This week, a new report from the University of Texas at Arlington's LINK research lab highlighted the importance of human connections in online courses, and a Campus Technology report drew attention to Purdue's online short courses, which use actors instead of academics in videos.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission charged the owner of for-profit ITT Tech, as well as its CEO and CFO, with fraud.

In other news, U.S. News released its 2015 Best High School rankings, topped for the fourth consecutive year by Dallas' School for the Talented and Gifted, and a new report from Educause looked into higher ed's post-LMS future.

Be sure to check out our look at whether higher ed career services centers are adequately preparing students to negotiate job offers and more in this week's most-read Education Dive posts!

• Purdue hires actors to deliver online course content: Students find the actors more engaging than industry professionals in their online modules.
• SEC charges ITT Tech owner, executives with fraud: The charges allege the company and its top leaders misled investors about the performance of student loan programs.
• Many students leave college unprepared to negotiate salaries: A new survey from NerdWallet shows how much entry-level hires leave on the table.
• U.S. News unveils 2015 Best High Schools rankings: The School for the Talented and Gifted in Dallas, TX, tops the national rankings for the fourth consecutive year, but Maryland has the highest percentage of top schools.
• Educause report preps for post-LMS higher ed: A new report from Educause provides analysis and recommendations for next generation digital learning environments.
• Human connections important for online courses: Researchers studying the critical elements of online learning success find interactions with instructors and peers are crucial.

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