future of higher education

What price will society pay if higher education cannot revolutionize college as we know it and evolve a sustainable economic model?

The Ivory Tower — description from Wikipedia.org

Excerpt:

Ivory Tower is a 2014 American documentary film written, directed and produced by Andrew Rossi. The film premiered in competition category of U.S. Documentary Competition program at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival on January 18, 2014.

After its premiere at Sundance Film Festival, Participant Media, Paramount Pictures and Samuel Goldwyn Films acquired distribution rights of the film. The film is scheduled to have a theatrical release in June 2014 in United Sates by Samuel Goldwyn Films. Paramount Pictures will handle the international release of the film, while Participant Media will handle the campaign for film’s theatrical release.

Class, Cost and College — from nyt.com by Frank Bruni

Excerpt:

Scheduled for theatrical release next month, “Ivory Tower” does an astonishingly thorough tour of the university landscape in a brisk 90 minutes, touching on the major changes and challenges, each of which could sustain its own documentary.

But as I watched it, one theme in particular kept capturing my attention. One set of questions kept coming to mind. How does our current system of higher education square with our concerns about social mobility? What place do the nation’s universities have in our intensifying debate about income inequality? What promise do they hold for lessening it?

The answers in “Ivory Tower” and beyond it aren’t reassuring. Indeed, the greatest crisis may be that while college supposedly represents one of the surest ladders to, and up through, the middle class, it’s not functioning that way, at least not very well.

From DSC:
I graduated with a liberal arts degree. I work at a Christian liberal arts college. I believe in the liberal arts. However, I see our current business models as broken. I, along with many others, see issues and problems that need to be dealt with — whereas many within higher education see no need to change at all. “What’s the problem?” they ask rhetorically…not wanting their great ride of the last 20-30 years to end.

But such individuals aren’t seeing the invisible devastation that’s taking place, such as the mounting/crushing debt on our students’ backs that stays with them for YEARS after they graduate. Such debt loads affect graduates’ ability to purchase a home or to save for retirement (then there’s those who didn’t graduate but spent a great deal of $$ in the attempt to get a degree). I’m also hearing that it’s delaying marriage in some cases. And unlike a car or a house, you can’t realistically refinance many student loans. (Although Elizabeth Warren is seeking to change that situation, thankfully.)

So while I strongly believe in obtaining a college education, we have to get the price down! We have to recognize that there’s an issue. Change must occur.

Reflections on “The seven habits of highly effective digital enterprises” [Olanrewaju, Smaje, & Willmott]

On 06/03/2014, in business, change, changing business models, corporate / business world, dangers of the status quo, Daniel S. Christian, digital learning, experimentation, future of higher education, game-changing environment, higher education, innovation, MOOCs -- Massive Open Online Courses, online learning, by Daniel Christian

The seven habits of highly effective digital enterprises — from mckinsey.com by Tunde Olanrewaju, Kate Smaje, and Paul Willmott
To stay competitive, companies must stop experimenting with digital and commit to transforming themselves into full digital businesses. Here are seven habits that successful digital enterprises share.

Excerpt:

The age of experimentation with digital is over. In an often bleak landscape of slow economic recovery, digital continues to show healthy growth. E-commerce is growing at double-digit rates in the United States and most European countries, and it is booming across Asia. To take advantage of this momentum, companies need to move beyond experiments with digital and transform themselves into digital businesses. Yet many companies are stumbling as they try to turn their digital agendas into new business and operating models. The reason, we believe, is that digital transformation is uniquely challenging, touching every function and business unit while also demanding the rapid development of new skills and investments that are very different from business as usual. To succeed, management teams need to move beyond vague statements of intent and focus on “hard wiring” digital into their organization’s structures, processes, systems, and incentives.

From DSC:
“The age of experimentation with digital is over. … To take advantage of this momentum, companies need to move beyond experiments with digital and transform themselves into digital businesses.”

