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A new blueprint for AI in higher education
What does it actually look like when a higher education institution takes AI seriously, as something to integrate into the very design of how students learn, are assessed, and grow?
In this episode, Svenia Busson sits down with the founder of Forward College, Boris Walbaum, who walks us through one of the most concrete and thoughtful AI-in-education frameworks we've encountered. From an in-house AI Hub giving students access to all major models, to an AI Mirror dashboard that maps how each student is using AI (memorising, getting feedback, or — the red flag — offloading higher-order thinking to the machine), to an AI Journal where students log and defend their AI strategy on every assignment, this is what AI-integrated learning can actually look like in practice.
We also dig into the bigger philosophical shift behind it: why "excellence" itself is being redefined in a world moving from certainty to uncertainty, why the appetite for learning is collapsing among teenagers, and why investing in deep skills — cognitive, social, emotional and practical — is the only no-regret move in a world where technical skills become obsolete every few years.
A must-listen for anyone in higher education.
Resources & references mentioned in this episode:
- Boris's book Excellence Isn't What You Think – https://www.amazon.com/Excellence-Isnt-What-You-Think-ebook/dp/B0GG9TMHC2
- Forward College – https://forward-college.eu/
- London School of Economics (academic partner) – https://www.lse.ac.uk
- King's College London (academic partner) – https://www.kcl.ac.uk
- An Avalanche is Coming report (Michael Barber, IPPR, 2013) – https://www.ippr.org/articles/an-avalanche-is-coming-higher-education-and-the-revolution-ahead
- Noise by Daniel Kahneman, Olivier Sibony & Cass Sunstein – https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/daniel-kahneman/noise/9780316451383/
- Paul LeBlanc (President of Forward College's Academic Council, former SNHU President) – https://www.paul-leblanc.com
- McKinsey "no-regret moves" framing – https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/strategy-and-corporate-finance/our-insights/strategy-under-uncertainty
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By Svenia Busson & Laurent JolieWhat does it actually look like when a higher education institution takes AI seriously, as something to integrate into the very design of how students learn, are assessed, and grow?
In this episode, Svenia Busson sits down with the founder of Forward College, Boris Walbaum, who walks us through one of the most concrete and thoughtful AI-in-education frameworks we've encountered. From an in-house AI Hub giving students access to all major models, to an AI Mirror dashboard that maps how each student is using AI (memorising, getting feedback, or — the red flag — offloading higher-order thinking to the machine), to an AI Journal where students log and defend their AI strategy on every assignment, this is what AI-integrated learning can actually look like in practice.
We also dig into the bigger philosophical shift behind it: why "excellence" itself is being redefined in a world moving from certainty to uncertainty, why the appetite for learning is collapsing among teenagers, and why investing in deep skills — cognitive, social, emotional and practical — is the only no-regret move in a world where technical skills become obsolete every few years.
A must-listen for anyone in higher education.
Resources & references mentioned in this episode:
- Boris's book Excellence Isn't What You Think – https://www.amazon.com/Excellence-Isnt-What-You-Think-ebook/dp/B0GG9TMHC2
- Forward College – https://forward-college.eu/
- London School of Economics (academic partner) – https://www.lse.ac.uk
- King's College London (academic partner) – https://www.kcl.ac.uk
- An Avalanche is Coming report (Michael Barber, IPPR, 2013) – https://www.ippr.org/articles/an-avalanche-is-coming-higher-education-and-the-revolution-ahead
- Noise by Daniel Kahneman, Olivier Sibony & Cass Sunstein – https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/daniel-kahneman/noise/9780316451383/
- Paul LeBlanc (President of Forward College's Academic Council, former SNHU President) – https://www.paul-leblanc.com
- McKinsey "no-regret moves" framing – https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/strategy-and-corporate-finance/our-insights/strategy-under-uncertainty