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LearnOnCampus is a SaaS [Software as a Service] subscription service for Mobile built for HEIs (Higher Education
Institutes) by Onwards Learning, the EdTech Business Unit of ACTTAO Group (China). This essay is from fastcompany.com,
written by Jessica Hullinger.
THIS IS THE FUTURE OF COLLEGE
It's not the death of higher education, but college as we've
known it will be forced to undergo some dramatic changes in
the next decade.
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The college experience has been roughly the same for the last 100 years: You
pick a major, find a school, buy the books, attend the lectures, write the papers, take the
tests, get the grades, graduate, work to pay off debt.
For years, college was the best pathway to a job. But as costs continue to rise and the
percentage of graduates finding work falls, students are beginning to wonder: What’s
the real value of a college education?
"Charging people lots of money to provide them with skills they could learn from an
Internet video is probably not gonna be a viable long-term financial model," says
Richard Miller, president of Olin College of Engineering. "Knowledge is now a
commodity. It’s really inexpensive and easy to get. Who’s gonna pay you for that? So
now we’re in the process of changing."
But changing how?
Experts say that within the next 10 to 15 years, the college experience will become
rapidly unbundled. Lecture halls will disappear, the role of the professor will transform,
and technology will help make a college education much more attainable than it is today,
and much more valuable. Indeed, a number of institutions may shut down. But those
that survive will be innovative and efficient. Here’s what they’ll look like.
A focus on skills, not semesters
For college students today, success is measured in credit hours. Time spent in the
classroom, reading, attending lectures, taking tests, all done with the hope of a passing
grade. But all the credit hours in the world don’t guarantee students actually learn
anything applicable in the workplace, and employers know this all too well. "I can’t tell
“KNOWLEDGE IS NOW A
COMMODITY.
IT’S REALLY INEXPENSIVE
AND EASY TO GET. WHO’S
GONNA PAY YOU FOR
THAT?”
you how many times I hear clients say, ‘I just can’t find the right person for this job,
and I can’t go to colleges because the students don’t have the innate competency,’" says
Michael Maciekowich, national director of HR consulting firm Astron Solutions, LLC.
"In our business, there’s a competency required that is not learned in school."
Indeed, in one survey, 60% of employers complained that job applicants lack
interpersonal and communication skills. They can pass a calculus exam, but they can’t
identify or solve problems on the job, or negotiate, or lead a meeting. For the college
students of tomorrow, these soft skills, obtained through hands-on experiences, will be
the yardstick for learning, not how many credit hours or semesters you have under your
belt.
Schools are already responding to the demand for this kind of education with programs
aimed specifically at giving students tangible skills that are applicable in the
workplace. College for America, an online branch of Southern New Hampshire
University, was the first program to receive permission from the federal government to
give degrees based on "actual learning versus seat time." Students advance not by
ticking off classes but by proving they’ve mastered specific skill sets, or
"competencies."
"They’re not just learning math in the abstract, they’re learning how to use charts or
graphs to convey information, or how to negotiate with others to resolve a conflict,"
explains Julian Alssid, chief workforce strategist at SNHU. Because it’s all online,
annual tuition is $2,500, a fraction of the average cost for most colleges. The program
launched two years ago with 200 students and is projected to have 5,000 students in the
coming year, Alssid says. As of last year, more than 350 U.S. institutions were dabbling
in similar competency-based models.
“IN OUR BUSINESS,
THERE’S A
COMPETENCY
REQUIRED THAT IS NOT
LEARNED IN SCHOOL.”
To stay relevant, colleges have to respond to the demands of the workplace. The
College for America exclusively admits students through their employers (though
Alssid says they may eventually "go retail"), meaning the tuition costs are often covered
by the companies in return for a worker trained in a specific skill set that’s in high
demand. These kinds of partnerships are becoming more and more common.
"We think there’s a real value net worth being created by these more direct partnerships
with the employers, and that has the ability to supercede the importance of the brand-
name recognition or even accreditation," says Michelle Weise, a senior research fellow
at the Clayton Christensen Institute specializing in disruptive innovation in higher
education.
A hybrid degree
One dominant fear among academics is that online education will completely replace
the physical campus and the professor. This is unlikely, at least in the short term.
