Online: Trending Now

As we prepare to launch another semester mostly online, we are better informed than we were in the spring and fall semesters. From experiences with rapidly applied pedagogies to better understanding of how our students’ radically altered lives impact their learning, we must adapt.

As we continue to advance online services to distant students, bandwidth becomes ever more important. Virtual laboratories are beginning to take advantage of virtual reality, augmented reality and an assortment of associated technologies that rely on highly sophisticated networking.

Many colleges are closing their campuses after Thanksgiving and moving online. Spring terms will be delayed, break canceled, and online strategies remain at the forefront of delivery modes for the rest of 2021. What lies ahead?

A series of events has converged to put new impetus behind sharing courses online. The COVID-19 pandemic, rapid deployment of remote learning, growth of MOOCs and mounting financial pressure on colleges and universities have combined to open minds on this topic.

We are planning for AI to help universities recruit, oversee adaptive learning and drive intelligent chat boxes, but there is much more ahead in the near future. Are we are underestimating the future of AI connected through a brain-computer interface in education?

Worldwide, lives are stressed and strained by COVID-19. Nowhere is that more evident than in the lives of students, staff and faculty members engaged in the transformed role of online learning.

The pressure is on to provide a mechanism to enable students to control their own record of lifelong learning that recognizes both in-class and real-world experiences.

The rush to remote learning this year has prompted concern and a flurry of work-arounds to meet the needs of hands-on classes and curricula.