Though this may be true for the corporate world (the audience for whom this piece was written), the experimentation within higher education is just beginning. With that said, I still couldn’t help but wonder if some of these same habits might apply to the world of higher education. For example, three habits that the article mentioned jumped out at me as being highly relevant to those of us working within higher education:

1. Be unreasonably aspirational

4. Challenge everything

7. Be obsessed with the customer
Rising customer expectations continue to push businesses to improve the customer experience across all channels. Excellence in one channel is no longer sufficient; customers expect the same frictionless experience in a retail store as they do when shopping online, and vice versa.

A potentially-related item, at least from the perspective of the higher ed student of the near future:

Accelerating the digitization of business processes — from by Shahar Markovitch and Paul Willmott
Customers want a quick and seamless digital experience, and they want it now.
Excerpt:
Customers have been spoiled. Thanks to companies such as Amazon and Apple, they now expect every organization to deliver products and services swiftly, with a seamless user experience.

Reflections on “I actually don’t know any of the people you just mentioned . . .” [Hampson]

On 06/01/2014, in 21st century, change, changing business models, disruption, future of higher education, higher education, liberal arts, by Daniel Christian

“I actually don’t know any of the people you just mentioned . . .” — from Management & Strategy in Digital Higher Ed by Dr. Keith Hampson

Excerpt:

Colgate University hosted an event last week. “Innovation + Disruption Symposium“. The keynote was none other than Clay Christensen, the Godfather of Disruption Innovation. Following his talk, seven University Presidents of private universities fielded questions from the moderator.

…

But a few moments stood out; here’s my favourite. Clay Christensen – having done his bit on disruptive innovation in higher education – was sitting in the audience listening to the Presidents field questions. He rose and noted, half-jokingly, that everyone on the panel disagreed with everything he had just said about the coming disruption in higher education. Laughs ensued. He then asked the panel to imagine that a second panel was on stage with them. This second panel included the Founder of the Khan Academy, Paul Leblanc of Southern New Hampshire University, the President of Western Governors University, and others that are commonly believed to be leading the changes that are unfolding in higher education. Christensen asked the panel to consider what this second, imaginary panel might say that is different from what he had been hearing.

The response? David Oxtoby, President of Pomona College fielded the question: “I actually don’t know any of the people you just mentioned, but . . .”

You can’t make this stuff up. I don’t recall ever hearing or reading anything that so succinctly illustrates the existence of different worlds and perspectives within higher education.

Also see:

Question of the day: How worried should higher education leaders be about the future? — from news.colgate.edu by Barbara Brooks on May 5, 2014
Excerpt:
After Clayton Christensen predicted that half of higher education institutions will either be facing bankruptcy or in liquidation within 10 to 15 years, six liberal arts presidents expressed varying degrees of concern, ranging from “not worried” (Georgia Nugent, president emeritus of Kenyon College) to “only the paranoid survive” (Colgate President Jeffrey Herbst).

From DSC:
I love Keith’s line: “You can’t make this stuff up.” Then later on in his posting, “Yet, the President of a university – having accepted an invitation to an event to talk about disruptive innovation in higher education – has not heard of many of the people behind these changes. Wow. Just wow.” Thanks Keith — right on!

My comment is this:
Too many presidents and those in leadership waaaay underestimate what can be done online. They didn’t grow up with many of the technologies we have today and, quite frankly, they aren’t sold on them. Nor have many of them taken an online course recently (or ever) themselves, I’d guess.They also have very vested interests in keeping things the way they are; they have to guard/craft their public-facing words very carefully.

Many leaders throughout higher education also neglect to highlight/mention/recognize that online learning doesn’t come with multimillion dollar, physical plant-related expenses. Online learning can be expensive, depending upon the level of sophistication one wants to achieve. However, there are no buildings to maintain. There are no elevators to fix. There are no lawns to mow. There are no sidewalks to repair. There are no heating bills. There are no lightbulbs/fixtures to maintain…walls to paint…etc., etc. Adding additional storage space or purchasing a new server is much more affordable than developing a new building. Online learning doesn’t care much about the buildings “arms race.”