Students still see value in being exposed to new people and new ideas, and creating a
network of valuable connections. But they won’t attend for four years. Introductory 101
courses can be covered quickly (and affordably) by massive open online classes
(MOOCs) or bootcamps.
Once students have that information under their belt, they’ll come to the physical
campus for a more hands-on experiential learning that can’t be taught online. "The
explosion of all the different things that aren’t universities, their presence in the learning
ecosystem, will both force and allow universities to recenter themselves around the kind
of learning that can’t take place in other kinds of settings," says Randall Bass, vice
provost for education and professor of English at Georgetown University.
The result will be a mix-and-match education. Perhaps a year’s worth of online courses,
maybe two years on campus, another in a bootcamp environment. "I think the future of
education will be one where we see a blend, with some part of a campus experience and
an online experience," says Alssid.
The New Major
"When universities move from being informational to being developmental, the nature
of the major will change as well," says Ben Nelson, founder and CEO of the Minerva
Project, an intense online program rounding out its first year in existence. "We already
know that employers don’t care so much about the major."
In one recent survey of 318 companies, 93%
of employers cared more about "critical
thinking, communication, and problem-
solving skills" than an undergraduate’s
concentration. They need hires who can take
on multiple responsibilities, which requires
flexibility and a plethora of skills. "We need
to stop worrying about trying to make them
experts in very narrow fields," says Miller.
"Instead, let’s focus on teaching them the
process of learning itself."
Schooling will become more interdisciplinary. Instead of a degree in biology, emerging
fields will combine biology and global health, or neuroscience and entrepreneurship.
"The concept of the major will erode into something that looks like an overall portfolio
with a bunch of micro-credentials that speak to a whole range of strengths," says Bass.
The death of the lecture
You might ask where the educator comes into play in this new world of fluid learning.
"It’s fair to say these changes are wreaking havoc on the way they are used to thinking
about higher education," says Weise. Students don’t need a person to stand at the front
of a room full of hundreds of students and lecture. "Now, because information is
everywhere, it has to be about a special learning experience," she says.
A project-based college environment will look more like a kindergarten classroom than
a lecture hall, with small groups and a teacher who acts as a guide. "It will be much
more focused on skills of mentorship, or helping to be the sort of lead peer instructor
on project sites where they’re bringing expertise in the way that the doctor might bring
to a whole office of medical staff," says Bass.
NINETY-THREE PERCENT OF
EMPLOYERS CARE MORE
ABOUT "CRITICAL THINKING,
COMMUNICATION, AND
PROBLEM-SOLVING SKILLS"
THAN AN
UNDERGRADUATE’S
CONCENTRATION.
"It’s not a faculty-less world, but I think that
one struggle of the next 20 years is figuring out
what it looks like to have a highly trained PhD-
ed faculty that is still central to this recentered,
more project-focused world."
Many professors know the changes are coming
and are trying to prepare. Minerva, for example,
has seen 1,000 faculty inquiries in its first year.
"I literally cannot tell you the number of ultra-
elite school presidents, deans, professors come up to us and say, ‘We cannot wait until
your success forces us to change,'" Nelson says.
There will be casualties
"Some places won’t make it, a lot of smaller places will merge or disappear because
value proposition won't be there," Bass says. There may be debt strikes, bankruptcies,
consolidations, and closings. The change will be swift and fierce, but for the better.
"These are important institutions," Nelson says. "We cannot as a society afford to lose
the university. It is in everybody’s interest to preserve them, assuming they reform."
(End)
A PROJECT-BASED COLLEGE
ENVIRONMENT WILL LOOK
MORE LIKE A KINDERGARTEN
CLASSROOM THAN A
LECTURE HALL, WITH SMALL
GROUPS AND A TEACHER
WHO ACTS AS A GUIDE.
LearnOnCampus is a mobile software platform for iOS, Android and PC
Windows built by Onwards Learning, the Education Technology business
unit of ActtaoDigital (ACTTAO Group, Beijing). We supply LearnOnCampus
as an out-of-the-box, configurable SaaS [Software as a Service] subscription service to Universities, Colleges
and teaching organisations around the world. Our customers use the platform under their own brand as a cloud-
based content management system and micro-channel for mobile audiences they engage with as part of their
own marketing & sales programmes throughout Asia.
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