Higher Education Reform

-->Love for lifelong and continuous learning plus collaborating to share resources. On the latter, how to convey - pay value to lecturers?

Excerpt | "The purpose of this study was to delineate school practices that balance academic rigor with attention to ethical development. Not surprisingly, all our findings relate to deliberate efforts to build trust within the school culture. Less predictably, each of these findings can be said to support a genuine examination of “truth”—of true relationships, of true understanding, of true intention–as essential to trust building and, consequently, to deep learning. This study reports on our work. It condenses hours of on-site interviewing and piles of documentation into 10 key findings..."

-->How to design a scalable education model that incorporates online learning? Use an iterative approach for grad projects (e.g., thesis, dissertation), embed the project into the curriculum, and use on-ground sessions for networking, committee development, public speaking (e.g., pitch the prospectus, viva voce/defense/orals), and hands-on or team projects. Use iverse for virtual team projects, papers, discussion posts, and to improve access, sustainability, and reduce cost. Each of these efforts improves time to completion, praxis/application, and affordability. See Grand Canyon U for examples of this quality design (I'm a doctoral learner there). More at http://bit.ly/OirLiQ

7 Reasons Barnes & Noble Bad for University Business | Img: Late Age of Print Cover

-->Honor local stakeholders, e.g., university business, first.

How to achieve credibility for free and open online courses? For what purpose? Design will be important, especially if for a graduate program.

Excerpts | "'In three years’ time we hope to be offering a level of online learning that we can’t dream about at the moment,' Nelson says.

'It may sound ridiculous in ambition, but one of my team said to me that in five or 10 years, rather than hanging out on Facebook of an evening, people will feel they can hang around in the Futurelearn product.'

'Going into an online environment to learn is fun, social, an alternative to television and some of the other things you do for entertainment at night,' Nelson says..."

Excerpt | "A fresh approach is needed in the educational world, one that seeks to recover the ancient practice of learning by doing. Before the industrialization of education, students experimented with possible solutions to problems, tested their solutions, pondered the results, adjusted their theories to the realities of their results, and then came back to tackle the problem again. This is the cycle of Action Learning..."

Excerpt | "To help students understand that much of ethical decision making is about knowing where you, personally, draw the line and communicating your choice effectively..."

Excerpt | "Much has been made of leadership and its influence on organizational culture, and this message is certainly underscored in the schools we visited. Heads obviously have an enormous opportunity to set the priorities and tone of the school—and a daunting responsibility to do so. The school heads who seem most effective in this regard are the genuine truth-seekers. Those who view deep learning as life’s primary enterprise build commitment to ethics and values in everything they do..."

Providing learners w/materials + tools to support their goals.

Excerpt | "'Basically, I got hired for my abilities to think and write analytically, cut through complex issues and communicate effectively — exactly the skills liberal arts education should teach,' says Timm, 24, of Oakland..."

I add, find a pathway to thrive vs. just survive. This depends in part on program design, and creative inroads to compensate, e.g., networking or writing dissertation as you go.

I add: innovate + change doctorate program design to be applied praxis to account for the 2/3 who do not attain a faculty position, and instead go into industry, community development, consulting, or entrepreneurship, etc. Situated efforts, such as being happy or "surviving" grad school highlight the systemic challenges that people face.

Better to design a system for thrival and sustainability, e.g., improve completion rates + transition via iterative dissertation throughout coursework, shorter time to complete, an emphasis on projects and praxis (vs. "mythical man month" of adding course after course assuming that doing so "prepares" learners for teaching), intern/externships, and a hybrid model that does not require people to move, but does require networking/dissertation relevant residencies.

Excerpt | "...science is the perfect preparation for entrepreneurship. 

There are key skills any successful scientist has to learn, and each is directly transferable to startup life.."