NewWork Opinion
					Home

What if they gave an education
and nobody came?

by

Background

One of my roles at Grand Rapids Community College is to scan the environment (the outside world) for trends and issues which may potentially affect the college. In this role I am called an environmental scanner. I read thousands of e-mail messages, pay attention to international, national, state, and local trends, and try to make some sense of it all.

Earlier this year on the Horizon List (an e-mail discussion group on the Internet), which is a group of K through you name it educators who explore future issues in education, Jim Morrison made the following post. Jim is Professor of Educational Leadership at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the Horizon List owner.

"Last summer, I facilitated a futures workshop for 50 community college presidents at the American Association of Community College Summer Experience in Breckenridge, Colorado. We focused initially on identifying potential events, that if they occurred would affect the future of community colleges-- paradigm shifts.

"One of the potential events identified was that of a major software company (e.g., Microsoft) joining with a provider of educational materials (e.g., Disney) and a telecommunications company (e.g., AT&T) to produce and sell educational training modules.

"The indicators that signal such a possibility are as follows:

- Educational courses and programs are being produced by corporations. For example, the League for Innovation in Community Colleges and Jones International provide educational programming for distance learning.

- Cable and phone companies are consolidating to provide interactive multimedia programming. Some cable companies are experimenting with offering high speed access to the Internet via cable.

- Distance education is becoming an accepted practice. There is increasing evidence that much instruction can be provided effectively by interactive instructional software. Telecommunications, software, and the Internet eliminate walls and boundaries.

- Investors recognize that the younger generation is quickly adapting to telecommunications.

- An increasing number of students want and need non-traditional, flexible schedules.

- The cost of computers and modems is decreasing.

- A third of Americans have a computer in the home; 40% of these have modems.

- The use of the Internet is expanding exponentially, and more in the business sector than in the education sector. Several companies now claim that they can provide competent security (i.e., encryption) for financial transactions on the Internet, thus making business transactions on the Internet feasible and attractive, a factor that will accelerate use of the Internet.

- State legislative leaders are disgruntled with public higher education; some are advocating that the private sector can design and implement instruction better than can public or independent colleges and universities.

- Outcomes assessment is still not established in the educational sector. Employers show more regard for previous experience than for transcripts or school recommendations in making employment decisions. Their concern focuses on workers having the skills that make them useful in the workplace, not their academic credentials. Consequently, the certification monopoly by educational organizations is at risk.

"What are the implications of these signals for educators? Seminar participants saw the following:

- Accreditation as currently structured would be threatened; educational organizations may lose their monopoly to certify training.

- Curriculums must become more responsive to market demands.

- Faculty will focus on developing/using technical software rather than writing/using books.

- Place-bound students (e.g., women who work primarily in the home and rural students) will have equal access to instructional materials."

A later post from Bob Crook out of Texas asked, "What is the value of accreditation and credentialing?" At the same time we (our office) began kicking around a possible future in which accreditation and certification as we know it were not monopolized by our current system of higher education. Below is a possible scenario based on our discussions here. The trend of increased activity by commercial providers in the educational arena is the main driver of such a future.

A Future Scenario

Joe Cyberlearner completed an Associate's Degree in Business at his local community college four years ago. He has held a variety of sales and marketing positions, but felt that, if he was to progress to a higher salary level, he would need more skills. Using computer skills learned during his community college days and a avid interest in the Internet, Joe begins to contact on-line universities to further his skill base. As of last week Joe has just completed 120 credit hours at seven educational web sites over a two year period. All the WWW sites were hosted by accredited 4-year institutions. He has the equivalent of an MBA.

Joe's interest has been in business with several intensive studies of the global market. His cyberexperiences include on-line simulations in quality and international sales and e-mail/Internet conferencing with some of the leading business experts of our time. He has also learned French and Spanish at WWW sites that are hosted by nonaccredited institutions. He has a Quality in Business Certificate from another unaccredited body.

The Problem:

Joe can't get a degree at any of the accredited colleges because he does not meet their graduation or residency requirements.

The Solution:

World Business Credentialing (WBC) invites Joe to share his story with them. They offer Joe a portfolio service so that he can inventory examples of his work in an electronic format. Joe takes standardized tests which identify his mastery of the basic literacy and computational skill. He also takes a series of business skill tests which identify his proficiency in several areas of business. Once Joe has created his portfolio and testing, WBC grants him an experience/skill-based credential.

World Business's services don't stop there. Given WBC's extensive electronic network of small to large corporations, they then provide Joe with multiple employment prospects. These companies are looking for individuals with certain competency profiles which World Business Credentialing has provided for them.

Joe is placed with a U.K. firm which is setting up a manufacturing operation in a small developing Asian nation. The company wants Joe to be in charge of quality operations and has chosen him because of his demonstrated abilities in the quality field. They feel his French language skills will come handy since 60% of the workers have some command of the French language. The company also was impressed with Joe's ability to learn on his own and feel confident he will learn what is necessary to get the job done.

The Issue:

Joe has credentials, a great job, and never got a degree from an institution of higher education.

Implications:

It is obvious that some of the above goes on today, but as the electronic educational medium becomes more prevalent and as we move to a global economy what are the potential effects of such a scenario. The following questions come to the forefront:

1. Will colleges and universities be able to maintain their market share?

2. Will proprietary educational and accrediting agencies take a larger portion of the educational and training market?

3. Will the advent of voice, video, and data transmission via the Internet lead to ghost college and universities?

4. As the technology improves, can education as well as training take place on the Internet?

5. Can colleges and universities, gear up to offer a better product than proprietary institutions?

What if they gave an education and nobody came?

Home

---

Copyright © 1995-2007 Gary Johnson Communications. All rights reserved. BraveNewWorkWorld, NewWork, NewWork News, Careers in the NewWork World, WITNE, and WITNE: Women in the New Economy are trademarks of Gary Johnson Communications.