New on WCET Frontiers
Practice
1.85 Million Credentials and Counting: The Digital Marketplace is Here
Published by: WCET | 4/9/2026
Over 1.85 million credentials are offered in the U.S. That number, from Credential Engine’s Counting Credentials 2025 report, is striking on its own. But the more important story is what those credentials tell us about how the credential marketplace is changing, and why getting the data infrastructure right has never mattered more. Credential Engine’s research in the Counting Credentials report, […]
Practice
From Checklist to Catalyst: Transforming Online Learning with the WCET Quality Rubric and Toolkit
Published by: WCET | 4/8/2026
Institutional leaders are quickly realizing that “quality” isn’t an end-goal; instead, it’s an ongoing journey toward continued improvement. This idea, coupled with WCET’s commitment to supporting institutions as they face increasing pressure to innovate, is behind the launch of the new WCET Online Learning Quality Rubric Toolkit. The WCET Online Learning Quality Rubric Toolkit has […]
Practice
Known and Knowing: The Case for Community in Online Learning
Published by: WCET | 4/2/2026
I came out of a graduate program that focused on research over teaching. I received one day of pedagogical training, which (because, as a historian, I was tapped to teach freshman composition) was half a day more than my peers. During my first few years of teaching, I floundered and struggled to find ways to […]
Practice
Agentic AI, Academic Integrity, and the Question We Are Avoiding
Published by: WCET | 3/26/2026
Recently, I was participating in a nationwide AI workgroup where someone suggested that the very phrase academic integrity is problematic. The argument was that it implies students lack integrity or are cheating when they use AI. In that same conversation, there was an undercurrent that anyone focused on integrity concerns might be a Luddite, someone […]
Practice
A Human-Centered Approach to Generative AI in Accessibility Review
Published by: WCET | 3/12/2026
What We Built at UCF When reviewing a tool for accessibility, we ask whether it will work for students in real course use. In practice, that question usually runs through a Voluntary Product Accessibility Template (VPAT®). VPATs are widely available and a standard part of many review processes, but they are often highly technical and […]
Practice
Building Institutional Capacity Through Digital Learning Professional Development
Published by: WCET | 3/5/2026
This week, we are featuring Every Learner Everywhere’s Course Catalog. Thanks Every Learner for this great resource! Because digital learning has become a baseline institutional responsibility, colleges and universities must support professional learning for faculty and academic leaders. Meanwhile, instructional technologies evolve faster than conferences can accommodate. Within that context, Every Learner Everywhere has launched […]
Practice
How to Not Be an Ostrich in the Age of AI
Published by: WCET | 2/26/2026
I’m currently testing out Copilot for WICHE as we work to refine our AI strategy and implementation. This morning, when I opened a new Word document to write this blog post, I was greeted with a helpful window prompting me to tell it what I wanted to write. Three minutes and one refinement to the […]
Practice
The Exhausting Debate: Why Quality, Not Modality, Should Be the Question
Published by: WCET | 2/3/2026
“Distance education isn’t as good as face-to-face.”“You have an online degree? That’s not really a degree.”“You went to an online school? Your degree must be a fake!”“Online schools aren’t as rigorous as ‘real’ colleges.” If you’ve been around digital learning since the late 1990s and early 2000s, you likely remember hearing disparaging comments like these. […]
Practice
Five Common Myths About AI in Higher Education and What Our Research Actually Found
Published by: WCET | 1/29/2026
Cutting through the noise to help institutions make smarter AI decisions As AI continues to reshape conversations across higher education, leaders are navigating an increasingly crowded landscape of competing claims, vendor promises, and institutional anxieties. In the midst of this information overload, misconceptions can cloud decision-making and slow meaningful progress. Through our national study of […]
Practice
A Decade of Data: How SARA Is Strengthening Protections and Expanding Access for Distance Learners
Published by: WCET | 12/11/2025
As postsecondary institutions continue to expand their digital learning footprints, understanding the regulatory and consumer-protection landscape has never been more important. SARA plays a central role in that landscape, especially as distance education stabilizes beyond the pandemic and institutions look for efficient, student-centered ways to operate across state lines. To explore the latest data, trends, […]