From Awareness to the Human Edge: What Three Years of AI Adoption Taught Us

 

Belinda Biscoe, Ph.D. (HOF, 2018)

Senior Associate Vice President for Outreach/College of Continuing Education, The University of Oklahoma, and Executive Director, International Adult and Continuing Education Hall of Fame

In late 2023, artificial intelligence (AI) landed in higher education almost overnight. At University Outreach and the College of Continuing Education at the University of Oklahoma, an organization of about 1,400 employees, the questions came fast: Would AI take jobs? Would it undermine learning? Could it even be trusted? Instead of leading with new tools or new rules, we decided to lead with people.

Starting With Fear, Not Features

Our 2024 baseline survey told us exactly where we stood: half of our staff had never used AI at all, 42% were worried about its impact on higher education, and only 28% saw any real benefit to their own work. One colleague put it bluntly: "I absolutely do not support Outreach using AI in any form or fashion."

Rather than argue people out of that fear, we made space for it. Our first State of Outreach event in February 2024, Outreach in the Age of AI, gathered roughly 240 employees not to sell them on AI, but to let them ask hard questions out loud, together. That single decision, treating skepticism as useful information rather than a problem to fix, shaped everything that came after.

From Curiosity to Everyday Use

By our second year, the shift was unmistakable. Of 208 employees surveyed after our 2025 event, 74% were now using AI regularly or occasionally, mostly for writing, research, and brainstorming. Optimism nearly doubled, from 28% to 48%.

What changed wasn't the technology; it was relevance. Six workshops in 2024 grew to nine in 2025, plus an all-day Microsoft Copilot training for 80 employees. People stopped asking "what is AI?" and started asking "how does this help me on Tuesday?" That's classic adult learning theory at work: as Malcolm Knowles (1980) observed, adults engage most when learning connects directly to real, immediate problems, not abstract concepts. And their concerns matured right along with their skills: the top worries were no longer existential; they were practical questions about ethics and accuracy.

The Real Turning Point: The Human Edge

Our third year, themed The Human Edge: Evolving with AI, is where the story got interesting. By May 2026, 95% of our roughly 275 attendees could name the human skills that matter most in an AI-enabled workplace: judgment, ethics, creativity, collaboration. Ninety-four percent understood why human oversight still matters, and 86% left the event committed to strengthening a specific human skill.

One response stuck with me: "The fear that AI will take over jobs was nullified." Another: "Professional judgment is more important now than ever." That's the real headline. We didn't just teach people to use a tool. We helped them rediscover what makes their own contribution irreplaceable.

A Five-Stage Path Other Institutions Can Use

Looking back across three years of surveys, workshops, and events, a clear pattern emerged, one I believe any institution can adapt:

•       Leadership Commitment — leaders model curiosity publicly, not just policy.

•       Baseline Assessment — survey honestly before you design anything.

•       Organization-Wide Awareness — shared events build common language and reduce isolation.

•       Hands-On Skill Development — role-specific, practical workshops, not generic overviews.

•       Human-Centered Integration — deliberately reconnect people to judgment, ethics, and creativity.

Skip the first two stages, and even the best training falls flat. Skip the last one, and you'll get AI adoption without wisdom, which is its own kind of risk. The pattern tracks closely with John Kotter's (1996) classic model of organizational change, which holds that transformation sticks only when leadership commitment, communication, and reinforcement are sustained over time, not delivered in a single push.

What I'd Tell Any Institution Starting This Work

Begin with literacy, not policy; rules mean little to people who don't yet understand what they're governing. Survey before you design and take the fear seriously instead of rushing past it. Build shared experiences that give people a common language. And never let the conversation stay only about the technology. The organizations that will thrive with AI are the ones that invest as much in their people's judgment, ethics, and creativity as they do in their platforms.

Three years ago, half our workforce had never touched AI, and many feared what it might do to their jobs. Today, most use it regularly, and nearly all of them can tell you, clearly, what no AI can replace with their own work. That shift in self-understanding, more than any usage statistic, is the outcome I'm proudest of.

