve Support for Faculty – Campus Technology

The doctoral programs that prepare faculty for their positions often fail to train them on effective teaching practices. We owe it to our students to provide faculty with the professional development they need to help learners realize their full potential.

Inside the Booming World Where Students Buy Custom Term Papers – EdSurge

It’s easier than you might think to pay someone to write a term paper for you. Many paper-writing companies try to project an air of legitimacy, with features like responsive customer service. A former homework-for-hire writer, Dave Tomar, shares the details of this booming industry in a new book, “The Complete Guide to Contract Cheating in Higher Education.”

Reimagining STEM Education through Beauty, Critical Thinking, and Disruptive Innovation – Faculty Focus

As a STEM educator, how can you reimagine STEM education through a humanities lens? How can you use disruptive innovation to help students think more critically? And how can you teach critical reflection skills in an engineering or math course?

The Revolution in Higher Education Will Be Led Through Data – Campus Technology

It’s one thing to talk about innovation, but another thing to actually make it happen. Driving actual change is all about timing — having the right idea at the right moment, according to Phil Komarny, chief innovation officer at an institution known for innovation: Maryville University. And that moment is now: Komarny sees COVID as a catalyst for utilizing data to revolutionize higher education and the student experience.

How to Keep Returning College Students on Track. Second Acts, Ep. 2 – EdSurge

Millions of U.S. adults have attended some college but never finished a degree. What does it take to get them back in class? And once they’re back, how can colleges help them stay on track? In the second episode of our podcast series Second Acts, Edsurge hears the in-depth stories of three students who headed back to finish a degree.

A Once-in-a-Generation Opportunity to Expand High-Quality Tutoring for All Students – GSV

As we continue to grapple with the disparate and widespread learning loss COVID has had on students, tutoring has been at the forefront of the conversation. Nationwide efforts to implement high-impact tutoring have emerged center stage as education leaders work to equip schools to close the massive learning gaps that have widened over the last two years. 

The Workforce Showcase: Evolve or Become Extinct – Educause

The higher education workforce is being hit by budget cuts, worker attrition, and widespread burnout. These forces provide a key opportunity for higher education leaders to take innovative actions and move away from business as usual.

Trends in College Students’ Mental Health – The Chronicle of Higher Education

Many students struggle with issues like depression and anxiety. The pandemic worsened the crisis. Join a forum on what can be done to improve their mental-health care.

3 Best Practices to Leverage Data Insights for Equitable Growth in Education – Microsoft – September 14

When used successfully, education data, removed from silos and leveraged with equity in mind, can be used to make informed decisions and ensure accessibility, student care and support, and most importantly growth for all.

In this webinar session we will discuss best practices that will assist schools in using data and analytics to accelerate student learning and close opportunity gaps in a handful of ways.

Virtual Forum on Teacher Retention – Whiteboard Advisors – September 14

At the start of the new school year, surveys suggest that teachers are burned out amidst what The Washington Post has characterized as a “catastrophic teacher shortage.”  What’s fueling teacher burnout, and what can be done to help fix it?

The Future of Education: Rehumanizing the Teaching Profession – Grantmakers for Education – September 15

Imagining a better, more just future requires us to examine the practice of teaching itself and what makes changing instruction difficult. We think of teaching as a profession that carries with it the power for substantial good – at its best, teaching can help drive the building of a just society – but teaching can also cause harm. Join us for a conversation about the ways in which traditional teaching can conserve and reproduce what is “normal,” and how we can look to history for inspiration for other ways to engage in the work. 

Building an Infrastructure to Support a Digital Transformation – Educause – September 29

True digital transformation (i.e., the fundamental optimization of secure data access and operational procedures leveraging innovative new digital solutions) is an evolutionary journey many institutions have begun and even more are planning. At the core of the demand for transformation is student success and a need to modernize institutional operating models. 

Free Speech and Academic Freedom – Future Trends Forum – September 29

This week the Future Trends Forum is delighted to host the authors of an important new book, It’s Not Free Speech: Race, Democracy, and the Future of Academic Freedom by Michael Bérubé, Edwin Erle Sparks Professor of Literature at the University of Pennsylvania, and Jennifer Ruth, professor of film at Portland State University.