I’m an insider, but an outsider. As a PhD student studying higher education, and as someone who has worked in colleges and universities his entire life, I’m completely comfortable in the classroom and in being surrounded by students. This semester, however, I’m an immigrant in a foreign land. I’m taking a course in the business school, MI621: Social Media for Managers. It’s not that I don’t work in a business, I do. I just don’t speak the exact same language. I, like many other academics, hold on to the belief that the university is somehow a special and unique kind of business. It has a unique purpose and unique goals. How can the pursuit of knowledge for knowledge’s sake be reduced to market forces?
The truth, of course, is that higher education is a business and is increasingly becoming one. Marketization, globalization, and the rise of social media and Web technologies are knocking at the door. The university has been pretty adept at dodging market and social trends before, but this time it’s different. It no longer works to hide behind the traditions, ceremonies and funny caps and gowns. It no longer works when students are empowered to create their own education and the resources to do so are plentiful, readily available, and free. From massive open online courses (MOOCs) teaching thousands of students at once, to personal learning networks (PLNs) where students cobble together their own learning communities, the university is no longer the sole provider of higher education. Coursera, EdX, open educational resources (OER), and other initiatives are all changing the competitive landscape.
So why is this different now? Why have social media and Web technologies finally advanced to the point that the university is forced into change? Speaking broadly, I believe it’s due to the loss of three things: the shelf, the bulletin board, and the blackboard.
The Shelf: Back when knowledge was locked in these physical “books,” the university could lay claim to being the only source of knowledge in town. As technology now allows one to access the entirety of the world’s knowledge from one’s couch, the university is no longer the exclusive home of specialized knowledge. The university lost control of shelf: being the exclusive source for knowledge.
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The Bulletin Board: Institutions of higher education used to be able to control the flow of information to their students through the very limited means of communication available. As social media and communication technologies evolve and become more ubiquitous, however, the university is now competing with a lot of other messages and “noise.” The university no longer controls the bulletin board: the ability to communicate to a captive audience.
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The Blackboard: Many university classes used to be dominated by the lecture and one-way communication from professor to student. As more, and more diverse, students enter higher education, they demand educational practices that are relevant and address their diverse learning styles and needs. The university lost the blackboard: the ability to rely on old methods of instruction and ignore multiple learning styles.
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Although it is important to understand where higher education has lost control, it’s also important to understand where it has the potential to capitalize on its strengths. A number of articles online have attempted to answer this question (two particularly good ones can be found here and here). It is my belief, however, that the strength of universities lies in their ability to help students synthesize and make sense out of their experience, holistically. Some of the best universities have recognized this and created environments that support seamless in and out of the classroom learning. They promote collaborations between the faculty, the content experts, and student affairs professionals, the developmental education experts. There are guided internships, service learning experiences, and learning communities in the residence halls. Universities, in virtue of their ability to act as their own local area networks, have the ability to curate an educational environment that even the most expansive online educational networks cannot solely provide. The university can network the best of the physical and virtual learning environments. For the university, the best defense against the network is for the university to become a network itself.
PaulGordonBrown,
Great post. I like your use of media to break up your thoughts. And you squeezed your main points in the last lines of each paragraph. I get the impression that you value your readers time. I will try to incorporate these techniques in my future posts.
Just some initial thoughts,
More traditional universities losing control, as you suggest, might have unexpected consequences for students. As access to learning complicated subjects becomes more freely available and their distribution made easier by digitization, people might not appreciate higher education as they do today. Unpopular fields might eventually die out from the lack of interest they generate.
Popular subjects, however, might advance more rapidly as they gain mind share in the future. This could be interesting. But this quick pace could also make it harder for the average students to keep up and contribute to these subjects. If students are given the sole responsibility over their education, there is no guarantee that more students will pursue it. I anticipate many students will get frustrated with their education, as it becomes harder to find mentors to encourage and guide them.
This coupled with the fact that more people will lose interest in learning for learning’s sake, might lead to more specialization and trade programs that offer skills. Colleges and universities today offer students an opportunity to: be exposed to different perspectives and ideas, question everything, and explore their passions. If schools are forced to return to their elite roots, these opportunities will be lost to most people.
One solution to this, as you suggest, is for colleges to foster collaborative learning environments. But this might escalate their demise, as less people pay for their services. Despite all this, I am optimistic about the future of learning. I think, education will be freely available to those who seek, but I don’t think this will lead to more seekers in the long run.
Best,
M. Ali
Thanks for the comment.
I agree about “unpopular” fields potentially dying out, or at least becoming smaller. Unfortunately I think we’re already seeing this happen somewhat with the humanities. OF course, the humanities, unlike hard science research, also don’t bring in much revenue. Another problem for them.
On the thought that more student may not pursue education, given what I’ve researched on higher education trends, this seems unlikely. Much of the world is still reaching for “massification,” which is a term used in higher ed to denote reaching a level of mass education, usually above 50-70% of the population of a country. This doesn’t show any signs of slowing. It’s even accelerating in places like China.
I also think what may happen is that the small liberal arts college-type education will get even more expensive and more exclusive. Essentially, liberal arts would be for those with means while the rest of the population would be pushed towards practical/professional/applied fields.
Very nice post, conceptually and stylistically. Good to have you over in the business school, where we can work on turning you over to the dark side (insert maniacal laugh here). I do think that higher education is different in that we are – by and large – non profit organizations. Now, Universities are horribly inefficient institutions that are destined for a shakeup in the coming years, but our goals and objectives and stakeholders are different than traditional companies which lead to a different mindset. Of course, as a former non-profit employee, myself, I wish most nonprofit enterprises applied more of what we have learned in the business school – including social media.
Hi Paul-
I loved your post and the RSA video was thought-proving. Reading your blog, your response to mine, and watching these videos have already forced me to think differently about how I deliver education as an instructor at BC and that is quite powerful. I just had a planning meeting for our fall classes and we started with pedgogy and are looking at the 50 minute in class time much differently. Why show videos or clips in class when it can be assigned with the reading outside of class and use class as more of a discussion and enlightening time? This MI621 class is inspiration due to Prof. Kane and students like yourself. Thanks for all of your genuine insights as well!
Great first post, Paul! Your use of media and the organization of this blog post really keeps the reader engaged and interested. You also offer some great insight on higher education and the interaction social media and the web, especially the part where you comment on universities’ loss of the shelf, the bulletin board and the blackboard. Some topics that may be interesting for you to explore this semester could be MOOCs and their adoption abroad in countries where people have less access to higher education, and perhaps examples of university programs that leverage social media well, either to promote the school or enhance the classroom experience. Can’t wait to read more from you this semester!