Can Higher Ed go Open Source?

[Pat Coyle]

Following is an excerpt from a Fast Company article about the coming wave of Open Source education. We recommend reading the entire article...and invite your comments here.

Fast Company - Today, "open content" is the biggest front of innovation in higher education. The movement that started at MIT has spread to more than 200 institutions in 32 countries that have posted courses online at the OpenCourseWare Consortium. But, as Wiley points out, there's still a big gap between viewing such resources as a homework aid and building a recognized, accredited degree out of a bunch of podcasts and YouTube videos. "Why is it that my kid can't take robotics at Carnegie Mellon, linear algebra at MIT, law at Stanford? And why can't we put 130 of those together and make it a degree?" Wiley asks. "There are all these kinds of innovations waiting to happen. A sufficient infrastructure of freely available content is step one in a much longer endgame that transforms everything we know about higher education."

The transformation of education may happen faster than we realize. However futuristic it may seem, what we're living through is an echo of the university's earliest history. Universitas doesn't mean campus, or class, or a particular body of knowledge; it means the guild, the group of people united in scholarship. The university as we know it was born around AD 1100, when communities formed in Bologna, Italy; Oxford, England; and Paris around a scarce, precious information technology: the handwritten book. Illuminated manuscripts of the period show a professor at a podium lecturing from a revered volume while rows of students sit with paper and quill -- the same basic format that most classes take 1,000 years later.

Today, we've gone from scarcity of knowledge to unimaginable abundance. It's only natural that these new, rapidly evolving information technologies would convene new communities of scholars, both inside and outside existing institutions. The string-quartet model of education is no longer sustainable. The university of the future can't be far away.More

What will it take to open up the education business? Share your thoughts here

[PJ Christie]

I worked in higher ed in a past lifetime so I think I can answer some part of the question.

The university I worked for, I'll leave out the name of it, had a president who was the longest sitting president of any university in the country and existed with a long history of social justice, community activism, and as an HBCU a dedication to the culture and values of African Americans. I do not seeing them buying into any kind of new model in education.

So What will it take for them to open up their education business?

For them it isn't a business, it's a non-profit. Their students choose a degree as an option to a dead end. Embracing this new model in education is not an option without the clout and respect transferred by having the name of the University on a piece of sheepskin. But it isn't only about race, it's as much about class. The mission is about building successful leaders in the community.

For urbanites with access to more opportunities, this piece of paper may not be critical to their success, especially if they already have the kinds of relationships that can lead to employment, internships, experience etc. Thought leaders far from the edge of the digital divide can conveniently forget that it is a big world with all kinds of people that need access to the American dream.

I feel like the virtual education experience will as much alienate the traditional school model, reduce community (and the connections that go along with being an alum of an actual school experience). The new model will be a better benefit for continuing ed and post-bachelors education.

The university I worked with is not going down that road anytime soon.

[Pat Coyle]

I agree the sheepskin seems to be the holy grail, and the Fast Company article points out that Open Edu won't work until there's an accredited degree at the end of the process.

For some reason, your reply triggered a thought I read in Anderson's book...or maybe it was in some other article...anyway, the point is that our culture is getting more comfortable with "good enough" (when good enough is free). For example, many young people today like the sound of music played from mp3 files even though those files have fidelity that is far inferior to LP or CD recordings. But mp3 took off because they can be free, or very cheap, to procure (leaving the privacy / theft of copyright material issue of the table for a moment). This sharing of music hurt the record companies, but it expanded the "music" business. More artists can make a living performing by virtue of distributing "free samples" of their music openly on the Web.

My point is that today our society has more producers of information that consumers of it. As Anderson says, "information wants to be free." Look at Wikipedia for a good example. Experts in every field - those folks who have guarded the info and made livings from managing the scarce resource (like record companies and universities) - are naturally threatened by this wave of amateurs grabbing their thoughts and mashing them up an sharing them. But if the music biz or newspaper biz are any indications, it's only a matter of time before education is forced down this same path. Back to my point, if a learner can get the info he / she needs in real time (through google or wikipedia or social nets, or whatever), or dig deep on any topic as needed through on demand access to coursework or thought leaders, or find other "students" of a topic and share ideas with them, then what's the opportunity cost to the learner of spending 4 years behind Ivy covered walls? As it is now, most students emerge from school (if they graduate at all) with $100K+ of student loans and a tight job market. I wonder if in the future students will want more flexibility from their education providers...

