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Some items re: MIT’s bold move to deliver more open, interactive education to the masses

On 12/20/2011, in cost of getting a degree, engineering, game-changing environment, higher education, innovation, interactivity, new business models, online learning, open courseware and systems, science, by Daniel Christian

MIT launches online learning initiative –from MIT
‘MITx’ will offer courses online and make online learning tools freely available.

Excerpt:

MIT [on 12/19/11] announced the launch of an online learning initiative internally called “MITx.” MITx will offer a portfolio of MIT courses through an online interactive learning platform that will:

  • organize and present course material to enable students to learn at their own pace
  • feature interactivity, online laboratories and student-to-student communication
  • allow for the individual assessment of any student’s work and allow students who demonstrate their mastery of subjects to earn a certificate of completion awarded by MITx
  • operate on an open-source, scalable software infrastructure in order to make it continuously improving and readily available to other educational institutions.

Advancing the open front — from InsideHigherEd.com by Steve Kolowich

Excerpt:

Forget free content repositories; the Massachusetts Institute of Technology wants to deliver “interactive” elite education to the masses, complete with credentials certifying “mastery” of MIT-grade coursework.

In the latest boon for the “open education” movement, the engineering mecca on Monday announced a new online learning initiative, called MITx, that will give anyone the opportunity to work through MIT course material and earn a certificate of achievement.

M.I.T. expands its free online courses — from the New York Times by Tamar Lewin

Excerpt:

While students at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology pay thousands of dollars for courses, the university will announce a new program on Monday allowing anyone anywhere to take M.I.T. courses online free of charge — and for the first time earn official certificates for demonstrating mastery of the subjects taught.

…

M.I.T. led the way to an era of online learning 10 years ago by posting course materials from almost all its classes. Its free OpenCourseWare now includes nearly 2,100 courses and has been used by more than 100 million people.

But the new “M.I.T.x” interactive online learning platform will go further, giving students access to online laboratories, self-assessments and student-to-student discussions.

 

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Will your college survive? [Katzman] Also Mary Sue Coleman’s Open Letter to President Obama.

On 12/19/2011, in cost of getting a degree, dangers of the status quo, Daniel S. Christian, disruption, future of higher education, game-changing environment, higher education, innovation, leadership, Michigan, reinvent, staying relevant, strategy, by Daniel Christian

Will your college survive? –– from TechCrunch.com by John Katzman

college

 

Editor’s note: Guest contributor John Katzman is the founder and CEO of 2tor, an education startup that partners with universities to deliver selective degree programs online to students across the world. Katzman also founded the Princeton Review where he served as president and CEO from 1981-2007.

The Internet will save higher education, but it may kill your alma mater.

Peter Thiel believes smart people don’t need college, and he’s right: There have always been autodidacts who can learn without assistance. Of course, we don’t really need supermarkets and restaurants either; we could all grow and cook our own food.

Yet having professionals help us has always been a cost-benefit decision. What are the costs of a great education, including the opportunity cost of four years of work, and how do these costs balance against the impact of that education on your life?

The Internet is the first technology since the printing press, which could lower the cost of a great education and, in doing so, make that cost-benefit analysis much easier for most students. It could allow American schools to service twice as many students as they do now, and in ways that are both effective and cost-effective. For reasons that will be outlined below, however, it will probably end up doing this with half as many schools. And your school, even if it’s bumper-sticker worthy, might not make the cut.

..

Evolve or Else

Like any other disruptive transition, the move to online and blended universities will bring tremendous benefit to students—better education in more places at lower tuition. However, these changes will be painful for many schools. Most bookstores and travel agencies found themselves on the wrong side of a steadily growing force; the schools that thrive over the next two decades will do so only because they have carefully harnessed that very same force: the Internet.

 

Also see:

  • Mary Sue Coleman’s (President of the University of Michigan) Open Letter to President Obama
    Mary Sue Coleman is president of the University of Michigan and chair of the Association of American Universities.
    Excerpt:
    And yet college is costly – too costly for some families. To meet the myriad needs of students and society, we absolutely must find ways to provide a college education at a cost that is sustainable. President Thomas Jefferson was rightfully adamant that a cornerstone of democracy is education for all, “from the richest to the poorest.”
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Another warning sign to those of us working within higher ed.

