Resource News

2026 UPCEA Digital Teaching & Learning Conference (DT&L) | UPCEA
Date: February 4–5, 2026
Location: Virtual (Online)
Theme: Designing the Future
The 2026 DT&L Conference is a free (for UPCEA members), fully virtual event dedicated to showcasing innovative practices, research, and digital teaching design and strategies within postsecondary education. Instructional designers, faculty developers, online instructors, and educational technologists will engage in workshops, roundtables, lightning talks, and keynote panels focused on shaping what’s next for digital learning.

Digital Learning Summit 2026 | Digital Learning Texas
Date: February 10–11, 2026
Location: Virtual (Online)
Theme: The Power of Practice – Transforming Experience into Innovation
This free virtual summit brings together leaders, educators, and innovators to explore the latest trends and technologies shaping the future of digital learning. The event emphasizes agile, innovation-driven approaches that support student success, credential completion, and seamless transitions into high-demand careers, with opportunities for collaboration and Idea Exchanges across institutions.

2026 Digital Credentials Summit | 1EdTech Digital Credentials Summit
Date: February 18–20, 2026
Location: Philadelphia, PA
Theme: Advancing Digital Credentials for Education and Workforce Innovation
The 1EdTech Digital Credentials Summit convenes education leaders, employers, and edtech innovators to collaborate on transforming education and workforce opportunities through verifiable and portable digital credentials. Sessions focus on policy, equity, governance, and real-world use cases that help make skills and achievements more transparent and actionable across sectors.

Higher Ed Spent Millions on Lobbying in 2025 | Inside Higher Ed
An Inside Higher Ed analysis of lobbying expenses found that major research universities spent more than $37 million in 2025, up significantly from the previous year. These numbers show that, while college presidents have been criticized by some for not pushing back on recent Trump administration education initiatives, they have actually been very active behind the scenes.

This Spat Shows Just How Messy Texas A&M’s New Course Reviews Are | Chronicle of Higher Education
A new Texas A&M systemwide policy says that professors are not allowed to advocate for race or gender ideology or teach about topics related to sexual orientation or gender identity except for accreditation or career preparation reasons. A dispute over a graduate-level “Ethics of Public Policy” course shows how messy enforcing this policy can be.

Supporting Students Through Feedback: Approaches for Faculty | Faculty Focus
Faculty feedback can play an important role in student success, and can also help adjust the behaviors of struggling students. Ideas for maximizing feedback include fostering early communication and connection, reimagining office hours, maintaining regular communication, and using feedback to build rapport.

Designing the 2026 Classroom: Emerging Learning Trends in an AI-Powered Education System | Faculty Focus
As AI rapidly reshapes education, the classrooms of 2026 will be continually presented with both challenges and opportunities. While the use of AI-powered instruction can reduce administrative demands and allow educators to focus on teaching and student engagement, risks centering around equity, skills development, and human connection will have to be faced, as institutions prepare students for an AI-driven workforce.

Charting a Path Through Education Data in 2025 | EdSurge
EdSurge’s most important data visualizations of major education trends from 2025 are reviewed. These included which college degrees yielded the highest earnings, the persistent declines and disparities in reading scores, and shifting school enrollment patterns.

Q&A: University of St. Thomas Uses Data to Improve the Student Experience | EdTech
An interview with University of St. Thomas Chief Data and Analytics Officer Jena Zangs discusses how her institution collects and uses data to personalize and improve the student experience. Zangs’ team focuses on predictive analytics and factors that most influence student retention. Things like door swipes, books checked out from the library, websites visited for educational purposes, and how many meals left on a meal account can all indicate whether a student is planning on remaining in school.

Data Shows AI ‘Disconnect’ in Higher Ed Workforce | Inside Higher Ed
Despite near-universal use of AI tools on campus, a new survey finds that many higher ed employees lack awareness of institutional policies and confidence in deploying AI effectively, underscoring a growing disconnect between adoption and governance in the academy.

