Transcript of the Virtual Worlds Education Roundtable: June 11, 2026
Topic: Horizon Teaching & Learning Report 2026
Photo by Sheila Yoshikawa
We will discuss key themes from the EDUCAUSE 2026 Horizon report, introduced by Sheila Yoshikawa. The report is at https://library.educause.edu/resources/2026/5/2026-educause-horizon-report-teaching-and-learning-edition.
[12:01] Sheila Yoshikawa: Hi everyone, and welcome to the Virtual Worlds Education Roundtable. VWER meets on Thursdays at 12 noon SLT for an hour, in the UK 8pm, 3pm EST.
[12:01] Sheila Yoshikawa: VWER is a forum to educate and inform the community about issues that are important and relevant to education in virtual worlds.
[12:01] Sheila Yoshikawa: We work in collaboration with the Virtual Worlds Education Consortium. This is a public meeting, so we will be keeping and publishing a transcript. The transcripts can be found at https://vwer.info/
[12:02] Sheila Yoshikawa: The VWER continues to develop a community of educators from around the world.
[12:02] Sheila Yoshikawa: Please join the VWER group here in SL. If you are on Facebook please join our group there http://www.facebook.com/groups/159154226946/
[12:02] Sheila Yoshikawa: Today’s topic is: Horizon Report 2026. It will be in text chat
[12:02] Sheila Yoshikawa: Let’s start as we normally do and introduce ourselves. Just type into text chat as much or as little as you want.
[12:02] Sheila Yoshikawa: also there’s a notecard if you click the box behind Breila
[12:03] Sheila Yoshikawa: I am a faculty member in the School of Information, Journalism and Communication, University of Sheffield, UK and I’m leader of VWER
[12:03] Breila Jenvieve: I’m Rebecca Lyman, a middle school special education teacher and sixteenth century social historian in Austin, TX.
[12:03] Sheila Yoshikawa: Hello Shiloh
[12:03] Skipper Abel: Lecturer in Computing for Higher Education UK, run sims at Coders Central and Spaceport UK (AKA Aso Galicia) in SL and Azimuth Campus on Kitely and running building scripting support for AvatarLife.
[12:04] Shiloh e. (shiloh.emmons): *waves to everyone.. Hi, Sheila…
[12:04] Max Chatnoir: Mary Anne Clark, retired bio prof from Texas Wesleyan.
[12:04] Marly (marly.milena): Niela Miller= If you really want to find out about my creative work life,(including SL) consider ordering this little book about me by Dr. JB Labrune (naadam in SL). It is called THE SYMBOLIC BRIDGE and you can get it at http://lulu.com in Bookstore [https://www.lulu.com/shop/jean-baptiste-labrune/the-symbolic-bridge-the-creative-work-life-of-niela-miller/paperback/product-w4wej76.html?q=SYMBOLIC+BRIDGE&page=1&pageSize=4 ].
[12:04] Shiloh e. (shiloh.emmons): I am Proj Director/ Events Mgr at Scientia sim
[12:05] Sheila Yoshikawa: Thanks
[12:06] Sheila Yoshikawa: OK today is the annual session about the latest edition of the Horizon Report
[12:06] Sheila Yoshikawa: which was started about 20 years ago by New Media Consortium
[12:06] Sheila Yoshikawa: then got taken over by EDUCAUSE when NMC’s treasurer ran away with the funds and it folded
[12:07] Sheila Yoshikawa: The report is at
https://library.educause.edu/resources/2026/5/2026-educause-horizon-report-teaching-and-learning-edition
the pdf is at
https://library.educause.edu/-/media/files/library/2026/5/2026hrteachinglearning.pdf
[12:07] Sheila Yoshikawa: Also Hope (Esparanza Freese) has a booth on the report at the VWEC Community Faire
[12:07] Sheila Yoshikawa: which is on teh Horizon Report, though it doesn’t have a huge amount of extra information
[12:08] Sheila Yoshikawa: but when we have our VWEC faire tour we will go to it, that’s next week and teh booth LM is in the notecard
[12:08] Sheila Yoshikawa: you will notice I am doing my usual spelling mistakes to prove I’m not an AI
[12:09] Sheila Yoshikawa: The report is compiled each year based on the opinions of people in the higher education/educational technology fields (with a particular USA focus, but input from experts in some other countries).
[12:09] Sheila Yoshikawa: In previous years they identified “key technologies and practices”
[12:09] Sheila Yoshikawa: This year it changed to identifying “Signals of Change” which makes it a bit more difficult to compare with previous years,
[12:09] Sheila Yoshikawa: although there is a lot of overlap in terms of a focus on AI, cybersecurity, governance and changing practices (last year “evolving” and this year “emerging”) [scroll down the notecard for summaries of previous years’ technologies & practices]
[12:09] Sheila Yoshikawa: though the other change
[12:09] Sheila Yoshikawa: is that the “key technologies and practices had summary text plus a couple of examples
[12:10] Sheila Yoshikawa: whereas the “Signals of Change” just has examples of practice
[12:10] Sheila Yoshikawa: For the last years there has also been a STEEP analysis (Social, technological, economic, environmental, policy) of the Higher Education environment
[12:10] Sheila Yoshikawa: I haven’t copied that here, we will look at later in the year.
