European Journal of Open, Distance and E-Learning - 10 views
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"...perhaps fifteen or twenty years from now, with centralised production and decentralised distribution systems, with privatisation of education, with new teaching and diagnostic and evaluation and administration strategies, we will have such new teacher roles, such new teacher skills, such new pay scales, and such new distributions of where teachers work, that the model we see for education will be fundamentally different from what we have seen in the last hundred years. It will be a completely new Profession" (Dede, 1982).
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Bob Johnson on 15 Mar 12Roughly 10 years before the Internet, a prediction that may lack specifics but largely has been a phase education has been going through in recent years let alone what the future will bring with increasing number of studies being done creeating new pressures and changes in education.
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New Challenges Facing Universities in the Internet-Driven Global Environment
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The impact to education brought forward in this article may tie in closer to the 4 year university and graduate school arenas but any changes would likely filter down to other sectors. Many predictions are presented on the changes in teaching in this article. How do you see the impact of the predicted changes and other complications playing out within the Waubonsee setting and within your courses?
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Bob -- The predictions were both creative and daunting. The one that captured my attention the most was the idea of teachers as "specialists," either as lecturers, graders, etc. I doubt that would happen in the 15 or so years before I consider retirement ;). Still, the notion of learning without walls, borders, or a required shared space may well have a place. I hope we are never "forced" into such an arrangement as it might represent too much of a culture shock for the whole system (learners included). I heard a great presentation at a conference a few years ago about this very thing. The presenter described what he called "learning pods" that a person might have at their homes or the public library. The pod would include a touch pad through which lectures, exams, discussion boards could be accessed and utilized. Some of these images are merely dreams (and some are nightmares), but until we conceive/dream something it is hard to imagine it being achieved. If/when the "universitae" goes gloabl, perhaps a new demand or urge for a the "communitae" arises. In other words, community colleges may be able to fill a niche left vacant by the global university idea. Instead of having to catch up or keep up with the way universities go, Waubonsee and others can retrench and reinvigorate the mission/vision of community colleges. We should never abandon technology, but could use it more creative ways that start with the live contact of a shared space (i.e. a classroom). -
Larry - I agree with you! I don't think having only virtual learning through the "learning pods" and the like as the only means of learning is a good idea. Think about how many students fail to succeed the first time through a course when they have an instructor guiding them, working with them and encouraging them, only to come back through a second time to be successful. These same students, if left on their own to figure it out & follow through, would most certainly never achieve success. They might start watching the lectures, look over an exam & decide it's too hard and walk away. The opportunity to learn is then lost, how sad would that be? Don't get me wrong - there are a lot of people I know personally who would love this type of learning environment simply because they need to keep their mind engaged and learning all the time, but those students are the exception and not the rule. -
A short article I just read is asking probing questions on the future of education with the release of a specific iPad App that holds a complete MBA program within it: http://ipadacademy.com/2010/11/complete-mba-education-in-a-single-ipad-app-a-challenge-to-the-status-quo I can't say that I get alarmed by news of the future but I do enjoy hearing different perspectives or fortune tellers to force me to analyze how I go about my work to improve or keep up with the advances. The questions I really liked considering were: Is this the next step in the evolution of online (on device) education? Could such apps reduce the need for expensive textbooks, classroom space, the traditional term of instruction tied to the calendar, and the technology infrastructure required to support on site and online instruction? Will new structures to assess learning and confer degrees for self-study emerge? The faculty related question on thinning the ranks doesn't apply in my mind. With all the talk of technology and what it could do, I don't really see anything out there that would accomplish that. Mainly due to technology being a tool (vehicle for delivery) and not a teacher.
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I really think the way we all learned sitting, listening and then testing is no longer relevant in todays newer generations. We are in an interesting postition as we teach at a community college and the average student age is 30ish. We encompass all age ranges and therefore need to teach in a dynamic environment. We need to accomodate the traditional learner like I described above and the newer learner, one that enjoys and learns best with innovation and social media. At Waubonsee, I forsee many hybrid classes forming in areas that typically haven't seen online versions in the past. Utilizing the newest social media and tools available, while still allowing for the the face to face class time the traditional student still needs. I think as time passes this will be more of what students will want therefore driving the changes within the college.
