This week the Future Trends Forum turns nine years old

Greetings from weirdly snowy northern Virginia. There are many things going on right now for this blog’s topic — that weird enrollment bounce, DOGE going after the Department of Education, a swarm of AI issues, some good and bad climate news — but today is one I set aside to celebrate an anniversary.

Well, partly the anniversary of my birth. I turned 58 this week and will hopefully post on it. But the bigger deal is that the Future Trends Forum just turned nine years old.

Yes, we launched the program waaaaaaay back in 2016. On February 11th, 2016, we held the first Forum session. The guest was the excellent Audrey Watters and the topic concerned critical approaches to educational technology. Several dozen people joined us.

The idea was to hold conversations about higher education’s future. No formal presentations, no PowerPoint slides, no scripted interviews. Instead we wanted to make a space for open, free-wheeling, and organic discussion. The audience would play the central role, driving the show with people’s comments and questions.