[12:10] Sheila Yoshikawa: I will likely schedule it during the VWMOOC
[12:10] Sheila Yoshikawa: Interestingly, the STEEP analysis does identify the need for various literacies, but literacies are mentioned very little in the “Signals of change” section!
[12:11] Marly (marly.milena): I wonder if the whole purpose for going to college is shifting dramatically
[12:11] Sheila Yoshikawa: obviously I’m particularly interested in the literacies angle
[12:11] Sheila Yoshikawa: well that does come into STEEP analysis but also into these signals for change
[12:12] Max Chatnoir: I see we now have to prove that our students can make more money than they would have without us.
[12:12] Sheila Yoshikawa: So I copied into the notecard the names of the Signals sections and also a couple of examples from each section
[12:12] Breila Jenvieve: I saw that too, but that seems very much an oversimplification.
[12:12] Sheila Yoshikawa: I thought we could discuss a few of the examples
[12:12] Sheila Yoshikawa: The 2026 signals of Change are as follows. Each one has a series of examples, from practice or published account. There is a paragraph for each example, including brief description and some discussion.
[12:13] Sheila Yoshikawa: there is a load of AI in it
[12:13] Sheila Yoshikawa: actually, I will pick up on Marly’s point, and skip to one of the headings
[12:14] Sheila Yoshikawa: **Attempts to Improve the ROI of Higher Education
Examples include
— “Program Earnings Test
A U.S. Department of Education advisory panel has recommended that the department require higher education institutions to prove that their degree programs help students earn more money than a high school diploma alone.”
— “Apprenticeship for Credit
Thomas Edison State University and the New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development have launched an initiative to develop apprenticeship programs that earn college credit.”
[12:14] Sheila Yoshikawa: So already that is a bit different from when I went to uni
[12:14] Sheila Yoshikawa: this emphasis on Return On Investment
[12:15] Sheila Yoshikawa: what do you think about the US Dept of Ed requiring that “higher education institutions to prove that their degree programs help students earn more money than a high school diploma alone.”?
[12:15] Marly (marly.milena): Who decided that earning more money should be a core value? At my alma mater (Antioch College) the core value is solving sticky problems and the students come to learn how to be change agents and design their own programs!
[12:15] Sheila Yoshikawa: In teh UK we haven’t got that yet, but there has been more and more emphasis on universities being about employability + a social life
[12:16] Breila Jenvieve: I don’t think the responsibility of determining how much money a student could make after graduation is the college’s responsibility. The student needs to do his own ROI.
[12:16] Shiloh e. (shiloh.emmons): hmmm nothing that assesses the cognitive development of students by age or class grades?
[12:17] Sheila Yoshikawa: Well, I don’t think it should be the core value, but certainly unis in the UK (in my view) have been digging their own graves, in that they emphasise employability, but iof it’s only about being job-ready I don’t think university IS the necessary solution
[12:17] Marly (marly.milena): Who can even predict how employment is going to work with the continued development of AI
[12:18] Breila Jenvieve: That’s true.
[12:18] Sheila Yoshikawa: indeed, entry level graduate jobs are some of those disappearing, at least at the moment
[12:18] Shiloh e. (shiloh.emmons): I will spend time reading this,Sheila.. but is there any contrasting data with, let’s say, South Korean school system…. or any of the Asian school systems and student achievement?
[12:19] Sheila Yoshikawa: they don’t present data, and, to be fair, it says in the Horizon report “However, early results of these new requirements uncover deep methodological limitations. Disciplinary nuances in job placement and salary indicators are overlooked, leading to the premature closure of programs in areas where longer-term gains in leadership and earning potential aren’t demonstrated in near-term outcomes. Fields for which additional graduate study or credentials are commonly needed are also poorly represented in earnings tests based on undergraduate work. Moreover, fields in public service such as education, social work, and nonprofit management, for which higher earning potential is not a primary motivator, could be disproportionately impacted by declines in enrollment and institutional support that can result from earnings tests”
[12:20] Sheila Yoshikawa: i.e. the report writers do point out this could be a flawed approach – though notably they don’t really address the nub of Marly’s point about what university is for
[12:20] Breila Jenvieve: Exactly. I didn’t become a teacher for the money, heaven knows.
[12:21] Sheila Yoshikawa: no!
[12:21] Max Chatnoir: But I did expect to be able to make a living wage.
[12:21] Beth Ghostraven: I’m back, sorry I’m so late
[12:21] Breila Jenvieve: Hello Beth
[12:21] Marly (marly.milena): I hope there are people working on a redesign of educational institutions that serve different purposes.
[12:22] Sheila Yoshikawa: the other example I gave was about apprenticeships. In the UK apprenticeships declined dramatically, but now they are being supported a bit more. Is that the same in teh States?
[12:22] Max Chatnoir: But I sure didn’t send any info on my salary back to any of my schools!
