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
On 05/24/2013,
in budgets, business side of he, dangers of the status quo, Daniel S. Christian, New "Amazon.com" of Higher Education, student-related,
by Daniel Christian
On 04/22/2013,
in business side of he, colleges, community colleges, cost of getting a degree, higher education, universities,
by Daniel Christian
Colleges face a reality check from powerful new tools in applicants’ hands — from chronicle.com by Jeff Selingo
On 04/19/2013,
in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, business, business side of he, change, changing business models, dangers of the status quo, education technology, educational games / serious games, elearning, emerging technologies, entrepreneurship, innovation, learning ecosystem, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, New "Amazon.com" of Higher Education, personalized/customized learning,
by Daniel Christian
40 years coming, the revolution is here — from gettingsmart.com by Tom Vander Ark
Excerpt:
Moe sees learners creating a “personalized knowledge portfolio,” an unbundled sequence of learning experiences from multiple providers.
Moe sees an innovation ecosystem emerging, and calls it KaizenEDU. In this emerging ecosystem, it’s the “return on education” that matters. Moe argues the entrepreneurs that help create great learning gains are the ones that will create great shareholder value.
Healthcare gives us a picture of what that could mean for edtech. In 1970 there were 3 companies worth more than $1 billion. Last year, health care made up 13% of U.S. GDP and there were 398 companies with a market cap of more than $1 billion. Education is about 9% of GDP but there are only 5 public companies worth more than $1 billion. The difference is a result of dramatic under investment in R&D, but that’s changing!
…
The three emerging areas requiring more attention, according to Shelton, are early learning tools and resources, summer and out of school learning, and course redesign in higher education.
On 02/20/2013,
in business side of he, changing business models, cost of getting a degree, dangers of the status quo, Daniel S. Christian, economics, experimentation, future of higher education, game-changing environment, higher education, innovation, learning ecosystem, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, MOOCs -- Massive Open Online Courses, staying relevant, surviving,
by Daniel Christian
From DSC:
While I think MOOCs have a ways to go, I continue to support them because they are forcing higher ed to innovate and experiment more. But the conversation continues to move away from traditional higher ed, as the changes — especially the prices — aren’t changing fast enough.
Besides President Obama’s repeated promptings for higher to respond and to become more cost effective — as well as his mentioning that the U.S. Government will be pursuing new methods of accreditation if the current institutions of higher ed don’t respond more significantly — here is yet another example of the conversation moving away from traditional higher ed.
I wonder…
How small/large is the window of time before traditional higher ed is moved into the “Have you driven a Ford lately?” mode…? It seems that it’s much harder to get customers to come back once they’ve lost their trust/patience/belief/support/etc. in an organization or institution. As Ford has shown, it can be done, but my point is that there is danger in the status quo and broken business relationships can take a long time to heal — while opening up opportunities for others to step in (such as Toyota, Honda, and others in the case of the automotive industry).
Again, we see whether in higher ed, K-12, or in the corporate world, the key thing is to learn how to build one’s own learning ecosystem.
With thanks to Stephen Downes for mentioning the item below in his presentation here.
Other examples of the conversation moving away from traditional higher ed:
- Educating the Future: The End of Mediocrity –by Rob Bencini
Students facing uncertain future opportunities (but very certain debt loads) may increasingly turn away from private colleges and universities that offer little more than a diploma. Instead, they’ll seek more-affordable alternatives for higher education, both real and virtual.
- The Half-Life of a College Education — from futuristspeaker.com by Thomas Frey
Excerpt:
6.) Expanding number of long tails courses – In much the same way “hit” television shows attract millions of viewers while niche TV shows are proliferating, far more niche courses will be developed as traditional college gatekeepers get circumvented.
