future of higher education

Technological Advances Demand Adaptation from Public Higher Education [Bienen]

On 07/15/2013, in business side of he, change, changing business models, education technology, faculty, future of higher education, game-changing environment, higher education, internet, online learning, pace of change, reinvent, strategy, surviving, universities, by Daniel Christian

Technological Advances Demand Adaptation from Public Higher Education — from evoLLLution.com by Henry Bienen | President Emeritus, Northwestern University

Excerpt:

Change is coming at a fast pace. Public institutions will need to behave more like private ones, ensuring they can finance themselves and deliver quality programs that benefit their students. Educational technologies will need to be employed for building new models of learning, ones that marshal expensive faculty time more productively and effectively, rather than relegating the majority of instruction to those outside the core faculty. Faculty will need to step up to their role in governance and demonstrate they can support change for the greater good. For-profit corporations will need to demonstrate their utility as partners in creating academic opportunities for students. Additionally, university and faculty leadership will need to mount a convincing argument for the centrality of the liberal arts as the lynchpin of what it means to be educated and what it takes to be successful.

Reflections on “CFO survey reveals doubts about financial sustainability” [Lederman]

On 07/12/2013, in 21st century, business side of he, dangers of the status quo, Daniel S. Christian, future of higher education, game-changing environment, higher education, leadership, strategy, vision/possibilities, by Daniel Christian

CFO survey reveals doubts about financial sustainability — from by Doug Lederman

Excerpt (emphasis DSC):

But what do those with the closest eyes on their own institutions’ bottom lines — chief college and university business officers — think? Turns out they’re not particularly upbeat, either — about their own colleges’ futures or the higher education landscape more generally.

In a new survey by Inside Higher Ed and Gallup, barely a quarter of campus chief financial officers (27 percent) express strong confidence in the viability of their institution’s financial model over five years, and that number drops in half (to 13 percent) when they are asked to look out over a 10-year horizon.

…

And more than 6 in 10 CFOs disagree or strongly disagree with the statement that “reports that a significant number of higher education institutions are facing existential financial crisis are overblown.”

“This is a ‘Houston, we have a problem’ report,” says Jane Wellman, a higher education finance expert. “People who know what they’re talking about think we have a problem down the road if some things don’t get fixed.”

From DSC:
There is danger in the status quo. What further proof do folks need!?! The monkey needs to move onto the back of those who cling to the status quo — they should defend why things shouldn’t change; and after that explanation is done, they can move on to explaining to people how students and their families will pay for college 5-10 years from now. Good luck with that.

Also related/see:

Struggling Thunderbird Business School Finds a For-Profit Lifeline — from wsj.org by Melissa Korn
School takes drastic step to stay afloat

Excerpt:

The Thunderbird School of Global Management, one of the world’s top-ranked business schools, is selling its campus to a for-profit college operator as part of a last-ditch effort to bolster its finances as more people question the value of an M.B.A.

The partnership with Laureate Education Inc. pushed at least two board members to resign in protest last week and angered pockets of its 40,000-person alumni community. Administrators and other insiders said Thunderbird needed to take a drastic step in order to stay afloat.

Reflections on a solid webinar “In the future, the whole world will be a classroom” [Gorbis]

On 07/03/2013, in 21st century, analytics, Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, assessment, Augmented Reality (AR), corporate / business world, corporate universities / corporate training, Daniel S. Christian, data related items, education reform, education technology, future, future of higher education, game-changing environment, global / globalization, higher education, innovation, internet, K-12 related, learning ecosystem, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, lifelong learning, mobile learning, new business models, social learning / networks, streams of content, student teaching/teacher education, student-related, trends, ubiquitous learning, web-based collaboration, workplace, by Daniel Christian

In the future, the whole world will be a classroom — from fastcoexist.com by Marina Gorbis

. .