[12:22] Shiloh e. (shiloh.emmons): my perspective on why go for a university degree was not that I was guaranteed a job.. but it was to “learn how to think critically and learn how to write well”……
[12:22] Breila Jenvieve: My alma mater already begs for money from me. I don’t really want to discuss my income with them.
[12:23] Sheila Yoshikawa: @Marly I don’t think there is much in terms of that kind of redesign
[12:23] Marly (marly.milena): Many of the Antioch students go to areas in the world where they apprentice to those skilled in their area of interest ie water purification, disease control, etc
[12:23] Sheila Yoshikawa: lol @Breila yes same!
[12:23] Shiloh e. (shiloh.emmons): not that I am aware of, Sheila… internships are not emphasized in college… as if they ever were.
[12:23] Beth Ghostraven: @Marly I think everyone in education is just trying to keep their head above water :o)
[12:24] Breila Jenvieve: My son going into media production is about to start an internship, but in general I don’t hear it discussed much.
[12:24] Sheila Yoshikawa: in fact there is an internship for undergraduates at Sheffield, but it something students have to take initiative and apply for, it isn’t a regular thing
[12:24] Marly (marly.milena): I think we may be forced to redesign as various aspects of the educational journey become obsolete or shift into new areas
[12:24] Beth Ghostraven: It’s too bad – internships seem to be an ideal way to get work experience
[12:24] Sheila Yoshikawa: by apprenticeships I meant really as an alternative to university – apprenticing to a trade
[12:24] Beth Ghostraven: student teaching is a kind of internship
[12:24] Sheila Yoshikawa: like plumbing, or engineering
[12:25] Breila Jenvieve: True, @Beth.
[12:25] Sheila Yoshikawa: when there was more heavy industry and crafts there was more of that
[12:25] Shiloh e. (shiloh.emmons): i think what I found interesting about college and employment in South Korea.. is the students start college at age 20 or 21. As for employment, it is competitive… the hiree has to prove their worth to be offered a full time job….
[12:25] Shiloh e. (shiloh.emmons): I agree, Beth
[12:25] Marly (marly.milena): In the U.S. there has been, for a long time, two types of tracks for students. One is academic and the other is vocational
[12:25] Breila Jenvieve: I did an alternative certification where I finished my post-bacc work and got a full time teaching job as an “intern”
[12:26] Shiloh e. (shiloh.emmons): I did an internship as an undergrad… setting up a filing system for Michigan Indian Manpower… which leg to being hired by them as an Administrative Assistant…
[12:27] Sheila Yoshikawa: I have observed that the keen undergraduates work very hard at getting opportunities to do projects, do unpaid internships, basically have more things to put on their CV that shows that have all sorts of skills and initiative
[12:27] Beth Ghostraven: Shiloh, I think many internships have the expectation or hope of being hired later
[12:28] Breila Jenvieve: Right, Beth, to make connections in the industry.
[12:28] Sheila Yoshikawa: I will also pick out the section on **The Changing Landscape of Education Systems
[12:28] Marly (marly.milena): Many very successful people decided to forego the higher ed experience in favor of interning, apprenticing or inventing their trajectory in the field that interested them
[12:29] Shiloh e. (shiloh.emmons): that is what an internship is, Sheila..some universities I think still allow a student to do an internship for college credit.
[12:29] Breila Jenvieve: Which is impossible in education, Marly.
[12:29] Second Life: VWER: 11 June 2026: Horizon Report 2026 owned by Sheila Yoshikawa gave you ‘VWER: 11 June 2026: Horizon Report 2026’ ( Infolit iSchool (231,22,20) ).
[12:30] Marly (marly.milena): Breila, you mean licensing? I majored in Creative Arts and Theater but then took that background into psychology and education and always had enough clients/work
[12:30] Sheila Yoshikawa: @Shiloh the longer term internships do pay a wage.
[12:30] Marly (marly.milena): Gestalt and Jungian therapists did not have licensing in the old days…..
[12:31] Breila Jenvieve: I’m honestly not sure how valuable my education was in my teaching career. It was an incredible experience, but I learned to teach by a handful of classes and getting thrown into the classroom. I imagine many professions are like that.
[12:31] Beth Ghostraven: Breila, I think that’s the case for most teachers
[12:31] Shiloh e. (shiloh.emmons): wait a moment, Sheila… the Cybersecurity section…. might be inaccurate. What was the recent cyber security breach… where the hackers held education institution data on students for ransome
[12:31] Breila Jenvieve: I don’t doubt it
[12:31] Max Chatnoir: i guess being a teaching assistant was a kind of internship.