[Jen Burk]

I have been thinking of this over the past few months, and last night heard, via NPR, an advertisement for some sort of virtual education program here in Indiana. It's like if home school and the classroom had a baby - the student stays home to learn, but with a certified instructor, all via web. I can see this method becoming popular as an option for those who have disabilities, wish to take courses not offered at their local schools, or need a special learning pace (faster or slower) than the masses. There would be many possibilities opening up with regard to "the education biz". In my own business role, our company's thought is that there are no boundaries when it comes to working (no office or cubicle needed). Why wouldn't this apply to education, too? The physical classroom is wonderful for social interaction, mind share, etc. But it doesnt' work for everyone, and is limiting. We already have a good foundation technology-wise. It will take open-minded, forward thinking educators and community members, first and foremost, to propel the ed biz forward. Thanks for sharing the article. Great stuff!

[William H Lanteigne]

I had an idea for a business model based on open source education some years ago. My concept was "Television University," (using call signs WTVU/KTVU, if available) which would have broadcast college-level course content via local TV stations 24/7/365; a very condensed course of study with semesters just twelve weeks long, making it possible to earn a BA or BS degree in as little as two years.

Of course, in order to fund the TV station, the courses would be interrupted every 13 minutes with 2 minutes of commercial advertising (this annoys the heck out of traditional educators, but I see it as no more threatening to students than soda machines in public K-12 schools), and of course advertising would have to pass specific guidelines.

Anyone with an interest in learning could take the courses, by taping the lessons.
Grading would be done by regular testing, submitted by mail (this was before the explosion of the internet), and by final end-of-semester proctored testing- for a small fee. I assumed the proctored testing would be sufficient to gain national accreditation for completed coursework and degrees.

I think the same "for profit" model could be used for today's "on demand" cable or internet dissemination of material, at a far more cost-effective approach than traditional brick-and-mortar schools.

There are websites today that do offer testing subject matter for a fee (I don't work for them and they haven't paid me to mention them so I won't). The missing ingredients are 1.) the free transmission of course material, and 2.) accreditation for courses taken, and degrees thus obtained.

Television (and the internet) is already being used to educate- unfortunately, it's being used to teach inappropriate behavior, antisocial values, mindless brand-conscious consumerism, and sloppy thinking. It could have been used, for the past 60 years, as a powerful learning tool, creating a learned, thoughtful, intellectually mature society, instead it's been used to turn us into mindless consumer drones.

WHL
Indianapolis

[Douglas Karr]

Pat,

I'm not sure the degree is simply about knowledge, though. The degree itself provides other benefits - it's a symbol of completion, it provides a network of other graduates, and it provides an experience outside the home. Of course, there's an air of 'completion' once a degree is gained as well.

I'd actually like to see something in the middle - education that has all of the open benefits you discuss but with the support group that a physical location provides, at a minimal cost.

Rather than going to school here in town, I've started taking on-demand business courses online. They're pricy and they don't lead to a degree - but they're giving me a ton of business savvy since they're put together by some of the greatest business educators out there. I have a local network of professionals to rely on for assistance as well.

Doug

[Stephen James]

As someone who works in a portfolio driven field, a bachelor's degree is just a marker of a minimum of skills completion. Surely someone with a high GPA isn't completely incompetent, right? The other side is as a web/interactive designer/developer there isn't a certification process that is a gold standard. I like what WaSP is doing with it's InterAct curriculum which at least provides a base level of "Yes, I at least know that I should know these things before I call myself a professional." Web professionals are all over the map with what languages they know--much less how experienced they are in them. Higher education teachers have a similar issue. In a field that changes every day, often a couple of students in each class know more than the professor about the technology.

University curriculum are black boxes. It's difficult to know what other people know, but if there was an Open Source standard, at least, that would be a starting point for employers to know what a recent graduates skills are.

Of course, the previous statements are discussing vocational learning--not liberal arts education.

[Robby Slaughter]

Disclaimer: I teach in the school of Engineering and Technology at IUPUI, but my opinions are my own.

Most importantly, education is not merely the transfer of information, it is discourse, discovery. It's true that between libraries and the Internet you can get almost any piece of data you want and watch millions of hours of lectures. If you believe that you can receive a meaningful college education by reading books, sitting quietly in the back of class and never once taking part in a discussion, then by all means don't waste one cent on tuition.

Wiley's asks two questions: "Why is it that my kid can't take robotics at Carnegie Mellon, linear algebra at MIT, law at Stanford? And why can't we put 130 of those together and make it a degree?" The first is foolish: someone can of course receive course materials from all three of these institutions. Even before the Internet, no professor would bar you from auditing their course. No textbooks are banned from libraries. Modern technology and the OpenCourseware Initiative simply save on travel costs.

The second question is more interesting. It's challenging for institutions to honor credit from other schools, because this threatens their own revenue model. Indeed, you can't study for four years at Ivy Tech and then transfer into Harvard, pass one class and earn a Harvard degree.

