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23 days ago, I wrote my first newsletter about the Covid-19 crisis, predicting it could be "black swan" moment for higher education as we know it. https://www.chronicle.com/article/Why-Coronavirus-Looks-Like-a/248219
At the time, I was focused primarily on how colleges would get thru this, noting that agility, flexibility, and resiliency aren’t just crucial skills for 21st-century students. They’re also vital skills for 21st-century institutions.
I heard from many readers, here on Twitter and in emails, about what it means to be a resilient institution, and I shared them in the next issue of The Edge newsletter. https://www.chronicle.com/article/Coronavirus-Crisis-Underscores/248264
(In that newsletter I also noted that I realized i had left out one other vital 21st Century skill: dealing with ambiguity.)
The "grand pivot" to remote education and remote operations has been a major piece of this story, So last week in The Edge, I shared what I was hearing from IT leaders at colleges, academics, and edtech company execs. That included....
....concerns about information overload, praise for vendors who were stepping up, and warnings about "vultures" who were pushing too hard, price gauging, or otherwise failing to "read the room." https://www.chronicle.com/article/Partners-Vultures-and/248315
One of the big themes I heard from colleges IT leaders was, for now at least, they were relying primarily on existing relationships and taking advice from trusted sources or peers. That might change in a couple of months.
This week, as the economic turmoil of this crisis started to become clearer, I spoke with the leaders of six of the biggest education grant makers, to get a sense of how they were already changing course. https://www.chronicle.com/article/How-the-Coronavirus-Is/248394
I was struck not only by the commonalities of what they shared -- a focus on emergency aid for low-income students, the online transition, and preserving academic supports for students already disadvantaged in getting to and thru college -- but also ...
.....that each of these influential organization had different take on how they planned to press their agendas.
I'm already at work on my next newsletter. But as I consider how to cover this ongoing crisis in the weeks to come, I'd love to hear from you about issues and topics I might consider, especially if they fit the lens of The Edge, to cover "innovation in and around academe." So....
.... my email is in my bio above. If you've got ideas, send em my way. Meanwhile, hope you're all staying safe, sane, and humane. Also #StayAtHome