[12:32] Breila Jenvieve: I loved college, and I could write a mean term paper, but…
[12:32] Sheila Yoshikawa: basically my university education was about developing as a person, having my horizons broadened, realising there were more possibilities for me,
[12:32] Sheila Yoshikawa: but (not just because of the qualification) I never would have got where I am now if I hadn’t gone through that experience, I started with low expectations of myself
[12:32] Beth Ghostraven: Becoming a school librarian was the same for me – I used everything I learned in my degrees, but my teaching colleagues taught me how to teach research
[12:33] Sheila Yoshikawa: I also learned through experience and observation, teaching I mean
[12:33] Marly (marly.milena): The liberal arts theme was what most students were interested in being educated about ie arts, literature, basic sciences, history, et al. I really didn’t think about whether it would lead to my earning a living
[12:33] Beth Ghostraven: brb
[12:33] Sheila Yoshikawa: OK, I think this is relevant
[12:34] Sheila Yoshikawa: Examples in “
**The Changing Landscape of Education Systems” include
— “Alpha School, an “AI-powered” private K–8 school in San Francisco, uses AI to cover traditional academic subjects in just two hours of personalized learning each day.
Colleges and universities might soon begin enrolling students who have been educated in AI-first schools that emphasize faster and more automated instruction, prompting a reevaluation of admissions requirements and a reconsideration of what it means for students to be “ready” for a postsecondary journey.”
[12:34] Sheila Yoshikawa: So my jaw dropped
[12:34] Breila Jenvieve: Right/
[12:34] Sheila Yoshikawa: that anyone would think that 2 hours a day being tutored by an AI was a rounded education
[12:34] Sheila Yoshikawa: but
[12:35] Max Chatnoir: I’m not sure how instruction can be automated.
[12:35] Sheila Yoshikawa: perhaps I’m just prejudiced!
[12:35] Max Chatnoir: It takes interaction.
[12:35] Breila Jenvieve: Some instruction can definitely be automated. But that should now just open up time for the interesting stuff, not lower the priority of education.
[12:36] Sheila Yoshikawa: exactly, I mean I have increasingly found that the “content” you can support in 2 hours is less and less, and more and more of my time is devising activities and interactions
[12:36] Sheila Yoshikawa: that sounds like flipped learning without the actual learning part
[12:36] Sheila Yoshikawa: I mean the 2 hour “efficient” learning
[12:36] Breila Jenvieve: Flipped learning has become anathema since COVID, it seems.
[12:37] Breila Jenvieve: At least at my level.
[12:37] Sheila Yoshikawa: interesting!
[12:37] Sheila Yoshikawa: sorry if I am throwing out too many of my own opinions!
[12:38] Marly (marly.milena): What stands out in my memory of 70 years ago!!!! were the informal deep conversations with faculty often at their homes, the opportunity to play with ideas and discover possibilities
[12:38] Beth Ghostraven: back
[12:38] Max Chatnoir: Hi, Liss.
[12:39] Sheila Yoshikawa: I think it’s just elite institutions where you might get that now (and lecturers wouldn’t dare have students in their homes, I think!)
[12:39] Sheila Yoshikawa: Hello Liss
[12:39] Sheila Yoshikawa: to throw in another theme
[12:39] Sheila Yoshikawa: **External Pressures on Education Stakeholders
[12:39] Lissena Wisdomseeker (lissena): Hi 🙂
[12:40] Sheila Yoshikawa: The examples are
— “Texas Water Supply
Texas officials announced that the state’s water supply might not be able to fulfill demand by 2030.
… In response, higher education institutions might be forced to make adjustments such as closing drinking fountains and limiting restroom usage.” [that last possibility sounds rather unhygienic!]
[12:40] Sheila Yoshikawa: that’s rather frightening
[12:40] Max Chatnoir: How can you limit restroom usage?
[12:40] Sheila Yoshikawa: but I suppose it is already the situation in countries that already have little water
[12:40] Sheila Yoshikawa whispers: @Max, I was thinking – very smelly bushes and woodlands?????
[12:41] Max Chatnoir: you only get to flush after 5 uses, or something?
[12:41] Sheila Yoshikawa: doesn’t bear thinking about, but I suppose if needs must….
[12:41] Breila Jenvieve: Nobody can really believe that limiting restroom use is sustainable…
[12:42] Sheila Yoshikawa: but I thought it was interesting in bringing really basic issues to the fore
[12:42] Marly (marly.milena): OK, ladies, let’s get our heads out of the toilet! LOL
[12:42] Sheila Yoshikawa: lol
[12:42] Max Chatnoir: Well, it might actually become an issue…
[12:42] Beth Ghostraven: That could be partly a result of data center water use, which is a result of increased AI use…
[12:42] Sheila Yoshikawa: another example in this category was “– “The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services froze childcare and family assistance grants in California, Colorado, Illinois, Minnesota, and New York to investigate fraud and misuse. … Such a shift would impact higher education by forcing some learners to choose between their education and other financial needs, potentially leading to an increase in stop-outs.”
[12:42] Sheila Yoshikawa: @Beth good point
[12:43] Breila Jenvieve: I mean, it may be that restroom limitations is the last straw that makes people critically examine how AI is used.
[12:43] Sheila Yoshikawa: it could take that!
[12:43] Beth Ghostraven: Middle school teachers already try to limit restroom use because it’s a distraction
[12:44] Breila Jenvieve: Time out of class, time to make mischief, etc.
