Photo Credit: brown.edu
In lesson one of Teaching on the Internet and Teach Adults for Fun and $$$ I start right off with controversy by predicting that the next generation will be bulldozing all of our bricks and mortar schools, colleges and universities (shopping centers as well).
I believe academia is hopelessly out of touch with the needs of the 21st century and Web 2.0. None of the innovation occurring in education these days is coming from our colleges and universities . . . it is coming from the private sector for profit organizations (capitalists). Sooner or later the American educational consumer is going to get tired of second rate products and start sending their progeny to organizations who get results.
Of course this causes the discussion board to light up with howls of people who disagree with me (many have emails that end with .edu). Finally I have been vindicated by no less than the great American management mind of Peter Drucker who recently passed away. You’ll be delighted to read his thoughts in this article I found today:
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The Modern University Has Become Obsolete
By Froma Harrop
The modern university is a relic that will disappear in a few decades. The modern university is a relic that will disappear in a few decadesThat prediction was made by Peter Drucker, the management genius who just died at 95 and usually got things right.
His words brought an uncharitable smile to my face as I recently strolled across the ivied campus of Brown University, in Providence, R.I. At the time, maintenance crews were busy removing leaves. Campus officials were still dealing with the aftermath of an especially drunken Saturday night. And most everyone was excited that the football team had taken the Ivy League championship.
No doubt, some education was going on, but the question nagged: Is this an efficient setup for improving young minds? Not very, according to Drucker. “Today’s buildings are hopelessly unsuited and totally unneeded,” he said. Satellites and the Internet can easily make classrooms obsolete.
We now read that professors at Purdue, Stanford, Duke and other universities are recording their lectures. Students download the talks on their iPods and listen to them whenever. The “whenever” can be while driving, lifting weights or between songs by Black Eyed Peas and the Pussycat Dolls.
The profs say that letting students hear the lectures on their own frees classroom time for penetrating discussions. The same conversations, however, could be held over the Internet — or, for that matter, in a room at the public library.
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Read the entire article
Got a question, war story or comment about this topic? Click on the comment/trackback link at the bottom of this article, I’d love to hear from you!
Technorati Tags: online college degree, teaching online, online class
Organize your emailSet up your own online classrooms for freeWriting for the InternetMind maps–From WikipediaNeed to put together an inexpensive Webcast?
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