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 business models, online learning, reinvent, staying relevant, by Daniel Christian

Do not underestimate or discount the disruptive power of technology! Daniel S. Christian -- June 2009

 

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.

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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:

From Daniel S. ChristianAlso see:

 

12/15/11 addendum re: the conversation moving away from higher ed:

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”.

 

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Count on Apple iTV in 2012, analyst says [Meredith]

On 11/30/2011, in A/V -- audio/visual, Apple, convergence, Daniel S. Christian, digital learning, educational games / serious games, elearning, future, game-changing environment, learning ecosystem, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, online learning, social learning / networks, storytelling, technologies for your home, television, transmedia, trends, by Daniel Christian

Count on Apple iTV in 2012, analyst says — from technewsdaily.com by Leslie Meredith

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apple+tv-100604-02

 

Excerpt:

  • The rumors that Apple will launch an actual TV have hit the headlines again following comments made today (Nov. 30) by analyst Gene Munster at an industry conference. Munster went so far as to tell his audience at the Ignition: Future of Media conference in New York City to wait to buy a new TV, because Apple’s TV is “going to be awesome.”

Addendum on 12/2/11: 

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Education Secretary Arne Duncan calls for urgency on college costs [Lewin]

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 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:

Addendum later on 11/30/11:

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(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.”

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Companies lose control of their customers or their markets when…[Leonhard]

On 11/21/2011, in content development, aggregation, repositories, corporate / business world, future, game-changing environment, global / globalization, new business models, publishing, reinvent, staying relevant, technology (general), trends, by Daniel Christian

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— excerpted slides from
http://gerdleonhard.typepad.com/files/telemedia-and-content-gerd-leonhard-total-telecom-public.pdf

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U.S. Debt Clock — 11/20/11 vs. 8/24/11

On 11/20/2011, in change, corporate / business world, cost of getting a degree, dangers of the status quo, disruption, economics, future, future of higher education, game-changing environment, global / globalization, higher education, leadership, legislatures / government / legal, political science, real-world assignments, society, United States, by Daniel Christian

As of 11/20/11 (~2:00pm EST)

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As of 8/24/11:

usdebtclock.org

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From DSC:
With the increase in globalization — and from what I’ve seen happening in the financial systems (i.e. how what happens in Europe affects the financial systems in the U.S./Asia/other and vice versa) — it seems clear that we are all in this boat together.  If that’s true, what does that mean for:

  • Businesses and economies around the world?
  • The ability of families and individuals to afford the increasing cost of getting a degree?
  • Higher educational systems — and business models — around the world?
  • How do we resolve such massive problems?
  • What does all of this mean for how we should be educating our students?

 

Addendum on 11/21/11:

  • Debt committee: Why $1.2 trillion isn’t enough — from money.cnn.com by Jeanne Sahadi
    Excerpts:
    That’s because under the most likely scenario, reducing deficits by $1.2 trillion won’t stop the accumulated debt from growing faster than the economy.
    …
    Thus, to stabilize the debt, Congress would need to pass a debt-reduction plan worth $4 trillion to $6 trillion, budget experts say.
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Could “Badges for Lifelong Learning” be our tipping point? [Davidson]

On 11/18/2011, in change, dangers of the status quo, digital learning, future of higher education, game-changing environment, higher education, lifelong learning, reinvent, staying relevant, workplace, by Daniel Christian

Could “Badges for Lifelong Learning” be our tipping point? –– from hastac.org by Cathy Davidson

Excerpt:

As more and more fascinating and creative and surprising applications to our DML Badges for Lifelong Learning Competition flood in (we’re at almost 100 and the competition does not close until the end of today), I am wondering if, a hundred years from now, some historian ploughing through the dusty data archives of the Internet, will see this moment as digital learning’s tipping point. I mean that.

This could be our tipping point for how we measure, the entry point to thinking up an array of new forms of deciding what counts for our era.

…

So many of us work in schools or in jobs where what counts has been decided for us. The array of badging systems in these applications is starting to suggest that there are many, many of us who are frustrated with our inherited systems and want to come up with new ways of deciding what we want to count, what we want to value and acknowledge and credit and reward. A badge system can be the symbol of all that, visible proof of  some quality of participation and contribution that previously wasn’t even defined.

