In this piece I outline the history of the university in terms of a shift from a place concerned with the contemplation of the unknowable and the infinite to a machine focused on instrumental rationality, calculation, and computation. Reading this history through Lyotard's work on the post-modern condition and the emergence of the knowledge…

This reflective essay offers several practical suggestions for scholars and professionals who are looking for ways to sustain abundant personal and professional lives in a discipline that encourages workaholic tendencies and requires many to engage in hybrid working arrangements. We discuss the tensions experienced by many communication…

Critiques of neoliberal capitalism have offered a rich vocabulary for the analysis of the political economy of literacy across professional, public, and classroom contexts. Since the Great Recession, commonplaces about work-readiness have been conditioned by economic precarity and changes to the social contract of work that blur the lines between…

Most high school and collegiate athletic teams attend some type of camp to prepare for their upcoming season. This article provides a 30-day challenge to help high school and college dance teams to improve their overall physical fitness while they prepare for summer camp. The ideas can also be modified to meet the needs of other athletic teams.

This paper introduces generative AI for the graphic design of student presentation aids in a university public-speaking classroom. Students learn to use generative AI as an efficient enhancement to the creative process while preserving the integrity of the content. Students' slide presentations show improvement resulting from the activity, and…

It is now widely understood that societies must rapidly decarbonize to avoid the worst impacts of future climate change. To contribute to this urgent effort, academic libraries should develop an understanding of the carbon footprint resulting from their activities. This article shares the results of an effort at the Penn State University Libraries…

Concerns about the role of technology and the quality of student writing in higher education are not new. Historically, writing scholars have been at the forefront of initiatives that scrutinise and integrate new technologies in higher education. This article contends that writing scholars are again uniquely equipped to assist students, teachers…

Three years post-pandemic, the global higher education sector faces a crucial turning point. COVID-19 deepened existing inequities but also drove global innovation and adaptation. This report highlights five key themes discussed by Association of Commonwealth Universities (ACU) members from over 20 Commonwealth countries at the 2024 ACU…

Most students in higher education at present are 'digital natives.' They use technology in every facet of their life, including their education. They learn from formally organised courses as well as from informal learning. Hence, informal learning has been identified as crucial for the sustainability of higher education in the current global…

Courses: Media and Society, Introduction to Mass Media, Digital Culture. Objectives: By the end of this activity, students will be able to: describe dominant news media discourse about digital and social media; elucidate connections between dominant discourse and the perceived effects of technology; and recognize and critique arguments that rely…

To respond to the needs of digital transformation, universities must continue to play their role as proving ground for educating the future generation and innovation. The article is devoted to overview, discussion, and investigation of application in higher education of two modern information technologies: big data and internet of things. The…

Writing practitioners, researchers, and scholars are at a juncture where foundational assumptions about the teaching of writing, its place in higher education, and its ability to help foster a truly inclusive democratic society are increasingly contested. Trust in literacy has been eroded over the past decades, coming to an acute crisis in the…

This paper reviews recent literature on massive open online courses (MOOCs) and their impact on Library and Information Science (LIS) education, describing the features and types of MOOCs, as well as their disruptive nature, pedagogical impact and use in traditional classroom settings. Concerns with high dropout rates and the lack of a business…

According to recent Pew Center research (2021), 72% of the US public uses some form of social media. These social media apps -- from Twitter to Facebook to Snapchat to Instagram, Threads, TikTok, and more -- are utilized to establish our digital presence and portray our digital identities. For higher education institutions and student affairs…

With the complex and ever-changing business and employment environments, learners are being prepared for jobs that may no longer exist, while others are not acquiring the skills needed for the in-demand jobs to which they aspire. Given the future of workplace demands, there are strong indications that non-degree certifications and…