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My comments re: Tamny’s article, “Online Education Will Be the Next ‘Bubble’ To Pop, Not Traditional University Learning”

On 07/08/2013, in budgets, cost of getting a degree, Daniel S. Christian, New "Amazon.com" of Higher Education, student-related, by Daniel Christian

My comments on “Online Education Will Be the Next ‘Bubble’ To Pop, Not Traditional University Learning“ — from Forbes.com by John Tamny

From a 50,000 foot level…
There is little question that higher education is a bubble. With the hollowing out of the middle class, and the vast majority of the nation’s wealth going to the top 1-5%, how does one think that the average person will be able to afford higher education in 5-10 years (given the current trajectories of decreasing incomes yet increasing costs of higher education)?  Many can’t afford it *now*, even when they want to send their kids to college.

Given the status quo and the current trajectories, things don’t look good at all.  I strongly disagree with that article/piece — and my guess would be that the author of the piece:

  • Is pulling down a decent size salary and he doesn’t have to live from paycheck to paycheck — i.e. he doesn’t have to worry about where his next meal is coming from
  • Is a proponent of the current status quo
  • Has likely never taught online (or hasn’t for very long)
  • Hasn’t caught the vision of what MOOCs could morph into if something like IBM’s Watson, Apple’s Siri, or Google Now gets baked into the recipe
  • Doesn’t understand that those who thrive in the online learning world have to be highly-disciplined — i.e. they are the type of person who fits the often asked for “self starter” and the type of employee corporations love because they don’t have to supervise them much

But when parents spend a fortune on their children’s schooling they’re not buying education; rather they’re buying the ‘right’ friends for them, the right contacts for the future, access to the right husbands and wives, not to mention buying their own (‘Our son goes to Williams College’) status.

This may be true. But even the 1% will change their perspectives if employers start picking their talent primarily from predominantly online-based programs.  If Christensen and Horn are correct (which I believe they are), the innovations in the online world will continue to outpace innovations in the face-to-face world. Given time, the online-based programs could be mind-blowing. (That said, I still think blended learning is the most effective choice, as it combines the best of both worlds).

But the bottom line here is that for most Americans, there had ***better be*** a higher education bubble!!!

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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 / Machine Learning / Deep Learning / Algorithms, 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

 

TheFutureOfEducation-Gorbis-6-28-13

. TheFutureOfEducation3-Gorbis-6-28-13.

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:

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streams-of-content-blue-overlay

 

Also see:

 

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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.

 

 

ChangeIsOptionalDanielChristian-evolllutionDotcom-June2013

 

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PDF of article here

 

 

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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?
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  • What if you want to allow those remote students to be seen and communicated with at eye level?
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  • 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.

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irobot-june-10-2013
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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.

 

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Double Robotics Double

http://www.doublerobotics.com/img/use-office.jpg

 

 

MantaroBot™ TeleMe

 

 

 

From Attack of the Telepresence Robots! — from BYTE  by Rick Lehrbaum

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Kubi

http://twimgs.com/informationweek/byte/reviews/2013-Jan/robotic-telepresence/kubi.jpg

 

 

MantaroBot “TeleMe” VGo Communications “VGo” Anybots “QB” Suitable Technologies “Beam”

 

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RP-7i ROBOT

RP-7i Remote Presence Robot

 

Also see:

 

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A trillion dollar anvil dragging us down [Jones]

On 06/06/2013, in budgets, cost of getting a degree, dangers of the status quo, Daniel S. Christian, New "Amazon.com" of Higher Education, student-related, by Daniel Christian

A trillion dollar anvil dragging us down — from CNN.com by Van Jones

Excerpt (emphasis DSC):

(CNN) — The student debt fight is back — with a vengeance.

Once again, current students are facing the possibility of interest rates on Stafford Federal student loans doubling.

…

A few weeks ago, Warren, D-Massachusetts, proposed groundbreaking legislation that would give students the same deal that big Wall Street banks get. This bill is good policy, and even better politics.

After all, why are we loaning money to mega-profitable international financial institutions at 0.75%, but demanding up to nine times more from our own young people?

