Wooster Horizon Group

A very interesting article on the future of higher ed. I found this quote to be particularly interesting. "Colleges and universities have an abundance of intellectual capital; intellectual resources and assets that most companies would love to have in their R&D divisions.  Mathematicians, technologists, engineers, designers, marketers, anthropologists -- and the list goes on and on.  However, for some reason our collective academic culture does not encourage collaboration across the organization, and from what I hear from some colleagues, it can even be confrontational.  Yes, the needs of students, the needs of faulty, and the needs of the administration and staff can create competing priorities.  However, for most private institutions, and some public institutions, there is only one need that matters, and that is the need to survive long-term. "

An interesting position paper from some of the largest universities in the country on online collaboration, MOOCs and educational technology companies.

Credentials for the future?

"On May 19, 1962, the New York Times, in a feature article, congratulated a housewife and mother of two for completing a Bachelor of Science of Arts degree from New York University.  That might not seem significant, but Mrs. Cora Gay Carr earned 54 of the 128 credits required for her degree not in an NYU classroom, but by watching television."

"This new-found MOOC student-labor pool is also the focus of other experiments. What if students could engage in projects for outside organizations from within the course structure?"

An interesting sort of thought experiment. How far can open online education be pushed? I'm not so sure this would be massive (How many people would see this as the way to get a PhD?), but I think it is an interesting idea.

"The widespread abandonment of the title "college" in favor of "university" demonstrates the preference to be perceived as "universal" and research-oriented rather than as a "collegium" drawn to a unique scholastic endeavor rooted in place and history. Higher education is becoming increasingly monocultural as demands for geographic (and market) expansiveness take precedence." - I think this is something Wooster can try to use to its advantage. Maybe we embrace being a collegium.