On 01/24/2013,
in business side of he, cost of getting a degree, dangers of the status quo, Daniel S. Christian, disruption, emerging technologies, future of higher education, game-changing environment, higher education, innovation, leadership, MOOCs -- Massive Open Online Courses, New "Amazon.com" of Higher Education, strategy, vision/possibilities,
by Daniel Christian
On 01/19/2013,
in accreditation, business side of he, dangers of the status quo, Daniel S. Christian, digital learning, disruption, experimentation, future of higher education, game-changing environment, higher education, innovation, MOOCs -- Massive Open Online Courses, New "Amazon.com" of Higher Education, new business models, reinvent, staying relevant, strategy, surviving, vision/possibilities,
by Daniel Christian
Also see:
- Sebastian Thrun: Udacity announces for-credit course pilot with San Jose State University — from Udacity’s blog; with thanks to Mr. Peter Snyder, Assistant Professor of Business at Calvin College for the resource
Excerpt:
Today Udacity is thrilled to announce a partnership with San Jose State University to pilot three courses — Entry-Level Mathematics, College Algebra, and Elementary Statistics — available online at an affordable tuition rate and for college credit. To my knowledge, this is the first time a MOOC has been offered for credit and purely online. Much credit for this partnership goes to Mo Qayoumi and Ellen Junn, president and provost of SJSU, and to the five fearless SJSU professors who have chosen to work with us at Udacity to explore this new medium. The offices of Governor Brown and CSU Chancellor White have also been critically important to this partnership for their leadership and expediency. Last but not least, I want to personally thank our great Udacians who, like everyone on this list, have worked endless hours to drive innovation.
Over the past year, MOOCs have received a lot of attention in the media and education circles mostly because so many students are taking advantage of the course for free. Predictions that MOOCs would fundamentally change higher education often revolved around the fact that the courses have unprecedented reach and affordability.
From DSC:
Given that such “Walmarts of Education” (i.e. solid learning at a greatly reduced prices) continue to develop, what’s our/your plans for responding to this trend? How are we/you going to compete? What’s our/your vision and strategy? By the way, you can look all you want to for data — but at the end of the day, it’s likely with this sort of thing that you won’t find all of the data that you require to make a decision. Examples:
- When I began working for Kraft Foods in 1990 (brought in to roll out email to 66 plants at the time), I believed in the power of email when few others did. Email was viewed as “fluff” and it would never be used for solid business practices; management put the project on hold. But I kept working with email at Kraft — trying to get others to use it. If you looked for data back then, you wouldn’t find it. But by the time I left Kraft in 1997, thousands of people could communicate with thousands of other people throughout the world — within minutes.
. - When Alexander Graham Bell introduced the telephone, what data would support the success of his invention? I suppose you could have pulled some data on the usage of the telegraph, but even then, vision would have had to trump the data (the ancestor of Western Union rejected his invention, as they questioned why anyone would need/use a telephone when there was already the telegraph in usage).
. - Such technological developments often are not so easy to back up with data; they require some vision, experimentation, and risk taking.
On 01/02/2013,
in 21st century, business side of he, change, changing business models, cost of getting a degree, dangers of the status quo, Daniel S. Christian, education reform, education technology, emerging technologies, engagement / engaging students, experimentation, future of higher education, game-changing environment, innovation, leadership, New "Amazon.com" of Higher Education, new business models, organizational change, reinvent, staying relevant, strategy, vision/possibilities,
by Daniel Christian
From DSC:
Whereas:
- The Walmart of Education continues and higher ed finds itself in a game-changing environment
- The pace of change continues to accelerate
- Disruptive innovations continue to poke at the higher education bubble
- There is danger in the status quo
- We all need to constantly reinvent ourselves and our organizations in order to remain relevant…
…institutions of higher education would be wise to significantly increase the priority of experimentation on their campuses during 2013. This might take the form of creating smaller, more nimble organizations within their overall universities or colleges, or it might be experimenting with new business models, or it might be identifying/experimenting with promising educational technologies or new pedagogies, etc. I will have several blog postings re: experimentation — and potential things to try out — during 2013; so stay tuned.
Whether we are staff, faculty, or administration, change is coming our way in 2013. So starting today, get involved with further innovations and experiments on your campus — don’t be a roadblock or you will likely find your institution eventually becoming irrelevant. As Steve Jobs did/believed, cannibalize your own organization before someone else does.
