Khan Academy teaming up with Renren to bring free online education to China
Also see:
On 12/15/2011,
in disruption, new business models, online learning, open courseware and systems,
by Daniel Christian
On 12/14/2011,
in 21st century, accreditation, budgets, business side of he, change, changing business models, cost of getting a degree, dangers of the status quo, Daniel S. Christian, digital learning, disruption, elearning, emerging technologies, future of higher education, game-changing environment, higher education, internet, learning ecosystem, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, New "Amazon.com" of Higher Education, new business models, online learning, reinvent, staying relevant,
by Daniel Christian
From DSC:
The tidal wave of technological change swept over Blockbuster and the article below shows how it drowned Kodak as well. These players were once at THEE top of their games…now they are either bankrupt or soon to be bankrupt (if things don’t change fast).
This relates to higher education as well, but I don’t think that we’ve seen anything yet (though 2012 may change that). Higher ed may have a limited window of time left before the conversation moves completely out of academia and higher ed as we know it gets left behind. The word “reinvent” and the phrases “staying relevant” as well as “lowering the price” should be at the top of the agendas for boards at most academic institutions of higher education throughout America (and other nations as well). I use the word most here because some folks will likely continue to pay enormous prices to get the name brands that they’ve been paying $50,000+ per year for.
If companies eventually don’t care who accredited your degree but rather what you can DO for them, watch out. The barriers to entry will plummet.
You Press the Button. Kodak Used to Do the Rest. — from technologyreview.com
Kodak saw the shift from analog to digital photography coming. Here’s why it couldn’t win.
.
Excerpt (emphasis from DSC):
But the industry landscape was completely different in the digital era. Barriers to entry were significantly lowered and the industry was flooded by entrants with a background in consumer electronics, such as Casio, Samsung, and Hewlett-Packard, not to mention Japanese camera manufacturers including Canon, Nikon, and Olympus. Large parts of Kodak’s competence base related to chemistry and film manufacturing were rendered obsolete. The vertical integration that had previously been a core asset to Kodak lost its value. Digital cameras became a commodity business with low margins. The problem facing Kodak wasn’t just that film profits had died but that those revenues could not be replaced.
Once images became digital, Kodak’s business model of “doing the rest” was effectively destroyed. Doing the rest used to entail a large and complex process that only a couple of companies in the world could master. Today, it is done by the click of a button.
Related graphic from DSC:
Also see:
- The Forthcoming Walmart of Education — from Daniel S. Christian
12/15/11 addendum re: the conversation moving away from higher ed:
- There’s a light at the End of the Tunnel #2 — from highereducationmanagement.wordpress.com by Peter Smith
Excerpt (emphasis DSC):
No single blog can adequately capture or represent what was going on at Learning 2011. But if you are intrigued, I suggest you go to www.Learning2011and see what the agenda and the presentations looked like for yourself.
.What I sensed, and what I am trying to describe here, was an accelerating transition in workforce education from a higher education-centric model to a learner-workplace-centric model. In a world where higher education institutions have dominated, controlled, and driven the conversation about quality, content, access, and results; the balance of power is shifting away from that more monolithic tendency to a far more disaggregated power structure where good information, metrics, and results that can be validated against third party standards are the “coin of the realm”.
On 11/30/2011,
in business side of he, cost of getting a degree, dangers of the status quo, Daniel S. Christian, funding / grants, future of higher education, game-changing environment, New "Amazon.com" of Higher Education, new business models, United States,
by Daniel Christian
Official calls for urgency on college costs— from the New York Times by Tamar Lewin
Excerpts:
As Occupy movement protests helped push spiraling college costs into the national spotlight, Education Secretary Arne Duncan urged higher-education officials Tuesday to “think more creatively — and with much greater urgency” about ways to contain costs and reduce student debt.
…
“Three in four Americans now say that college is too expensive for most people to afford,” Mr. Duncan said. “That belief is even stronger among young adults — three-fourths of whom believe that graduates today have more debt than they can manage.”
Also see:
- Outrage: New York Times Reports that Ohio State’s Football Coach to Earn up to $4 Million a Year — from StraighterLine.com
Addendum later on 11/30/11:
- Our Students Deserve No Less – from ed.gov by Cameron Brenchley
.
(Official Department of Education Photo by Joshua Hoover)“My chief message today is a sobering one,” said Secretary Duncan yesterday at the annual Federal Student Aid conference in Las Vegas, Nev. “I want to ask you, and the entire higher education community, to look ahead and start thinking more creatively—and with much greater urgency—about how to contain the spiraling costs of college and reduce the burden of student debt on our nation’s students.”
On 11/18/2011,
in CMS/LMS, Daniel S. Christian, education technology, higher education, innovation, instructional design, new business models, online media, publishing, reinvent, staying relevant, strategy,
by Daniel Christian
From DSC:
We really need a much more granular approach — like an iTunes for academic content.
On 10/20/2011,
in budgets, business side of he, change, changing business models, cost of getting a degree, dangers of the status quo, Daniel S. Christian, disruption, future of higher education, game-changing environment, higher education, New "Amazon.com" of Higher Education, new business models, reinvent, strategy, student-related, surviving, trends,
by Daniel Christian
On 10/10/2011,
in accessibility / UDL, cost of getting a degree, dangers of the status quo, Daniel S. Christian, future of higher education, game-changing environment, innovation, leadership, legislatures / government / legal, New "Amazon.com" of Higher Education, new business models, online learning, reinvent, staying relevant, strategy, trends,
by Daniel Christian
Excerpt from their Value Proposition page:
The concept of a broad based, highly educated population began its journey to reality a 150 years ago, when Abraham Lincoln signed the Morrill Act in 1862. The Act called for the establishment of “at least one College in every state upon a sure and perpetual foundation, accessible to all, but especially to the sons of toil” (emphasis DSC).