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Reflections on “How to get a job” by Thomas Friedman

On 05/31/2013, in career development, future of higher education, game-changing environment, higher education, project-based learning, reinvent, by Daniel Christian

How to get a job — by Thomas L. Friedman

Excerpt (emphasis DSC):

Underneath the huge drop in demand that drove unemployment up to 9 percent during the recession, there’s been an important shift in the education-to-work model in America. Anyone who’s been looking for a job knows what I mean. It is best summed up by the mantra from the Harvard education expert Tony Wagner that the world doesn’t care anymore what you know; all it cares “is what you can do with what you know.” And since jobs are evolving so quickly, with so many new tools, a bachelor’s degree is no longer considered an adequate proxy by employers for your ability to do a particular job — and, therefore, be hired. So, more employers are designing their own tests to measure applicants’ skills. And they increasingly don’t care how those skills were acquired: home schooling, an online university, a massive open online course, or Yale. They just want to know one thing: Can you add value?

…

People get rejected for jobs for two main reasons, said Sharef. One, “you’re not showing the employer how you will help them add value,” and, two, “you don’t know what you want, and it comes through because you have not learned the skills that are needed.” The most successful job candidates, she added, are “inventors and solution-finders,” who are relentlessly “entrepreneurial” because they understand that many employers today don’t care about your résumé, degree or how you got your knowledge, but only what you can do and what you can continuously reinvent yourself to do.

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From DSC:

So how about it? Are the students coming out of K-12 and higher ed prepared for this changing workplace? If not, how can we better prepare them? It seems to me we should require that each student create their own business — and help them build it before they graduate.  It doesn’t matter if that business makes any money at all.  What matters is the learning/experiences that the students would gain.

Also, to folks in the corporate world, help us get students to the places you need them to be — and stop expecting the”purple unicorns” to show up at your doorstep.  Adjust your expectations and aim for a higher purpose than pleasing the shareholder/Wall Street.

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Is the student loan debt “bubble” bursting? [Worthington]

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

Is the student loan debt “bubble” bursting?

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Great creativity, inventiveness from an 11-year old using a 3D printing device!

On 05/22/2013, in 3D, creativity, K-12 related, learning ecosystem, STEAM-related, student-related, by Daniel Christian

11-year-old-inventor-May2013

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With thanks going out to Mr. Joe Byerwalter for bringing this to my attention.

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Class of 2013: Your careers will be volatile and risky. Learn to love it. [Jeff Immelt, GE’s Chairman & CEO]

On 05/22/2013, in business, career development, change, corporate / business world, future, innovation, lifelong learning, strategy, student-related, workplace, by Daniel Christian

Class of 2013: Your careers will be volatile and risky. Learn to love it. — from linkedin.com/by Jeff Immelt, Chairman & CEO at GE

Excerpt:

Success in the 21 century will come to those that that can get in front of the trends, move quickly, innovate, and work together to deliver results. And our ability to contribute to the century in which we live will come down to our willingness and ability to do five things.

  • Change
    “We can’t wait for the economy to stabilize. We can’t wait for a time when there is more certainty. It used to be that you only had to manage momentum. Today, you have to create your own future. And that means change.”
    …
    “Continuously innovate in your lifetime, regardless of your profession and regardless of past performance. You must choose change.”
  • Learn
  • Risk
  • Persist
  • Lead.

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Also see:

 

 

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Solid career advice for college grads from LinkedIn’s Founder

On 05/17/2013, in career development, presentations, professional development, strategy, student-related, workplace, by Daniel Christian

Amazing career advice for college grads from LinkedIn’s billionaire founder — from businessinsider.com by Nicholas Carlson

Excerpt:

To answer those questions Hoffman and Ben Casnocha first co-authored a book called “The Start-up of You.”

Then, expanding on ideas from that book, they created a slideshow presentation for college grads called “The 3 Secrets of Highly Successful Graduates” and allowed us to republish it here.

 

Also see:

  • 3 steps for plotting your personal future in an uncertain world — from fastcoexist.com by Venessa Miemis
    What’s the best way to feel productive and valued at work and in life? Having a sense of where you’re going. To do that, you need to forecast your own future, and then put yourself on the path to get there.
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The Walmart of Education has officially arrived! [Christian]

On 05/15/2013, in 21st century, budgets, change, changing business models, collaboration, computer science, corporate / business world, corporate universities / corporate training, dangers of the status quo, Daniel S. Christian, future of higher education, game-changing environment, innovation, internet, MOOCs -- Massive Open Online Courses, New "Amazon.com" of Higher Education, new business models, online learning, reinvent, staying relevant, student-related, web-based collaboration, by Daniel Christian

From DSC:
It seems that The Walmart of Education has officially arrived — i.e. a 50%+ discount off normal prices!  A $7000 Masters in Computer Science! 

