Harold Jarche writes about how the traditional ‘business model’ of the universities is under pressure. Universities evolved in in another era and remain stacked with inefficiencies (cost, structural, learning inefficiencies). Harold posits language learning as an area where innovators are working around these inefficiencies.
Yes. There is indeed a good deal of innovation coming from private operators, using the web to build out distribution, reduce costs, and explore the possibilities of the new media. Some of the most interesting work and discussions on pedagogy is also being done on the web and this is providing tremendous energy and insight for innovators. (I’m not sure there is anything that dynamic in ESL research at the moment.) It’s a unique situation and it’s all happening really fast.
I’m not sure how the universities are supposed to keep up, though it’s clear that they could certainly benefit from these innovations. I think a PLS, for example, would provide a lot more value to a university student than the old, static language labs that still dominate campuses. Nor is there any reason why students now have to be tethered to the location/scheduling and other needs of the institution in order to consume, practice, and learn from the teachers and community.
But the question of how far the institutions will open up remains. My guess is that institutional change will be slow, perhaps even really slow. That leaves people like us to continue to develop innovative solutions, create as much value as we can for learners, and perhaps to point to the future.
So, whatever about the institutions, the future for the life long learner looks more more like a Personal Learning Environment and less like a quadrangle. Surely learning in the future will have to conform more and more to the needs of the individual.
In that vein, we launched ItalianPod today. The ItalianPod team are the youngest of the 4 teams with tons of smart ideas and creative energy. They have brought new levels of drama and culture to the lessons that I think are remarkable. (I urge you to see for yourself.) I also know that, from every perspective these guys are out to innovate and improve. I can only imagine what they will be doing a year from now.
Ken Carroll
ItalianPod looks really cool and is bound to be a success. I’m looking forward to ArabicPod and GermanPod!
Congrats on the launch…
From my vantage point in the belly of the academic beast I often think about what forces could ever lead to the disintermediation of established educational institutions. It is a certainty that students everywhere could benefit if there were less focus on the most prestigious institutions as educational leaders.
Many of the most prestigious (i.e. richest) universities are too wealthy for their own good. Their role as educational leaders is actually thwarted by the distorted values that emerge from excessive wealth. For instance, professors at research universities will tell people ‘the better the research, the better the teaching’. This is a little like General Motors saying ‘What’s good for GM is good for the country’. Perhaps true up to a point, but also shamelessly self-serving. Research at the finest universities may be thriving, but typically at the expense of educational leadership. Educational leadership hinges critically on the ability of a faculty to work together, a practical impossibility at the most prestigious universities. As I commented earlier this isn’t a conspiracy, but it is a fact.
Any change to the curriculum that involves more than one course is virtually impossible in a modern research university. In my own area, science, this means we are stuck with an antiquated curriculum that dates back ~50 years.
Circling back to the LanguagePods, I’ve been thinking about what the difference is between language education and other educational goals (science, business, etc.). In language you are lucky because the educational standard is a target language, and the speakers of that target language are not members of an exclusive club. People learn language for very practical reasons, and what they learn is on display every time they open their mouths. It is difficult to fake language acquisition, and, more importantly, there is very little benefit to claiming a special intangible benefit to a particular ‘brand’ of language education. In science or business there is always a bit more mystery involved–and that little bit of FUD (Fear, Uncertainty, Doubt) involved with getting educated by brand X inevitably carries a lot of weight. There is also an element of ‘seriousness’ conveyed by going to the trouble to get educated someplace prestigious and expensive.
Regardless, I think anything the democratizes and defetishizes the educational process is a good thing, so Kudos on your newest language!
恭喜發財! 恭喜發財!
Ken,
let me speak in defense of Universities. And yes, I am talking about those “inefficient”, “closed up”, governmental institutions, not the the grade-inflating “Pay-your-Fee-Get-Your-B” type for-profit companies.
First of all, universities are not designed to be pure teaching institutions, and surely not at all directed at a short-term job training. Utterly different than a for-profit web-site. The basic ideas are to a) combine research and education (Humboldt’s idea) and to b) bring across general theories and ideas rather than some quick and dirty rules-of-thumb. For me those ideas are of timeless charme.
ad a) Yes, there are cross-fertilitzing effects between research and education. Research forces you to keep your knowledge up to date (+ constantly challenge it) Students definately benefit from this. are embedded in research to some degree. Students they are potential future researchers. We need them.
Not to be forgotten: Universities are still major catalysts for innovation. E-Learning? During my time in Cologne we started life video-streams from lectures as early as 1998 and team support with groupware a little later. Ideas spread from there on.
ad b) I met quite a few people in my life who were thankful to have gained that dry body of theory in Universities. It often (not always, I admit) helps you later in your professional life.
Universities also form personal perception and systematical habits regarding problem-tacking but that is another topic.
The point here: All this is based on close personal interaction (I am of course not talking about compulsory introductory courses). Learning is about people, not technology. Face-to-face interaction is still the best conceivable “PLS”, which is its shallow substitute in an anonymous setting.
I do not deny that there are huge inefficiencies, hubris, and many other blatant issues. But the business model of the University is as young as ever.
As you know I am also convinced that your business model is valid and has a brighrt future. But to conclude that this endangers Universities is throwing the baby out with the bath water.
And congratulations on the launch of ItalianPod!
Henning,
I think it is interesting that you dismiss the introductory courses so casually…
“The point here: All this is based on close personal interaction (I am of course not talking about compulsory introductory courses).”