From DSC:
What Marina is asserting is what I’m seeing as well. That is, we are between two massive but different means of obtaining an education/learning (throughout our lifetimes I might add). What she’s saying is also captured in the following graphic:

Also see:

A long-overdue technological revolution is at last under way — from economist.com
.
Catching on at last — from economist.com
New technology is poised to disrupt America’s schools, and then the world’s
.
School’s out for summer: Rethinking education for the 21st century — from allthingsd.com by Naveen Jain

Tagged with: 21st century • AI • analytics • assessment • augmented reality • Connectivism • corporate / business world • corporate training / universities • Daniel S. Christian • data mining • education reform • educational technology • future • future of higher education • game-changing environment • Global learning • higher education • innovation • internet • K-12 • Mobile learning • new business models • online learning • personal learning networks (PLNs) • social learning • streams of content • student teaching/teacher education • student-related • trends • ubiquitous learning • web-based collaboration • workplace

Reflections on “Millennials’ ball-and-chain: Student loan debt” [USAToday.com]

On 07/02/2013, in cost of getting a degree, dangers of the status quo, Daniel S. Christian, economics, future of higher education, game-changing environment, higher education, New "Amazon.com" of Higher Education, student-related, United States, workplace, by Daniel Christian

From DSC:
When I see this type of graphic, I can:

Hear the air going into the higher ed bubble
See more of the storm clouds gathering in higher ed’s perfect storm
Understand why alternatives are receiving so much attention these days — things like MOOCs, badges, open educational resources, new players in the higher ed space, other
See why the U.S. Federal Government is getting impatient with traditional institutions of higher education — but also understand why Americans have another reason to be frustrated with Congress

Helping MOOC students navigate open educational resources [New]

On 07/02/2013, in future of higher education, game-changing environment, higher education, MOOCs -- Massive Open Online Courses, online learning, open courseware and systems, platforms, by Daniel Christian

Helping MOOC students navigate open educational resources — from ecampusnews.com by Jake New

Excerpt:

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) has partnered with Fujitsu Laboratories of America, Inc., to begin addressing the problem with a new platform they call Guided Learning Pathways. The project’s team is currently exploring ways to introduce the platform into the MOOC systems of edX.

Announced June 17 at the Sixth Conference of MIT’s Learning International Networks Consortium but in the works since 2010, the platform allows students to access and organize free, high quality learning materials from all over the internet based on the student’s interest and level of understanding.

Tagged with: future of higher education • game-changing environment • higher education • MOOCs • online learning • open • platforms

Gazing through mud: The campus and you in 50 years — from evoLLLution.com (where LLL stands for lifelong learning) by John Ebersole, President, Excelsior College

Excerpts:

Both types of institutions will be fewer in number as consolidations and closures continue, at an accelerated pace. Those that overcome the academy’s inherent aversion to change and risk are the most likely to survive.
…
Let’s remember that the half-life of knowledge is falling at an astonishing rate. What is relevant today, especially in technical fields, can become obsolete within a matter of a few years, if not months. At the same time, there is an explosion in information. It has been noted that we’re now exposed to more information in one year than our grandparents were in a lifetime.
…
In summary, the units extending the reach of universities in the future will no longer be on the fringe. Their academic and professional development offerings will instead become central to the institution’s mission.

From DSC:
Some additional reflections:

1) Curated streams of content — broken out by discipline/topic — will be key. Lifelong learning. Keeps you relevant/informed throughout your career. A potentially-prominent format might be learning “channels” — populated with information from bots, presented on “Smart TV’s,” with quick access available to a human Subject Matter Expert (SME) or tutor upon request. Perhaps there will be different levels of SME’s, tutors, mentors, etc. with corresponding $$ rates.

2) Interactive video — such as we’re beginning to see with Touchcast — could be very powerful in online-based learning materials.

3) Educational gaming will likely be a powerful, engaging format.

4) We could likely be moving towards more of a team-based approach –as one person likely won’t be able to do it all anymore (at least not at a level that will successfully compete). The higher production qualities and sophistication necessary to compete may force many institutions to pool their resources with other institutions (i.e. more consortia).

5) The unbundling process will likely continue throughout higher ed (i.e. think of iTunes and the album/CD).

Shortfall in educated U.S. workers to worsen: study — — from reuters.com by Paige Gance

Excerpt:

WASHINGTON | Wed Jun 26, 2013 5:55pm EDT (Reuters) – U.S. workers with advanced skills in areas such as math, science and healthcare are growing more scarce, with a shortfall of 20 million adequately educated workers expected by 2020, a study released on Wednesday found.

“The United States has been under-producing workers with postsecondary education since the 1980s,” researchers at Georgetown University’s Center on Education and the Workforce said in the study. “Jobs will return, but not everyone will be ready for them.”

They predicted that 65 percent of the projected 165 million jobs in 2020 will require more than a high school diploma, up from 59 percent in 2010.

