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My name is Madison Blanding, and I am a graduate student at Georgia Southern University pursuing a Master of Education (M.Ed) in Higher Education Administration!

This semester, I am taking a course called "Technology for Higher Education Leaders," and I have been tasked to complete an annotated bibliography assignment, but with a twist!

This curatorial board traces the digital shift higher education has experienced since COVID-19, from the chaotic onset of emergency remote teaching to today’s more settled (but still evolving) world of asynchronous programs, AI-driven tools, and digital mental health support.

As an asynchronous graduate student myself, I’ve experienced both the flexibility and strain of online learning. That’s why I wanted to explore how higher ed leaders are navigating the intersection of technology, student wellness, and the law. Each source in this collection highlights a different part of that story, whether it’s how faculty adapted, how students coped, or how new tech tools are shaping policies and support systems.

Take your time scrolling through and watch how the story unfolds!

-Madison

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Where It All Began: Faculty and Leadership in the Early COVID Era

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Where It All Began: Faculty and Leadership in the Early COVID Era

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Johnson, N., Veletsianos, G., & Seaman, J. (2020). U.S. faculty and administrators’ experiences and approaches in the early weeks of the COVID-19 pandemic. Online Learning, 24(2), 6–21. https://doi.org/10.24059/olj.v24i2.2285

In this 2020 study, Johnson, Veletsianos, and Seaman explored the immediate reactions and adaptive strategies faculty and administrators utilized during the initial transition to remote learning at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Drawing on survey responses from over 800 participants, the authors examine the challenges institutions faced, including limited technological preparedness, pedagogical concerns, and increased emotional strain. Despite the abrupt shift, the findings highlight early signs of institutional resilience and a willingness among educators to reimagine teaching and learning in a digital environment.

The COVID-19 pandemic forced higher education to shift from in person to online learning overnight. This study provides a glimpse into how both faculty and leadership scrambled, adapted, and ultimately survived the pivot.

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No More Cold Shoulder! Faculty Warm Up to Online Learning

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No More Cold Shoulder! Faculty Warm Up to Online Learning

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Coffey, L. (2023, August 25). Majority of faculty prefers in-person teaching, but just barely. Inside Higher Ed. https://www.insidehighered.com/news/tech-innovation/teaching-learning/2023/08/25/report-majority-faculty-prefers-person-teaching

This article reports on findings from the 2023 CHLOE (Changing Landscape of Online Education) survey, which captures evolving faculty preferences regarding instructional modalities. While a slight majority of faculty still favor in-person teaching, the margin has narrowed significantly since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. The article underscores a growing openness to hybrid and online formats, with increased recognition of their flexibility and accessibility benefits. It also highlights faculty concerns about workload, engagement, and institutional support, offering insight into the complex attitudes shaping the future of digital instruction.

The dust settled—and faculty didn’t sprint back to in-person. This report shows just how much the pandemic reshaped what teaching can (and should) look like.

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Inside Higher Ed | Higher Education News, Events and Jobs

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Report: Majority of faculty prefers in-person teaching, just barely

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An Educause survey finds that faculty members also want more help and time when it comes to working with technology and remote learning.

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What About the Students? Online Learning and Mental Health

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What About the Students? Online Learning and Mental Health

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Kim, J., Moon, K., Lee, J., Jeong, Y., Lee, S., & Ko, Y. (2022). Online learning performance and engagement during the COVID-19 pandemic: Application of the Dual-Continua Model of mental health. Frontiers in Psychology, 13, Article 932777. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.932777

This peer-reviewed study explores the relationship between college students' mental health and their academic performance and engagement in online learning during the COVID-19 pandemic. Using the Dual-Continua Model of mental health, the researchers distinguish between psychological distress and subjective well-being, revealing that students with higher levels of well-being demonstrated stronger academic performance and class participation, regardless of their level of distress. The study suggests that promoting well-being, rather than solely treating symptoms of distress, is critical to supporting student success in remote and asynchronous learning environments.

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Incoming! A technological wave of mental health apps, chatbots, and therapy sites have hit college campuses nationwide. But are they living up to their promises? This article explores the gap between flashy innovation and meaningful support.

