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What will universities of the future be like?

On 10/11/2010, in cost of getting a degree, future of higher education, New "Amazon.com" of Higher Education, UK, United States, by Daniel Christian

What will universities of the future be like? — from bbc.co.uk by Hannah Richardson BBC News education reporter

It’s the end of your shift, you dash for the train and switch on your mobile phone as you find yourself a seat.

You log into your degree course learning zone and discover you’ve been set a tough assignment. You download some key text books from the online university library and begin swotting.

While fellow commuters bury their heads in the Metro, you get some tips from course mates through an online forum.

By the time you reach your stop you have tapped out an essay plan on your smartphone.

Is this the university experience of the future? For an increasing number of students it’s happening now.

And with the cost of university set to rise considerably, many more are likely to study for their degrees in cheaper, more flexible ways – perhaps through digitally-based distance learning providers.

‘Mortgage-sized debts’

This is the view of the vice-chancellors’ body, Universities UK, which warns that as public funding contracts, the traditional residential university experience could become the preserve of an elite.

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Increasing tuition — the wrong direction!

On 10/09/2010, in budgets, business side of he, cost of getting a degree, New "Amazon.com" of Higher Education, by Daniel Christian

Increases up to 25 percent proposed for college tuition in Colorado

From DSC:
Given the technological changes occurring (and the higher ed bubble already bursting in some locales), this is a step in the wrong direction.

A review of the postings over at Recession Realities in Higher Education (from Ray Schroeder) will show that while some institutions are cutting budgets and programs, others are increasing tuition.  For those increasing tuition — unless the tuition is already very low in comparison to others to begin with — this is a step in the wrong direction.


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Academic Bankruptcy

On 08/24/2010, in business side of he, cost of getting a degree, dangers of the status quo, future of higher education, game-changing environment, New "Amazon.com" of Higher Education, by Daniel Christian

Academic Bankruptcy – NY Times Opinion — by Mark Taylor, Chairman of the religion department at Columbia University and the author of the forthcoming “Crisis on Campus: A Bold Plan for Reforming Our Colleges and Universities.”

With the academic year about to begin, colleges and universities, as well as students and their parents, are facing an unprecedented financial crisis. What we’ve seen with California’s distinguished state university system — huge cutbacks in spending and a 32 percent rise in tuition — is likely to become the norm at public and private colleges. Government support is being slashed, endowments and charitable giving are down, debts are piling up, expenses are rising and some schools are selling their product for two-thirds of what it costs to produce it. You don’t need an M.B.A. to know this situation is unsustainable.

With unemployment soaring, higher education has never been more important to society or more widely desired. But the collapse of our public education system and the skyrocketing cost of private education threaten to make college unaffordable for millions of young people. If recent trends continue, four years at a top-tier school will cost $330,000 in 2020, $525,000 in 2028 and $785,000 in 2035.

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Are there lessons here for institutions of higher ed?

On 08/23/2010, in budgets, business side of he, change, changing business models, cost of getting a degree, dangers of the status quo, future of higher education, game-changing environment, innovation, New "Amazon.com" of Higher Education, by Daniel Christian

BlackBerry crumble: Why RIM is in trouble — from cnn.com

chart_ws_stock_researchinmotionltd.top.png

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BlackBerry’s biggest problem: The app gap (From DSC: RIM didn’t build the infrastructure / ecosystem necessary to compete)
With that in mind, some worry that there are eerie similarities between Research in Motion and Palm, the once-hot smartphone maker that failed to keep up with Apple, Research in Motion and others.

After Palm’s Pre phone flopped, the company’s stock took a nasty dive and some feared that it may not have enough cash to make it for the long-term. Hewlett-Packard finally stepped in and agreed to buy the company earlier this year, however.

Chris Bulkey, an analyst with Technology Research Group in Narberth, Pa., said Research in Motion could suffer the same fate. For now, the company’s sales and profits are still growing, but the pace is slowing.

And without a hot product on the horizon, Bulkey, who has a “sell” rating on the stock, said it’s hard to envision a bright future for Research in Motion.

“Research in Motion sells a commoditized product. There is margin pressure and the revenue growth is weak,” Bulkey said. “Over the long-term, they may need someone to bail them out like HP did with Palm if they see value in the technology.”

From DSC:
Along these lines…I recently received a call from a colleague who mentioned that Novell has recently been pushing their new videoconferencing product…hmmm…WAAAAAYYY too late to the game in my opinion. Here is a company who could have dominated the web-based videoconferencing and collaboration space — had they been able to innovate better and to think just a tad outside their normal LAN box.

