We got passed around today an interesting document containing future ideals about what should take place around our time now and in which was called The Futurist. I found this interesting because alot of the ideals such as televised lectures and electronic lectures do take place now and in which some colleges actually only exist thanks to these types of technologies because most or all the classes are online or through distance education. Others such as Local Area Networks are becoming alot more widely used in the Wide Area Network categories and are not as focused upon as was predicted. There is also a note about how the teacher's role will shift from lecturing to advising or coaching students on career paths and such. I feel like this role has always been here and teachers actually do more than just advise or coach, they are required to multitask in which they teach classes, advise and take care of distance education or internet courses.
Another aspect is the focus on distance education. I still feel as if this idea needs to be evolved more, because alot of the colleges that are online only or require alot of distance education are not as respected in the work world as a local good standing accredited college. I think that this is because the people that are hiring the new graduates are used to a standard classroom experience in which there are lectures and maybe some hands on training. That is why I feel that this ideal needs more time to evolve and quite possibly in the future from now these types of learning experiences will be more well respected than they are now.
I found this document to be very interesting, it almost wants me to write down a few ideals as to what I believe the future will be once I have put on a few years and see if I am right or wrong as well.
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I agree with you when you mention that alot of companies now do now accredited the new technologies that students now are experienced with in school. I know that alot of colleges are glad to have these new technologies introduced in the market today because of online learning for graduate students.
ReplyDeleteChris, I think you are right about the perception of many of the distance learning programs that have no physical place. What do you think might change this perception? Is a degree from Grand Canyon University, Limestone College, or Phoenix University the same as a degree from the University of South Carolina or New York University? Are there real differences in the quality of the education? Could accreditation and standards help to level the playing field.
ReplyDeleteExcellent observations and questions! Dr. Keane
You are right about distance education. It definitely has some growing to do. The need for some sort of accreditation and standards is there, and is something I hope will happen. There are a lot of people in the billing department at my work who are earning degrees through distance. From my conversations with them, I get the feeling that the overall quality of the education isn't all that different than what a good technical school or university would offer.
ReplyDeleteBy the way... I really enjoyed that article too! It would be neat to do a sort of "tech time capsule" with your predictions. I remember about 10 years ago I was cleaning out some files at my old design job and found an old "wishlist" of equipment from an old employee. It was hilarious to see what was on there with notes next to the items saying how "fast" and "state of the art" they were.