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Inside Higher Ed | Higher Education News, Events and Jobs

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Since the COVID-19 pandemic, colleges and universities have invested in additional online mental health resources to support students, but how effective are these programs, and do they serve all students as many claim?

A May 30 report from The Hope Center at Temple University, commissioned by the Ruderman Family Foundation and in partnership with the Healthy Minds Network and Boston University, analyzed nine common digital mental health interventions at U.S. higher education institutions. Researchers found that while these tools can help improve mental health, there is little direct evidence of how they support student populations.

The greatest benefit of these tools remains access for students who may not otherwise engage in traditional counseling and preventative or health promotional tools to get ahead of student crisis.

What it is: A digital mental health intervention (DMHI) is the use of technologies for mental health support, prevention and treatment which can include behavioral and psychological strategies. Most DMHIs provide preventative resources to support people with less acute needs through self-guided, supported or digital plus solutions.

DMHIs may be websites, mobile apps, virtual reality or online platforms. Among young people, many already use wellness apps for stress, sleep or meditation and those with depression are even more likely to use mobile apps for mental health support.

For the purpose of this report, DMHIs are not traditional counseling offered over virtual platforms, such as Zoom, but instead, consumer-facing, skill-building platforms. Researchers also excluded teletherapy platforms that do not offer additional support services.

What's the need: Student mental health problems have been on the rise for a long time, but the pandemic brought light to issues and helped people pay attention to the impact of mental health on student success, explains Sara Abelson, assistant professor and senior director of The Hope Center, and one of the report's authors.

The pandemic required institutions to be more creative in offering telehealth and teletherapy, and more institutions have adopted digital mental health interventions as a result.

DMHIs have also grown as a solution for collegiate mental health supports because a growing number of students are seeking help with more severe concerns and traditional counseling center services cannot meet that need.

A spring 2023 Student Voice survey by Inside Higher Ed, conducted by College Pulse, found half of students with a mental health condition haven't used any campus counseling services.

Online offerings can be more easily scaled while still being effective and appealing to learners.

While DMHIs are popular, people still hold a preference for in-person therapy, making this an additive solution, not a replacement.

In conversations with campus leaders and counseling centers, report authors learned that DMHIs are seen as a supplement to on-campus counseling services for holistic support, Abelson says.

The findings: Among 89 DMHIs in higher education, 47 percent were effective in improving primary outcomes, 34 percent were partially effective, 11 percent were not effective and 7 percent did not report on mental health outcomes.

While there is research in general that points to the efficacy of DMHIs in improving mental health, the majority of widely used interventions for student populations are lacking, Abelson says. "There really has not been that much work done examining how this is playing out in the real world ... [or] a more rigorous controlled study."

Among those with positive outcomes, none utilized DMHIs that are widely available for college populations and participants in these studies represented a group of highly selected students, who may not represent the average student in the U.S. One review of these studies found 91 percent of research on DMHIs is done at universities, 2.2 percent at four-year colleges, 5.6 percent at professional schools and 1 percent at community colleges.

Another gap in the research was increasing uptake or reach of these interventions, which is one of the advertised benefits of many DMHIs or the number of students who can be impacted by the intervention. Only four of the 89 studies (less than 0.5 percent) noted adoption of the programs. Of people who use a DMHI, most people only use it once. (A caveat is that, among students, the most common number of appointments per student per year at the college counseling center is also one).

Abelson was surprised at the lack of evidence based on the current level of interest and investment that higher education leaders are making in these tools.

"Institutions and sometimes systems and sometimes states are paying a lot of money and administrators don't necessarily know what that money is going toward or how many students are using this thing," Abelson says.

So what? Based on the study's findings, researchers recommend institutional leaders note the effectiveness, data security, user experience and cost of the product they choose to use.

Some additional considerations:

DMHIs as a piece of holistic support. Online tools cannot replace traditional mental health supports, such as counseling, which have proven effectiveness in improving mental health outcomes among college students. However, "DMHIs are not just supplemental to traditional mental health care, but also preventative resources that support students with less acute needs and potentially reduce the need for future mental health care," according to the report. Abelson encourages campus leaders to view DMHIs through three lenses: health promotion, prevention and intervention, because all are necessary to support student success in their time at college and beyond.

