CRLFFrom the old to the new:
- CRLF
- From education as a right, as an established system, to learning as a commodity, where the consumer can choose (and where the learning products increasingly can be purchased);CRLF
- From education which controls entry, which regulates availability, to learning for all, to deregulation;CRLF
- From education as a qualification or credential, to learning and skilling as a lifestyle; where instead of working your way through someone else’s prepackaged information, you cherry pick from all the available courses to get the skills you need for the work you want to do; andCRLF
- From education as a scheduled activity, to learning any time, any place, any pace; what ever you need for as long as you want it and you only pay for what you use;CRLF
- From taking in content (studying), to making information, doing something with the resources, creating something new – a solution, process, methodology;CRLF
- From memory testing, to the demonstration of performance; it’s not what you know (which has little value in itself) but what you can do with it – the value is not in the known but the new; andCRLF
- From competitive to collaborative practices; whereas the book, the essay, the exam, have all been isolated activities, the online and networked environment allows for a much greater degree of collaboration.CRLF
CRLF[Beginning of rant]
CRLFTwo things about this list: first, it is in some ways very accurate, and second, it is a vision of learning that is disturbing to a large number of people. Take the first point: education as a commodity (instead of as a right). Implicit in this is that people not willing (or not able) to pay do without. But leaving people without education is unacceptable in a modern information-age society.
CRLFOn the other hand... most of these points deal with aspects of the shift in power and control from the government or institution to the student or learner. These shifts entail risk - this afternon I heard a K-12 representative speak of the need to make sure e-learning is structured and guided (otherwise kids won't bother). Which is right?
CRLFI've said this before and I'll say it again: market economics only work in suituations of relative abundance. If something is expensive or difficult to produce - heart transplants, say, or food in a famine - then market economics results in an articifial inflation of price and widespread scarcity. This is why market capitalism, which is so important and essential to wealth in the United States, fails in places like Somalia and even (to a lesser extent) the former Soviet Union.
CRLFWhat this means is that the principles outlined above depend on there being a relative abundance of learning. The internet makes this possible, but not inevitable. So long as the cost of technology remains unreasonably high, so long as artificial shortages are created by copyright legislation and limitations in accreditation, it is not reasonable to expect - and reap the benefits from - a consumer driven system of learning.
CRLFThere should be a lesson here for everyone in the industry: if you want to see, and profit from, a golden age in learning, you have to let go of the constraints that keep your commodity scarce. So far what I have seen is that few are willing to do that.
CRLF[End of rant]
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