So I wonder, how will face-to-face learning be able to compete in the future? Or…is that not even the question? Many have asked another question, “Will only the very wealthy be able to afford an on-campus experience?”

Wise words from Ecclesiastes – especially for TRIMTAB Groups within higher education

On 06/01/2014, in corporate / business world, dangers of the status quo, Daniel S. Christian, entrepreneurship, experimentation, faith, future of higher education, game-changing environment, global / globalization, higher education, innovation, new business models, universities, by Daniel Christian

Ecclesiastes 11:1-6

From DSC:
The bolded text is what I want to highlight in this posting/reflection:

Ship your grain across the sea;
after many days you may receive a return.
²Invest in seven ventures, yes, in eight;
you do not know what disaster may come upon the land.

³If clouds are full of water,
    they pour rain on the earth.
Whether a tree falls to the south or to the north,
    in the place where it falls, there it will lie.
⁴Whoever watches the wind will not plant;
    whoever looks at the clouds will not reap.

⁵As you do not know the path of the wind,
or how the body is formed^[a] in a mother’s womb,
so you cannot understand the work of God,
the Maker of all things.

⁶Sow your seed in the morning,
    and at evening let your hands not be idle,
for you do not know which will succeed,
    whether this or that,
    or whether both will do equally well.

From DSC:
This advice may prove incredibly beneficial for businesspeople, entrepreneurs, freelancers, and innovators.

But I have it that these words could also apply to the future of education — especially to those of us trying to determine/influence the future of higher education. TRIMTAB Groups within higher ed will need to live by those words.

TheTrimtabInHigherEducation-DanielChristian

These 10 stats are taking higher ed’s breath away [Stansbury]

On 05/27/2014, in colleges, community colleges, cost of getting a degree, future of higher education, game-changing environment, higher education, universities, by Daniel Christian

These 10 stats are taking higher ed’s breath away — from ecampusnews.com by Meris Stansbury

Excerpt:

5. Spending on instruction has remained flat.

…

9. Public and private university debt has nearly tripled from $54 billion to $151 billion over the last decade. Comparable data is not available for private universities, and for-profit data begins at 2010; in 2012, their debt amounted to an additional $95 billion.

10. Annual spending on interest payments per enrolled student nearly doubled at public four-year colleges from $488 in 2002 to $909 in 2012. Interest costs per enrolled student at community colleges increased from 273 percent of their 2002 level, from $166 to $452. Interest costs for private four-year colleges increased to 161 percent of their 2002 level from $990 to $1,589.

Also see:

Excerpt:

We have shown that financing costs per enrolled student have increased by 53 percent across the across the American higher education system while instructional and overall costs per enrolled student have remained flat. More research is needed to assess how these increases in financing costs do or do not impact policy objectives such as affordability, increased access, and college completion.

The 2014 Dean’s List: 50 Must-Read Higher Education Technology Blogs [Ed Tech Magazine]

On 05/27/2014, in blogs / blogging / vlogging, colleges, community colleges, Daniel S. Christian, education technology, educational games / serious games, emerging technologies, future of higher education, game-changing environment, higher education, universities, by Daniel Christian

Excerpt:

Everyone has a favorite blog. Odds are, that blogger has a favorite as well.

We’ve scoured the Internet for blogs that resonate with the intersection of higher education and technology. These are blogs that set themselves apart for a variety of reasons — they are leading voices in their fields, have hundreds if not thousands of fans and consistently raise the bar for conversation.

The majority of these blogs are new to EdTech: Focus on Higher Education’s honor roll. Some were nominated by our readers, and some are veterans of last year’s list that have stayed on top of our charts.

From DSC:
I would like to thank Frank Smith (@DFrank), Tara Buck (@TEBuckTMG), Jimmy Daily (@Jimmy_Daly), and all of the folks at Ed Tech Magazine (@EdTech_HigherEd) for including this Learning Ecosystems blog in this year’s Dean’s List.