On 12/27/2012,
in 21st century, budgets, business side of he, change, changing business models, dangers of the status quo, Daniel S. Christian, education technology, elearning, future of higher education, game-changing environment, internet, legislatures / government / legal, New "Amazon.com" of Higher Education, new business models, online learning, reinvent, staying relevant, United States, Virtual Reality (VR) / worlds / learning, virtual tutoring, vision/possibilities,
by Daniel Christian
From the January/February 2013 issue of The American Interest:
.
Excerpts (emphasis DSC):
The most important part of the college bubble story—the one we will soon be hearing much more about—concerns the impending financial collapse of numerous private colleges and universities and the likely shrinkage of many public ones. And when that bubble bursts, it will end a system of higher education that, for all of its history, has been steeped in a culture of exclusivity*. Then we’ll see the birth of something entirely new as we accept one central and unavoidable fact: The college classroom is about to go virtual.
…
Because recent history shows us that the internet is a great destroyer of any traditional business that relies on the sale of information. The internet destroyed the livelihoods of traditional stock brokers and bonds salesmen by throwing open to everyone access to the proprietary information they used to sell. The same technology enabled bankers and financiers to develop new products and methods, but, as it turned out, the experience necessary to manage it all did not keep up. Prior to the Wall Street meltdown, it seemed absurd to think that storied financial institutions like Bear Stearns and Lehman Brothers could disappear seemingly overnight. Until it happened, almost no one believed such a thing was possible. Well, get ready to see the same thing happen to a university near you, and not for entirely dissimilar reasons.
The higher-ed business is in for a lot of pain as a new era of creative destruction produces a merciless shakeout of those institutions that adapt and prosper from those that stall and die.
…
But what happens when a limited supply of a sought-after commodity suddenly becomes unlimited? Prices fall. Yet here, on the cusp of a new era of online education, that is a financial reality that few American universities are prepared to face.
…
Anyone who can access the internet—at a public library, for instance—no matter how poor or disadvantaged or isolated or uneducated he or she may be, can access the teachings of some of the greatest scholars of our time through open course portals. Technology is a great equalizer.
Big changes are coming, and old attitudes and business models are set to collapse as new ones rise. Few who will be affected by the changes ahead are aware of what’s coming. Severe financial contraction in the higher-ed industry is on the way, and for many this will spell hard times both financially and personally. But if our goal is educating as many students as possible, as well as possible, as affordably as possible, then the end of the university as we know it is nothing to fear. Indeed, it’s something to celebrate.
* The old way:
Colleges rise as they reject — from online.wsj.com
Schools invite more applications, then use denials to boost coveted rankings
Also relevant/see:
- A graph on earnings with a college degree — from educationstormfront by Andrew Barras
- Learning new lessons — from the Economist.com
Online courses are transforming higher education, creating new opportunities for the best and huge problems for the rest
On 12/17/2012,
in budgets, business side of he, Daniel S. Christian, faith, future of higher education, hearts -- matters of the heart, higher education, United States,
by Daniel Christian
If you build it, debt will come — a solid article from quickanded.com by Jeff Selingo
Excerpt (emphasis DSC):
When we read or hear stories in the news media these days about debt in higher education, we typically assume they are about the trillion dollars in student loans held by college graduates and their families.
But last week The New York Times put the spotlight on an often ignored angle to questions of debt in higher education: the amount of money owed by colleges and universities themselves.
“The pile of debt — $205 billion outstanding in 2011 at the colleges rated by Moody’s — comes at a time of increasing uncertainty in academia,” Andrew Martin of The Times wrote in a front-page story.
…
Yet judging from the college officials quoted in The Times story, it seems they still don’t get that the financial model in higher education is forever changing. They still seem to believe that the model that has carried them for decades will continue.
The history of the United States is littered with industries that had similar hubris in the years or decade before they underwent massive change. Higher education is following that well-worn path.
Also see:
- Building a showcase campus, using an I.O.U. — from nytimes.com by Andrew Martin
From DSC:
I must confess that I really appreciate the new or significantly enhanced buildings on our campus (which was done via a successful campaign). However, I created the graphic below to encourage our development group and other such departments across the country — as well as the donors of those institutions — to also:
.
.
When I created that graphic, I had the words of Steve Jobs in mind. Jobs specifically wanted Apple’s campaign from years ago to say, “Think different” (not think differently…as that changes the meaning, he asserted); along those lines, I’m suggesting, “Think virtual.”