[12:44] Beth Ghostraven: Breila, exactly
[12:44] Sheila Yoshikawa: I imagine that’s something that hasn’t changed
[12:45] Sheila Yoshikawa: Another theme was **Evolving Use Cases for AI Technologies
[12:45] Breila Jenvieve: But certainly not because of water shortages.
[12:45] Sheila Yoshikawa: Examples include
— “AI Learning Assistants for All: California Community Colleges is rolling out a free AI learning assistant to students and staff at all of its 116 campuses.”
[12:45] Sheila Yoshikawa: — “Learn Your Way is a Google Labs research experiment to create multimodal, personalized versions of textbooks.”
[12:45] Sheila Yoshikawa: — “The multimedia company Tencent introduced Hunyuan 3D, an AI system that in seconds can create 3D models that take human artists days or weeks to accomplish. .. With the creation of Hunyuan 3D, VR could soon become much more easily scalable” (including for creating customised VR environments for education)
[12:45] Marly (marly.milena): So here is a question: If you were looking for a higher ed experience for a child of yours, what would your criteria be?
[12:45] Sheila Yoshikawa: Tencent is a major company in China
[12:46] Breila Jenvieve: (I discovered Tencent just yesterday for 3D art for SL)
[12:46] Sheila Yoshikawa: interesting Breila, because when I read it I thought of creators in SL
[12:46] Sheila Yoshikawa: @Marly – I think it would depend so much on the child
[12:47] Marly (marly.milena): YOUR child
[12:47] Breila Jenvieve: That’s true. My sons both have very different experiences and needs with higher ed, for instance.
[12:47] Sheila Yoshikawa: I mean, I’d want an experience that would help them to fulfill their potential and lead to a life where they felt happy
[12:48] Sheila Yoshikawa: but developing criteria that actually matched the stuff that universities push out to parents…..
[12:48] Sheila Yoshikawa: and I might have a child that was insistent that what they wanted was enough money to do what they wanted, buy a house
[12:49] Marly (marly.milena): I would hope that MY child would have a similar experience that I had with the addition of careful thinking and understanding of the AI world we now inhabit and how to address that, not just in education, but in life
[12:50] Lissena Wisdomseeker (lissena): I think that it difficult not only for kids but for their parents to do
[12:50] Sheila Yoshikawa: perhaps I’m a pessimist, I imagine having a child who says – yes, yes, mum you had a transformative experience yadda yadda, you didn’t have a big student loan to pay off
[12:51] Breila Jenvieve: That critical thinking aspect of education is vital to be able to navigate AI.
[12:51] Max Chatnoir: Well, that is a good point, Sheila.
[12:51] Lissena Wisdomseeker (lissena): I have 2 grandkids who just graduated from college and that is not how they are thinking about things so I feel hope 🙂
[12:51] Sheila Yoshikawa: yes @Breila also to @Max
[12:52] Beth Ghostraven: My child would need a special program designed for her. She was identified as gifted, but not as special needs, which she should have been – dual-identified.
[12:52] Sheila Yoshikawa: @Liss yes I know that not everyone thinks like that!
[12:52] Max Chatnoir: How are they thinking about things, Liss/
[12:52] Max Chatnoir: ?
[12:52] Shiloh e. (shiloh.emmons): a friend of mine was a math teacher with a flipped learning school system.. during COVID… he said barely 30% of the students would show up.
[12:52] Marly (marly.milena): That’s where redesign comes in. Are there ways for learners to find and experience education which is not dependent on student loans?
[12:52] Sheila Yoshikawa: @Beth that’s tough
[12:52] Marly (marly.milena): education
[12:53] Breila Jenvieve: Redesign has been desperately needed for years, and is now critical. I’m not sure what that should look like, though.
[12:53] Beth Ghostraven: @Marly especially student loans which can wind up being predatory lending
[12:53] Sheila Yoshikawa: @Marly public pedagogy … oh there is a movement about free university – the porous university
[12:53] Sheila Yoshikawa: also of course there are still countries where you do not need a student loan
[12:54] Lissena Wisdomseeker (lissena): our grandson was expecting to get a lab job to help pay for grad school–but the funding has been but in public health–so it is a struggle –he is teaching piano to make money!
[12:54] Sheila Yoshikawa: In Scotland Scottish residents don’t have fees
[12:54] Sheila Yoshikawa: also some other European countries – in Sweden you actually get paid to get many PhDs
[12:54] Marly (marly.milena): Yes, we should be looking at ed programs around the world which are designed to support the well-being of both students and teachers
[12:56] Sheila Yoshikawa: @Breila, there is a big thing internationally about “transformation” of universities, but it is all about cutting programmes, making things more efficient etc., it isn’t actually transformational
[12:56] Sheila Yoshikawa: sorry onto a hobbyhorse again
[12:56] Sheila Yoshikawa: OK just a few minutes left
[12:56] Breila Jenvieve: No, that’s not at all transformational. How frustrating.
[12:56] Shiloh e. (shiloh.emmons): Enhancing AI literacy for educators: Where to start and to what end? https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666920X26000111
[12:56] Beth Ghostraven: @Sheila the usual double-speak, framing something as the opposite of what it actually is
[12:56] Sheila Yoshikawa: thanks
[12:56] Lissena Wisdomseeker (lissena): do you know any transformational colleges stil left?
