Social Media and Higher Education
I think quite alot about social media and higher education. I’m fairly confident that social media CAN fundamentally transform the higher education model, I’m not quite sure how it will. I’m not talking just about how social media can change the classroom experience, as I’ve been using wikis, blogs, Twitter, and iClickers in class for quite some time now. I’m thinking more about how social media might transform universities itself. Here are some high-level points on these matters.
1) What if alumni are conferred life-long benefits? Although Facebook has really enabled people to stay in touch with their college friends, what if universities leveraged these tools to create more active alumni networks? What about providing online access to current classes through social media? I would suspect this more sustained contact would improve giving and encourage lifelong learning, and the community of all ages would have the common University experience to build upon.
2) Full-time residency becomes only one (premium) option for students. All face-to-face classes could develop an online component, which is relatively easy using technology like lecture capture. Students could follow the course along at home, perform many of the same deliverables as students in the classroom, and would actually be tested on what they learned. They would pay for this service (albeit less than resident students) and could be conferred a different class of degree (e.g an associate degree, one step below bachelor).
3) Classes become more “hybrid” of online vs. offline components. Many executive MBA programs already do this, meeting for a full day or two at 6 or 8 week intervals. This keeps the face-to-face aspects of the classroom while supplementing them with a social media component. Such models would allow universities to maximize their physical space by making more efficient use of it during down times like holidays and summers. It could also enable a broader range of students, as they may be more willing to travel further distances if they only have to make the trip occasionally.
These are just some high-level ideas. I think that social media can enhance learning in ways that allow us to rethink whether face-to-face is always the best model for learning. I do think face-to-face is important, but I also think that there are ways to leverage other aspects of learning that make the best use of face-to-face time and move to more efficient ways of communication when face-to-face is not necessary. To the degree (pun intended) that universities can think how to bundle their educational services in a way that delivers their intellectual capital to current students, alumni, and perhaps prospective students and find new ways to “attend” universities through the (highly expensive) residency model, the universities, their respective student bodies, and even our society will be strengthened. I think it was necessary to ration education at a time what co-location was essential for learning. I’m not so sure that’s true today, and I think that universities need to think of new and creative ways to maximize their key resource – intellectual capital.
I think your first point about alumni networking has some real viability. If video lectures are integrated into the classroom, there seems to be no reason that alumni would not be able to access these features. I imagine Universities would attempt to add on an additional “Alumni continued education” fee but it would be worthwhile for most people to continue their education on their own time after graduation. Maybe then I could finally take that Structures of the Universe class that has been closed before my pick time each year.
My problem with increasing the number of non-residential students and delegating them to online courses is twofold. First, campus life is as vital to the college learning experience as the courses themselves. Building entirely new relationships, handling roommate quarrels, eating bad food and being an active member of a large community are all experiences that may never present themselves again later in life. A solely digital commuter would not have the same type of loyalty to the school as someone who goes to the football games every Saturday. My other issue is that if universities began this practice, they could accept much larger student bodies because they do not need to accommodate the students. This could lead to both diminished admissions requirements and eventually a few Super-Schools. If a student is solely interacting online and is not part of any clubs or activities, why would it matter if they had leadership abilities or personal skills? Obviously Universities will want their degrees to have merit and therefore still have the most talented student body but they may decrease the standards in order to greatly increase admissions online. Schools can accept as many students online as apply and with the money required for a college education, schools would be vying for these large numbers. The few schools with the best programs would be the most profitable and put the smaller schools out of business. There are so many colleges existing today because of the necessity of selectivity. If this necessity disappears, than we might find ourselves with 10 schools with 3 million students.
Thoughtful response. Thanks. But I think we can address all your concerns in my hypothetical model. Your points are…
1) College residency is an important part of the learning process (I agree).
2) If you increase the student body, you diminish the selectivity value of the degree (I also agree).
3) With no artificial scarcity all students would attend the “best” schools. (not sure I agree).
BUT, what if the resident students and non-resident students actually got different degrees (they could even be “branded” differently, as to not dilute the value of the university name), for now let’s call them Class A degree for resident and Class B for non-resident.
Regarding point 1 above. For some students, lets say the choice is not between class A and class B degree, but between class B degree and nothing. I’d say some advanced education is better than none. Class B degrees might attract some more non-traditional students, that might not otherwise choose Class A.
Regarding point 2, the differentially branded degree would still have the signal value, because they are different degrees. Just as a degree from CSOM has a slightly different value from A&S, I’d expect a more pronounced difference between Class A and B.
Regarding point 3, I don’t think everyone would gravitate toward a Class B Harvard degree, because a Class A degree from BC is better. At what point, however, would a student prefer Class B degree from Harvard over a Class A degree from less-prestigious university? An interesting dilemma, but one that I bet the market could sort that out.
I agree with all your points and really hope something like this does happen in the future. However, I don’t believe that there should be a discrepancy between those who choose Class A or Class B. The only difference between the two is that Class B is virtual. In fact, I think there should be a class to allows you to either choose to be in option A (show up physically) or option B (show up virtually) or both. I believe it doesn’t matter which option you pick for as long as you master the material. In regards to projects or presentations, with technology nowadays, you can broadcast it to the people in the class. I think the option to allow people to stay in the comforts of their area gives them the opportunity to be very natural. Obviously I’m not suggesting that there shouldn’t only be virtual classes. I think having a mixture of them both is what will make the class more valuable and enjoyable – like mi621!
I can’t tell you how much I love your first idea. WOW. So what you get by paying $X00,000 for a bachelor’s degree (and/or $X0,000 for an MBA) is the degree plus a lifelong resource of education. That’s a huge value increase for the student.
The university also increases value for a fairly nominal cost (creating web content). By keeping alumni engaged, they are smarter and more productive in the workforce. That fosters success, and successful alumni benefit the university in development dollars and glory (building prestige for a school).
Let’s do it!
I should also add that by staying plugged in to their alma mater, alumni have an improved forum for networking, particularly by building skills that matter to their job. And as I hinted at above, the more often that alums touch base with their alma mater (through continuing education), the more likely they are to donate.