If you want to keep abreast of the latest eLearning trends and news, follow those who make the news and formulate these trends – eLearning experts.
In this article, we’ve collected 35 thought leaders who are experienced professionals in the fields of eLearning, instructional design, and L&D. They regularly post insights on eLearning topics, share job postings, and take part in discussions on trends, issues, and opportunities in their fields. Check out their bios and see why we believe you need to follow them.
EDTECH@UTRGV's insight:
Check, check, and check. All of these influential people are on my reading list. Who is in your PLN?
The latest news related to the meaningful and effective implementation of educational technology and e-learning in K-12, higher education, corporate and government sectors.
Watch this video to learn more about the fully online, accelerated, project-based Master of Education in Educational Technology at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley. For more information, visit: https://www.utrgv.edu/edtech/index.htm
EDTECH@UTRGV's insight:
This 30-hour accelerated program designed to prepare persons in K-12, higher education, corporate, and military settings to develop the skills and knowledge necessary for the classrooms and boardrooms of tomorrow. Students in this program have the opportunity to earn one or more graduate certificates in E-Learning, Technology Leadership, and Online Instructional Design.
This is a fantastic program! Its practical, real-world based and applicable to many areas of industry where teaching and learning, training and development are used.
"Artificial intelligence has rapidly started finding its place in the workplace, but this year will be remembered as the moment when companies pushed past simply experimenting with AI and started building around it, Microsoft said in a blog post accompanying its annual Work Trend Index report."
EDTECH@UTRGV's insight:
"These so-called Frontier Firms will be built around “on-demand intelligence and powered by ‘hybrid’ teams of humans + agents, these companies scale rapidly, operate with agility, and generate value faster,” according to the report. Microsoft argued that within the next two to five years, every company will be on the journey to becoming one."
There are a lot of AI tools floating around. But which ones are relevant, safe, and easy to use? Evaluate AI with this rubric and checklist! Explore this and more at TCEA TechNotes Blog, your go-to source for educational technology and teaching innovation.
EDTECH@UTRGV's insight:
"This rubric breaks down the key criteria to consider, making it easy for any educator, regardless of how tech-savvy they are, to make informed decisions."
"Prompt engineering, a role aimed at crafting the perfect input to send to a large language model, was poised to become one of the hottest jobs in artificial intelligence. What happened?"
EDTECH@UTRGV's insight:
"Two years ago, prompt engineering was one of the buzziest jobs in tech, fetching salaries of up to $200,000 on the promise of becoming any company’s 'AI Whisperer.' Now, the role is basically obsolete thanks to the breakneck speed of AI development and companies’ own maturity in terms of understanding how to use the technology."
Why is connectivism pedagogy so relevant to eLearning and the modern tech-centered world? We have all the answers here.
EDTECH@UTRGV's insight:
"Connectivism emphasizes learning through connecting information in a network. With so much info available today, it encourages us to find relevant information, verify it, and stay updated."
A new study from Oregon State University shows that artificial intelligence can boost creativity in student writing if instructors provide guidance on proper use. The university’s College of Liberal Arts announced the findings last week. After studying two online creative writing courses, researchers found that students who completed their work with the assistance of ChatGPT […]
EDTECH@UTRGV's insight:
"The researchers found that AI served as an equalizer in creative writing, offering the most improvement for lower-performing students and offering relatively little benefit for high-performing creative writing students."
The nonprofit National Writing Project and online writing platform NoRedInk are starting an online information-sharing community and offering free webinars for educators on the impact of AI on writing instruction.
EDTECH@UTRGV's insight:
"[T]he goal of the NWP partnership is to help teachers understand the changing role of critical thinking in AI-assisted writing practice and instruction."
Teachers are integrating AI into instruction, but little is known about how districts are supporting them during the rollout of AI in schools
EDTECH@UTRGV's insight:
"Roughly half of districts in a nationally representative survey reported that they have provided training to their teachers about generative AI-powered tools"
"Buckle up as we chart through a new wave of shifting tech and design paradigms"
EDTECH@UTRGV's insight:
"Technological breakthroughs have continuously shaped humanity for the past centuries, transforming how we live, work, and interact with the world. As theorists and economists have pointed out, we move in innovation waves or cycles."
"As we approach May, alarm bells are ringing for all colleges and universities to ensure that AI literacy programs have been completed by learners who plan to enter the job market this year and in the future."
EDTECH@UTRGV's insight:
"To be AI literate,... you must understand how generative AI works, be able to use it effectively, know how to evaluate its output, and understand its weaknesses and dangers"
"Using virtual reality (VR) in the classroom can lead to “significant increases” in knowledge retention and motivation among students, according to new international research. A study involving more than 300 students from vulnerable communities inKeep Reading Study Finds Virtual Reality Improves Students’ Knowledge Retention and Motivation"
EDTECH@UTRGV's insight:
"[T]he results show that VR 'not only enhances academic performance, it also supports the development of essential cognitive and social skills in active learning, such as attention, memory, and motivation.'”
Security researchers have discovered a highly effective new jailbreak that can dupe nearly every major large language model.
EDTECH@UTRGV's insight:
"Security researchers have discovered a highly effective new jailbreak that can dupe nearly every major large language model into producing harmful output, from explaining how to build nuclear weapons to encouraging self-harm."