The $10,000 degree & other items related to the need for higher ed to adapt to a game-changing environment

On 05/13/2014, in 21st century, adult learning, cost of getting a degree, dangers of the status quo, digital learning, future of higher education, game-changing environment, higher education, new business models, online learning, by Daniel Christian

A Case for Applied Liberal Arts: Adapting to Disruption — from evollution.com by Michelle Rhee-Weise | Senior Research Fellow, Clayton Christensen Institute for Disruptive Innovation

Excerpt:

This is neither another defense of the liberal arts nor another piece that pits the liberal arts against vocational training. We’ve all grown weary of commentators who ennoble without question the ideal of the liberal arts while denigrating vocation as factory work or corporate training.

In lieu of these tired tropes, I would suggest the notion of applied liberal arts. It’s time we shed vocation of its connotations of career education, corporate training and utility. Vocation does not preclude the liberal arts but can fuse a liberal education with the application of knowledge, effective citizenship, well roundedness and even artistry.

…

The instinct for some institutions might be to give into the “threat rigidity,” or to cease being flexible in the face of such major, systemic shifts. If, however, traditional institutions double down on a static curriculum, then how will they compete with these lower-cost, briefer and targeted programs that lead directly to high-skills opportunities at desirable companies? The oncoming disruption must be viewed as an opportunity to tie education to economic relevance — to offer more than a trajectory, but a well-defined pathway, to employment.

The $10,000 Degree: Fundamentally Changing the Way Universities Do Business — from evollution.com by Jean Floten | Chancellor, Western Governors University Washington

Excerpt (emphasis DSC):

The reset button has been pushed in this country. We have the choice to either participate in the reshaping of higher education to help more prospective students reach for their aspirations or live in denial.

Most Americans have changed how they do business and manage their personal finances. We must, too. The recession of the last decade spawned more leery consumers and led far too many to question the value of an investment in education.

That’s the importance of the $10,000-degree challenge. It recognizes the need for fundamental change in higher education. Furthermore, it provides a tangible finish line to which the academy may strive.

It’s time we, the leaders of colleges and universities, raise educational attainment levels — not costs.

MOOCs’ disruption is only beginning — from studentforce.wordpress.com; reposted from The Boston Globe written by Clayton M. Christensen and Michelle R. Weise

Excerpt:

JOURNALISTS, as 2013 ended, were busy declaring the death of MOOCs, more formally known as massive open online courses. Silicon Valley startup Udacity, one of the first to offer the free Web-based college classes, had just announced its pivot to vocational training — a sure sign to some that this much-hyped revolution in higher education had failed. The collective sigh of relief from more traditional colleges and universities was audible.

The news, however, must have also had the companies that had enthusiastically jumped on the MOOC train feeling a bit like Mark Twain. When newspapers confused Twain for his ailing cousin, the writer famously quipped, “The report of my death was an exaggeration.” Undoubtedly pronouncements over MOOCs’ demise are likewise premature. And their potential to disrupt — on price, technology, even pedagogy — in a long-stagnant industry is only just beginning to be seen.

Tuition costs have been ballooning faster than general inflation and even faster than health care. And what do we get in return? Nearly half of all bachelor’s-degree holders do not find employment or are underemployed upon graduation. At the same time, employers have not been satisfied with degree candidates. Two recent Gallup polls showed that although 96 percent of chief academic officers believe they’re doing a good job of preparing students for employment, only 11 percent of business leaders agree that graduates have the requisite skills for success in the workforce. And this is all occurring while higher education leaders were convinced that they were innovating all along.

It was just the wrong kind of innovation.

Education-as-a-Service: 5 ways higher ed must adapt to a changing market — from venturebeat.com by Ryan Craig, University Ventures

Excerpt:

Within a few years, some students will come to higher education with an understanding of their current competencies, the competencies required for their dream job, and the resulting gap. Colleges will need to respond to these students with more than just a course catalog.

