Serendipity35

Recently, my laptop crashed, and I had to return to an old one that had been sitting on a shelf for a few years. It had Windows 8 from back in 2012. No updates available, and lots of websites and tools did not work. The laptop that crashed has Windows 10 and that will fade away from support in October 2025.

It got me thinking about the now 50-year history of Microsoft.

The company was at the top early on, then went through some tough years and is again near the top. It has been the first or second most valuable business on Earth for the better part of five years.

Microsoft is betting on AI to carry it into the next generation of computing. However, Microsoft's most enduring legacies may be the marks it left on society long ago via Windows. It's not a point of pride for the company or many of its users that much of our world still relies on aged, sometimes obsolete Windows software and computers. This ghost software is still being used, though it is somewhat crippled.

Here are all the versions of Windows so far:
Windows 1.0: November 20, 1985.
Windows 2.0: December 9, 1987.
Windows 3.0: May 22, 1990.
Windows 95: August 24, 1995.
Windows 98: June 25, 1998.
Windows ME (Millennium Edition): September 14, 2000.
Windows 2000: February 17, 2000.
Windows XP: October 25, 2001.
Windows Vista: January 30, 2007.
Windows 7: July 22, 2009 (released to manufacturing), October 22, 2009 (generally available).
Windows 8: October 26, 2012.
Windows 8.1: February 13, 2013.
What happened to Windows 9? (see below)
Windows 10: July 29, 2015.
Windows 11: October 5, 2021.

According to an article on bbc.com, many people and services still use outdated Windows versions.

"Many ATMs still operate on legacy Windows systems, including Windows XP and even Windows NT," which launched in 1993, says Elvis Montiero, an ATM field technician based in Newark, New Jersey. "The challenge with upgrading these machines lies in the high costs associated with hardware compatibility, regulatory compliance, and the need to rewrite proprietary ATM software."

What happened to Windows 9? 

Ghost students, as their name implies, aren’t real people. They are not spectral visions. Had you asked me earlier to define the term, I would have said it is a way to describe a student who is enrolled in a college or university but does not actively participate in classes or academic activities. However, these new ghosts are aliases or stolen identities used by scammers and the bots they deploy to get accepted to a college, but not for the purpose of attending classes or earning a degree. Why? What's the scam?

These students may not attend lectures, complete assignments, or engage in the regular responsibilities expected of them, yet they are still listed as part of the institution's enrollment. In some cases, ghost students may be enrolled for reasons such as maintaining financial aid, benefiting from certain privileges, or fulfilling scholarship requirements. Alternatively, the term can sometimes refer to students who may be technically registered but are not engaging with the academic community in a meaningful way.

But more recently, I have seen the definition of a ghost student include when a fraudster completes an online application to a college or university and then, once accepted, enrolls in classes. At that point, the fraudster behind the ghost student can use the fake identity to act like a regular student. He or she can access and abuse cloud storage provided by the institution, or use a college-provided VPN or .edu email address to perpetrate other scams. In the most serious cases, a ghost student’s new enrollment status may be used to apply for and receive thousands of dollars in financial aid.

Institutions targeted by these scams can face consequences ranging from minor inconveniences to significant financial burdens. Ghost students may disrupt campus operations by occupying spots meant for qualified applicants or prompting schools to add course sections for high-demand classes, only for those seats to go unused. Once the issue is identified, colleges must invest substantial time and effort into carefully reviewing applications and monitoring student activity, placing a heavy burden on admissions officers, faculty, IT teams, and other staff.

I read about an extreme example from California’s Pierce College, where enrollment dropped by almost 36 percent — from 7,658 students to 4,937 — after ghost students were purged from the rolls.

If ghost students secure financial aid, often through federal Pell grants, it diverts funds from legitimate applicants and taxpayers. Their presence also strains admissions and IT teams. Additionally, if granted email accounts and access to instructional technology platforms, ghost students can overwhelm data centers and pose serious security risks, increasing vulnerabilities for institutions already targeted by cybercriminals.

Making the application process more rigorous is the most direct way to limit the presence of ghost students. But for many institutions, especially two-year colleges, that approach is antithetical to the college’s mission and desire to offer easier access to higher education. In addition, with enrollment still a major concern for all types of institutions, anything that limits the pool of potential students is a nonstarter.

Whenever I post predictions of what might be coming in edtech for the new year, I find myself writing about things that were present in the past year or even for several years. In other words, it takes more than a year for any trend or new thing to catch hold. And some things are predicted to be big for many years in a row but just don't seem to emerge. (item 5 in my list below is a good example.) 

I wrote earlier about the general trends for 2024 edtech, and honestly, it all seemed old already and one-sided..

So, what educational technology might we expect to be significant in 2025? I looked online for trend reports and the topics seem very familiar.

Here is the list I compiled from other writers' lists. How much of this list is familiar to you?

1. artificial intelligence
2. AI-driven personalized learning
3. cloud computing
4. immersive experiences with virtual and augmented reality (VR/AR)
5. gamification
6. hybrid learning models
7. data analytics
8. adaptive learning systems that cater to individual student needs

I find nothing new in this list; some have been on trend lists for years.

Is nothing new on the horizon in edtech?

 

I mentioned in an earlier post that everyone in education - students and teachers - says that they use AI in their work, but very few can say they are formally trained or certified in the use of AI.

One option is Google AI Essentials. It is a short and affordable ($49 USD) online course that takes under 10 hours and provides you with an AI training certificate.

The course outline explains that there is a 21x increase in job postings mentioning AI technologies, so this training should give you an edge.

Google AI Essentials can help you discover how you can use AI to assist, empower, and inspire you. Learn how to use generative AI tools to help speed up daily tasks, make more informed decisions, and develop new ideas and content.

A course like this can help you use AI tools to boost your productivity. You can complete the course at your own pace. Zero experience is required

You can get started on Coursera