"This manifesto critically examines the unfolding integration of Generative AI (GenAI), chatbots, and algorithms into higher education, using a collective and thoughtful approach to navigate the future of teaching and learning. GenAI, while celebrated for its potential to personalize learning, enhance efficiency, and expand educational accessibility, is far from a neutral tool. Algorithms now shape human interaction, communication, and content creation, raising profound questions about human agency and biases and values embedded in their designs. As GenAI continues to evolve, we face critical challenges in maintaining human safeguarding equity, and facilitating meaningful, authentic learning experiences."
EDTECH@UTRGV's insight:
"This manifesto emphasizes that GenAI is not ideologically and culturally neutral. Instead, it reflects worldviews that can reinforce existing biases and marginalize diverse voices."
In a world where AI can think for us, over-reliance could harm our reflective thinking abilities.
EDTECH@UTRGV's insight:
"[W]hile GenAI makes accessing information quite convenient, it may come at a cost, especially when it comes to how we think about and learn from the information provided by GenAI tools."
An edtech expert describes what substitution, augmentation, modification, and redefinition mean in lesson design—and how to reach that elusive final level.
EDTECH@UTRGV's insight:
“How often am I striving for transformational use of technology in the classroom? As engagement often equals increased learning, how can I move toward the redefinition level?”
What if our workplace success metrics are out of date? We’ve long measured productivity in terms of output—tasks completed, hours logged, KPIs hit. But in a modern, knowledge-based economy increasingly shaped by artificial intelligence, these metrics no longer tell the full story.
EDTECH@UTRGV's insight:
"Today, the return on investment (ROI) that matters most is not just about doing more, faster. It’s about creating the conditions for people to do their best, most impactful work—because when people are empowered, engaged, and enabled by the right technology, business outcomes follow."
Congratulations to UTRGV Educational Technology alumna Andrea Crosson on receiving the 2025 UTSA Richard S. Howe Faculty Excellence in Service to Undergraduate Students Award! Her innovative virtual study lab for Social Studies pre-service teachers is making a real impact—boosting certification exam success and transforming support for future educators.
EDTECH@UTRGV's insight:
When Andria shared news of the award, she credited the skills gained through the M.Ed. in Educational Technology at UTRGV and noted how the program continues to have an impact well beyond the campus. Thanks for the kind words. Our graduates are what makes this program shine!
When leading large-scale digital transformation efforts at higher education institutions, prioritizing people alongside technology efforts can lead to
EDTECH@UTRGV's insight:
"Fostering a culture of care helps to create conditions that support individuals and teams, improving employee retention. Empathetic leadership and a human-centered approach can lead to stronger project outcomes and help build a more resilient institution.""Fostering a culture of care helps to create conditions that support individuals and teams, improving employee retention. Empathetic leadership and a human-centered approach can lead to stronger project outcomes and help build a more resilient institution.
The Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education is taking first steps in a strategic plan to help integrate artificial intelligence into the state's K-12 schools within the next three years.
EDTECH@UTRGV's insight:
"[T]he Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) is developing resources to help schools build a shared understanding of how AI works, train staff on AI integration and student data privacy, and create AI usage guidelines and policies"
The framework focuses on AI literacy for all, as well as specialized literacy that can be adapted to different disciplines and jurisdictions.
EDTECH@UTRGV's insight:
"The Digital Education Council, which focuses on education and innovation through collaboration between higher-ed institutions and the workforce, has outlined an AI Literacy framework thattakes a human-centered approach to AI literacy."
OpenAI released its newest AI model and said it can understand uploaded images like whiteboards, sketches and diagrams, even if they're low quality.
EDTECH@UTRGV's insight:
"With o3, users can upload whiteboards, sketches and other images and have the AI analyze and discuss them. The models can also rotate, zoom and use other image-editing tools."
Digital transformation has already made its presence felt and is set to be a permanent fixture in the field of education. Embracing it will yiel
EDTECH@UTRGV's insight:
"Digitalisation is a goal across education, but achieving this is fraught with challenges, with observability being key to a good outcome; consistent visibility, a comprehensive understanding of service dependencies, performance, availability and security are all needed."
Incorporating AI into education and providing AI training for educators will help equip the next generation of American AI innovators.
EDTECH@UTRGV's insight:
"A new executive order signed by President Trump takes aim at AI policies in K-12 education by 'fostering interest and expertise in artificial intelligence (AI) technology from an early age to maintain America’s global dominance in this technological revolution for future generations.""
"Artificial intelligence has become the new geopolitical fault line – and universities now sit squarely on it. Washington’s export-control regime blocks sales and technical support for advanced AI chips to China; Beijing, for its part, requires recommendation algorithms and generative-AI models to be filed with – and in some cases to be licensed by – state regulators; and Brussels has approved the world’s first cross-sector ‘trustworthy AI’ act."
EDTECH@UTRGV's insight:
"As universities stand at this critical intersection, they must consider whether AI policies will become an efficient tool for their growth or a challenge to their foundational values."
"At the heart of meaningful education is a powerful idea: learners thrive when they are trusted to shape their learning and believe they are capable of success. This fusion of agency (being afforded real choices) and self-efficacy (believing in one's ability to act on those choices) transforms education from routine compliance into purposeful growth."
EDTECH@UTRGV's insight:
"Agency without self-efficacy resembles aimlessness. A learner with options but lacking skills or confidence may disengage."
To get content containing either thought or leadership enter:
To get content containing both thought and leadership enter:
To get content containing the expression thought leadership enter:
You can enter several keywords and you can refine them whenever you want. Our suggestion engine uses more signals but entering a few keywords here will rapidly give you great content to curate.
Your new post is loading...
Check, check, and check. All of these influential people are on my reading list. Who is in your PLN?