For example, for an 18-year-old who wants to start a career in video game design, colleges will offer courses that produce the requisite skills for an entry-level position – in addition to some general education – and will award a meaningful credential at completion of those courses (a process that will be completed likely in less than four years).

Or a laid-off marketing manager, whose time-to-job is six months rather than four years, may come to a university for reskilling in social media marketing, taking four targeted courses and earning a credential that employers can understand.

5 reasons the college student loan debt crisis could top subprime mortgages — from educationdive.com by Keith Button

Excerpt:

As the U.S. higher ed student loan debt continues its ascent, more warnings are sounding about the consequences.

Student debt currently amounts to $1.08 trillion owed by nearly 37 million borrowers. Richard Cordray, president of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, has warned that the student loan problem is comparable to the home mortgage market prior to the Great Recession that began in 2008.

Could the economic impact of the student debt crisis one day match (or even exceed) the credit crunch created by subprime mortgages? Here are five reasons for concern…

Taking the Liberal Arts Online in the Summer — from chronicle.com by William Pannapacker
New ways of delivering courses can be compatible with small-college values

Excerpt:

A major reason we created the program was to assist students in completing their degrees within four years. Several of our preprofessional programs have demanding sequences that do not mesh easily with the schedules of courses in our core curriculum. In addition, a growing proportion of our students want to spend a semester off-campus, which places even greater constraints on their academic schedules.

…

Adopted cautiously, in a critical, evolutionary, decentralized way, a variety of online approaches to learning—beyond what we already have—can allow faculty members to improve their teaching by placing lecture content online and using classes for high-impact experiences, allowing professors and students to become more interactive with each other. And—by making it less necessary for students to transfer credit for entire courses from outside parties—online courses developed within an institutional context can preserve rather than undermine our unique missions as liberal-arts colleges.

Also see:

.

Created by Knewton and Column Five Media

Reflections on “Time to retire from online learning?” [by Tony Bates]

On 04/17/2014, in analytics, Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, data related items, distance education, future of higher education, game-changing environment, higher education, MOOCs -- Massive Open Online Courses, online learning, teaching & learning, by Daniel Christian

Time to retire from online learning? – by Tony Bates

Excerpts:

Teaching in higher education is about to go through as major a revolution as one can imagine. This is not going to be easy; indeed it could get brutal.
…
…this is not a profession where you can be half in and half out. Dabbling in online learning is very dangerous (politicians please note).
…
Lastly, I am concerned that the computer scientists seem to be taking over online education. Ivy League MOOCs are being driven mainly by computer scientists, not educators. Politicians are looking to computer science to automate learning in order to save money. Computer scientists have much to offer, but they need more humility and a greater willingness to work with other professionals, such as psychologists and teachers, who understand better how learning operates. This is a battle that has always existed in educational technology, but it’s one I fear the educators are losing. The result could be disastrous, but that’s a theme for a whole set of blog posts.

From DSC:
I am very grateful for Tony’s work! He has helped many, many people develop their own learning ecosystems in a variety of ways throughout these last 45 years. As I, too, am passionate about online learning, I have really appreciated Tony’s insights and writings about topics that related to online and distance learning. I was glad to hear that Tony will continue to write in the future.

If change is inevitable– is progress optional? Four education institutions opting for progress [Morrison]

On 04/17/2014, in business side of he, change, changing business models, colleges, corporate / business world, corporate universities / corporate training, dangers of the status quo, experimentation, future of higher education, game-changing environment, higher education, innovation, leadership, MOOCs -- Massive Open Online Courses, strategy, vision/possibilities, workplace, by Daniel Christian

If change is inevitable– is progress optional? Four education institutions opting for progress — from onlinelearninginsights.wordpress.com by Debbie Morrison

Excerpts:

Corporate Sponsored Degree Program: University of Maryland, Cybersecurity
Strategic Planning Initiative: Beyond Forward, Dartmouth University
Institutional Mergers. University System of Georgia
MOOC-Inspired Initiatives. Penn State, flex-MOOC and Georgia Tech Institute.

