We’ve been crunching the numbers, and your votes are in. Here’s the countdown of the top EdSurge stories about the college world in 2024, based on readership.
Nearly half of the stories in our top 10 involve the impact that AI tools like ChatGPT are having on campuses. No surprise there, considering that just about every week brings new AI products, and students rushing to social media to share how they’re using them on assignments. But the No. 1 story was about how to provide adequate education to those who can’t view screens.
Many of the top stories raise fundamental questions about higher education. How much should college cost (and what are people really paying)? What resources should be offered (in places like the campus library)? How should teaching change for a group of students whose studies and social lives were disrupted by COVID-19 (and instructors who had a crash-course in online teaching)? And when did so many high school students start taking community college courses (and what does that mean for college access)?
The year ahead promises to raise plenty of surprising new questions. Whatever happens, we look forward to sharing what we learn with you. Thanks for reading!
10. Online Teaching Is Improving In-Person Instruction on Campus
By Robert Ubell
Since the COVID-19 pandemic forced instructors around the world to try online education, something unexpected has happened: Professors have found that there are some online teaching methods that work better than what can be done in the limits of a physical classroom, argues Robert Ubell, a longtime leader of online education efforts.
9. Are Colleges Ready For an Online-Education World Without OPMs?
By Robert Ubell
A longtime administrator of online programs at colleges says he has mixed feelings about the idea of shutting down a model that has helped many institutions start offering online degrees, but which gave support companies a large cut of online revenue. He says the question boils down to: Are colleges ready for a world without OPMs?
8. Do Shocking College Tuition Prices Reflect What Students Actually Pay?
By Nadia Tamez-Robledo
More high schoolers say they’re unsure about college, in part because of the huge tuition price tags. But there’s a difference between the cost of attendance and what students actually pay on average, an EdSurge analysis finds. Find out how students can get a more accurate estimate for tuition.
7. To Understand ChatGPT’s Impact on Higher Education, Think Like a Scientist
By Adam Brown and Soulaymane Kachani
Two leaders from Columbia University argue that scientific research should be used to study the impact of ChatGPT and other AI tools on higher education — and they offer three research approaches to better understand how to use them.
6. A Technologist Spent Years Building an AI Chatbot Tutor. He Decided It Can’t Be Done.
By Jeffrey R. Young
Companies and technologists are rushing to apply the latest AI chatbots to fulfill the long-held dream of building a personalized digital tutor. But at least one longtime AI developer argues that it isn’t possible, and that the best use of AI is to assist human tutors and teachers, not replace them.
5. What Brings Gen Z to the Library?
By Jennifer Howard
Young people look to libraries to provide safe places to hang out and to access resources like free Wi-Fi, makerspaces and tech equipment — expectations they carry with them to college, according to people who work in and with academic libraries. Here’s how Gen Z is changing the campus library. Surprise: These digital natives still value print.
4. Professors Try ‘Restrained AI’ Approach to Help Teach Writing
By Jeffrey R. Young
Could AI help students improve their writing without totally taking over the process? Two English professors have outlined a vision of “restrained generative AI,” and they’ve built a software tool to test their idea for using technology to turn notes into prose.
3. Can Using a Grammar Checker Set Off AI-Detection Software?
By Jeffrey R. Young
A college student says her professor’s AI detector falsely flagged a paper she wrote as bot-generated when all she used was a grammar checker. The incident raises questions about the line between acceptable and unacceptable uses of generative AI tools in academic settings.
2. A Fifth of Students at Community College Are Still in High School
By Rebecca Koenig
The number of high school students these days taking college courses may surprise you. Experts say dual enrollment has grown so popular because it’s good for all parties involved: students, colleges and K-12 schools. What challenges remain for this kind of program to “live up to its potential as a lever of access and equity to college and careers,” as one expert put it?
1. Many Students Don’t Inform Their Colleges About Their Disability. That Needs to Change.
By Stephanie A.N. Levin
“Colleges and universities need to change their tactics for supporting students with disabilities who are hesitant to self-identify,” writes Stephanie A.N. Levin, a doctoral candidate in educational leadership at Rowan University. Levin reflects on her experience as a college student with a visual impairment who didn’t feel comfortable reporting her disability as she calls upon higher ed to better support students with disabilities.