The value of research-based decision making. Further investigation is necessary to create a better picture of these tools and how they can or should be employed. Before selecting a tool, institutional leaders should ask providers about their usage data to understand the evidence, Abelson says, which can incentivize providers to provide that information up front.

Needs and inclusion of diverse student populations. Among present research of DMHIs, few studies are focused on college students, and even fewer with racially and ethnically diverse participants. Before employing a tool to serve the entire campus community, leaders should look for efficacy across populations and survey the campus population to understand needs and preferences for tools.

Financing of such tools. Interviews with counseling center directors and other experts in the field highlighted small discretionary budgets to adopt DMHIs or that decisions were made above health or counseling centers to purchase products, without consideration for campus-specific needs. "Institutions should be considering expanding budgets so they're not making tough choices with a limited number of dollars," Abelson says. Grant programs from the state or federal level should also fund evaluation studies along with the work, addressing the need for further research.

Do you have a wellness tip that might help others encourage student success? Tell us about it.

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Do digital mental health offerings support college students?

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A new study evaluates nine common digital mental health interventions to gauge their effectiveness in supporting students-and finds that, across the field, there is little significant research on interventions in general or on specific tools.

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Asynchronous Anxiety: The Influence of Emotions in Online Spaces

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Asynchronous Anxiety: The Influence of Emotions in Online Spaces

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Lu, K., Zhu, J., Pang, F., & Liu, Z. (2024). Understanding college students’ test anxiety in asynchronous online courses: The mediating role of emotional engagement. International Journal of Educational Technology in Higher Education, 21(1), 50. https://doi.org/10.1186/s41239-024-00482-1

Lu, Zhu, & Liu (2024) examine the role of emotional engagement in mediating test anxiety among college students enrolled in asynchronous online courses. Through survey data from 400+ students, the authors find that emotional engagement significantly impacts the relationship between academic pressure and anxiety levels, suggesting that students who feel emotionally connected to course material are less likely to experience debilitating stress. The findings emphasize the need for instructional design that fosters not only cognitive engagement but also emotional connection in remote learning environments.

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How Can I Help? Supporting Student Wellness from Afar

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How Can I Help? Supporting Student Wellness from Afar

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BelievePerform. (2020). How schools can remotely support students to look after their mental health [Infographic]. BelievePerform. Retrieved from https://believeperform.com/product/how-schools-can-remotely-support-students-to-look-after-their-mental-health/

This infographic offers a practical visual guide for how schools can support student mental health in remote learning contexts. It suggests actionable strategies such as encouraging daily routines, facilitating virtual check-ins, promoting healthy screen habits, and providing coping tools through digital platforms. While not scholarly in nature, the infographic translates well-researched mental health practices into visually engaging, accessible content that can easily be shared with students and staff. Its approachable format makes it a valuable supplement to more formal institutional wellness efforts.

It also sets the stage for what comes next: a deeper look at how AI is stepping into the mental health space.

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A(I) Wake Up Call: Combating Burnout and Fatigue with Artificial Intelligence and Institutional Support

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A(I) Wake Up Call: Combating Burnout and Fatigue with Artificial Intelligence and Institutional Support

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Deep, P. D., & Chen, Y. (2025). Student burnout and mental health in higher education during COVID‑19: Online learning fatigue, institutional support, and the role of artificial intelligence. Higher Education Studies, 15(2), 381–400. https://doi.org/10.5539/hes.v15n2p381

In this recently published study, Deep & Chen (2025) synthesize evidence on student burnout and fatigue experienced during the pandemic-driven shift to online learning. The authors analyze nearly 40 studies, revealing a widespread increase in student stress, disengagement, and wellness challenges. Significantly, the paper highlights how higher education institutions began deploying AI interventions (e.g., campus chatbots, digital wellness apps, and adaptive tutoring systems) to alleviate pressure and extend support at scale.

The analysis emphasizes that while AI offers promising solutions, successful implementation depends on robust institutional policies, training, and governance to ensure ethical and effective use. This paper connects the burnout from our earlier sources to the AI future we're about to explore.

