From Lev Gonick, CIO of Case Western Reserve, in The Chronicle of Higher Ed, writing about “How Technology Will Reshape Academe After the Economic Crisis“:
Indeed, the whole learning process is changing thanks to the Internet. First professors posted syllabi online and used e-mail to supplement their office hours. Then learning activities like classroom presentations were supplemented by student-published Web pages, searchable discussion forums, and collaborative wikis. In a curve that has only been accelerating these past 20 years, we now have an educational economy of information abundance confronting an educational delivery system that was built for a time of information scarcity. Colleges have shared some of their best teaching using new systems like Apple’s iTunes U, OpenCourseWare, and explosive content-creation activities underway in countries like India and China.
Future generations of learners will no doubt look back at the global economic crisis of 2008-9 and reflect on which institutions were agile enough to make a difference by bringing the wisdom of their scholars together with the acumen of their technology officers and the ingenuity and determination of their university leaders. It’s actually not only the future of the university that is in play. How we produce, organize, and distribute open education resources is at the heart of the future of education around the world. [Emphasis mine.]
While this is obviously a look at higher ed, it has implications for the K-12 set, no doubt. He also talks about the looming demise of the textbook industry. Good stuff.
I had a similar conversation with a reporter earlier today about tech innovation and higher education. What I have found in my own experience is that we can’t count on institutions or professors to be agile or bring innovation to the classroom. Instead, I place innovation and agility in the hands of students, which the author above hints at.
For example: The chemistry department regularly posts exam answers in a glass case outside their main lecture hall after an exam. Students line up and copy down all the answers to see how they did. One ingenious student took digital photos of the exams posted in the case, created a Facebook group, posted the pictures of the exam answers to the group, then invited all of his friends and classmates to view the results.
Innovations like iTunesU and Open Courseware are not yet the norm, nor will they be until another 30 years pass. Shirky notes that when apps like FB and Delicious become ubiquitous and second nature is when the innovation starts. While I applaud the article cited above, it is going to take a major shift in the practice of teaching for real change to happen across our campuses.
That said, I am reminded of the hare and tortoise fable–slow and steady often wins the race. It took several years to build this economic crisis; it will take several years to move us out. Hopefully we will be the better for it as a result.
> the acumen of their technology officers and the ingenuity and determination of their university leaders.
What a crock. These are the people who have been preventing progress for many years. Now that they are bing forced by economics to cave, they are claiming ingenuity and determination?
Hey Stephen. I don’t think that’s what he’s saying. I think he sees it as the same challenge that you do. Those that meet the moment by being able to work together in those ways will be the ones who succeed. But that is in no way a given.
I’m watching all of this from an interesting position: former business exec now turned catalyst for change in a K-12 school. And I can’t think of much that modifies behavior more than an economic crisis that is so far-reaching and threatens so many institutions. What is the adage? Change or Die?
The survivors in this crisis, regardless of institution, are those that are smart, adaptable, collaborative (strategic partnerships are key), creative and leverage the new technology. This holds true for higher ed, and those of us helping guide K12 need to take note as well.
As for who gets credit for the ingenuity? Well, I could spend the rest of my life frustrated with doing the work and not getting the credit. (I’d be happy to share some stories of being a female corp/invest banker in the 80s and early 90s in a male-dominated culture.) At the end of the day, these school leaders will have to look to the evolved and evolving models that so many in this “chorus” have developed in order to shift. I doubt they can claim ingenuity and get the respect of the academy in this networked world without at least a bone to the rest of us. Whatever the case may be, my personal goal is to put my head down, do good work, share it freely, and hope it makes a difference.
Professors using email, students submitting their work online, and schools uploading videos of lectures online? That’s not any kind of technology revolution, that’s just applying digital tools to analog processes. Wake me up when the actual process is updated.
While I agree with Dave that using the Internet may not be revolutionary, the bigger picture is what will happen when everything is happening online. Open education resources mean that anyone with an Internet connection could have access to participate and collaborate. Web 2.0 is all about collaboration and an educational system that fosters collaboration through technology will undoubtedly change the processes. Using the technology has never been the same thing as embracing the technology, that is truly the next step.
To me, the argument is about culture and “place”. I see the word “system” used above and the word “classroom” too. Our present “system” is guided by the idea that “teachers” exist in “places”. All the rest of this discussion revolves around a challenge to that simple concept. How will learning be managed if we remove teachers and remove places and consider learning an “open” matter?
Will our culture allow the removal of “schools” from our communities? Will we be able to meld “virtual learning environments” and “classrooms” into places that support a managed learning environment? Do we need classrooms? Can teachers be anybody? Do learners NEED to be managed? For how long (at what age?).
The concepts reach far deeper into our culture, wherein the universtity classroom is still a “sacred place” ( – 10 years go!)
The comments are equally as interesting as the article and they display a wide variety of thinking about instruction. A professor who knows that students are im-ing and shopping during his/her class clearly isn’t making any pedagogical changes in his classroom based on the needs of the students.
Interestingly, a local community college here advertised for an instructional technology specialist. What a great idea.