If what we are offering in higher ed is a commodity…we had better look out! Times ahead will be very rough indeed. That’s why I have been preaching innovation, change, the dangers of the status quo, planning for the “Forthcoming Walmart of Education” and trying to create a strategy whereby we are not a commodity — as we all must bring something unique and compelling to the table.

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If the U.S. government could even get/set aside a billion or two…wow! An incredible ROI could be had.

On 08/13/2010, in budgets, business, business side of he, disruption, education reform, education technology, educational games / serious games, engagement / engaging students, future of higher education, game-changing environment, global / globalization, higher education, homeschooling/homeschoolers, innovation, internet, K-12 related, leadership, learning agents, learning ecosystem, legislatures / government / legal, mobile learning, multimedia, New "Amazon.com" of Higher Education, new business models, online learning, open courseware and systems, strategy, by Daniel Christian

Buffett, Gates persuade 40 billionaires to donate half of wealth — from OregonLive.com

SEATTLE — Forty wealthy families and individuals have joined Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates and billionaire investor Warren Buffett in a pledge to give at least half their wealth to charity.

Those who have joined the Giving Pledge, as listed on its website, are: Paul G. Allen, Laura and John Arnold, Michael R. Bloomberg, Eli and Edythe Broad, Warren Buffett, Michele Chan and Patrick Soon-Shiong, Barry Diller and Diane von Furstenberg, Ann and John Doerr, Larry Ellison, Bill and Melinda Gates, Barron Hilton, Jon and Karen Huntsman, Joan and Irwin Jacobs, George B. Kaiser, Elaine and Ken Langone, Gerry and Marguerite Lenfest, Lorry I. Lokey, George Lucas, Alfred E. Mann, Bernie and Billi Marcus, Thomas S. Monaghan, Tashia and John Morgridge, Pierre and Pam Omidyar, Bernard and Barbro Osher, Ronald O. Perelman, Peter G. Peterson, T. Boone Pickens, Julian H. Robertson Jr., David Rockefeller, David M. Rubenstein, Herb and Marion Sandler, Vicki and Roger Sant, Walter Scott Jr., Jim and Marilyn Simons, Jeff Skoll, Tom Steyer and Kat Taylor, Jim and Virginia Stowers, Ted Turner, Sanford and Joan Weill and Shelby White.

From DSC:
This is fantastic news! Excellent. I’m a big supporter of various charities myself — albeit with far fewer O’s ($$) behind the amounts of my checks than what these folks are able to provide!  🙂     But it got me to thinking…

If the United States government — or the government from another interested nation — could even get 1-2 billion of this enormous accumulation of wealth, think what could be done to create interactive, multimedia-based, engaging, customized/personalized, online learning-based materials that could be offered FREE of charge to various age groups/cognitive levels. Creative simulations and animations could be built and offered — free of charge — to students throughout the world. The materials would be available on a variety of devices for maximum flexibility (laptops, notebooks, iPads, iPhones, tablet PCs, workstations, etc.)

An amazing amount of digital scaffolding could be provided on a variety of disciplines. THIS could represent the Walmart of Education that I’ve been talking about…wow!

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Report: Higher education in Michigan hurting

On 08/11/2010, in budgets, cost of getting a degree, dangers of the status quo, future of higher education, higher education, Michigan, New "Amazon.com" of Higher Education, by Daniel Christian

Report: Higher education in Michigan hurting — from The Detroit News by Kim Kozlowski

Michigan’s declining investment in higher education is among the worst in the nation — making it difficult for students to get degrees and the state to recover from the poor economy, according to a report released Monday.

The first report of its kind by the Michigan League for Human Services found state aid and financial aid programs to Michigan’s 15 public universities declined by nearly 17 percent from 2002 to 2010. Meanwhile, undergraduate tuition for in-state residents during that same time period jumped 88 percent.

Funding for the state’s 28 community colleges, meanwhile, decreased 7 percent between 2002 and 2010 as tuition increased 40 percent — from an average of $54 to $76 a credit hour, the report showed.

The trends occurred as Michigan’s job market is moving away from manufacturing to a knowledge-based sector, and must be reversed, officials said.

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A business model for higher education — by Tim Kastelle

On 08/10/2010, in Australia, business side of he, game-changing environment, leadership, New "Amazon.com" of Higher Education, new business models, strategy, by Daniel Christian

A business model for higher education: Aggregate, filter, connect

Professor Tim Kastelle at the University of Queensland talks about business models
for information businesses and identifies three key areas that require leadership attention.

