Higher education's AI strategy gap: A five-alarm fire

My latest piece in Forbes dives into how #highered is struggling to meet exploding demand for #online education—a complete 180 turn from just 20 years ago when the "50% rule" actually limited how much education could go digital. Based on new data from QM Quality Matters, Eduventures, and EDUCAUSE, three key findings emerged from their lastest research report CHLOE 10: 🎯 The Capacity Paradox: Public four-year institutions plan aggressive online expansion, but community colleges—serving our most vulnerable populations—can barely keep pace. Only 1 in 5 community colleges plan significant online growth despite serving students who need flexible education most. 🤖 AI Strategy Fragmentation: While 77% of online learning officers say #AI will be crucial within two years, nearly 10% of institutions have NO AI strategy. As Joshua Jones from QuantHub told me: "We're watching history repeat itself—institutions without coherent AI strategies aren't just falling behind, they're failing to prepare students for a fundamentally transformed workforce." 👩🏫 Faculty Development Stagnation: Only 28% of institutions report #faculty are fully prepared for online course design. Meanwhile, adjuncts teach 47% of online courses with minimal institutional support. The behavioral economics are fascinating too: Traditional undergrads increasingly choose digital courses despite preferring in-person learning. As Dr. Mark David Milliron from National University describes them, today's online learners are the "and-ers"—working adults, caregivers and veterans who need education to fit their lives, not the other way around. Dr. Bethany Simunich, PhD from QM Quality Matters notes: "Online learning has moved from the margins to the mainstream. The real story isn't just the demand; it's whether colleges can adapt fast enough to keep pace." Read my full piece: https://lnkd.in/gqyUPJ-d #HigherEducation #OnlineLearning #EdTech #DigitalTransformation #StudentSuccess #AI #CommunityColleges #FacultyDevelopment

Saturday morning reads via Alison Griffin and Forbes. One other aspect I've been mulling over more recently is the idea of creating community and connection for online learners. In the old days, you'd show up on campus, find your people (in class or via other activities), and build lifelong connections. That's much harder in today's digital-first world, so colleges must also think about how to nurture networks, allow for serendipitous interactions, and create a real sense of belonging.

The world wants to know about the state of online learning! CHLOE 10 was a key resource for this article from Alison Griffin in Forbes. Read about how learner demand is, in many cases, outpacing institutional response in her article below, and download the full CHLOE 10 report now: https://lnkd.in/gbbhuHA6

“Change in higher ed doesn’t happen in a single announcement—it happens through steady, consistent conversation that makes new ideas feel less like disruption and more like a natural evolution.” In our latest blog post, James Moore, Director of Online Learning at DePaul University’s Driehaus College of Business and a leader in integrating AI into teaching, unpacks one of higher ed’s toughest challenges: building genuine buy-in among faculty and staff. As AI rapidly reshapes how students learn, how faculty teach, and how institutions prepare for the future, it’s more important now than ever for leaders to help their campuses adapt quickly—cultivating trust, flexibility, and momentum along the way. Read James’ five tips for building buy-in: https://lnkd.in/gQqRnth4

"Perhaps most revealing in the data is how institutions are approaching the integration of artificial intelligence. While 77% of chief online learning officers believe AI will become crucial within two years, only 23% have developed institution-wide strategies. Another 66% of these professionals describe fragmented, department-level efforts with no coordinated approach. Nearly 10% have no AI strategy whatsoever, which should concern anyone who remembers how unprepared institutions were for pandemic-driven online learning demand." "[The finding] that nearly 10% of institutions have no AI strategy is a five-alarm fire for higher education," says Josh Jones, CEO of QuantHub, a data and AI skills training platform offering online courses and credentials. "We're watching history repeat itself. This mirrors exactly how universities approached online learning in 2010, and we know how unprepared that left them for 2020. But this time, the stakes are higher. [I]nstitutions without coherent AI strategies aren't just falling behind—they're failing to prepare students for a fundamentally transformed workforce." https://lnkd.in/gxkgKXCJ

California Community Colleges and Google Launch Nation’s Largest Higher Education Systemwide AI Partnership to Equip Millions of Students for the Future Workforce! >2 million students and faculty across the state’s 116 community colleges will have free access to AI training, Google Career Certificates, and some of Google's cutting-edge AI tools including #Gemini for Education and #NotebookLM Check it out 👇 https://lnkd.in/gsWbGXya

California Community Colleges and Google Launch Nation’s Largest Higher Education Systemwide AI Partnership to Equip Millions of Students for the Future Workforce! >2 million students and faculty across CA’s 116 community colleges will have free access to AI training, Google Career Certificates, and some of Google's cutting-edge AI tools including #Gemini for Education and #NotebookLM Check it out 👇 https://lnkd.in/gsWbGXya #GoogleforEducation

"Student organiser for the campaign, Poppy Pilmore, said despite the university’s official communications, staff had privately confirmed that most lectures would be pre-recorded digital content, raising concerns about transparency and education standards." This is interesting. I can see both sides of this issue.This follows from Auckland University offering online virtual tutorials to Marketing students this year, delivered by an AI Avatar. The course still had in-person lectures, just the tutorials were delivered digitally by AI. These approaches will become more and more common-place world-wide as univeristies seek out the best way to incorporate new technology and learning modalities to support learner success. #university #AI #innovation #highereducation #iteach #educationtechnology #onlineeducation #edu #onlinecourses #student #edapp #virtuallearning #educators #onlineclasses #highered #artificialintelligence #machinelearning #technology #tech #deeplearning #bigdata #chatgpt #data #automation #digital https://lnkd.in/gjigbYDZ

The California Community Colleges announced a new partnership with Google to provide free access to AI training, Google Career Certificates, and AI tools including Gemini for Education and NotebookLM to its 2 million students and faculty. https://lnkd.in/gimHegqW

Anthropic has just taken a bold step in AI-powered education. On August 21, 2025, the company launched two major initiatives: A Higher Education Advisory Board, chaired by Rick Levin (ex‑Yale president and Coursera leader), alongside academic luminaries from Rice, Michigan, UT Austin, Stanford, and Complete College America, to guide how Claude technology supports teaching, learning, and research with integrity and privacy at its core. Three new AI Fluency courses, developed in collaboration with educators and released under a Creative Commons license: designed to equip both faculty and students with practical, responsible AI usage skills for today’s classrooms and careers. https://lnkd.in/grXw5AfP