From DSC:
As I was watching “The Future of Higher Education: MOOCs and Disruptive Innovation,” a video recorded last August, (GW’s School of Business) Dean Doug Guthrie mentioned a company named In the Telling. The name of that company piqued my curiosity, so I went to look at that company, and what instantly struck me about their offerings were the use of:

A team-based approach to education
The use of digital storytelling
Software as a Service

Dean Guthrie’s comments on interaction, community building, and customization rang true for me, but it was the customization part that really grabbed me. And there too, most likely it will take a team of people to understand and use the data, to build the algorithms that Doug was talking about to deliver the learning trees of the future (and I would add the phrases/terms learning paths and learning playlists).

I have it that as MOOCs continue to morph and as the perfect storm in higher education continues to amass, those institutions who implement a team-based approach to content creation, delivery, and assessment will be the ones who thrive in the future.

This thought was further brought home when I viewed Phil Hill and Michael Feldstein discussing “Online Learning – What Is It Good For?” Consider the appearance of the word TEAM in the following graphics:

Major questions need to be asked — and addressed — due to these shifts [Christian]

On 03/17/2014, in 21st century, adult learning, Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, business, career development, corporate / business world, corporate universities / corporate training, dangers of the status quo, Daniel S. Christian, emerging technologies, engineering, entrepreneurship, experimentation, future, future of higher education, game-changing environment, global / globalization, heutagogy, higher education, homeschooling/homeschoolers, informal learning, K-12 related, leadership, learning ecosystem, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, lifelong learning, marketplaces, new business models, pace of change, professional development, reinvent, robotics, staying relevant, strategy, surviving, the downsides of how people use tech, training / L&D, trends, vision/possibilities, workplace, by Daniel Christian

Excerpts:

If Daniel Nadler is right, a generation of college graduates with well-paid positions as junior researchers and analysts in the banking industry should be worried about their jobs. Very worried.

Mr Nadler’s start-up, staffed with ex-Google engineers and backed partly by money from Google’s venture capital arm, is trying to put them out of work.

…

The threat to jobs stretches beyond the white-collar world. Advances in artificial intelligence (AI) also make possible more versatile robots capable of taking over many types of manual work. “It’s going to decimate jobs at the low end,” predicts Jerry Kaplan, a Silicon Valley entrepreneur who teaches a class about AI at Stanford University. Like others working in the field, he says he is surprised by the speed at which the new technologies are moving out of the research labs.

From DSC:
After reading the above article — and seeing presentations about these trends (example) — I have some major questions to ask:

What changes do those of us working within higher education need to make due to these shifts? How should we modify our curricula? Which skills need to be reinforced/developed?
What changes do Learning & Development groups and Training Departments need to make within the corporate world?
How should we be developing our K-12 students to deal with such a volatile workplace?
What changes do adult learners need to make to stay marketable/employable? How can they reinvent themselves (and know what that reinvention should look like)?
How can each of us know if our job is next on the chopping block and if it is, what should we do about it?
What kind of future do we want?

These changes are for real. The work of Erik Brynjolfsson and Andrew McAfee further addresses some of these trends and changes. See:

Addendum:

Also see:

Bill Gates: Yes, robots really are about to take your jobs — from bgr.com by Brad Reed

Bill Gates Interview Robots

Excerpt:

Microsoft cofounder Bill Gates isn’t going to sugarcoat things: The increasing power of automation technology is going to put a lot of people out of work. Business Insider reports that Gates gave a talk at the American Enterprise Institute think tank in Washington, DC this week and said that both governments and businesses need to start preparing for a future where lots of people will be put out of work by software and robots.

Also see:

Make Work More Human — from Harold Jarche

Speeding up on curves — from educause.edu by Bradley Wheeler

Excerpt:

Higher education faces a number of important curves, but I’ll focus first on just two:

The finance of higher education is increasingly moving from a public to a private good, leading to increasing cost and price pressures (particularly for state-supported institutions).
The increasing digitization of education and research favors greater scale while it also enables potential new substitutes for colleges and universities.

