Higher Education...Wake the Fuck Up
It’s simply time to take our collective heads out of the proverbial sand. Higher education is not what it used to be, and those who think it is are in for a rude awakening much too soon. I’m writing this as I prepare to speak (in about 2 hours) with the CIO and AVP of student affairs at Metropolitan State University of Denver; an institution I’ve been involved with for well over a decade. It took a few months, but I finally secured a 1-on-1 with a leader I truly respect; something I knew was necessary given my ever-devolving state of mental unease.
I work as a Senior Instructional Designer for the Education Technology Center; a unit within the university responsible for classroom support, course administration, course design, and project management for a variety of ad hoc needs and initiatives. Over the past year, as I’ve become more familiar with the institutional perception of our collective work, it has become painfully obvious that the institution (at the broadest level) is (and historically has been) ignorant of the impending shift towards online and alternative education. What was once a premonition, is now a full fledged conclusion about where we’re inevitably headed.
The romantic “tradition” of education has been deeply engrained in those with the greatest influence and political power. Somehow, the supply and demand reality of our current landscape still eludes even the most rational and well-intentioned minds. The writing on the wall, which is as legible as it has ever been, still seems to be perpetually ignored by the only leaders who really need to read it.
I view this meeting as a moment of truth (in the most authentic use of the phrase). What are our leaders willing to admit to? How much of our habituated ego are we willing to part ways with? My intention is not to simply rub elbows with high-status or initiate an illusion of interest. I intend to ask difficult questions, unmask inescapable truths, and dig deeply into my own future. I have no interest in withering away on a vine when I can see the shadows being cast on nearby gardens. For those working in higher education, it’s time to push the bullshit aside and work towards a future we all know is coming.
Credits:
Header Image (Deviant Art)
Two New Stories About the Ongoing American Higher Ed Crisis (Bryan Alexander)
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cool :)
It's cool you found this cool :/
No way! I really like your post! You should write more posts like that so I will spend more time as being new I have still so much to learn from whom has more experience than me! Thanks a lot :)
It's cool you found cool he found this cool! :3
~Vancry
#COOL
Yeah, intimately familiar with the supply and demand problems mentioned in the article you cited after watching so many friends graduate with advanced degrees here from the University of Oregon - many are unemployed, or under-employed, and of those who are teaching, only one is on a tenure track (professor of film studies) while the rest are all adjunct professors, many of them teaching part time at multiple universities to make ends meet. Although I would have loved to stay in school forever, get my PHD in Anthropology and become a researcher/professor, I am glad that I stopped after my BA. My student loan debt is crushing enough as it is and free access to the latest research papers is increasing exponentially (fuck JSTOR is all I have to say on that) so I certainly haven't stopped my education - just moved it online, for free :) Good luck with your meeting! Keep us posted - would love to hear more on what specifically you see as alternatives for universities, and also how the meeting went. Cheers - Carl
EDIT - PS what is the image source? Love that image
Thanks as always @carlgnash
These things are all contextually specific at the moment, so I certainly won't claim to have the silver bullet. I just want leaders to understand the shifting paradigm and show me, through their actions, that they intend to prepare for what's coming. I was fortunate to avoid any debt, but I've certainly experienced it by proxy.
I'll write a follow-up post after I've had some time to process. Anything specific you'd be interested to hear about?
Yes, fuck JSTOR and I've included credits (thanks for the reminder).
Well for one I am interested in the work you do - maybe some work related stories if that wouldn't be traumatic (I know some people really don't want to think/write about work outside of work, but for some that actually might be therapeutic! Not sure where you fall on this spectrum) - in specific curious if you have any success stories to share of instructors really taking advantage of new tech to engage students in new ways outside of the classroom setting, and/or if you see ways that instructors could be taking advantage of technology that are currently underutilized. Understood that a lot of your work is probably specific to the university and procedures there, but wondering if you have any higher level generalizations to draw.
I am also curious in general about alternatives to the classroom setting - one person yakking at a bunch of other people has never struck me as the best way to learn, and might possibly be the worst possible way! With how connected everyone can be now in the digital/online age, is the answer some kind of peer-to-peer education model? Decentralized education as it were? Maybe even an "education exchange" of sorts that subverts the "teacher - student" model and goes with a "teacher - teacher AND student - student" model, with people exchanging expertise and learning from each other? Honestly I don't know if you can teach without learning, and if someone thinks that is possible I would suggest they probably aren't teaching... should we make that explicit in a hypothetical future education paradigm? And that might get into some interesting ground where the blockchain / crypto sphere overlaps with education. Possibly even an education token / exchange where you earn education tokens by teaching in your area(s) of expertise and spend them to learn in other area(s)? Ultimately with accreditation to compete with the established University model?
Also let me add that I am glad to see you still active on here! Cheers - Carl
Oh damn...you just opened up a crazy can of crypto worms that gets my neurons all kinds of agitated :)
I've been discussing the education / blockchain collision for quite a while, but haven't been able to pool the resources and/or expertise to really give it the true exploration it deserves (not that it's an original idea...surely there are others working on it). There are so many alternative models gaining traction right now, that a token-driven decentralized exchange would almost inevitably work (at least as a prototype).
I'm happy to take your advice on work related posts, even if it leads to the existential angst that I know comes along for the ride. It's my truth and really all I should be writing about anyway, so I appreciate the support. I'm here to stay...for now ;)
education # 1 for all!
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Cool post dude! Keep it up.
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Non Formal education here, but even the uninformed can see that the Education system needs to go through a shake up. I have no clue what JSTOR is, but it does not sound like it is very helpful. A person may not be able to get a totally valid education via online study, but they can get a heck of a lot of information, and a better education in many ways than through the traditional route, it's just that people won't see it as a Valid education.
I guess that's my issue...I've heard for years of this "shakeup" that's needed (and perhaps we're in the middle of it and can't see the forest through the trees) but I see very few actions that lead me to believe that this shakeup is even on the horizon. Thanks for your thoughts!
I'm excited to read the followup post! "higher education" is a big old scam from where I'm sitting. Propaganda machine\mining operation. I like learning, that's why I read :-)
Coming soon!
I don't go so far as to completely denounce its value, but I do think it breeds inaction and ROI is certainly not what it once was.
I'm not saying that there isn't value in a college education. The value of the degree is negligable. And yes, the prices have skyrocketed over the past 15 years. It's a money farm, and not the antibiotic free \ free range type either. Sure, chicken has value, even when it's raised in a warehouse with 500,000 other birds in inhumane conditions... most of that value goes to the "slave owner". A dramatic comparison, however, I do not think it's so far off.
Hold up...
It's not far off to compare farm-raised chickens (for human consumption) with the institutions charged with instilling knowledge and educating the human minds of modern society? The "business" of higher ed is an issue, but the ultimate purpose of any student is not to be consumed. I can stretch, but this may be a step too far.
ok. to me, they are abusing the rewards pool, at the very least. Students, from the highest administrative levels, are a number, a means to an end.
My father is a teacher. He is very good at his job. In fact he stands apart in the district as one who continually creates opportunity for building community, and is an exemplary educator.
That being said, the system he works in is completely corrupted, and detrimental to the well beings of the individuals in its care.
I don't think of the system of education in america very different from factory farms. They are both abusive and manipulative, treating living beings as a means to an end, rather than being arranged with the wellbeing of the life in mind First.
I don't know where you are from, but in america this is my position on the subject of so called "education"