Governor Jerry Brown, Udacity announce pilot program for $150 classes — from edsurge.com by Kris Hattori
San Jose State University will offer students three online classes from Udacity
On 01/16/2013,
in cost of getting a degree, dangers of the status quo, Daniel S. Christian, experimentation, game-changing environment, MOOCs -- Massive Open Online Courses, United States,
by Daniel Christian
On 01/04/2013,
in corporate / business world, cost of getting a degree, dangers of the status quo, Daniel S. Christian, economics, higher education, society,
by Daniel Christian
Federal report highlights the economic case for higher education — from educause.edu by Jaret Cummings
Excerpt:
The U.S. Departments of The Treasury and Education recently announced the release of a joint report highlighting the economic value of higher education achievement for individuals and the country as a whole. Entitled The Economics of Higher Education, the report confirms the continuing importance of postsecondary success to economic progress, including key findings such as the following…
From DSC:
Much of this is great — no doubt about it! Now, the question is, how do we make higher education more accessible/affordable yet still maintain the quality? Along these lines, see:
After housing and the stock market, is higher education the next bubble to burst? — from forbes.com by Avi Dan
Excerpt:
Few industries today have a worse business model than higher learning institutions.
Simply put, colleges are slowly pricing themselves out of existence. Tuition has consistently increased faster than inflation and household income, to the point that it is now four times more expensive to attend college than it was a generation ago. The result is that the average college senior carries $25,000 in student loans at graduations. The debt can follow students around for years, sometimes to the end of time, literally: $36 billion in loan debt is held by people over 60-years old!
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 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 budgets, business side of he, dangers of the status quo, Daniel S. Christian, economics, legislatures / government / legal, United States,
by Daniel Christian
From DSC:
One more straw is not what higher education needs in 2013…or is it?
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 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:
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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, 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:
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— from The Economics of Higher Education, Dec 2012 (pg 2)
…with the next several graphics…
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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!).
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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
On 12/13/2012,
in adjunct faculty, change, colleges, community colleges, cost of getting a degree, dangers of the status quo, Daniel S. Christian, digital learning, disruption, elearning, experimentation, faculty/staff, future of higher education, game-changing environment, learning ecosystem, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, lifelong learning, marketing/social marketing, marketplaces, new business models, online learning,
by Daniel Christian
From DSC:
Some reflections on New platform lets professors set prices for their online courses — from InsideHigherEd.com by Jeffrey R. Young
Excerpt:
Professors typically don’t worry about what price point a course will sell at, or what amenities might attract a student to pick one course over another. But a new online platform, Professor Direct, lets instructors determine not only how much to charge for such courses, but also how much time they want to devote to services like office hours, online tutorials, and responding to students’ e-mails.
The new service is run by StraighterLine, a company that offers online, self-paced introductory courses. Unlike massive open online courses, or MOOC’s, StraighterLine’s courses aren’t free. But tuition is lower than what traditional colleges typically charge—the company calls its pricing “ultra-affordable.” A handful of colleges accept StraighterLine courses for transfer credit.
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From DSC:
The power of online-based marketplaces. We’ve seen it in other industries. Are we now going to see more of this within higher education as the unbundling of higher education seems to be a possibility? Will there be an increased importance of professors’ individual brands? Could be.
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From DSC:
Congrats Burck & Co. on your continued innovative thinking and business models! Way to help keep a college education accessible to many!
On 12/10/2012,
in 21st century, career development, computer science, corporate / business world, corporate universities / corporate training, cost of getting a degree, dangers of the status quo, Daniel S. Christian, digital learning, disruption, MOOCs -- Massive Open Online Courses, new business models, online learning, workplace,
by Daniel Christian
Citing IT skills shortage, IBM wants to expand presence at universities — from wiredacademic.com
Excerpt (emphasis DSC):
“We want to be the scale up partner of choice for these universities,” said Jim Sporher, head of IBM’s university programs. “We want to make sure they have access to technology and understand our strategy.” He also sees massive open online courses (MOOCs) as a mega-trend and will be considering ways for IBM to be part of the MOOC trend in the future, particularly as many of the MOOC providers such as Udacity and Coursera offer classes in computer science.
…
As a big blue-chip progenitor of the tech industry, IBM is worth listening to in many regards. For one, corporate computing trends often filter down into the education space. The corporate world often has the money to purchase and deploy game-changing technologies. IBM sees that it also works the other way too, where computing at the university level creates new businesses and ideas that move up into the corporate realm.