The Future of AI is Human | Gonzaga University
Gonzaga University’s public website positions AI as both a technical tool and an opportunity to deepen ethical reflection, critical inquiry, and human-centered learning.

“The AI Challenge: How College Faculty Assess the Present and Future of Higher Education in the Age of AI” | Elon University
A January 2026 survey of 1,057 college faculty reveals widespread skepticism and concern that generative AI is undermining student learning, academic integrity, and institutional readiness, even as educators call for stronger policies and literacy efforts to guide AI’s role in higher education.

The Value Of AI For Higher Education: Turning Tension Into Transformation | Forbes
The President of Marymount University reframes the AI debate in higher education from fear and friction to strategic transformation, urging institutions to embed student-centered AI practices that enhance learning, engagement, and career readiness.

5 Predictions on How AI Will Shape Higher Ed in 2026 | Inside Higher Ed
Inside Higher Ed presents five expert forecasts for how generative AI will influence colleges and universities in 2026.

How AI Supports Student Mental Health in Higher Education | Ed Tech
In response to demand for mental health services outpacing campus capacity, researchers are exploring the potential for AI-powered risk prediction and support tools—paired with human oversight—to make care more accessible and proactive for students.

The Power of Peers: Why Peer Support Matters More Than Ever | Ed Tech Digest
Informal peer support among online college students, through online group and social annotation tools, study groups, and everyday conversations, plays a crucial role in reducing isolation, improving academic understanding, and normalizing challenges, complementing formal support services.

How AI Supports Student Mental Health in Higher Education | Ed Tech Magazine
Colleges are using AI tools, such as predictive analytics systems to spot at-risk students and AI-powered chatbots integrated with human support, to help identify, triage, and expand access to mental health care alongside traditional counseling services.

How Meta Quest VR Is Transforming Experiential Learning in Higher Education | Ed Tech Magazine
Meta Quest VR headsets are being used in higher education to create immersive, experiential learning environments that boost student engagement, support hands-on simulations across disciplines like STEM and health sciences, and enhance collaboration and skill development in virtual settings.

Copilot+ PCs Offer Fast, Powerful AI to Boost Faculty Members’ Productivity | Ed Tech Magazine
Microsoft’s Copilot+ PCs help higher-education faculty save time and boost productivity in teaching, research, and administrative tasks by enabling faster workflows, natural-language search, automated transcription, and other AI-driven features.

How Higher Ed Can Adjust to the AI-Answer Economy | Inside Higher Ed
As AI shifts students from searching for information to consuming polished “answers,” higher education must prioritize AI literacy and critical thinking, especially through library-centered instruction, to help students interrogate, verify, and contextualize AI-generated content rather than passively accept it.

Tool to Try: Redbrick Class | Redbrick
Redbrick Class is a web-based coding education platform that combines structured, project-based lessons in block coding, JavaScript, and Python with tools like AI-driven tutoring, a creative builder environment, and learning management features to help students learn to build software, games, and apps.

Active Learning That Engages All Learners with Matthew Mahavongtrakul | Teaching in Higher Ed
A practical episode on building more inclusive and engaging classroom experiences that meet diverse learner needs.

Authentic Universities: Choosing What Not to Be | The World of Higher Education
Alex Usher and Frank Ziegele explore how institutions define their purpose by consciously limiting their focus—what they choose not to do.

Teaching With AI: The Good, the Bad, the Ugly, and the Future with José Bowen | Teaching in Higher Ed
José Bowen discusses the second edition of Teaching with AI and explores how educators can thoughtfully integrate AI in ways that support learning while navigating ethical pitfalls.

AI, Burnout, & the New Healthcare Workforce | YOUR Higher Education Podcast
Explores connections between AI adoption in education, workforce burnout, and reimagining healthcare training pipelines.

Debt-Free Degrees? Early Results from the UCA Commitment | Office Hours with EAB
Insights on the University of Central Arkansas’s debt-free degree pilot and implications for affordability strategies.