Also see:

Pa. considers letting universities leave state system — from educationdive.com by Keith Button
Pennsylvania lawmakers are considering a bill that would allow certain universities to buy their way out of the state system over time.

Some solid articles/information in the Feb 2014 University Outlook magazine

On 02/22/2014, in change, changing business models, future of higher education, game-changing environment, global / globalization, higher education, MOOCs -- Massive Open Online Courses, social learning / networks, social media, trends, by Daniel Christian

February 2014 | Vol. 2, No. 1
http://universityoutlook.uberflip.com/i/260407

A highly recommended presentation for anyone who is working in higher education!!! [Pres by Prof Steven Van Belleghem]

On 02/15/2014, in 21st century, business, business side of he, career development, change, changing business models, corporate / business world, corporate universities / corporate training, dangers of the status quo, Daniel S. Christian, disruption, future, future of higher education, game-changing environment, new business models, organizational change, pace of change, workplace, by Daniel Christian

Reinvent the future –– an excellent presentation by Professor Steven Van Belleghem

From DSC:
Though this presentation is aimed at the corporate world, there are NUMEROUS lessons here for those of us working within the world of higher education.

Sample slides:

From DSC:
This type of presentation prompts me to ask why there isn’t more coursework being offered involving futurism…?

And within our current business offerings, are we applying enough emphasis on freelancing, entrepreneurship, innovation, and in pulse-checking a variety of landscapes?

Along these lines, see:

Need a job? Invent it — from nytimes.com by Thomas Friedman

Excerpts:

Every middle-class job today is being pulled up, out or down faster than ever. That is, it either requires more skill or can be done by more people around the world or is being buried — made obsolete — faster than ever. Which is why the goal of education today, argues Wagner, should not be to make every child “college ready” but “innovation ready” — ready to add value to whatever they do.

So what should be the focus of education reform today?
…
We need to focus more on teaching the skill and will to learn and to make a difference and bring the three most powerful ingredients of intrinsic motivation into the classroom: play, passion and purpose.”

“The End of Higher Education’s Golden Age” [Shirky] — & other curated items re: the pressures for change in HE

On 02/01/2014, in Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, business side of he, changing business models, dangers of the status quo, Daniel S. Christian, education reform, education technology, experimentation, future of higher education, game-changing environment, higher education, IBM, more voice more choice more control, new business models, online learning, publishing, vendors, by Daniel Christian

The End of Higher Education’s Golden Age — from Clay Shirky

Excerpts:

Interest in using the internet to slash the price of higher education is being driven in part by hope for new methods of teaching, but also by frustration with the existing system. The biggest threat those of us working in colleges and universities face isn’t video lectures or online tests. It’s the fact that we live in institutions perfectly adapted to an environment that no longer exists.

…

Our current difficulties are not the result of current problems. They are the bill coming due for 40 years of trying to preserve a set of practices that have outlived the economics that made them possible.

…

Of the twenty million or so students in the US, only about one in ten lives on a campus. The remaining eighteen million—the ones who don’t have the grades for Swarthmore, or tens of thousands of dollars in free cash flow, or four years free of adult responsibility—are relying on education after high school not as a voyage of self-discovery but as a way to acquire training and a certificate of hireability.

…

It will also require us to abandon any hope of restoring the Golden Age. It was a nice time, but it wasn’t stable, and it didn’t last, and it’s not coming back. It’s been gone ten years more than it lasted, in fact, and in the time since it ended, we’ve done more damage to our institutions, and our students, and our junior colleagues, by trying to preserve it than we would have by trying to adapt. Arguing that we need to keep the current system going just long enough to get the subsidy the world owes us is really just a way of preserving an arrangement that works well for elites—tenured professors, rich students, endowed institutions—but increasingly badly for everyone else.