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Education ‘the economic issue of our time,’ Obama says in UT speech

On 08/10/2010, in business, community colleges, cost of getting a degree, economics, education, higher education, legislatures / government / legal, New "Amazon.com" of Higher Education, by Daniel Christian

Education ‘the economic issue of our time,’ Obama says in UT speech — from statesman.com by Ralph K.M. Haurwitz

President Barack Obama said in a speech at the University of Texas this afternoon that education “is the economic issue of our time.”

Addressing a friendly and appreciative audience in Gregory Gym, the president sought to underscore the link between long-term economic prosperity and a better-educated population.

“It’s an economic issue when the unemployment rate for folks who’ve never gone to college is almost double what it is for those who have gone to college,” he said. “Education is an economic issue when nearly eight in 10 new jobs will require workforce training or a higher education by the end of this decade. Education is an economic issue when we know beyond a shadow of a doubt that countries that out-educate us today will out-compete us tomorrow.”

Obama said his administration is pursuing a three-pronged higher education strategy: making college more affordable, ensuring that college students – especially those at community colleges, the fastest-growing sector – are prepared for a career and boosting graduation rates.

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Bill Gates: In five years the best education will come from the web

On 08/09/2010, in disruption, future of higher education, game-changing environment, New "Amazon.com" of Higher Education, by Daniel Christian

Bill Gates: In five years the best education will come from the web — from TechCrunch.com by MG Siegler

Bill Gates thinks something is going to die too.

No, it’s not physical books like Nicholas Negroponte — instead, Gates thinks the idea of young adults having to go to universities in order to get an education is going to go away relatively soon. Well, provided they’re self-motivated learners.

“Five years from now on the web for free you’ll be able to find the best lectures in the world,” Gates said at the Techonomy conference in Lake Tahoe, CA today. “It will be better than any single university,” he continued.

He believes that no matter how you came about your knowledge, you should get credit for it. Whether it’s an MIT degree or if you got everything you know from lectures on the web, there needs to be a way to highlight that.

He made sure to say that educational institutions are still vital for children, K-12. He spoke glowingly about charter schools, where kids can spend up to 80% of their time deeply engaged with learning.

But college needs to be less “place-based,” according to Gates. Well, except for the parties, he joked.

But his overall point is that it’s just too expensive and too hard to get these upper-level educations. And soon place-based college educations will be five times less important than they are today.

From DSC:
One could argue that Bill’s background is very different than most people…and that would be true. One could also argue that such a view is an exaggeration of what may actually occur — and you’d probably be right again.

However, such arguments miss the point. We are in a game-changing environment and planning now for the major disruptions already underway is a wise move. There is a perfect storm that has been forming — with trends/pressures from the worlds of technology, economics/business, education, demography, sociology, and more — that won’t be disappearing any time soon.

Glenn Harlan Reynolds’ article from yesterday is worth checking out for some practical advice here.


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Glenn Harlan Reynolds: Further thoughts on the higher education bubble

On 08/09/2010, in cost of getting a degree, future of higher education, higher education, New "Amazon.com" of Higher Education, by Daniel Christian

Glenn Harlan Reynolds: Further thoughts on the higher education bubble — from the washingtonexaminer.com by Glenn Harlan Reynolds, a law professor at the University of Tennessee.

Back at the beginning of the summer, I had a column in this space in which I predicted that higher education is in a bubble, one soon to burst with considerable consequences for students, faculty, employers, and society at large. My reasoning was simple enough:  Something that can’t go on forever, won’t.  And the past decades’ history of tuition growing much faster than the rate of inflation, with students and parents making up the difference via easy credit, is something that can’t go on forever.  Thus my prediction that it won’t.
But then what?  Assume that I’m right, and that higher education – both undergraduate and graduate, and including professional education like the law schools in which I teach – is heading for a major correction.  What will that mean?  What should people do?
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Another reminder to me of the power of the Internet to set up exchanges (and to cause major disruption)

On 07/20/2010, in New "Amazon.com" of Higher Education, by Daniel Christian

Nixty offers open source higher ed — from hackcollege.com

Last week saw the launch of a new eLearning site named Nixty. The site’s concept is simple: educators can upload course materials to the website, to be accessed by users. The site provides a way for unconnected students and educators to reach each other, as well as some helpful tools (including an online gradebook). Public courses, accessible to all users, can be uploaded and managed for free. Private courses, in which teachers can manage enrollment, will cost teachers $4.99 per month for three courses, or $9.99 a month for nine courses. Teachers will be able to charge students whatever additional money they want, of which Nixty will get a 20% cut.