Are we going to see more partnerships/collaborations like this involving MOOC providers, more “traditional” institutions of Higher Education, as well as the corporate world?

Are we moving more towards the use of teams and consortia and pooling resources?

Are we witnessing the beginning of a more accessible infrastructure to support lifelong learning? 

Is AT&T going to hire the top performers?

Georgia Tech announces Massive Online Master’s Degree in Computer Science — from online.wsj.com
Institute teams with Udacity, AT&T to launch first-of-its-kind advanced degree program

Excerpt:

ATLANTA, May 14, 2013 /PRNewswire/ — The Georgia Institute of Technology College of Computing announced today that it will offer the first professional Online Master of Science degree in computer science (OMS CS) that can be earned completely through the “massive online” format. The degree will be provided in collaboration with online education leader Udacity Inc. and AT&T.

All OMS CS course content will be delivered via the massive open online course (MOOC) format, with enhanced support services for students enrolled in the degree program. Those students also will pay a fraction of the cost of traditional on-campus master’s programs; total tuition for the program is initially expected to be below $7,000. A pilot program, partly supported by a generous gift from AT&T, will begin in the next academic year. Initial enrollment will be limited to a few hundred students recruited from AT&T and Georgia Tech corporate affiliates. Enrollment is expected to expand gradually over the next three years.

 

Massive (but not open) — from InsideHigherEd.com by Ry Rivard

Excerpt:

The Georgia Institute of Technology plans to offer a $7,000 online master’s degree to 10,000 new students over the next three years without hiring much more than a handful of new instructors.

Georgia Tech will work with AT&T and Udacity, the 15-month-old Silicon Valley-based company, to offer a new online master’s degree in computer science to students across the world at a sixth of the price of its current degree. The deal, announced Tuesday, is portrayed as a revolutionary attempt by a respected university, an education technology startup and a major corporate employer to drive down costs and expand higher education capacity.

 

Georgia Tech, Udacity to offer Master’s Degree — from edsurge.com

Excerpt (emphasis DSC):

WHOA. Georgia Tech and Udacity today said that they would jointly offer an entirely online master’s degree in computer science with support from AT&T for less than $7,000, total.

That’s a game-changer.

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Are we preparing our students for the world they will encounter?

On 05/08/2013, in adjunct faculty, change, dangers of the status quo, Daniel S. Christian, education reform, engagement / engaging students, experimentation, faculty, future, future of higher education, game-changing environment, hearts -- matters of the heart, higher education, homeschooling/homeschoolers, K-12 related, learning ecosystem, more voice more choice more control, motivation, pace of change, passions, personalized/customized learning, real-world assignments, reinvent, staying relevant, student teaching/teacher education, student-related, teachers, teaching & learning, by Daniel Christian

40percentfreelancersby2020-quartz-april2013

 

Also, from Steve Wheeler’s

Etienne Wenger recently declared: ‘If any institutions are going to help learners with the real challenges they face…(they) will have to shift their focus from imparting curriculum to supporting the negotiation of productive identities through landscapes of practice’ (Wenger, 2010).

We live in uncertain times, where we cannot be sure how the economy is going to perform today, let alone predict what kind of jobs there will be for students when they graduate in a few years time. How can we prepare students for a world of work that doesn’t yet exist? How can we help learners to ready themselves for employment that is shifting like the sand, and where many of the jobs they will be applying for when they leave university probably don’t exist yet? It’s a conundrum many faculty and lecturers are wrestling with, and one which many others are ignoring in the hope that the problem will simply go away. Whether we are meerkats, looking out and anticipating the challenges, or ostriches burying our heads in the sand, the challenge remains, and it is growing stronger.

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Also see:

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401kworld-friedman-may2013

 

Also see:

  • The Nature of the Future: The Socialstructed World — from nextberlin.eu by Marina Gorbis, Institute for the Future
    Marina Gorbis, Executive Director of the Institute for the Future (iftf.org) discussed the evolution of communication and its consequences at NEXT13. She analyzed the perks and challenges of the new relationship-driven or “socialstructed” economy, stating that “humans and technology will team up”. Her new book ‘The Nature of the Future: Dispatches from the Socialstructed World’ was published in early 2013.  Watch her inspiring talk on April 23, 2013 at NEXT13.