4 platforms that will disrupt higher education — from hastac.org by Kevin Browne

Excerpts:

Straighterline
Udemy
Mozilla’s Open Badges Project
Pearson
The textbook publisher Pearson is now able to offer degrees of its own in the UK. If their venture is a success it will certainly inspire others to petition to do this and it will certainly spread to other countries.

The rise of alternatives to university continuing education (part 1) — from higheredmanagement.net by Keith Hampson

Excerpt:

Let’s be clear, we need these new learning providers. We are living through what appears to be a “jobless” economic recovery and people need a way range of options – at different price points – in order to quickly retrain themselves for a rapidly changing job market. A robust and diverse continuing education market is a priority for the 21st century and our government leaders and regulators should be crafting policy to make it happen.

Higher education technology predictions for 2014 — from masmithers.com by Mark Smithers

Excerpt:

In summary, we’ll have another contentious year. We’ll see big growth in higher education services from outside of the university sector, a continued gnashing of teeth from established providers. Some new services and platforms will emerge to cater for different forms of learning, MOOCs will evolve and improve and open badges will be hot. Look out for rhizomatic learning.

The New Normal isn’t what you think — from nextberlin.eu by Adam Tinworth (the quote below, though targeting at the corporate world, applies to higher ed as well)

Their yearning is doomed. There will be no return to business as usual. We have begun a process of continuous change that will last decades – perhaps for much of the rest of our lifetimes.

Related items:

Watson is coming for your (professional) jobs — from IEEE.org by John Niman
Excerpt:

Published on Jan 17, 2014 IEET Affiliate Scholar John Niman talks about IBM’s computer system, Watson and how AI may be able to take “Professional” Jobs.

Mass unemployment fears over Google artificial intelligence plans — from telegraph.co.uk by Miranda Prynne
The development of artificial intelligence – thrown into spotlight this week after Google spent hundreds of millions on new technology – could mean computers take over human jobs at a faster rate than new roles can be created, experts have warned

Addendum:

Transformational Change: The New Face of Higher Education — from cgi.stanford.edu by Irene Hecht

Excerpt:

Higher education is in the midst of a process of transformational change. For the department chair, leadership today must include breadth of vision and the skill to bring the single individuals who make up a department into a group that can think collaboratively about the questions facing their discipline, department, and institution. Chair leadership now depends heavily on the ability to create collaborative habits of thought and dialogue among a group of individuals, none of whom may have had experience in effective teamwork. Skill in this area will derive in large part from the chair’s ability to structure the department’s dialogue to be conscious of the connections among its members and the links between the department’s work and the institution’s goals. Ultimately, the habits of dialogue must also include consciousness of the transformational
currents in higher education as an enterprise. Subsequent articles will examine these issues as they pertain to faculty, students, pedagogy, and other key topics being remodeled in the transformational process.

Speeding up on curves — from educause.com by Bradley Wheeler

Excerpt:

Higher education faces a number of important curves, but I’ll focus first on just two:

1) The finance of higher education is increasingly moving from a public to a private good, leading to increasing cost and price pressures (particularly for state-supported institutions).
2) The increasing digitization of education and research favors greater scale while it also enables potential new substitutes for colleges and universities.

Learning Ecosystems

Reflections on “The seven habits of highly effective digital enterprises” [Olanrewaju, Smaje, & Willmott]

Reflections on “I actually don’t know any of the people you just mentioned . . .” [Hampson]

Wise words from Ecclesiastes – especially for TRIMTAB Groups within higher education

These 10 stats are taking higher ed’s breath away [Stansbury]

The 2014 Dean’s List: 50 Must-Read Higher Education Technology Blogs [Ed Tech Magazine]

The $10,000 degree & other items related to the need for higher ed to adapt to a game-changing environment

If change is inevitable– is progress optional? Four education institutions opting for progress [Morrison]

Reflections on “In the Telling” — it’s going to take a team-based approach to compete in the future

“Higher education faces a number of important curves, but I’ll focus first on just two…” [Wheeler]

A highly recommended presentation for anyone who is working in higher education!!! [Pres by Prof Steven Van Belleghem]

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