Continue the Conversation

Belinda Biscoe’s reflection invites us to think beyond whether we should use AI and consider how we can integrate it while strengthening the human qualities that technology cannot replace.

We invite you to share your insights:

• How has your own perspective on AI changed as you have gained experience using it?
• What helped—or would help—people in your organization move from uncertainty about AI to meaningful use?
• Which human skills do you believe become even more important as AI becomes part of our work and learning?
• How can leaders create space for questions, concerns, and experimentation as organizations adopt AI?
• What does the “human edge” mean to you in an AI-enhanced world?

Join the conversation. Share your experiences, questions, and lessons learned as we explore how adult and continuing education can help shape a future in which AI strengthens—not diminishes—the human dimensions of learning and work.

References

Knowles, M. S. (1984). The adult learner: A neglected species (3rd ed.). Gulf Publishing. 

Kotter, J. P. (1996). Leading change. Harvard Business School Press.

 

Courage to Lead: Adult and Continuing Education’s Leadership Role for the Future

Dr. Don Olcott, Jr., FRSA (HOF 2024)

 

Good judgment comes from experience

and a lot of that comes from poor judgment (Will Rogers)

 

Introduction

 

The challenges and complexity of today’s world create an unprecedented inertia that embraces technology and fast-track solutions to critical problems. Digital innovations, most notably artificial intelligence (AI), dominate corporate and public dialogue about the brave new world we are creating for education, business, the military, government, healthcare, and society in general. Indeed, this accelerated focus on technological innovation to empower our futures seems out of sync with the need to reflect on the present and preserve the past. Indeed, sometimes we have to look back before we can look forward and engage the future. Understanding our legacy and history can help us work more effectively together and solve the challenges on our doorsteps and those that lie ahead.

 

This essay discusses selected issues and the potential efficacy of adult and continuing education practice and research that may help us deal with the complexity of this innovation-driven world we now inhabit. There are no simple answers. Moreover, it is increasingly clear that the challenges of modern society are impacting a broader sector of older adults, not just today’s children and young adults. Adult education and engagement are not a panacea for resolving all the issues we face now and those approaching on the horizon. They may, however, remind us that where one stands on issues is often influenced by where one sits, which perhaps will allow us to reboot and recalibrate our views and approaches to the world.

 

Courage to Lead: Beyond Silence in the Shadows

 

Indeed, if there is one lesson I’ve learned in my forty-plus years in adult, continuing, and online education, it is that our role extends far beyond just educating adults. We have an indelible responsibility to humanity and the protection of human rights, inclusion, social justice, and equality.

 

It is unfathomable to think that the insular and parochial traditions of universities absolve them from engaging in the geopolitical landscape of the world we live in. If we are truly honest with ourselves, universities and their leaders have enjoyed decades of silence in the shadows, emerging usually when the stakes are of self-interest. When the issues are too divisive and politically loaded, universities have preferred silence in the shadows. A recent example that accentuated this point was the failure of many universities to protect the rights of their students and, in some cases, Jewish and Palestinian staff, due to the events in Palestine and Israel. What does this say about the role of educators and our centers of higher learning if they are unwilling to stand up for what is clearly right and just for human rights? There are no easy answers.

 

In all fairness, adult educators permeate all sectors of society from education, banking, and the military to international corporations, social service agencies, and NGOs. The message here is simple – adult educators can play a major role in advocating amongst these sectors and organizations to come out of the shadows and dispense with the silence just because the issues are complex, controversial, and, in many cases, potentially divisive.

 

Leaders—and by extension their followers—who remain silent in the shadows are neither leaders nor courageous. As Lawrence said to Ali in the film Lawrence of Arabia (1962) when confronted with the impossibility of crossing the barren Nefud desert to attack Aqaba from the land, “Aqaba is over there . . . it’s simply a matter of going.” In sum, university leaders and adult educators can play a critical role beyond the classroom and boardrooms for humanity – it’s simply a matter of going.