[12:56] Max Chatnoir: Thanks, Shiloh
[12:56] Shiloh e. (shiloh.emmons): you are welcome
[12:57] Marly (marly.milena): Yes, Sheila, but I still think it is possible and we do have models for it from past and some present educational venues
[12:57] Sheila Yoshikawa: @Liss I think there are still transformational EDUCATORS trying hard in colleges
[12:57] Lissena Wisdomseeker (lissena): I’m thinking of places like Antioch, Mar;ly
[12:57] Shiloh e. (shiloh.emmons): AI and Critical Thinking in Education https://wmich.edu/x/teaching-learning/teaching-resources/ai-critical-thinking
[12:57] Marly (marly.milena): Yes, I mentioned that, LIss, before you arrived. Definitely transformational, and there are a few others
[12:57] Lissena Wisdomseeker (lissena): is it still open?
[12:57] Max Chatnoir: bookmarked both of those!
[12:57] Beth Ghostraven: my first college was Bennington College in Vermont – they might still be a true liberal arts college
[12:58] Shiloh e. (shiloh.emmons): i wonder… has St. John’s adapted their curriculum to advancing tech.. or are they still the classics?
[12:58] Sheila Yoshikawa: The other themes I didn’t highlight are – AI Governance and Trust and
**Emerging Practices **
[12:58] Marly (marly.milena): Yes, enrollment has actually increased
[12:58] Lissena Wisdomseeker (lissena): ooh Bennington, Beth!
[12:58] Max Chatnoir: I have to run soon. Philosophy coming up.
[12:58] Beth Ghostraven: the high school that I graduated from was founded by St. Johns graduates, and used a lot of their principles
[12:58] Beth Ghostraven: The Key School in Annapolis
[12:58] Sheila Yoshikawa: Liberal arts colleges have sounded interesting to me – we don’t have those as such over here
[12:58] Lissena Wisdomseeker (lissena): then all is not lost!
[12:58] Shiloh e. (shiloh.emmons): those are very good principles, Beth
[12:59] Beth Ghostraven: Shiloh, yes, I learned a LOT
[12:59] Breila Jenvieve: I need to learn more about those places.
[12:59] Shiloh e. (shiloh.emmons): we have a branch of the institution out here in Santa Fe…
[12:59] Lissena Wisdomseeker (lissena): Bard is another
[12:59] Beth Ghostraven: those are both expensive private schools, though
[12:59] Marly (marly.milena): Examples of Transformational Institutions
Institutions that integrate technology into their curricula and operations to enhance learning experiences.
Universities that prioritize sustainability and social responsibility in their missions and practices.
Colleges that implement flexible learning models to accommodate diverse student needs, especially post-pandemic.
[12:59] Shiloh e. (shiloh.emmons): ahh, good, Lissi..
[13:00] Shiloh e. (shiloh.emmons): Heading out… ty for a very good discussion and overview, Sheila… and everyone.
[13:00] Beth Ghostraven: oops we’re at the top of the hour
[13:00] Shiloh e. (shiloh.emmons): stay well… be safe… Namaste
[13:00] Lissena Wisdomseeker (lissena): tc all
[13:00] Skipper Abel: Thank you for all the work on this for the roundtable today Sheila, and everyone for a really interesting discussion
[13:00] Marly (marly.milena): Just ask AI about transformational ed institutions! LOL
[13:00] Skipper Abel: Bye for now
[13:01] Beth Ghostraven: heading to a mermaid dance!
[13:01] Breila Jenvieve: Great discussion today, thanks so much!
[13:01] Breila Jenvieve: Take care, everyone!
NOTECARD: VWER 11 June 2026 – Horizon Report 2026
VWER 11 June 2026
***Topic: Horizon Report 2026
The 2026 edition of the Horizon Report – Teaching & Learning has recently been published by EDUCAUSE. Sheila Yoshikawa will briefly introduce the report, and then we can select a couple of its themes for discussion.
The report is at
https://library.educause.edu/resources/2026/5/2026-educause-horizon-report-teaching-and-learning-edition
the pdf is at
https://library.educause.edu/-/media/files/library/2026/5/2026hrteachinglearning.pdf
Hope (Esparanza Freese) has a booth on the report at the VWEC Community Faire
The report is compiled each year based on the opinions of people in the higher education/educational technology fields (with a particular USA focus, but input from experts in some other countries).
In previous years they identified “key technologies and practices” This year it changed to identifying “Signals of Change” which makes it a bit more difficult to compare with previous years, although there is a lot of overlap in terms of a focus on AI, cybersecurity, governance and changing practices (last year “evolving” and this year “emerging”) [scroll down the notecard for summaries of previous years’ technologies & practices]
For the last years there has also been a STEEP analysis (Social, technological, economic, environmental, policy) of the Higher Education environment. I haven’t copied that here, we will look at later in the year. Interestingly, the STEEP analysis does identify the need for various literacies, but literacies are mentioned very little in the “Signals of change” section!
