Technology has a long history of impacting how students learn, going back to the early 19th century with that potent visualization and organizational tool: the blackboard. Two hundred years later, education is undergoing rapid innovation, driven this time by digital technology supercharged by COVID-19. Prior to the pandemic, virtual learning was already beginning to reshape how teachers teach and students learn. But stay-at-home orders for working parents and students caused K-12 and higher education to be immersed en masse in remote learning. Teachers and other education professionals looking to understand how technology has changed education, and develop skills to deal […]

The number of students enrolled in online and distance-learning programs has been rising steadily since 2002. “The growth in distance learning has been relentless,” said Julia E. Seamon, research director at the Babson Survey Research Group (BSRG), an organization that tracks distance education enrollments. “They have gone up when the economy was expanding, when the economy was shrinking, when overall enrollments were growing, and now when overall [college and university] enrollments are shrinking.” A Brief History of Online Education Trends Distance learning isn’t new. According to Forbes, the first correspondence degrees became available at the University of London during the mid-19th […]

Ask any marketing or communications professional to create a new campaign or strategy, and one of the first questions he or she will ask is, “Who’s my target audience?” Effective marketers know that it’s essential to have a comprehensive understanding of the audience they’re trying to reach, from general demographics and core values to communication preferences and online habits. And while marketers have given a lot of attention to understanding the millennial audience, there’s a new generation for marketing professionals to begin to target: Generation Z. These frugal, tech-savvy, and socially conscientious youths are coming of age, and with billions […]

The U.S. workforce is changing. Key forces driving its transformation include ongoing advances in technology, an aging population, and a shift in energy consumption in response to climate change. While the technological, social, and economic factors reshaping future industries and the labor force present challenges for workers and employers alike, they also create exciting career opportunities for those who prepare to meet them. Robots and automation, for example, are predicted to displace some 20 million manufacturing jobs by 2030, according to a study by Oxford Economics. However, automation has the potential, over time, to create as many positions as it […]

Work-life balance is a desirable goal that we tend to fall short of attaining. Meeting the demands of a heavy workload and maintaining healthy relationships outside the office, including your relationship with yourself, are equally important. Favoring one over the other can cause stress and negatively affect a person’s mental and physical health. Thanks to technology’s ability to blur the lines between work and life through smartphones and social media, achieving work-life balance can feel tougher to do than ever before. If you struggle with maintaining a work-life balance, you’re not alone. Americans as a whole have a tough time […]

Choosing a college major is among the most critical decisions prospective students will make in their lives. Identifying a field that’s both interesting and practical can keep students engaged in their coursework while improving their post-college career prospects. In today’s competitive job market, students looking to land well-paying jobs are wise to consider their end goal from the beginning. Deciding on the right course of study to prepare for a rewarding career means knowing which careers are in demand. Jobs with six-figure salaries are on the rise in growing industries such as healthcare and technology. While some senior positions require master’s […]

Overall enrollment in colleges and universities may have declined in recent years, but enrollment in online education programs continues to trend upward. According to the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center, roughly 17.9 million students were enrolled at postsecondary institutions in the fall of 2019, falling below 18 million for the first time in a decade. A year later, overall postsecondary enrollment dropped another 3.3%. Conversely, in the fall of 2018, 16.6% of all undergraduate and graduate students studied exclusively online, up from 15.7% the previous year, according to the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES). Additionally, in the fall of […]