 

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Cloud Learning as Universal Primary Education [Arina]

On 11/15/2011, in assessment, career development, change, cloud-based computing / apps / other cloud-related, dangers of the status quo, Daniel S. Christian, digital learning, disruption, education reform, global / globalization, higher education, innovation, K-12 related, learning ecosystem, mobile learning, society, workplace, by Daniel Christian

Cloud Learning as Universal Primary Education — from Teemu Arina

Excerpts:

The internet is lowering the transaction costs of learning. This leads to a situation where learning happens more and more in the open markets, in a distributed and decentralized manner. It is obvious that the primary interface will be based on mobile, cloud-based devices. Some principles…

…

There are effectively three levels of certification: 1st hand, 2nd hand and 3rd hand certification.

  • 1st hand certification is what you say you know.
    In the old world you would describe your skills in a resume and leave it to the employer to evaluate if that holds true. In the new world you can make your work and learning processes visible as it happens, demonstrating progress and increasing the believability of your 1st hand descriptions. A simple blog (a log of thoughts) makes reflection visible  and demonstrates the evolution and iteration of thinking as it happens.
  • 2nd hand certification is what others say about you.
    In the old world you would describe your references in a resume and leave it to the employer to call these references to evaluate if these people really value your work and learning. In the new world people accumulate links, likes and comments to the resources you produce on social networks. A Klout score on social media or a personal stock price based on social media activity on EmpireAvenue demonstrate your social capital through a simple metric. The question is, are you making an impact with your progress, enabling other people to build on top of your work through reflection and co-creation, or are you effectively invisible to others?
  • 3rd hand certification is what an authority says about you.
    In the old world you would get a certificate on hand to add in your resume that you have demonstrated the ability to pass a specific rat test (a school). This doesn’t necessarily mean you have mastered all the topics involved, but it demonstrates that you have been capable of passing such tests under the supervision of an authority. In the new world a single test in isolation is not enough but your ability to solve problems in connection with others.
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The Promise and Potential of Personal Digital Learning [Vander Ark]

On 11/14/2011, in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, blended learning, change, digital learning, education technology, elearning, future, game-changing environment, hybrid learning, innovation, K-12 related, online learning, personalized/customized learning, productivity / tips and tricks, student teaching/teacher education, student-related, by Daniel Christian

The Promise and Potential of Personalized Digital Learning -- from Tom Vander Ark on November 4, 2011

Also see:


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A comprehensive look at the promise and potential of online learning
In our digital age, students have dramatically new learning needs and must be prepared for the idea economy of the future. In Getting Smart, well-known global education expert Tom Vander Ark examines the facets of educational innovation in the United States and abroad. Vander Ark makes a convincing case for a blend of online and onsite learning, shares inspiring stories of schools and programs that effectively offer “personal digital learning” opportunities, and discusses what we need to do to remake our schools into “smart schools.”

— Examines the innovation-driven world, discusses how to combine online and onsite learning, and reviews “smart tools” for learning
— Investigates the lives of learning professionals, outlines the new employment bargain, examines online universities and “smart schools”
— Makes the case for smart capital, advocates for policies that create better learning, studies smart cultures

Addendum on 11/29/11:

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55 jobs of the future [Frey]

On 11/11/2011, in 21st century, career development, future, game-changing environment, workplace, by Daniel Christian

55 jobs of the future — from futuristspeaker.com by Thomas Frey, Senior Futurist at the DaVinci Institute

Excerpt:

As a rule of thumb, 60% of the jobs 10 years from now haven’t been invented yet. With that in mind, I’ve decided to pull together a list of 55 jobs that will be in high demand in the future.

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The Networked Society — from Ericsson

On 11/10/2011, in 21st century, career development, change, changing business models, colleges, communities of practice, community colleges, education technology, emerging technologies, future, future of higher education, game-changing environment, global / globalization, higher education, human-computer interaction (HCI), usability, user experience (UX), workplace, by Daniel Christian

 

Originally saw a reference to this piece at Harold Jarche’s blog.