The 2026 signals of Change are as follows. Each one has a series of examples, from practice or published account. There is a paragraph for each example, including brief description and some discussion.
+++ I just selected some of the examples below, not all!++
**Evolving Use Cases for AI Technologies
Examples include
— “AI Learning Assistants for All: California Community Colleges is rolling out a free AI learning assistant to students and staff at all of its 116 campuses.”
— “Learn Your Way is a Google Labs research experiment to create multimodal, personalized versions of textbooks.”
— “The multimedia company Tencent introduced Hunyuan 3D, an AI system that in seconds can create 3D models that take human artists days or weeks to accomplish. .. With the creation of Hunyuan 3D, VR could soon become much more easily scalable” (including for creating customised VR environments for education)
**AI Governance and Trust
Examples include
— “AI Detection … Distrust in AI detection tools continues to grow in higher education, due in part to increasing awareness of its inaccuracies and biases, particularly in assessing written materials submitted by students with diverse linguistic backgrounds (e.g., non-native- English-speaking students).”
— “Chatbot Transparency
Proposed California Senate Bill 243 aims to make chatbot use more transparent by requiring operators of chatbots to “issue a clear and conspicuous notification indicating that the companion chatbot is artificially generated and not human.””
**The Changing Landscape of Education Systems
Examples include
— “Alpha School, an “AI-powered” private K–8 school in San Francisco, uses AI to cover traditional academic subjects in just two hours of personalized learning each day.
Colleges and universities might soon begin enrolling students who have been educated in AI-first schools that emphasize faster and more automated instruction, prompting a reevaluation of admissions requirements and a reconsideration of what it means for students to be “ready” for a postsecondary journey.” [this could be an interesting one to discuss!]
— “Law School Accreditation
Officials in Texas plan to stop using the American Bar Association for law school accreditation, instead creating a list of schools whose graduates will be allowed to practice law in the state.”
**Attempts to Improve the ROI of Higher Education
Examples include
— “Program Earnings Test
A U.S. Department of Education advisory panel has recommended that the department require higher education institutions to prove that their degree programs help students earn more money than a high school diploma alone.”
— “Apprenticeship for Credit
Thomas Edison State University and the New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development have launched an initiative to develop apprenticeship programs that earn college credit.”
**External Pressures on Education Stakeholders
The examples are
— “Texas Water Supply
Texas officials announced that the state’s water supply might not be able to fulfill demand by 2030.
… In response, higher education institutions might be forced to make adjustments such as closing drinking fountains and limiting restroom usage.” [that last possibility sounds rather unhygienic!]
— “The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services froze childcare and family assistance grants in California, Colorado, Illinois, Minnesota, and New York to investigate fraud and misuse. … Such a shift would impact higher education by forcing some learners to choose between their education and other financial needs, potentially leading to an increase in stop-outs.”
**Emerging Practices
This section has the largest number of examples, 11 which “demonstrate work being done on college and university campuses to experiment with novel ways that technology can be used to further the mission of higher education.” e.g.
— The ELSEI Co-Regulator (ECR) is an emerging, AI-driven initiative developed within the Master ELSEI (E-Learning and Intelligent Educational Systems) program at the Ecole Normale Superieure, Abdelmalek Essaadi University (Morocco). The project explores a novel paradigm in which artificial intelligence functions not as a content generator but as a pedagogical co-regulator that supports learners’ self-regulation processes in real time.”
— a teacher education project in Kenya “The project is testing how structured AI tools delivered through WhatsApp function in a mobile-first, low-infrastructure environment and how they shape pre-service teachers’ emerging AI literacy,”
— “Outwondering the Algorithm is a framework and pilot program developed by a design educator at Pikes Peak State College, a two-year state institution in Colorado Springs. It positions curiosity—not AI fluency or prompt engineering—as the foundational skill educators need to cultivate in learners navigating a world increasingly shaped by generative AI. The framework uses a breathing metaphor to reframe creative and critical thinking as interdependent processes: divergent thinking (wondering, exploring, gathering ideas) is the inhale; convergent thinking (synthesizing, deciding, making) is the exhale.”
In the 2025 report they identified Key Technologies & Practices
** AI Tools for Teaching and Learning
** Faculty Development for Generative AI
** AI Governance
** Shoring Up Cybersecurity
** Evolving Teaching Practices
** Critical Digital Literacy
** AI Tools for Teaching and Learning
“AI tools are driving two parallel conversations among teaching and learning professionals. First, how do we leverage these tools to improve teaching practices and students’ learning experiences? And second, how do we teach students about these tools?”
“As AI tools for teaching and learning become more ubiquitous, institutions must take great care to preserve the core goals of higher education and foster uniquely human skills.”
** Faculty Development for Generative AI
“Few insist that faculty must teach with generative AI, but most of the higher education community agrees that faculty must teach students about generative AI, making relevant professional development a necessity for all.”
Action points:
- Lean into curiosity [of faculty]
- Participate in asynchronous training.
- Participate in discipline-specific training
- Establish institutional policies that support faculty in customizing their own guidelines.
- Join a community of practice.