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The power of online exchanges

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Do I see issues with this? Sure I do. But that doesn’t mean it can be stopped. My point in publishing this is to say, “Look out!” Major disruption is on the way. We have no idea where all this is heading, but you can bet on one thing — those who are willing to change are in a better position to thrive then those who cling to the status quo — which is dangerous:

Daniel S. Christian: My concerns with just maintaining the status quo


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Is this “The forthcoming Walmart of Education?”

On 07/19/2010, in cost of getting a degree, disruption, future of higher education, game-changing environment, higher education, New "Amazon.com" of Higher Education, by Daniel Christian

***Check out this announcement:***

Straighterline and Assumption College Continuing and Career Education partner to offer adult learners an exceptionally-flexible and affordable way to earn a business degree

Alexandria, VA – StraighterLine (http://www.straighterline[dot]com) announced today that the Assumption College Continuing and Career Education (www.assumption.edu/cce), a leading provider of quality online education, has joined StraighterLine’s expanding partner college network. Assumption College — a not-for-profit New England College — has provided education and student enrichment since 1904. StraighterLine partner colleges are all regionally accredited institutions that award post-secondary credit upon transfer for successfully completing its online college courses. Assumption College is StraighterLine’s first Massachusetts partner college and its first Catholic College.

Through this partnership, students who successfully complete StraighterLine distance learning courses may transfer their courses for full credit when they enroll with Assumption College Continuing and Career Education, Online Business program. Students can use these transfer credits towards the completion of their associate and bachelors degrees.

Students can take freshman and introductory-level classes from StraighterLine and save thousands of dollars on a four-year college degree. With StraighterLine, students pay only $99 per month plus $39 per course started and can move as quickly or slowly through the material as they like.

StraighterLine courses have been evaluated and recommended by the American Council on Education (ACE)’s Credit Recommendation Service and have met or exceeded the Distance Education and Training Council’s standards for online course quality.

From DSC:
Is this “The Forthcoming Walmart of Education?” Quite possibly at maximum, but at minimum, a sign of what’s coming down the pike.

And by the way, when I say “Walmart of Education”, I am not speaking derogatively. I mean no disrespect at all. In fact, quite the opposite. The disruptions taking place now — and continuing in the near future — will create opportunities to learn better and more efficiently, but at far less expensive prices.

Congrats to StraighterLine on their pursuit of making a tangible, concrete impact on reducing the cost of getting a degree! For the rest of us, we had better take note and develop a range of options, pricing, etc.   We need to respond to the disruption being caused by the Internet — and take advantage of it, not shy away from it or stick our heads in the sand and pretend that it’s not happening. We don’t want to go the way of the Blockbusters of the world who minimize/discard the impact that technology brings to the table.


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A marriage made in Indiana — from InsideHigherEd.com

On 07/14/2010, in budgets, future of higher education, game-changing environment, innovation, New "Amazon.com" of Higher Education, new business models, online learning, by Daniel Christian

A marriage made in Indiana — from InsideHigherEd.com

Just about everywhere you turn, state leaders are searching for a way to use online education to expand the reach of their public higher education systems at a time of diminished resources.

The approaches vary: In Minnesota, Gov. Tim Pawlenty has heralded a future of “iCollege,” while in Pennsylvania, the state college system envisions using distance learning to help its campuses sustain their offerings by sharing courses in underenrolled programs. California’s community college system turned to a for-profit provider, Kaplan University, to work around its budget-related enrollment restrictions. And a grand experiment to create a fully online branch of the University of Illinois, meanwhile, crashed and burned last fall.

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3-year college program saving students thousands

On 07/14/2010, in cost of getting a degree, future of higher education, game-changing environment, higher education, innovation, New "Amazon.com" of Higher Education, student-related, by Daniel Christian

3-year college program saving students thousands — from WBZTV via University Business

“I think that the cost of a college is so expensive now that a lot of families have just realized we have to look at this another way,” said Meredith Principe, an advisor at Campus Bound in Lexington.

More colleges across the country are offering various programs to speed up degrees and save money. “The traditional higher education institution needs to be more conscious about cost savings for students because there is going to be a ceiling and I feel that we are approaching that ceiling of cost,” said Southern New Hampshire University assistant dean Ashley Liadis.

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Links and reactions from my Bb DevCon presentation — from Anya Kamenetz

On 07/13/2010, in cost of getting a degree, disruption, game-changing environment, New "Amazon.com" of Higher Education, open courseware and systems, by Daniel Christian

Links and reactions from my Bb DevCon presentation — from Anya Kamenetz

Here’s the links from my presentation:

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