From DSC:
IF the status quo is maintained, the outlook for the U.S. is not good.

That is, if the prices of obtaining a degree in higher ed keep going up and the middle class continues to be hollowed out, a smaller pool of people will even be able to afford getting a postsecondary education (regardless of whether it’s in healthcare, math, or science).

How much longer do the status quo’ers think that the U.S. Federal Government will wait around, watching this situation develop? How much longer before the Federal Government looks elsewhere for its workforce development (let alone the students out there who need to make a living)?

There is not an infinite period of time for institutions of traditional higher education to respond. MOOCs are a start, but they are but one option and they need to be improved. Along those lines:

The organization who can collaborate with those perfecting IBM’s Watson, Apple’s Siri, or Google Now — and integrate those technologies into a low-cost solution for postsecondary education — will be a potent force in the future.

Engineers: This is how and why you need a free ‘big data’ education [Perez]

On 06/27/2013, in analytics, career development, corporate / business world, corporate universities / corporate training, data related items, engineering, future of higher education, game-changing environment, higher education, reinvent, by Daniel Christian

Engineers: This is how and why you need a free ‘big data’ education — from venturebeat.com by Esther Perez

Excerpt:

Additionally, most engineers, myself included, were trained before the rise of the big data ecosystem. There were no courses in our respective engineering schools on Hadoop, and we didn’t receive specialized training on HBase or Hive. While there’s a growing group of recent engineering graduates that had the luxury of learning these skills in university, the majority of engineers out there today still predate the rise of big data.

In an effort to attract top engineering students, a growing number of high-profile universities – Harvard, MIT and Columbia among them – have begun to incorporate big data and data science-centric majors. While this does in theory make it easier for mid-career engineering professionals to gain the requisite skills needed to stay competitive in a fast-changing field, it’s not always so simple.

Taking the necessary time and resources to pause your career and go back to school for one or two years is an extremely risky professional move for most; it’s not as if your employer is simply going to wait two years for you to complete a program and hand your job back once you have a degree in hand.

There is an alternative to this approach, however. A growing number of online learning platforms aimed at providing technical training and certification have appeared in recent years. Some notable examples include Coursera, Khan Academy and Big Data University, all of which are free of charge (a stark contrast to the wave of for-profit “universities” that had previously dominated the online education landscape).

From DSC:
Is this a piece of where higher education is heading?

Here’s why the TV apps economy will be a $14 billion business [Wolf]

On 06/25/2013, in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, A/V -- audio/visual, analytics, animation, Apple, Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, blended learning, Bring your own device (BYOD), business, business side of he, changing business models, cloud-based computing / apps / other cloud-related, collaboration, communications, communities of practice, computer science, content development, aggregation, repositories, convergence, corporate / business world, corporate universities / corporate training, cost of getting a degree, Daniel S. Christian, digital audio, digital learning, digital storytelling, digital textbooks, digital video, distance education, e-books, e-publishing related items (EPUB and more), e-readers, education, education technology, educational games / serious games, elearning, emerging technologies, engagement / engaging students, entrepreneurship, experimentation, future of higher education, game-changing environment, heutagogy, higher education, human-computer interaction (HCI), innovation, interactivity, internet, IT in HE, K-12 related, learning agents, learning ecosystem, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, learning preferences, learning spaces, lifelong learning, machine-to-machine communications, marketing/social marketing, marketplaces, mirroring and/or multiple devices, mobile learning, more voice more choice more control, multi-touch, multimedia, music, New "Amazon.com" of Higher Education, new business models, new media literacies, online learning, online media, online tutoring, open courseware and systems, passions, personalized/customized learning, play, podcasting, professional development, programming, reinvent, second screen apps, smart classrooms, smart/connected TV, social learning / networks, staying relevant, storytelling, streams of content, student-related, tablets, teaching & learning, technologies for your home, telepresence, training / L&D, transmedia, trends, ubiquitous learning, videoconferencing, virtual field trips, virtual K-12 schools, Virtual Reality (VR) / worlds / learning, virtual tutoring, vision/possibilities, web-based collaboration, webinars, workplace, by Daniel Christian

Here’s why the TV apps economy will be a $14 billion business — from forbes.com by Michael Wolf

Excerpt:

According to new research published this week, the TV apps economy is forecasted to reach $14 billion by 2017.