 

 

 

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If not now, when? [Sannier] Relates to the question “Will higher ed respond and stay relevant?” [DSC]

On 11/09/2011, in budgets, business side of he, change, changing business models, dangers of the status quo, Daniel S. Christian, education technology, elearning, emerging technologies, future of higher education, game-changing environment, higher education, innovation, IT in HE, reinvent, society, staying relevant, by Daniel Christian

If not now, when? –– from Educause ReviewMagazine  by Adrian Sannier
Adrian Sannier is Digital Strategist and Senior Vice President of Product at Pearson eCollege and is Professor of Computing Studies at Arizona State University, where he was also the University Technology Officer prior to joining Pearson eCollege.

Excerpt:

Strong signs are indicating that higher education is finally on the verge of a long-awaited digital shift. Given that experts have been prophesying such a shift for more than forty years, with little if any real change, it’s reasonable to approach such a statement with healthy skepticism. Various factors—some cultural, some technological—have indeed retarded progress along this path to the future. Nevertheless, the unprecedented challenges facing the educational system, combined with higher education’s cultural success at solving daunting challenges through the widespread application of information technology, have created the conditions for rapid change. In the coming months, we will see major shifts in the role that technology plays in the creation, distribution, consumption, and improvement of learning experiences. And education will never be the same.

…

Beyond Textbooks, Beyond Bookstores, Beyond Learning Management Systems, Beyond School—the changes introduced by technology have already begun. The digital shift is upon us. If other industries and other fields are any guide, once the dominos begin to fall, progress will be swift and irreversible.

I, for one, can’t wait to be a part of it. If not now, when?

 

From DSC:
Readers of this blog will not be surprised at what I’m about to say…

Higher ed, if we are wise, will quickly wake up and heed the disruptive changes that have already occurred within other industries (i.e. those caused by a variety of technologies).  The following quote is especially relevant for those of us in higher education, because the conversation is no longer being controlled by those within the world of higher education. 

“For the first time, the tools to drive change and improve learning lie beyond the scope and the control of the academy, in the community which surrounds it. So, for the first time in our history, colleges and universities do not control either the conversation or the drive to innovate. As a consequence, also for the first time, if they stand still, they will be left behind, bobbing in the wake of rapid change.” — HEMG

The writing on the wall is coming into a bolder/stronger/clearer view:  Higher ed needs to respond to society’s needs and to its own customers…otherwise, it will become irrelevant. Much of this is due to what things often come down to — money.

The cost of education is one of the most potent forces acting as a catalyst to these changes — and the tidal waves of technological change will finish the job.


Staying Relevant

 


…and more forcefully illustrated:

 

From Daniel S. Christian

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TV apps moving into the mainstream – #AppsWorld Europe

On 11/01/2011, in A/V -- audio/visual, convergence, Europe, future, game-changing environment, human-computer interaction (HCI), interactivity, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, pace of change, tablets, television, transmedia, trends, by Daniel Christian

TV apps moving into the mainstream – #AppsWorld Europe

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IBM sends Watson supercomputer to business school [Smalley]

On 11/01/2011, in Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, business, career development, change, changing business models, computer science, disruption, economics, future, game-changing environment, global / globalization, human-computer interaction (HCI), MBA, new business models, programming, society, sociology, technology (general), trends, vendors, by Daniel Christian

IBM sends Watson supercomputer to business school – from wired.com by Eric Smalley

 

IBM's Watson takes on Harvard and MIT students.

Excerpt:

There have been four waves of technological innovation that disrupted the labor market over the last two and a half centuries starting with the Industrial Revolution, and we’re beginning the fifth, said IBM Chief Economist Martin Fleming. “We’re now beginning to enter into, in my view, a period where the economy is beginning to open up opportunities for the deployment of very significant innovation … We’re going to see many new industries get created, radical new technologies being deployed, but being deployed in the context of new business models,” he said.

“This will have significant implications from an income and income distribution point of view.”

The MIT economists generally agree that we’re at the beginning of a technology-driven shift in the economy and ultimately the labor market will adjust. But no one had any good news for workers in the middle of economy during the transition. “The future is already here in many ways, in terms of what technology can do,” Brynjolfsson said. “But right now the benefits are not very evenly distributed.”

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