…
Despite the unprecedented success of America’s public university system that is the envy of the world, reduced state and federal funding, almost a trillion dollars in student loans, tuition soaring out of reach for middle class families, stunning demographic changes and declining preparedness for college-level work, today’s public higher education is at a crossroads. Our old ways of doing business are no longer sustainable and the promise of the Morrill Act is in peril (emphasis DSC).
Also see:
On 10/03/2011,
in business side of he, changing business models, colleges, cost of getting a degree, dangers of the status quo, higher education, universities,
by Daniel Christian
The University of Wherever — from The New York Times by Bill Keller
Excerpt:
The traditional university, in his view, serves a fortunate few, inefficiently, with a business model built on exclusivity. “I’m not at all against the on-campus experience,” he said. “I love it. It’s great. It has a lot of things which cannot be replaced by anything online. But it’s also insanely uneconomical.”
…
Disrupt is right. It would be an earthquake for the majority of colleges that depend on tuition income rather than big endowments and research grants. Many could go the way of local newspapers. There would be huge audiences and paychecks for superstar teachers, but dimmer prospects for those who are less charismatic.
On 09/13/2011,
in 21st century, change, changing business models, digital learning, disruption, internet, new business models, online learning, web-based collaboration,
by Daniel Christian
Yale pushes online frontier — from Yale Daily News by David Burt, Drew Henderson [originally saw this at Ray Schroeder’s blog]
Excerpt:
Three Yale Summer Session professors taught their course material not only to students in New Haven, but also to their classmates thousands of miles away.
For the first time this summer, Yale Summer Session offered three online courses, two of them for Yale credit, in which students watched recorded lectures and joined live discussion sections with their professors and online classmates via video chat. With “uniformly positive” feedback from students and faculty, the University is now looking to expand this summer’s program for next summer, though Yale Summer Session Dean William Whobrey said there are no plans to use the technology during the academic year.
On 09/07/2011,
in budgets, business side of he, corporate / business world, corporate universities / corporate training, elearning, higher education, instructional design, new business models, online learning,
by Daniel Christian
Resources for finding out how long it takes to develop eLearning — from kaplaneduneering.com by Karl Kapp
From DSC:
One resource mentioned was from the Chapman Alliance, from September 2010, of which these figures are from:
On 09/06/2011,
in 24x7x365 access, dangers of the status quo, disruption, education technology, elearning, future of higher education, game-changing environment, higher education, lifelong learning, New "Amazon.com" of Higher Education, new business models, online learning, online media, real-world assignments, reinvent,
by Daniel Christian
Great Big Ideas delivers the key takeaways of an entire undergraduate education. It’s a survey of twelve major fields delivered by their most important thinkers and practitioners. Each lecture explores the key questions in the field, lays out the methods for answering those inquiries and explains why the field matters. It is an effective introduction to thinking differently, and a primer in the diverse modes of problem solving essential for success in the 21st century.
A wide range of subjects are covered including Psychology, Economics, Biomedical Research, Linguistics, History, Political Philosophy, Globalization, Investing and more. Within each topic, we will discuss the most current, innovative ideas in the field, dissect them, and look at how they impact not only the world-at-large, but our own lives as well. How does Demography predict our planet’s future? How is Linguistics a window to understanding the brain? What are the fundamentals of successful Personal Finance and Investing? Each of these lectures will be presented by top experts from top institutions around the country.
Two example lectures:
From DSC:
I post this not because I believe they have the world’s best educators — they may or may not. But rather, I post this to:
- Provide a great resource for those who love to learn — i.e. lifelong learners
- To show another example of the disruption that technologies / the Internet bring to higher education. Such technologies bring affordable, new models and learning opportunities into the higher ed landscape in a big way.
Also see:
On 09/02/2011,
in 21st century, change, changing business models, dangers of the status quo, Daniel S. Christian, future of higher education, game-changing environment, innovation, new business models, open courseware and systems, reinvent, staying relevant,
by Daniel Christian
On 08/26/2011,
in budgets, business side of he, Canada, cost of getting a degree, dangers of the status quo, Daniel S. Christian, disruption, education technology, elearning, funding / grants, future of higher education, game-changing environment, global / globalization, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, New "Amazon.com" of Higher Education, new business models, online learning, open courseware and systems, society, UK,
by Daniel Christian
The impact of new business models for higher education on student financing
Financing Higher Education in Developing Countries
Think Tank | Bellagio Conference Centre | 8-12 August 2011
Sir John Daniel (Commonwealth of Learning)
&
Stamenka Uvali-Trumbi (UNESCO)
Excerpt:
The aim of this paper has been to suggest that in discussing student financing we need to look beyond the current standard model classroom teaching to the likely developments in learning systems over the next decade. These have the potential to cut costs dramatically and thereby lessen the challenge of student financing.
That is fortunate because nearly one-third of the world’s population (29.3%) is under 15. Today there are 165 million people enrolled in tertiary education.[2] Projections suggest that that participation will peak at 263 million in 2025.[3] Accommodating the additional 98 million students would require more than four major campus universities (30,000 students) to open every week for the next fifteen years unless alternative models emerge. (emphasis DSC)
Also see:
OER for beginners: An introduction to sharing learning resources openly in healthcare education
The Higher Education Academy (HEA) (www.heacademy.ac.uk) and the Joint information Systems Committee (JISC) (www.jisc.ac.uk) are working in partnership to develop the HEFCE-funded Open Educational Resources (OER) programme, supporting UK higher education institutions in sharing their teaching and learning resources freely online across the world.