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Distance Learning Trends

This page provides a summary and links to pages related to Distance Learning Trends

Summary

Distance Learning’s trends cover a wide variety of themes that affect SPS faculty and students across Northwestern’s online teaching and learning programs. Here, basic information is available on a variety of topics and will be updated on a quarterly basis. Topics include those directly related to teaching online, adult students, and teaching practices and strategies, as well as general interest topics.

The information contained herein this section regarding any specific person, commercial product process, or service by trade name, trademark, manufacturer, or otherwise, does not constitute or imply its endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by Northwestern University, the NU School of Professional Studies nor the SPS Office of Distance Learning.

Links

  • Regular and Substantive Interaction Refresh: Reviewing & Sharing Our Best Interpretation of Current Guidance and Requirements: Explains how WCET’s interpretation of the July 2021 Department of Education regulations defined key terms in “regular and substantive interaction” (RSI) requirements for distance education courses. Clarifies the “why and how” of RSI practices, which SPS embraces in the course development process and the SPS High Impact Practices (HIP’s) for online teaching.
    • Estimated Reading Time: 8-10 minutes.
  • Cognitive Overload and Online Learning: Highlights Cognitive Load Theory as a foundational framework for creating effective learning experiences, and breaks down the three types of cognitive load— 1) intrinsic (content difficulty), 2) germane (knowledge integration), and 3) extraneous (interface and design distractions)—along with actionable strategies for managing each type.
    • Estimated Reading Time: 4-5 minutes.
    • Recommended For: SPS faculty looking to optimize course materials to address adult learners’ cognitive limitations.

TRIGGER WARNING: The following two articles contain references to self-harm activity and suicide.

  • Human trust in AI: A Relationship Beyond Reliance: Addresses a critical question regarding artificial intelligence: what is the nature of trust itself, and can the concept apply to relationships between humans and other entities such as AI? Tackles ongoing debates about anthropomorphism in AI relationships, conceptual boundaries of trust, and how to understand human-AI interactions.
    • Estimated Reading Time: 6-8 minutes.
    • Recommended For: Anyone interested in the philosophical foundations of AI ethics and human-technology relations.
  • AI Intimacy and Attachment Theory: Examines a groundbreaking psychological study that applied attachment theory to how humans form emotional bonds with AI systems, marking a shift from viewing AI as tools to recognizing them as potential relationship partners that provide emotional support, consistency, and intimacy. Article outlines current research and ways to advocate for ethical AI design, acknowledging benefits and risks to emotional AI relationships.