An additional note for folks who are interested in the Bible:
- After reading John 4 (the conversation between Jesus and the Samaritan woman at the well), I could just hear the LORD saying…hmmm…nope…ultimately, you need to think spiritual.
On 12/17/2012,
in budgets, business side of he, changing business models, cost of getting a degree, dangers of the status quo, Daniel S. Christian, disruption, economics, education reform, experimentation, future of higher education, game-changing environment, leadership, legislatures / government / legal, new business models, staying relevant, strategy, student-related, surviving, United States,
by Daniel Christian
Combine the trends listed in this graphic:
.
— from The Economics of Higher Education, Dec 2012 (pg 2)
…with the next several graphics…
.
.
.
From 5/21/09
…and you can see that the Perfect Storm in Higher Ed has been amassed. Massive change is in the air. People will find a way to achieve their goals/objectives — one way or another. College is still a good call — but what “college” and “university life” will look like in 5 years will likely be very different from what they look like today.
There is no returning to the “good ol’ days” — things are not going back to the way they were 5-10 years ago. It’s time for massive — but controlled/intentional — experimentation within higher ed, to find out how best to use the Internet in order to promote learning (and, hopefully, to still make a living!).
.
Some examples that illustrate that change is in the air…and that the conversation continues to move outside traditional institutions of higher education (I mention these not to dog higher ed, but to get us to innovate, to reinvent ourselves, and to stay relevant!)
Big idea 2013: College becomes optional — from LinkedIn.com by Ben Smith
Jailbreaking the degree: The end of the 4 year diploma — from onlineuniversities.com by Justin Marquis
Excerpt:
What’s wrong with getting a college degree? According to the grassroots movement, “Jailbreaking the Degree,” being pushed by radical education startup Degreed.com, quite a bit. The organization has identified several fundamental flaws with the long standing college degree process. It aims to overcome them and dramatically change the nature of learning and credentialing in the process. In order to justify their initiative they present some dramatic numbers on their website…
Degreed wants to jailbreak the college degree — from techcrunch.com by Rip Empson
Saying no to college — NYT.com by Alex Williams
Do a Google search on uncollege.org and see what you get
The rise of college alternatives— from huffingtonpost.com by Dan Schawbel
educreations.com: Teach what you know. Learn what you don’t.
On 12/13/2012,
in budgets, business side of he, dangers of the status quo, Daniel S. Christian, disruption, experimentation, game-changing environment, legislatures / government / legal, new business models, reinvent, staying relevant, surviving,
by Daniel Christian
Addendum on 12/14/12:
- Big construction costs, MOOC disruption mean ominous cocktail for higher ed — from educationdive.com by Davide Savenije
Dive Summary:- After years of aggressive expansion efforts, higher education is facing the consequences — according to Moody’s, overall debt levels for rated institutions more than doubled from 2000 to 2011 while donations and investments shrank by more than 40% relative to the debt.
- While debt has swiftly reached a tipping point for universities, they are not alone — the total amount of student debt currently exceeds $1 trillion and nearly one in every six borrowers’ student loan balance is in default.
- Experts and school officials are predicting an imminent reshaping of the field of higher education — Harvard’s annual fiscal report claims “the need for change is clear” as institutions face a decreased “ability to generate […] new resources”.
- As prospective students become aware of the decreasing value of the higher ed degree, the sudden emergence of MOOCs are becoming an increasingly viable and economically-friendly alternative.
From DSC:
We had better step up the pace of innovating/experimenting – and move to do so quickly. But the problem is, moving quickly is not in the cultures of most of the more traditional institutions of higher education.
Also relevant:
- As debt rises and job prospects dim, some say it’s time to put a warning label on graduate school — from The Chronicle by Stacey Patton
This isn’t just the year of the massive open online course; it’s also the year of two other hot topics in higher education—student debt and a barren job market for graduating students.
On 12/13/2012,
in business side of he, changing business models, dangers of the status quo, disruption, experimentation, game-changing environment, higher education, innovation, leadership, reinvent, staying relevant, strategy, surviving,
by Daniel Christian
