A week ago, I finished teaching in a software development program that was cancelled because of low enrolment. I taught software development for five years, and AI makes this feel like some kind of Year Zero. The job market is changing quickly, and students are weighing that before they enrol.
Reading Weller (2020) changed my view of how unique this moment is. I was surprised by how familiar the earlier stories of educational technology felt. Multimedia, the web, and learning management systems all arrived with expectations that they would transform education. They changed it, but not always as expected. Watters (2020) argues that educational technology also has a habit of forgetting its history, making it easier to treat each new development as unprecedented.
One aspect of AI does seem different. Most discussion focuses on what it will change inside the classroom, but its influence may begin before students get there. In March, BCIT reported reduced demand for most computing programs below the degree level. It also noted that news coverage had amplified concerns about employment prospects and growing AI capability in traditional entry-level and junior roles (British Columbia Institute of Technology, 2026).
Weller’s approach also has a limitation. By looking at one technology for each year, the focus tends to be on what those technologies changed about teaching and learning. That approach does not capture as easily what happens when a technology begins to influence whether students choose to enrol in the first place.
Before these readings, AI felt like Year Zero. Weller has made me less certain of that. Other technologies have arrived with similar expectations that education was about to change dramatically. What makes AI different may not be the scale of the change, but where its effects first appear. That change can begin before the classroom, with the choices students make about what, or whether, to study.
References
British Columbia Institute of Technology. (2026). Board of Governors open meeting package, March 31, 2026. https://www.bcit.ca/files/about/pdf/openmtgpkg20260331.pdf
Watters, A. (2020, November 11). What happens when ed tech forgets: Some thoughts on rehabilitating reputations. Hack Education. https://hackeducation.com/2020/11/11/forgetting
Weller, M. (2020). 25 years of ed tech. Athabasca University Press. https://www.aupress.ca/books/120290-25-years-of-ed-tech/
31 August 2026 at 7:15 pm
Hi Craig,
Thank you for your blog post.
You bring up an aspect of AI and education that I had not really considered before. I have mostly thought about AI in terms of what it means for teaching, learning, assessment, and academic integrity once students are already in the classroom. The fact that AI may be influencing whether students choose to enrol in certain programs in the first place is something I had not thought about.
Weller’s examples remind us that education has experienced many technologies that were expected to completely transform learning. At the same time, I think your argument shows why AI may be different in an important way: students are not only asking how AI will change their education, but whether the education they are considering will still lead to the career opportunities they expect. You have definitely given me another perspective to consider when thinking about the impact of AI on education.
PS: I am sorry to hear that the program was cancelled. 🙁