…

Take for example today’s news that Apple will begin selling video advertisements served by iAd through iTunes Radio loaded on Apple TVs. This is only the first move for Apple in this space, and others like Samsung and Google are already investing heavily in connected TV app advertising.

From DSC:
Why post this? Because:

It lays out future directions/careers related to Programming, Computer Science, Data Mining, Analytics, Marketing, Telecommunications, User Experience Design, Digital and Transmedia Storytelling, and more
.
It leads to “Learning from the Living [Class] Room”

From DSC:
And if this does take off,
$14 billion won’t begin to capture the profits from this new industry.
It will be far larger than that.

Relevant addendum on 6/27/13:

The future of cinema is on demand — from bitrebels.com by Ben Warner (From DSC: Having just paid $32 for 4 people — 3 of whom were kids — to see Monsters U, I believe it!)
.

Via: [The Verge] Image Credits: [Venture Beat] [Home Theater]

What would happen if the U.S. Federal Government redirected their funding for higher education?

On 06/25/2013, in 21st century, accreditation, business side of he, changing business models, dangers of the status quo, Daniel S. Christian, education reform, future of higher education, game-changing environment, higher education, by Daniel Christian

From DSC:
The article below made me wonder…

What would happen if the U.S. Federal Government got tired of waiting for institutions of traditional higher education to respond significantly enough to their satisfaction? Would they re-allocate/redirect their funding elsewhere?

(Please leave a comment if you know of cases where they are already doing this.
I have a lot to learn about this, I’m sure.)

No Love for Accreditation — from insidehighered.com by Libby A. Nelson

Excerpt:

But when lawmakers do sit down to rewrite the law governing financial aid programs, accreditation will be under a particularly harsh spotlight.

…

Members of Congress of both parties seemed to agree more with the critics, saying they were skeptical that traditional accreditation was flexible enough to respond to new developments in higher education.

Interesting mix of players, don’t you think? Higher education is definitely in a game-changing environment. [Christian]

On 06/25/2013, in 21st century, Apple, business side of he, cloud-based computing / apps / other cloud-related, cost of getting a degree, Daniel S. Christian, education technology, experimentation, future of higher education, game-changing environment, innovation, by Daniel Christian

itunesU-TED-Publishers-Colleges-Us-DanielChristian

Tagged with: 21st century • Apple • business side of he • change • Daniel S. Christian • future of higher education • game-changing environment • higher education • iTunes U

Change is optional, survival is not guaranteed [Christian]

On 06/20/2013, in colleges, community colleges, cost of getting a degree, dangers of the status quo, Daniel S. Christian, future of higher education, game-changing environment, higher education, leadership, reinvent, staying relevant, student-related, surviving, universities, by Daniel Christian

Then globalization and the Internet changed everything. Customers suddenly had real choices, access to instant reliable information and the ability to communicate with each other. Power in the marketplace shifted from seller to buyer. Customers started insisting on ‘better, cheaper, quicker and smaller,’ along with ‘more convenient, reliable and personalized.’ Continuous, even transformational, innovation have become requirements for survival.”

Steve Denning, “The Management Revolution That’s Already Happening,”
Forbes Magazine, May 30, 2013.

PDF of article here

Tagged with: budgetary • colleges • community college • dangers of the status quo • Daniel S. Christian • disruption • future of higher education • game-changing environment • higher education • innovation • leadership • perfect storm • reinvent • staying relevant • strategy • student-related • surviving • universities

Gerd Leonhard’s slides from LSG13 in London: Working, learning and living in the future

Excerpted slides:

Reflections on “MOOC-Skeptical Provosts” [Rivard]

On 06/19/2013, in consortiums, Daniel S. Christian, future of higher education, game-changing environment, higher education, MOOCs -- Massive Open Online Courses, new business models, by Daniel Christian

MOOC-Skeptical Provosts — from insidehighered.com by Ry Rivard

Excerpt:

The provosts of Big 10 universities and the University of Chicago are in high-level talks to create an online education network across their campuses, which collectively enroll more than 500,000 students a year.

And these provosts from some of America’s top research universities have concluded that they – not corporate entrepreneurs and investors — must drive online education efforts.

…

But the provosts are now questioning universities’ need to partner with external providers in the first place.