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From DSC:
My best take on this at this point:

  • Give students more choice, more control of their learning
  • Help them discover their gifts, abilities, talents, passions
  • Help them develop their gifts, abilities, talents, passions
  • Provide content in as many ways as possible — and let the students work with what they prefer to work with
  • Implement story, emotion, creativity, and play as much as possible (providing plenty of chances for them to create what they want to create)
  • Utilize cross-disciplinary assignments and teams
  • Integrate real-world assignments/projects into the mix
  • Help them develop their own businesses while they are still in school — coach them along, provide mentors, relevant blogs/websites, etc.
  • Guide them as they create/develop their own “textbooks” and/or streams of content

 

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How should we prepare “The new kind of worker every business needs”?

On 04/29/2013, in 21st century, career development, change, corporate / business world, ideas, staying relevant, student-related, surviving, workplace, by Daniel Christian

The new kind of worker every business needs — from HBR.org by Marina Gorbis

Excerpt (additional emphasis via DSC):

We live in a world in which amplified individuals — people empowered by technologies and the collective intelligence of their social networks — can do things that previously only a large organization could. Indeed, they can do some things that no organization could do before. For better and worse, this is the world in which weekend software hackers can disrupt large software firms, and rapidly orchestrated social movements can bring down governments.

Amplified individuals include artists, musicians, community organizers, and techies working alongside nontechies.

…

To use a term I introduced in an earlier piece, people like these are engaged in “socialstructing” …

Also see:

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Some serious resources & inspiration re: learning spaces

On 04/22/2013, in Daniel S. Christian, face-to-face, higher education, learning ecosystem, learning spaces, pedagogy, smart classrooms, student-related, teaching & learning, by Daniel Christian

Below are some resources and some inspirational items re: learning spaces — from Calvin College’s Learning Spaces Learning Community, one of the Learning Communities that have been discussing and researching various items at Calvin College since last fall.   Members include Debra Buursma*, Jo-Ann VanReeuwyk*, Joel Adams, Pat Bailey, Marcie Pyper, Cynthia Slagter, and Daniel Christian.

* Co-Leaders of the Learning Spaces Learning Community

 

 

 

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The future of higher ed according to Richard DeMillo; some thoughts/perspectives worth reflecting on

On 03/20/2013, in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, accreditation, cost of getting a degree, dangers of the status quo, Daniel S. Christian, digital learning, disruption, emerging technologies, future of higher education, game-changing environment, higher education, internet, journalism, lifelong learning, MOOCs -- Massive Open Online Courses, New "Amazon.com" of Higher Education, online learning, reinvent, staying relevant, student-related, surviving, by Daniel Christian
Traditional institutions will close, number of colleges and universities will rise (audio and transcript) — from evoLLLution.com (where LLL stands for lifelong learning) by Richard DeMillo | Director of the Center for 21st Century Universities, Georgia Institute of Technology
Excerpt (emphasis DSC):
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Well, for me, it always boils down to value. People misunderstand this as assigning value based on salaries or employability, but I mean value in the larger sense. You have to have a reason to ask students to pay more than the marginal costs of delivering education. And with all these revolutions in technology for course delivery, that marginal cost is going to zero very, very quickly [think journalism]. So, every institution that’s going to survive, I think, over the next 50 years, is going to have to make that case. Why is it that tuition at this institution is justified?

The interesting thing about this is it’s going to be accelerated because the old bureaucracies, the old institutional models… are crumbling. At least, their boundaries are crumbling. Let me tell you what I mean by that.

The accrediting agencies, which I think traditionally have had — at least for the last 120 years or so—an institutional focus, are now shifting their focus to students; to competencies, to demonstrations of what students know. And that really starts to cut against institutional entitlement.

I think the conclusion of all this is that, as it becomes harder and harder for… a “Me-Too Institution” to argue for a marginal increase in price, the amount of money that those institutions are going to have available to them to spend on anything but core mission for students is also going to go to zero. So, this is kind of a virtuous cycle; … institutions that are unable to make the value proposition will find themselves more and more strapped for discretionary funds in order to move themselves into a different space. And that’s an ending that’s not very good for most institutions.

From DSC:
How will our/your organization keep from becoming a commodity?  What are we/you all going to bring to the table that’s different, unique, and worth paying for?

 

WalmartOfEducation-Christian2008

 

 

Also see:

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