Education

EDU News Curated by Kiosk: AI in the Classroom and Other Higher Ed News

AI in the Classroom

From Kiosk: “AI is already in the classroom. Regardless of the preferences of educators, policymakers, and administrators, students are using it. During my role as an Alumni Liaison Committee member at Dartmouth College, I spent time with current students and asked them how often they used ChatGPT. Their response was “all the time.” They emphasized they didn’t cheat but used the tool for “everything,” from researching ideas to everyday tasks like finding the best time to buy a plane ticket home.”

View the full article from Kiosk.

 

ChatGPT Is Coming For Higher Education, Says OpenAI

From Forbes: “OpenAI has announced ChatGPT Edu. This will be a specialized version of its AI platform designed specifically for universities. This move aims to deploy AI across academic, research and operational teams on campuses around the world. Arizona State University has been a key player in shaping ChatGPT Edu. According to a statement released today, they have conducted over 200 AI projects through its AI Innovation Challenge since January. This has provided critical feedback to enhance the platform for academic use. … ChatGPT Edu includes the latest GPT-4o model with advanced reasoning capabilities across text, audio and vision. It offers robust administrative controls, data security and high usage limits.”
View the full article from Forbes.

 

Higher Education Has Not Been Forgotten by Generative AI

From Inside Higher Ed: “Now, as GenAI develops and matures … it is becoming an integral part of the design, implementation and delivery of higher education as a whole. … With more than 35 million users, the most attention has been given to ChatGPT by OpenAI. Yet, there are many more apps such as Google Gemini, Perplexity AI, Claude by Anthropic, Pi by Inflection, and ones that effectively combine GenAI with Internet search such as CleeAI. All of these general applications have useful roles for enhancing teaching and learning in higher education. Of course, the relationship between OpenAI and Khan Academy has resulted in a rather phenomenal online tutor named Khanmigo. … Khan says developments like these could allow for every student to have a personal AI tutor and every teacher an AI teaching assistant.”
View the full article from Inside Higher Ed.

 

Universities Build Their Own ChatGPT-like Tools

From Inside Higher Ed: “The University of Michigan is one of a small number of institutions that have created their own versions of ChatGPT for student and faculty use over the last year. Those include Harvard University, Washington University, the University of California, Irvine, and UC San Diego. The effort goes beyond jumping on the artificial intelligence (AI) bandwagon—for the universities, it’s a way to overcome concerns about equity, privacy and intellectual property rights. … There are some downsides when universities train their own models. Because a university’s GPT is based on the research, tests and lectures put in by an institution, it may not be as up-to-date as the commercial ChatGPT.”
View the full article from Inside Higher Ed.

 

What Biden’s Exit From the Presidential Race Could Mean for Higher Ed

From The Chronicle: “Advocates have praised Biden for his work to enact widespread student-debt relief, a Title IX overhaul that enshrined legal protections for victims of sexual assault, and a set of cash infusions that propped up colleges during the Covid-19 pandemic. But in an era of policymaking via executive action, some of those achievements may be short-lived. And the botched rollout of the revamped Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), which haunted students, families, and financial-aid officers throughout the winter and spring, will stand as a stain on Biden’s higher-ed record.”
View the full article from The Chronicle.

 

A Hopeful First Year for New Texas Funding Model

From Inside Higher Education: The goal of the new community college performance-based funding model is to incentivize colleges to improve student outcomes and provide them with the cash to do so, rather than base funding on student credit hours … state lawmakers budgeted $210 million more for community colleges in fiscal year 2024 than the previous year…He hoped the new model would come with a funding increase for his institution and, so far, it has. Graduation rates have been rising for several years… Under the new model, that progress pays; he estimated funding is more than 20 percent higher this biennium compared to last.”
View the full article from Inside Higher Ed.

 

Are Colleges’ Predictive Analytics Biased Against Black and Hispanic Students?

From The Chronicle: “The algorithms often used by colleges to predict students’ likelihood of graduating can produce less accurate results for Black and Hispanic students compared to their peers, a new study says. Researchers examined a predictive-analytics model that was supposed to forecast the likelihood that a student attending a four-year university would obtain a bachelor’s degree in eight years after completing high school. The model was more likely to predict failure for Black and Hispanic students who actually succeeded, and more likely to overestimate the success of white and Asian students, the study found.”
View the full article from The Chronicle.

 

Latest CBO Survey Shows Optimism Despite Headwinds

From Inside Higher Education: “Despite palpable business challenges, the latest Inside Higher Ed Survey of College and University Chief Business Officers finds rising optimism among respondents. The survey shows that college business officers are more confident than they were last year about both the short- and long-term financial sustainability of their institutions, regardless of the challenging headwinds facing higher education. However, respondents tended to view the state of their own institution more favorably than their peers’ on a variety of metrics, including projected financial stability, college costs and AI readiness.”

View the full article from Inside Higher Ed.

 

Enrollment woes hit both private and public colleges in 2023, S&P reports

From Higher Ed Dive: “The combination of declining enrollment and rising expenses is eating away at the margins of many higher ed institutions across the U.S. Flagging demand has taken a toll on college operations and finances. ‘Deeper tuition discounting further strained net revenue growth as institutions competed for students,’ Megan Kearns, a credit analyst with S&P, said in a statement. S&P found the average tuition discount rate at private colleges — which accounts for institutional aid provided to students that decreases the tuition paid by students — rose by 0.7 percentage points to 44.8% in 2023.”
View the full article from Higher Ed Dive.

 

Coming Soon: Application and Guidance on Offering Reduced-Credit Bachelor’s Programs 

From Higher Learning Commission: “ In response to growing interest among institutions and other higher education stakeholders in reduced-credit bachelor’s degree programs (sometimes known as three-year bachelor’s degree programs), HLC is developing guidelines and a new substantive change application for member institutions interested in offering such programs. After extensive study and planning, including engagement with the U.S. Department of Education, other accreditors, and state agencies and associations, these resources will be available in early September.”
View the full article from Higher Learning Commission.

 

One in three degree applicants ‘may not enrol’ amid cost concerns

From Times Higher Education: “In a survey of more than 2,000 applicants conducted by Unite Students and the Higher Education Policy Institute, 32 per cent said it was at least ‘somewhat likely’ that they would not enrol on their course. Thirteen per cent said it was ‘likely’ or ‘very likely’ that they would not join. Financial pressures were most likely to be cited as the reason for this, mentioned by 32 per cent of applicants, followed by concerns over not achieving the grades they need (27 per cent), lack of confidence (22 per cent), and mental health issues (21 per cent).”
View the full article from Times Higher Education.