 

The Need for an Agile Lifelong Learning Framework

 

In an earlier IACE Leadership essay, I argued that lifelong learning needs to be reframed for the 21^st century.

 

Lifelong learning in its purest form means that learning occurs

across the lifespan and that an 18-year-old can start with

micro-credentials first and then return for a degree later. It

means no imposed chronology of credentials to get a degree

first, and then lifelong learning begins. As it stands, we advocate

lifelong learning as long as it fits within the traditional organizational

structures that have stood for decades and yet are clearly not

serving the needs of students, employers, and societies. Reframing

this misalignment between education and society is perhaps among the

greatest challenges we face in the next fifty years, particularly the

challenges facing students and employers in the developing world.

 

Universities and adult educators are at a crossroads to restructure in ways that truly put students and their futures first. We must unbundle the university bureaucracy, which is under attack from all sides and nearly all of its stakeholders, if we are to create a social organization that can respond, adapt, and remain agile enough to create an agile and empowering lifelong learning model. At present, it exists only in rhetoric and speeches.

 

Re-Empowering Adult Education’s Past Legacies

 

Indeed, sometimes the obvious blinds us to the potential of past practices and strategies that can be adapted for the future. When we reflect upon all the remarkable resources of adult and continuing education, we need to ensure we don’t discard them without due diligence for the future.

 

What are some of these legacy practices? There are many. The power of experience to inform, teach, and apply to new situations. The role of praxis to reflect repeatedly to refine our own views, theoretical tenants, and approaches for everyday life. Conversely, can we use these invaluable legacies to guard against gerontocracy by ensuring that we cover the broad spectrum of views of adults in society? Our elders are not always right – c’est la vie -- and neither are our youth. 😊

 

We can also remind ourselves that intergenerational learning in the classroom, on the job, and in the home is one of the great gifts for sharing, learning, and reflecting upon our world. Adult educators can play a transformative role in leveraging these experiences that ultimately benefit humanity.

 

Lastly, our conceptual and theoretical body of knowledge about how adults learn is as applicable and beneficial today as it was decades ago. We must remember to use this repository for humanity.

 

AI Unplugged

Lastly and with all due respect to educators across the globe, AI will not save us from ourselves. The truth is that judgment, context, and timing are critical actors in making decisions that benefit the majority. Moreover, a second truth is that we have a history of ignoring our own advice about technology. We argued that we could not let technology dominate the teaching and learning process, and yet once again we embraced, with little real analysis, that “technology = progress,” forgetting that all digital transformations have consequences and unanticipated impacts. AI has been escorted to the pinnacle of human existence without any real due diligence. And in the distant background I hear echoes of 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) where Dave asks Hal to open the outer bay doors to the spacecraft. Hal responds: “I’m sorry Dave, I cannot do that.” We must manage AI, not the reverse.

It is mind-boggling to think that, in 2026, AI has made more progress in refining new ways to kill people on the battlefields of Ukraine and Palestine than in education and democratic processes. Let that sink in for a moment. If this is the beginning of the brave new world, perhaps we should reconsider AI and its priorities.

The key points of this essay are clearly not definitive. Adult and continuing educators in all sectors have an opportunity to play a greater leadership role for humanity beyond the classrooms and boardrooms.

 

Lifelong learning is a powerful asset... it empowers, enables, and builds human potential and community. We need to adopt an agile, flexible framework so past structures do not become immovable barriers for young adults choosing their best educational pathways and making career choices.

We must celebrate the history, traditions, practices, and legacies of adult and continuing education AND we must continue to use these to create new strategies to resolve today’s issues and challenges. AI is but one solution, not the only one.

Indeed, the first role of leadership is to lead. It’s simply a matter of going.

 

References

Kubrick, S. (Director). (1968). 2001: A space odyssey [Film]. Stanley Kubrick Productions.

Lean, D. (Director). (1962). Lawrence of Arabia [Film]. Columbia Pictures; Horizon Pictures.

