Top 12 WCET Frontiers Posts of 2023

In 2023, we published 61 blog posts with a total of 109,049 words (whoa!). We absolutely enjoyed not only sharing insights and discussions from the staff here at WCET and more importantly, highlighting and showcasing our amazing member institutions and organizations with our guest authors who shared about projects, plans, experiences, and more. We had 201,515 views in 2023 from 95,656 visitors. Thank you for reading and learning with us.

Today I wanted to share the top blog posts from the year, with small summaries of each. I find this a helpful way to understand what topics our readers found important over the year, and help us explore the topics our readers want in the next year.

Without further ado, here are our top 12 posts based on your readership in 2023:

1. Ed Department Shakes Up OPMs and Third-Party Servicers: This Is Huge.
2. Regular and Substantive Interaction Refresh: Reviewing & Sharing Our Best Interpretation of Current Guidance and Requirements (2021)
3. ED’s New Proposed Regulations: Part 1, State Authorization Reciprocity
4. New Federal Regulations, Part 1: Addressing Programs Leading to a License or Certification
5. ED’s New Proposed Regulations, Part II: Changes for Programs Leading to Professional Licensure
6. Regular and Substantive Interaction Update: Where Do We Go from Here?
7. Interpreting what is Required for “Regular and Substantive Interaction” (2016)
8. Put Down the Shiny Object: The Overwhelming State of Higher Education Technology
9. Proposed Federal Rules Affecting Programs Leading to a License & State Authorization Reciprocity Need a Delayed Effective Date
10. Regular and Substantive Interaction: Resources to Support Learning, Neuroplasticity, and Regulations
11. New Federal Regulations, Part 2: Addressing Compliance with State Closure Laws and the Impact on Interstate Reciprocity Agreements
12. Is AI the New Homework Machine? Understanding AI and Its Impact on Higher Education

---

Ed Department Shakes Up OPMs and Third-Party Servicers: This Is Huge.

This year’s top billing goes to a post from our very own Cheryl Dowd and Russ Poulin, in their highlights of the Department of Education’s changes in guidance related to Online Program Management (OPM) companies and Third-party Servicers, which impacted contracts for a multitude of services and programs.

Regular and Substantive Interaction Refresh: Reviewing & Sharing Our Best Interpretation of Current Guidance and Requirements (2021)

Like many other years, we do have 2 posts from outside of 2023 that made it into the top most read list. This year, our refresher on Regular and Substantive Interaction, written by Kathryn Kerensky, is a wonderful and useful review of the final set of regulations stemming from the 2019 Negotiated Rulemaking on this topic. Kathryn reviews the related terms and issues and provides an overview of the new requirements.

ED’s New Proposed Regulations: Part 1, State Authorization Reciprocity

Returning for their second post included in the top list of WCET blog posts for 2023, Cheryl Dowd and Russ Poulin looked at newly proposed regulations regarding contracted services and companies helping institutions with online learning. The post, originally published I May of 2023, discusses the large impact the announcement had throughout the institution.

New Federal Regulations, Part 1: Addressing Programs Leading to a License or Certification

Not only a big year for federal regulation updates, but a big year of writing for Russ and Cheryl! This next post was part one of two posts on newly released federal regulations addressing programs leading to a license or certification (published in October 2023). This post reviews the new rules and includes discussion on the impact on institutions and state licensing agencies.

ED’s New Proposed Regulations, Part II: Changes for Programs Leading to Professional Licensure

This post is the second post in the series on newly proposed regulations published in May 2023.

This article brought attention to some topics within the proposed regulations that we felt needed more focus – “sub -issues related to reciprocity and programs leading to a license or certification that are found in the Negotiated Rulemaking Issues, Certification Procedures.” Cheryl and Russ wanted to call attention to the fact that the new proposed regulations went beyond Gainful Employment and provided information on the public comment timeframe and process.

Regular and Substantive Interaction Update: Where Do We Go from Here? (2022)

One of my favorite posts from 2022, and still a great overview of the topic, came from Kathryn Kerensky on regular and substantive interaction. This post included guidance from the Department that came in response to a letter sent to the Department from WCET, OLC, Quality Matters, and UPCEA.

Interpreting what is Required for “Regular and Substantive Interaction” (2016)

This post has consistently been included in our top blog lists each year since it was published (in 2016). Russ Poulin and Van Davis provided a phenomenal and pivotal overview of regular and substantive interaction based on Department of Education documents such as Dear Colleague Letters, audits, presentations, and previous sanctions against institutions. This post serves as a great early source for us and others when researching and writing about instructor and student interaction.

Put Down the Shiny Object: The Overwhelming State of Higher Education Technology

We were thrilled when the guest author of this post accepted our invitation to continue a conversation that started on Twitter (before it was X) during a session at the WCET Annual Meeting, with an article on Frontiers.

I really appreciate Brandon Karcher from Bucknell University taking the time to consider the vast amount of technology available and in use in higher education today, and how we can best serve our students in what could be an overwhelming technological landscape.

Proposed Federal Rules Affecting Programs Leading to a License & State Authorization Reciprocity Need a Delayed Effective Date

The top posts this year have a theme for sure, and we’re back with Cheryl and Russ to discuss the need at the time for an extension of the effective date of then proposed regulations on state authorization reciprocity and programs learning to licensure.

Regular and Substantive Interaction: Resources to Support Learning, Neuroplasticity, and Regulations

Similar topic, but new insight provided by guest authors Kristen Betts of Drexel University and Karyn Holt with INTERACT123 on regular and substantive interaction. Regulations and polices are some of our favorite topics here at WCET, and this year they were definitely a big focus. This post took that discussion of regular and substantive interaction and contextualized it within the science of learning, course design, and teaching practice.

New Federal Regulations, Part 2: Addressing Compliance with State Closure Laws and the Impact on Interstate Reciprocity Agreements

While lower in the list, part two of this series actually wasn’t that far behind in views. Part two of this series looked at closure requirements in each state and the impact of the new rules on institutions that participate in the State Authorization Reciprocity Agreement (SARA). These and the rules discussed in part one of the series go into effect July 1, 2024.

Is AI the New Homework Machine? Understanding AI and Its Impact on Higher Education

One of my favorite articles from 2023 was an early one! Remember when the topic of Artificial Intelligence in Higher Education was still a bit new?

I really enjoyed working on this post from Van Davis on the impact and importance of the new release of ChatGPT from OpenAI. This was back when ChatGPT was in version 3.5 and our community was just starting to grapple with AI and how it relates to academic integrity, digital literacy, equity, and more.

---

Thank you again to all of our readers for helping us make 2023 a great year here at WCET Frontier!.

Here’s to a new year full of opportunities to learn new things and highlight promising practices from our community. If you are interested in sharing your experiences with us, let me know!