- For faculty development professionals: Offer faculty multiple forms of professional development.
- Compare a variety of generative AI tools.
- Talk to your students
** AI Governance
To do with drawing up policies. “teaching and learning professionals need AI governance to ensure that faculty, staff, and students are all using AI tools ethically and responsibly and to mitigate the many risks associated with AI technologies.”
** Shoring Up Cybersecurity
“Shoring up cybersecurity poses very few risks for institutions, but our panel did have a few words of caution. Overly restrictive cybersecurity policies and processes can reduce users’ access to important data and tools, stifling productivity, academic freedom, and innovation.”
** Evolving Teaching Practices
Action points:
- Keep teacher–student connection at the center of teaching and learning.
- Be present, curious, and open to learning from students.
- Manage disagreement responsibly.
- Reflect on your teaching practices.
- Make a plan for professional growth.
- Explore advancements in educational technology.
- Evolve assessment practices.
- Prepare for a diverse group of students.
- Foster an institutional culture that values good teaching.
** Critical Digital Literacy
Action points:
- Start with your own critical digital literacy. Seek your own professional and personal development, both before you start teaching it to your students and on an ongoing basis.
- Remember the full scope of critical digital literacy.
- Embed critical digital literacy across the curriculum.
- Collaborate with librarians. (They say – “Critical digital literacy has evolved from information literacy, which has long been an area of focus for library professionals.”)
- Promote data literacy awareness
PAST reports
The 2024 report is at https://library.educause.edu/resources/2024/5/2024-educause-horizon-report-teaching-and-learning-edition
For 2024 they identified key technologies and practices as:
- Finding Appropriate Uses for AI-Enabled Technology
- Supporting AI Fluency
- Supporting Equitable and Inclusive Learning
- Protecting Data Privacy and Security
- Navigating Misinformation
- Supporting Mental Health
Compared with previous years (see below) the issue of delivery mode (online, offline, hybrid), and being concerned about teachers’ abilities to deliver multimodally, is no longer foregrounded. They have been absorbed into a student-centred thread with 2 new tech/practices “Equitable and inclusive learning” and “Supporting mental health”. Microcredentials were listed in 2021, 2022 and 2023 but have disappeared as a key issue. The misinformation topic is new (although it has lurked around in previous issues concerning digital and information literacy) - Finding Appropriate Uses for AI-Enabled Technology
“Faculty and staff can use AI tools to support student learning. As one panelist explained, students can “learn to apply AI for all phases of learning in Bloom’s hierarchy, from content and competency acquisition to generation of original products that blend human and machine insights.” However, there is still a lack of widespread agreement among higher education stakeholders about what constitutes appropriate use of AI-enabled technology for teaching and learning. Questions around the ethical use of AI, the role of AI in the generation of new knowledge, and the relationship between human and AI outputs remain largely unanswered. Faculty, staff, and students will need to work together in the coming years to decide how they want to integrate (or not integrate) AI-enabled technology into teaching and learning.”
There is an interesting development over time. In 2021 (see below) there was one issue “Artificial Intelligence”. In 2022 and in 2023 two of the 6 “key technologies and practices” were specific applications of AI, so in those years the use of AI was evidently seen as more controllable and limited. Now it is seen as more pervasive and impactful in less predictable ways. - Navigating Misinformation
The key advice points are:
- Embed instruction about misinformation directly into the curriculum.
- Include instruction about misinformation in institution-wide courses, such as first-year seminars
- Use real-life examples to teach students how to navigate misinformation.
- Seek professional development related to digital literacy, including navigating misinformation.
- Work with librarians. “Teaching students information literacy is a vital library function. Librarians at your institution might offer digital literacy workshops and other programming that includes skills for navigating misinformation.”
- Stay cognizant of the subjective nature of “truth.”
In 2023 they identified key technologies and practices as:
- AI-Enabled Applications for Predictive, Personal Learning
- Generative AI
- Blurring the Boundaries between Learning Modalities
- HyFlex (i.e., students enrolled in a course can participate on site, synchronously online, or asynchronously online as
preferred) - Microcredentials
- Supporting Students’ Sense of Belonging and Connectedness
In 2022 they identified key technologies and practices as:
AI for Learning Analytics;
AI for Learning Tools;
Hybrid Learning Spaces;
Mainstreaming Hybrid/ Remote Learning Modes;
Microcredentials;
Professional Development for Hybrid/Remote Teaching.
In 2021 the “Emerging Technologies and Practices ” identified in the Horizon Report were:
Artificial Intelligence;
Learning analytics;
Open Educational Resources (these three were also in the 2020 report)
Blended and hybrid course models;
Microcredentialing;
Quality online learning. (new for 2021)
ALL ARE WELCOME TO VWER
When and where: The VIRTUAL WORLDS EDUCATION ROUNDTABLE meetings start at 12 noon SLT on Thursdays on Infolit iSchool in Second Life. We meet at http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Infolit%20iSchool/226/27/22
VWER Meeting Transcripts by Virtual Worlds Education Roundtable are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License. Based on a work at http://vwer.info.
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