The real question, though, is why would such a student want a college degree? If you have the intellectual capacity and commitment to master such complex material remotely, an expensive piece of parchment will not be meaningful. The most important qualification you can have is ability, not scholarship.

[Tristan Smith]

The most important qualification you can have is ability, not scholarship.

Right now, I'm in Oregon. And that statement can't be further from the truth. If you don't have a degree out here, no one wants to see you.

Unless you're going to McDonald's.

I've searched for over a year now for a computer repair company willing to offer a job to someone sans degree. Mind you, I've been tinkering/breaking/repairing computers since I was 13 when I got my first one from my Dad. 13 years later I would say I have a good amount of experience repairing computers. But no one cares unless you have a degree saying you've had higher education or at least 2-3 years working in the field.

I dunno. I just don't find it fair to competent people who are having a horrible time finding a career or even just a job. Yet some idiot who got through college on a football scholarship can make 80k a year.

(Not knocking anyone who got through college on a football scholarship. I just happen to know someone that this has happened to.)

[Robby Slaughter]

Thanks for your reply, Tristan!

It's certainly true that many employers require a college degree. That's a broad policy, but it's generally foolish. This would prevent them from hiring some of the brightest and most successful people in history.

If you're trying to get a job in computer repair and consider yourself pretty competent, you can go and spend $200 to get your CompTIA A+ Certification. This is scholarship, not ability. You can get a perfect score on this written test without ever having even seen a computer.

The best advice on this topic may be from Paul Graham, that Hiring is Obsolete.

[Rollie Cole]

As someone who has taught full-credit courses at 4 different graduate schools, and done reports on higher education for Lumina and others, I suggest the following points:

1. Higher ed is a combination of (a) content; (b) community; (c) credentials; and (d) feedback.

2. So far, the online efforts have concentrated on (a) alone, albeit from institutions in a position to offer (c) (MiT, Berkeley, et al) if they decided to do so.

3. Most efforts have NOT offered (b), although programs that are a combination of online and offline (but NOT "open source") have attempted to do so.

4. Some, but very few, "open source" courses do offer (d); I can think of a few "learn a new language" offerings, for instance, that are full of "self-diagnostic" tests.

Real success will require all 4 elements -- good content, a chance to interact with faculty and fellow students, reasonable credentials concerning the content and the student mastery of it, and feedback to the student -- hopefully not just "grade" at the end of each course, but evaluative feedback through the learning experience.

A fifth element is not "required," but very helpful. That is PRACTICE, or the chance to employ the learning that is being gained. Many tradiational schools, even very highly-credentialed ones, make do with no more than a final exam, sometimes coverning an entire year, not just one term. The easiest way to turn "high-stakes" testing into "low stakes" is to allow the student to re-take the test over and over again until he or she gets the desired or required grade (most professonal certification already works like this -- law bar exams, professional psychology certification, et al.). Even better is to provide analytical feedback at each stage (ie UNlike the AP system, which explicitly refuses to divulge which answers were right or wrong).

Simply putting "content" on line is only a very first step -- after all, public libraries have been with us for at least decades, if not centuries.

Rollie Cole

[Suzi Shapiro]

Thanks to Robby and Rollie for making many of the points I would make.

If a degree were just content and "students" willing and able to learn independently, open courseware might be able to provide all that is needed in educational experiences.

From almost 30 years experience in higher education, the CONTENT is just part of having a degree.

A "real" college degree in my mind is about:
being able to apply that content (through practice and critique of performance)
being able to manage time to be successful at completing courses while living life
being able to negotiate requirements, instructions, stupid rules, forms, deadlines, poor teaching and boring classes and still learn a lot!
being able to talk to and be comfortable with people who are smarter, wealthier, nicer, more creative, older, or just plain different than you
knowing that not everyone is like you and that it is a good thing
being able to do what you are told and to go beyond things that someone can tell you to do

I love online classes, but I think they need to be more than online documents and lectures.

They need to help you to build relationships with your teachers and classmates, so that 10 years from now, you know someone who can help you do a job or get a job. Or even someone who really understands you and your interests and who will be a life long friend.

There is so much more that a higher education can provide - if students are willing to learn.

[Linda J Ranger]

Suzi - I agree with you. So much of learning is how to get along with difficult peers and instructors and learn to think critically within any environment. Thus I feel that as a child ages keeping them in a home school environment shelters them too much from the real world and possibly gives them a sense that they are better than others that are not home schooled. When they are exposed to the larger population of their peers they are often behind in developing their social skills and uniqueness. They often find it difficult to compete in the job market due to too much emphasis on book learning and the home school community that instills in them that they are better because of home schooling. It is often better to learn from peers and teachers the truth that they do not necessarily like you and your ideas. Rejection often gives you the backbone and character to succeed in life. Building relationships is so very important.