…

“The main thing for us is… how can the CIC schools be proactive in terms of innovation and learning?” he said. “How can we be of more benefit to students jointly?”

…

Right now, the high-level talks among administrators has yet to trickle down to faculty. Provost Adesida said the Illinois faculty will play a big role in deciding whatever comes next. “We don’t move without consulting with faculty,” Adesida said.

From DSC:
Don’t get me wrong, I don’t think MOOCs are done baking yet…but…

Funny how a little serious competition causes some eyes and ears to be open to change.
Funny how Thrun and Koller/Ng had to leave traditional higher ed in order to develop Udacity and Coursera, respectively.
Funny how when one’s peers finally move forward with something, then one thinks that now they need to move forward with that same thing.
Funny how folks are suddenly interested in innovation when their wallets/enrollments/businesses are being impacted.
Funny how higher ed wakes up from partaking in its own conversations/journals/publications/research when the true “customers” now have choices.

I wonder how much more innovation we might actually see from insider higher education if a big player does purchase Coursera…?

Addendums:

The Academe-Academic Complex –– from HuffingtonPost.com by Peter Weddle
Excerpt:
Now, to be perfectly clear, a college education is absolutely essential for many jobs in a modern economy. It is not, however, sufficient for sustained or even initial employment — at least as that education is currently delivered. What’s missing? An equally rigorous education in the body of knowledge and set of skills required for effective career self-management. Why? Because for the past 75 years, America’s colleges and universities have been graduating career idiot savants. They’ve taught their students a whole lot about this or that field of study, but absolutely nothing about how to make a career in those fields.
…
From discovering one’s inherent talent to setting effective short and long goals, from dealing with the inevitable obstacles that arise in a career to ensuring one’s expertise stays at the state-of-the-art, there is more than enough to be taught, more than enough to be learned in a career self-management course of study, and it’s high time the academe-academic complex embraced it.
.
Mozilla’s debuts Open Badges to showcase out-of-school learning and skills — from edsurge.com

Can I borrow that robot for a minute? Using remotely-controlled devices to bring distance learners into face-to-face classrooms! [Daniel Christian]

On 06/11/2013, in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, A/V -- audio/visual, accessibility / UDL, active learning, assistive technologies, Bring your own device (BYOD), communications, corporate / business world, corporate universities / corporate training, Daniel S. Christian, digital audio, digital learning, digital video, distance education, education technology, emerging technologies, engagement / engaging students, experimentation, face-to-face, future of higher education, game-changing environment, higher education, homeschooling/homeschoolers, human-computer interaction (HCI), ideas, innovation, internet, IT in HE, K-12 related, learning ecosystem, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, learning spaces, lifelong learning, mirroring and/or multiple devices, multimedia, new business models, online learning, online tutoring, personalized/customized learning, professional development, reinvent, robotics, smart classrooms, social learning / networks, staying relevant, student-related, tablets, technology (general), telepresence, television, training / L&D, ubiquitous learning, user experience (UX), videoconferencing, virtual field trips, vision/possibilities, web-based collaboration, webinars, workplace, by Daniel Christian

From DSC:

What if you want to allow some remote students to come on into your face-to-face classroom?
.
What if you want to allow those remote students to be seen and communicated with at eye level?
.
What if you want Remote Student A to join Group 1, and Remote Student B to join Group 2?
.

Well…how about using one of these devices in order to do so!

New video collaboration robot: TelePresence gets moving — from cisco.com by Dave Evans

Excerpt:

That is why Cisco’s new joint effort with iRobot—demonstrated publicly this week for the first time—is so exciting: We’ve created a mobile Cisco TelePresence unit that brings collaboration to you—or, conversely, brings you to wherever you need to collaborate. Called iRobot Ava 500, this high-definition video collaboration robot combines Cisco TelePresence with iRobot’s mobility and self-navigation capabilities, enabling freedom of movement and spontaneous interactions with people thousands of miles away.

iRobot Ava™ 500 Video Collaboration Robot — published on Jun 10, 2013
iRobot and Cisco have teamed to bring the Ava 500 video collaboration robot to market. The robot blends iRobot’s autonomous navigation with Cisco’s TelePresence to enable people working off-site to participate in meetings and presentations where movement and location spontaneity are important. The new robot is also designed to enable mobile visual access to manufacturing facilities, laboratories, customer experience centers and other remote facilities.

Double Robotics Double