Archives For Learning
Accenture Newsroom: Majority of Students Cite Digital Capabilities and Services at Universities as Key Factor in Higher Education Choice, Accenture Survey Finds via kwout
The Accenture Higher Education Will Never Be the Same! The Digital Demand on Campus and Beyond survey of 1,500 students in Australia, India, Singapore, the United Kingdom and the United States found:
Eighty-five percent of high school seniors, 81 percent of higher education students and 72 percent of higher education graduates say that how well a higher education institution embraces innovation is an important factor in deciding which institution to attend.
Because Universities, Colleges, and Polytechnics still control the parchment (degrees, diplomas and certification) we haven’t seen the same sort of external disruptive forces taking students away. What we are beginning to see is a shift in where students choose to attend within higher education. Institutions that have gone digital and provide fully online, well designed blended programs, or other innovative and flexible approaches to learning are drawing students who are looking for flexibility and relevance in their learning experience. The Accenture survey revealed that just over 50% of students are still considering a traditional education, so if your institutions is part of the Ivy League or other highly regarded brand then you may still have a strong draw. If you are offering the same traditional courses as your competition across town or across the state or province then you may be in trouble.
The report authors suggest that to remain competitive higher education must engage, satisfy and sustain relationships with always-on students by doing the following:
- Delivering on-demand learning. As digital natives, students expect on-demand, self-led learning with access to content and instruction online at any time. Institutions must enable a type of learning via mobile and social tools that involve video and content curation that make learning highly engaging.
- Working with new teaching partners. Education innovation such as on-demand learning models requires different educational delivery systems. No higher education institution will have access to a variety of models without building partnerships and strengthening its ecosystem by collaborating with other universities, the private sector and government.
- Cultivating lifelong learning. By using digital tools, higher education institutions can extend and strengthen alumni relationships through online and on-demand learning.
This is a very positive opportunity for higher education. Institutions that are proactive and use digital technologies to enhance learning are going to find that to do this well they must focus the learners needs and create significant learning environment rather then just deliver content.
Read the full report – Higher Education Will Never Be the Same! The Digital Demand on Campus and Beyond
In a recent 3260 Professional Practice class (part of the Provincial Instructor Diploma Program) one of my learners was sharing an Ah-Ha! moment that was inspired by Ken Robinson’s Bring on the Learning Revolution TED Talk. Robinson argues that we need to move away from the industrial model of education where we stamp out standardized students and move toward an organic model in which we create the environments where learners can grow and develop in their own unique ways.
The ensuing class discussion reminded me of Mortimer Adler’s insight in How to Read a Book that teaching is an art that shares special characteristics with two other disciplines:
Without going into learning theory as psychologists conceive it, it is obvious that teaching is a very special art, sharing with only two other arts—agriculture and medicine—an exceptionally important characteristic. A doctor may do many things for his patient, but in the final analysis it is the patient himself who must get well—grow in health. The farmer does many things for his plants or animals, but in the final analysis it is they that must grow in size and excellence. Similarly, although the teacher may help his student in many ways, it is the student himself who must do the learning. Knowledge must grow in his mind if learning is to take place (p. 11).
To teach organically we need to create the environment in which the learner can do the learning, grow and flourish. We need to become proactive, start with a learner centred focus, and purposefully assemble all the key components of effective learning into a significant learning environment so that we can help our learners to learn how to learn and grow into the people we all hope they will become.
If you have been around school of any level for the past 20 – 30 years or more you may have noticed that there are all kinds of learning. The following list is just a very short snapshot of the past 25 years and is by no means complete or is it chronological:
Flexible Learning
Digital Learning
Blended Learning
21st Century Learning
Mobile Learning
E-Learning
Virtual Learning
Online Learning
Distance Learning
Active Learning
Student-centred Learning
Problem-based Learning
Project-based Learning
Natural Learning
Mastery Learning
Social Learning
Discovery/Inquiry Learning
Experiential Learning
Case-based Learning
Scenario-based Learning
Situated Learning
Authentic Learning
Even when learning theorists place the different types of learning into one of the follow four major paradigms:
- Behaviorism,
- Cognitivism,
- Humanism,
- Constructivism;
we are still left with a fundamental problem.
We focus on the type of learning and not the learning itself. There is an assumption with most educators that we have the learning part figured out and if we, for example, get the mobile, or digital, or flexible and so on… part right then everything will work just right. Unfortunately, it doesn’t work that way.
It’s about the learning first–the type, approach or “ism” comes second.
Fortunately, the human being is one of the most amazing learning entities on this planet and as John Hattie points out in his book, Visible Learning, and various presentations, short of physical and psychological abuse, almost anything you do in the classroom will positively impact student achievement…the key is to figure out what promotes achievement.
Yes. It’s about the learning.
In the article 4 Lessons Learned from Higher Ed Tech Failures in 2014 Tanya Roscorla suggests that to prevent failure of Ed Tech projects administrators must:
- Become smarter about running experiments, which usually include technology
- Figure out how to scale innovations that are working
- Watch smaller schools to see how they approach technology because they have more freedom to innovate
- Recognize that universities are in a turbulent period of time and identify the cost of being wrong about education technology
While these are salient points and should be factors to consider Roscorla has missed the fundamental issue that needs to be addressed if your organization is to be successful in deploying Ed Tech effectively. Ed Tech should be used to enhance the learning environment rather be used as a magic bullet to change the way that students, faculty, staff and administrators work in the educational environment.
All too often in Higher Ed technology is deployed and everyone has to adopt to the technology rather then find the appropriate technology that can be adopted to the learning environment. The starting point for all technology related projects in Higher Ed should be the learning. This means that we look to the needs of the learner and faculty first, then the staff and administration.
Unfortunately, most administrators in Higher Ed do not have enough knowledge and experience with Ed Tech so decisions regarding the selection and support of the technology are most often off loaded to IT departments. Even though IT departments are focused on serving the user their priority is to help the user to deal with the technology that the IT department has chosen to deploy. If the priority is the technology then it makes perfect sense to pay attention to technology testing, scalability, technology deployments at other institutions, and costs.
However, if the priority is the learner then issues like flexibility, usability, mobility and adaptability are paramount because the technology needs to adapt to the learning environment and support the learning. IT should play a support role in selecting the technology but the primary selection should fall upon an advisory group comprised of faculty, students and other learning support staff who understand the importance of putting the needs of the learner first.
The fundamental question needs to be asked–who does Ed Tech serve? The learner or administration and IT. Until we start focusing on the learning we will continue to see significant Ed Tech project failures.