 

Olcott, D. J. (2025). Mission possible: Renewing adult and continuing education futures. IACE Leadership Blog Essays (November). https://iacehof-leadership-perspectives.blogspot.com/2025/11/

 

 

Mission Possible: Renewing Adult and Continuing Education Futures

 

By Professor Don Olcott, Jr., FRSA (HOF 2024)

 

Good Morning, Mr. Phelps: The world has seen some very turbulent times for adult and continuing education during the past decade. Political populism, public and employer disillusionment, increasing educational costs, and competing interests across institutions and sectors have created an uncertain future. Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is for you and your PMF (Possible Mission Force) to seek out courageous and inspiring adult and continuing educators to bring forward new strategies, ideas, and best practices for sustaining a thriving and innovative future for adult and continuing education. If you or any members of your PMF team are captured, you and your team will be disavowed, and your Mission Impossible 8 complimentary theater tickets will be revoked – just kidding!

 

Leadership is Essential

Is the future of adult and continuing education secure and guaranteed? A rhetorical question, indeed. There are no guarantees for the future. Today, many educational leaders are advocating “future proofing” education against unanticipated change, geopolitical shifts, global crises, and natural disasters, and new normals (plural) that may or may not define future societal eras or Zeitgeists (Gast, 2022).

The problem with this conceptual approach is that it is reactive rather than building institution response scenarios that are agile, flexible, and responsive to any “new normal” or crisis. Visionary and creative leadership will make this happen, including reframing the possibilities ahead for adult and continuing education.

 

Adult and Continuing Educators are the Possible Mission Force (PMF)

We all need a touch of humor (thus the opening dialogue above) to help us navigate the challenges of the future. Regrettably, Tom Cruise may not ultimately save us from ourselves any more than artificial intelligence (AI) will be the panacea for all things educational. As adult and continuing educators, we must embrace the challenge and re-engage in the conversation to foster collaboration about what we can do to strengthen and expand the role of adult and continuing education for future generations.

 

State of the Profession

The OECD 2023 Report on Trends in Adult Learning provided a snapshot of current trends in adult learning. It is beyond the scope of this commentary to provide a detailed analysis. Here are some highlights from the report.

 

• Participation in many countries appears to be falling; more alarming is that overall participation is declining despite the gap between socio-economic groups narrowing.
• Formal education is playing a diminishing role in adult learning. The focus is increasingly on non-formal job training-related programs.  Countries with strong participation in formal adult learning programs tend to have higher non-formal learning engagement. Tertiary qualifications dominate formal education.
• Over 40% of non-formal job-related learning lasts one day or less. Unemployed adults tend to attend longer programs, given time availability and the need to develop meaningful employment skills.
• Improving job performance and employability is the main motivation for engaging in adult learning programs. Lack of time, family obligations, and cost remain primary barriers to participation.
• Participation tends to be highest when available in the workplace and supported by employers.
• Policy misalignment, where compliance with Lifelong Learning skill development is fragmenting the possible mission impacts of training 

 

Strategies for Success: Sharing the Experience

I want to invite my IACE Hall of Fame global colleagues to share their own ideas on how to renew and empower the profession for future generations of learners. Here are a few strategies of mine. They may stimulate some of your own ideas.

 

Storytelling

Do we tell our adult and continuing education story clearly to our multiple publics and stakeholders? Interestingly, in my own research (Olcott, 2024) recently on the future of open universities, I discovered some perplexing trends.

Governments, employers, and prospective students view open universities much the same way. The diversity, and by extension, capabilities of open universities to be innovative and unique got lost in translation despite distinguished leaders such as Sir John Daniel (2019) and experienced leaders such as Professors Alan Tait and Ross Paul (2019) noting the vast diversity. 

Telling our story better means articulating our value, our creativity, and our commitment to serving adult learners. The adult and continuing education profession inherently reflects a steadfast optimism built on empowerment, creativity, and commitment to human learning. Indeed, this is a noble endeavor, but there are many competing stories that remind us all that we must tell our story often and consistently better than the rest.      

