It is an amazing time that we live in and I agree that the future is now. I have been thinking about education a lot lately, but not necessarily only college level instruction. I was talking to a friend yesterday about the struggles that her child is having in school because the curriculum that is taught in the local school district is so inflexible, closed and limited. He has a different learning style than the curriculum allows for and a learning disorder on top of that. He's falling behind and the teacher's only recourse is to hold him in from recess to try to catch him up. His mom is beside herself because he needs physical activity to be able to concentrate better as part of his learning disability. She was complaining about “No Child Left Behind” and asking me what our new President's view on it was. I told her what I thought it is was, but I don't want to get into politics here. So what does this have to do with the discussion?
Will children progressing through elementary, middle and high schools with such strict and intellectually limiting curricula be prepared for the types of activities that Cole described? If we could somehow begin embedding student expectations earlier and develop curricula for k-12 with more modern expectations and better standards, I think we can get there. Of course this is more of a talk about education reform that open education, but might they not converge at some point or have they already begun to?
I must admit that one of my first thoughts was what “pbach” said about faculty. I was thinking more along the lines of how a university would train faculty to be able to assess assignments and keep up with the many platforms that students might choose if the faculty member isn't well versed in those technologies. I wondered about what a faculty development program might look like and whether something like it would gain momentum. I also wondered what it might take to get our administration fired up about truly student centered learning like what Cole has described. Results that this type of learning works and that student thrive in an environment where they get to take control of their learning would be a start. Maybe then tenure will be given to faculty based on their positive impact on students instead of how many journal articles or book chapters they publish in a year. With so many of them going online and so many people self-publishing, I think the whole structure needs to be looked at to keep up with the future.
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