Why Don’t More Colleges Run Co-Op Programs? | Future U Podcast
A look at why cooperative education programs aren’t more widespread and what they could mean for career readiness.

Clearinghouse Enrollment Insights Series: Final Fall Enrollment Trends | National Student Clearinghouse Research Center
Total postsecondary enrollment in the U.S. showed a modest overall increase in fall 2025, with undergraduate growth driven especially by community colleges and public four-year institutions while private college enrollments declined and internationally enrolled graduate students fell.

Distance Education Enrollment Surges Nationwide | Inside Higher Ed
Nationwide data show a continued rise in enrollment in courses delivered with online or hybrid technology—from traditional web-based classes to Zoom lecture formats—with some states experiencing notable increases while others saw declines, highlighting sustained demand for flexible learning models and regional variation in participation.

The Agility Imperative: How Employers View Preparation for an Uncertain Future | AAC & U
The report highlights that employers continue to value higher education, especially for cultivating adaptable, transferable skills like critical thinking, communication, and ethical judgment, but see ongoing gaps in how well graduates can apply these skills in real-world contexts. It emphasizes the growing importance of applied learning experiences and clearer ways for students to demonstrate their capabilities beyond the traditional transcript.

The AI Challenge: Faculty Concerns About Generative AI in Higher Education | AAC & U
The report reveals that a large national sample of college faculty view the rapid adoption of generative AI tools as deeply disruptive to teaching and learning, expressing significant concerns about student overreliance, academic integrity issues, and potential negative impacts on critical thinking and attention spans. While faculty also recognize opportunities for AI to enhance instruction and personalized learning, many believe institutions are not adequately prepared to integrate these technologies responsibly.

State Priorities for Higher Education in 2026 | State Higher Education Executive Officers Association
State higher education leaders overwhelmingly prioritized economic and workforce development, college affordability, and related policy issues as the most important areas for action in 2026, with nearly all respondents rating workforce alignment as highly important and college affordability rising sharply on the agenda compared with prior years.

2026 Winter Term Pulse Point Survey | American Council on Education
Leaders from colleges and universities nationwide reported that federal and state policy uncertainty, financial viability, public perceptions of higher education’s value, and student mental health were among their most pressing concerns for early 2026, with many also noting fiscal constraints, regulatory pressures, and impacts on institutional planning and services.

Predictions 2026: Insights for Online & Professional Education | UPCEA
The report outlines how accelerating AI adoption, demographic shifts, financial and regulatory pressures, and growing workforce alignment demands are reshaping online and professional education, positioning agility, alternative credentials, and adult-learner–focused strategies as central to institutional sustainability in 2026.

Future-Proofing Higher Education: AI-Powered Design, Delivery, and Credentials | Quality Matters
Date and Time: February 19, 2026, 1:00 p.m. ET / 12:00 p.m. CT / 11:00 a.m. MT / 10:00 a.m. PT
Join Newstate University and Quality Matters for an engaging exploration of artificial intelligence’s role in transforming higher education. This webinar brings together faculty, instructional designers, and academic leaders to examine practical applications and ethical considerations of AI across course design and creation, delivery and personalization, and credentials and skills recognition.

The Retention Disconnect: What Adult Learners Need — and What Institutions Miss | Collegis Education
Date and Time: Wednesday, February 11, 2026, 1:00 p.m. ET / 12:00 p.m. CT
This session breaks down key findings from a national survey revealing the misalignment between how institutions approach retention and what adult learners need to succeed. Presenters discuss strategic shifts institutions can make to improve outcomes, protect revenue, and meet adult learners where they are.

Five Questions to Ask When Modernizing Campus Tech | EDUCAUSE
Date and Time: Thursday, February 12, 2026, 12:00 p.m.–1:00 p.m. ET
Part of the EDUCAUSE Industry Insights series, this webinar brings together technology leaders to explore five key questions institutions should consider when evaluating modernization strategies and navigating complex digital transformation challenges in higher education.