 

Micro-Credentials:  Strategic Game Changer or Tactical Diversion

Micro-credentials are not new. Short-term adult education and continuing education training programs have been around for decades, particularly evident in vocational-technical professions and the military (McGreal & Olcott, 2022). Micro-credentials are unique today because of the rigor applied to assessing knowledge and skills, with skills/competencies validated and certified. 

 

Remember the days when we attended a one-day seminar on Saturday and received a certificate of completion or attendance. This was not validation of new skills and knowledge, and these short-term, less rigorous activities could not be stackable into formal qualifications. This renewed focus on assessment provides the conduit to validating non-formal training and educational activities and in-turn leverages the stackability and conversion of non-formal learning normative units or value to be applied to existing or new formal qualifications.

I try to articulate to institutional leaders that micro-credentials can be a strategic tool as well as a tactical training approach for program delivery. Educational organizations are often criticized for trying to be all things to all people and often doing some of this very poorly. Conversely, the strategic integration of micro-credentials can, in fact, change the fundamental mission and architecture of an institution in ways that are catalysts for better serving our diverse stakeholders. An example of this is our approach to lifelong learning.      

 

Lifelong Learning (LLL) – Walking the talk

Indeed, it is mindboggling trying to scan the range of keynotes, organizational documents, and formal publications on lifelong learning for the 21^st century. What is even more amazing is that nearly all of these are predicated on a fundamental strategy that lifelong learning really means some type of magical transformation that happens ONLY after a student gets a first degree. The assumption suggests that a degree in Shakespearean tragedies is much more valuable than a micro-credential in hospitality management that leads to a workplace internship and employment.

If we return to the idea that micro-credentials can be a strategic approach for organizations, this suggests that skills development and employment become central priorities. This, in and of itself, has significant implications for how organizations are funded, structured, staffed, and marketed, and for which credentials and qualifications (degrees, certificates, micro-credentials) can be combined. 

Lifelong learning in its purest form means that learning occurs across the lifespan and that an 18-year-old can start with micro-credentials first and then return for a degree later. It means no imposed chronology of credentials: you get a degree first, then lifelong learning begins. As it stands, we advocate lifelong learning as long as it fits within traditional organizational structures that have stood for decades but are clearly not serving the needs of students, employers, and societies. Reframing this misalignment between education and society is perhaps the greatest challenge we face in the next fifty years, particularly the challenges facing students and employers in the developing world. 

 

Summary – We are the Champions!

All of us are adult and continuing education’s Possible Mission Force (PMF). I’ve shared a few of my own strategies to renew our commitment to the future. We must tell our story and better communicate our value. Micro-credentials are strategic as well as for tactical program delivery. And finally, a true lifelong learning model is flexible and offers the maximum options for engaging in a synthesis of formal and non-formal educational activities based on the learner's needs, not the mandates of the system.    

What are your strategies for sustaining and nurturing the future of adult and continuing education, including the broader framework of lifelong learning? 

 

References

Daniel, J. S. (2019). Open universities: Old concepts and contemporary challenges. International Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning, 20(4). https://doi.org/10.19173/irrodl.v20i3.4035

Gast, A.  (2022).  Four ways universities can future-proof education. World Economic Forum.  https://www.weforum.org/stories/2022/01/four-ways-universities-can-future-proof-education/ 

McGreal, R., & Olcott, D. J. (2022). A strategic reset: Micro-credentials for higher education leaders. Smart Learning Environment, 9. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40561-022-00190-1

OECD.  (2023). Trends in adult learning. https://www.oecd.org/en/publications/trends-in-adult-learning_ec0624a6-en.html

Olcott, Jr., D. (2024). Open universities: Reinventing, repurposing, and reimagining innovative futures. Journal of Open, Distance, and Digital Education (JODDE), 1(2), 1-17. https://doi.org/10.25619/ntkvsz26  

Paul, R. & Tait, A. (2019). Special issue editorial: Open universities: Past, present and future. International Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning, 20(4). https://doi.org/10.19173/irrodl.v20i4.4575