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AI Policy in Higher Education: A Roundtable

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AI Policy in Higher Education: A Roundtable

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Navigating AI in Higher Education: Multiple Perspectives from Policy and Practice. (2025, February). [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y9enb5MsHaQ

This recorded panel discussion convenes higher education leaders, policymakers, and AI ethicists to address the multifaceted implications of deploying artificial intelligence on campuses. Topics include AI-driven academic integrity solutions, student data privacy, equitable access, and the need for clear governance frameworks. Each speaker shares institution-level challenges and successes, highlighting strategies for crafting ethical AI policies that balance innovation with accountability.

The dialogue illustrates how AI in higher ed is not just a technological shift but also a leadership, legal, and cultural transformation. Campus leaders and experts must hash out what it means to do AI right, from ethics to equity to data privacy, as remote learning evolves into smart learning.

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Navigating AI in Higher Education: Multiple Perspectives from Policy to Practice

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Xue, Y., Chinapah, V., & Zhu, C. (2025). A comparative analysis of AI privacy concerns in higher education: News coverage in China and Western countries. Education Sciences, 15(6), Article 650. https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci15060650

This comparative content analysis investigates how news outlets in China and Western countries portray AI privacy concerns in higher education. Reviewing media coverage from 2019 to 2024, the study finds stark contrasts in narrative emphasis: Western articles tend to stress individual rights, data transparency, and ethical risks, while Chinese coverage focuses on policy alignment, national innovation, and institutional implementation.

The authors argue that such framing influences public perception and policy momentum, underscoring the need for culturally aware governance strategies when introducing AI technologies on college campuses.

Turns out, not everyone sees AI the same way. This global study shows how the media shapes what we fear—and accept—when it comes to AI on campus.

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Going Forward: Building a Culture of Care in College

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Going Forward: Building a Culture of Care in College

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White, S., & Robert, J. (Hosts). (2025, January 15). Mental Health Supports: Moving Higher Ed toward a culture of care [Audio podcast episode]. In EDUCAUSE Shop Talk. EDUCAUSE. https://er.educause.edu/podcasts/educause-shop-talk/2025/mental-health-supports-moving-higher-ed-toward-a-culture-of-care

This audio podcast episode explores strategic initiatives aimed at embedding comprehensive mental health support within higher education institutions. Hosted by EDUCAUSE’s Sophie White and Jenay Robert, the episode features experts from The Hope Center and Healthy Minds Network discussing the development of a "culture of care" that integrates digital tools, faculty and staff training, and systemic policies. Emphasis is placed on scalability, equity, and sustainability, as well as how technology can support—but not supplant—personalized, empathetic student engagement.

The episode offers practical examples and key leadership takeaways for implementing holistic mental health frameworks in diverse higher education environments.

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Mental Health Supports: Moving Higher Ed Toward a Culture of Care

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This episode delves into the 2025 EDUCAUSE Horizon Action Plan: Mental Health Supports. Hosts and guests examine the challenges faced by higher educat

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Conclusion: A New Era of Higher Education

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Conclusion: A New Era of Higher Education

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This annotated bibliography traces the evolution of higher education through the lens of remote learning, artificial intelligence, and student wellness. Beginning with the pandemic-induced transition to online instruction, the curated sources explore shifts in faculty attitudes, student mental health, emotional engagement, and institutional responses. Non-scholarly materials such as infographics, podcasts, and videos bring real-world voices and visuals to the conversation, while scholarly articles offer data-driven insights into evolving pedagogical and technological trends. Together, these sources reveal the growing intersection between educational innovation and holistic student care—suggesting that in the age of AI, leadership must balance access, ethics, and empathy to truly support learners.

From the chaos of COVID-19 to the rise of AI, this journey through remote learning reveals more than just a tech transformation—it highlights a shift in values. Faculty adapted, students struggled and thrived, and institutions began reimagining what it means to truly support well-being in digital spaces. As an online graduate student myself, I’ve felt the weight of these changes firsthand. This collection reflects not only where higher ed has been, but where it must go: toward leadership that’s innovative, ethical, and most importantly, human.