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From DSC:
I wonder…will the corporations develop their own MOOCs? Their own digital “playlists” and associated exams? (i.e. that someone needs to go through and pass in order to work for them…show me what you can do.) Hmmm…
Also see:
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Also see:
- This could be huge… — from timeshighereducation.co.uk by Zoë Corbyn
MOOCs are already big – in reach and in hype – and are predicted to explode. Zoë Corbyn checks in to learn if they are more than just a novelty and to find out what it’s like to teach a class of 38,000 - Georgetown to offer free online courses — from washingtonpost.com
- Free online courses could change Engineering education — from theinstitute.ieee.org by Kathy Pretz
On 11/29/2012,
in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, A/V -- audio/visual, analytics, Apple, Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, Bring your own device (BYOD), changing business models, cloud-based computing / apps / other cloud-related, collaboration, communities of practice, convergence, cost of getting a degree, dangers of the status quo, Daniel S. Christian, data related items, digital audio, digital learning, digital photography, digital storytelling, digital textbooks, digital video, disruption, 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, flipping -- inverted learning, future of higher education, game-changing environment, global / globalization, higher education, homeschooling/homeschoolers, human-computer interaction (HCI), informal learning, innovation, intelligent systems, intelligent tutoring, interaction design, interactivity, internet, K-12 related, learner profiles, learning agents, learning ecosystem, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, learning spaces, lifelong learning, machine-to-machine communications, mirroring and/or multiple devices, mobile learning, mobile technologies, MOOCs -- Massive Open Online Courses, multi-touch, multimedia, Near Field Communication (NFC), new media literacies, online learning, online media, online tutoring, open courseware and systems, participation, personalized/customized learning, platforms, reinvent, RSS, second screen apps, smart classrooms, social learning / networks, social media, strategy, streams of content, student-related, tablets, technologies for your home, television, training / L&D, transmedia, trends, TVs, ubiquitous learning, using teams, videoconferencing, virtual field trips, virtual K-12 schools, Virtual Reality (VR) / worlds / learning, virtual tutoring, vision/possibilities, web-based collaboration, webinars,
by Daniel Christian
From DSC:
I continue to watch this space as the foundations are being put into place for what I’m calling, “Learning from the Living [Class] Room.”
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On 11/28/2012,
in 21st century, change, changing business models, dangers of the status quo, Daniel S. Christian, disruption, economics, experimentation, future of higher education, game-changing environment, higher education, innovation, leadership, new business models, reinvent, staying relevant, strategy, surviving, vision/possibilities,
by Daniel Christian
Excerpt:
With the public’s continued focus on value and affordability, higher education finds itself at a critical juncture. Cost pressures and increased global demand for access have given rise to innovations that have unleashed new delivery models into the education marketplace. Such innovation is required if universities are to thrive, compete, and bring new relevance and meaning to the value of college in the 21st century.
Also see:
- Americans believe higher education must innovate — from Northeastern News
- President: Witt must adapt to survive — from springfieldnewssun.com by Tom Stafford
Excerpt:
Liberal arts colleges that ignore market realities “absolutely won’t exist in the next decade,” Wittenberg University President Laurie M. Joyner told Springfield Rotarians on Monday. But the practical or applied liberal arts education that she predicts can sustain Wittenberg will encourage deeper connections with Springfield, she said while speaking at the Hollenbeck-Bayley Conference Center, because “our students learn better when dealing with real-world problems.” A shrinking pool of price-sensitive high school graduates has combined with a bad economy to produce “the equivalent of a perfect storm for some of us,” said Joyner, who succeeded Mark Erickson on July 1. - Surviving disruption — from hbr.og by Maxwell Wessel and Clayton M. Christensen
Excerpt:
…to meet disrupters with disruption of their own, but also to guide their legacy businesses toward as healthy a future as possible. - Sanjay Sarma appointed as MIT’s first director of digital learning — from MIT by Steve Bradt
Mechanical engineering professor will shepherd efforts to integrate elements of online education into traditional MIT courses.
From DSC:
Experimentation. Innovation. Experimentation. Innovation. Fail. Fail. Succeed. Fail. Succeed. Fail.
On 11/19/2012,
in change, dangers of the status quo, Daniel S. Christian, experimentation, future of higher education, game-changing environment, higher education, organizational change, reinvent, social learning / networks, staying relevant, strategy, surviving,
by Daniel Christian
From DSC:
Mr. Rob Bobeldyk and I were brainstorming last week about the need to create A Center for Innovation — a smaller organization within our overall organization — that can be far more nimble and responsive. Such a Center could be:
- Constantly pulse-checking the relevant landscapes (technological, pedagogical, business models, other)
- Researching potential approaches
- Experimenting
- Innovating
- Failing
- Succeeding some of the time — and handing off/transitioning the projects that gain traction to others in the larger organization (which may require building some new groups and/or departments at that point)
As I discovered HBR’s interview with John Kotter today, I felt our idea/direction/brainstorming is heading in the right direction!
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That is, we are trying to keep the plane in flight while making some significant changes. Put another way, we are trying to keep the bread and butter in tact while experimenting with new business models and/or new products and services.
Kotter’s “Dual Operating System” affirms that a new/smaller/more nimble organization is appropriate. Here are some graphics of Kotter’s “dual operating system”:
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The work of Christensen, Horn, and Johnson is highly-relevant here as well:
- Disrupting Class
- Disrupting College
- The Innovator’s Dilemna
Addendums on 11/20/12:
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