If you don’t think about the introductory courses, then I have to agree with everything you said in defense of a research university. They are great once you have reached the level where you need to learn the ‘tools’ of scholarship. In this context, I wholeheartedly agree that close interpersonal (face to face) interaction is key.
On balance, though (speaking of US universities, here) it is hard to forgive the inefficiency of their classroom instruction in light of the fact that most students are trapped in the least efficient classroom settings most of the time.
Our top universities control upward of $100 billion (over $2,000,000/student in some places) and on top of that charge ~$50,000/year. I’d like just once to see someone applying all those analytical skills they learned in university to ask if there are ways to improve the *efficiency* of these expenditures. The attitude that university education is ‘priceless’ has created an environment in which nothing about the classroom experience can be challenged.
We shouldn’t be hoping for demise of the university, but we should all be hoping for the demise of the university’s reputation as the only place to go for education. What excites me about ChinesePod is that it is so clearly superior to classroom instruction. I’ve tasted victory in language aquisition as an exchange student to Germany (Aachen, actually, over 20 years ago now), and I’ve taken classroom language classes in college. There’s just no comparison–ChinesePod is a resource that rivals immersion. I’ve got selfish interests here, too– I started my own science publishing edutech company as a ‘web 0.1′ venture (pre Netscape) and I’ve been looking ever since for models that could support an alternative to university-level courses. The problem isn’t creating a better alternative, the problem is combating the perception that this alternative product would inevitably be inferior to university education.
Congrats on ItalianPod – it looks great!
To spur on the discussion:
@standuke
“it is hard to forgive the inefficiency of their classroom instruction in light of the fact that most students are trapped in the least efficient classroom settings most of the time.”
The generalities “most students” “most of the time” are not very convincing. I have to stand in defense of the University experience myself. The majority of US graduates do not exit with a degree from the ‘top universities’.
Education in a University is less (in my mind) about the pedigree of the University and the price tag associated with it – instead it is the ability to personally interact with like minded Seekers. (“The Seekers” Daniel J. Boorstin book – excellent read). There are a lot of US universities that fly under the radar, but have great minded and highly interactive faculty.
I’ve attended 3 Universities, and have acquired many a great mentor (and some business partners) over the course of my stay.
@Ryan
Looking forward to both of those as well. FYI – there is a really great e-learning site at http://www.arabicpod101 .com. There podcasts are exceptional.
Henning,
I certainly wasn’t suggesting that there now exists a better way to learn than a university. I also fully agree that the social aspect of a university is tremendously powerful and cannot be replaced. But, to follow on from Harold Jarche’s post, it seems to me that universities could solve some of the inefficiencies in their systems by adopting technology and the new media. I also think it is possible that consumers will start to consider the cost/benefits of a university versus the alternative ways to learn that may emerge over the next few years.
Ken
Ken,
I don’t think it is a matter of technology. I am convinced it is much rather a question of specialization we are dealing with here.
In my opinion Universities will have to sharply define what role they play in the future. Do they really (as they currently do) want to expand towards post-degree part-time education? Some seem to be blinded by the bright shine of the money that flows in from “Executive MBAs” and similar offers.
Let’s face it: That is primarily selling the name of the University. It surely is not and should not be the core competency of an University. And if overdone it quickly has adversery affects on the quality of the actual University research and education.
In its core, the overlappings between Universities and private schools are not as big as one might think.
At least I am currently not afraid that my job might be endangered by some podcast based offer out there.
First, I think Universities opened the door to change when they started accepting the transfer of credits from other accredited schools and certain placement tests as substitutes for college credit. As this trend accelerates so should the change at universities.
But in terms of language learning I believe we are dealing with something special that can not be widely generalized to other subjects. I won’t be convinced of the threat to Universities of podcasting until Chinesepod or its like can successfully tackle other subjects (don’t hold your breath).
Let’s face it, when it comes to language learning we can teach language talking about anything. Anything! I can teach language talking about colors or shoe size. I can teach language talking about love or the price of coffee. There are really very few other subjects where such widely disparate subjects can make such great grist for the learning mill.
The real generic threat to the University is anything that undermines large classes and/or drives down the cost of learning. Any school that is built around something other than intimate social learning and extreme personalization is eventually going to be seriously challenged by disintermediating, low-cost, on-line instruction of which Chinesepod is just one of many.
Congrats on the ItalianPod. Unlike Chinese, where I started as a new learner, I’ll use ItalianPod as a review program. It will be interesting to compare.
Since I’m a university professor, and one in a foreign language department, I’m fine with both worlds: university courses and independent learning. My own two cents is that my students today are really experienced in new ways. They text message everything, blog everything, wiki everything, iTunes everything, podcast everything, video tape everything. They also communicate and share things via facebook, myspace, twitter, flickr, youtube, wikipedia, etc. So, do I teach classes like I did 10 years ago, or 5 years ago, or even last year? No way, and the truth is that I love the experimentation of finding new ways to be more effective in helping students learn. We’re in a really interesting transition time and I have seen a lot of creative things going on, both in and out of academia.
At the same time, as compared to society in general, universities react slower to change. Part of it is a tempering, cautious effect. Over the years, although frustrating at times, I’ve also learned to appreciate my colleagues who are not the “early adapters” that I am.
So three cheers for ItalianPod and three more cheers for my university students who are helping us change how we teach.
Chewing on this bone just a bit longer…
This conversation has been going on for years, really. For instance, I stumbled across a Web 1.0 version of this discussion, dated Feb 2001, discussing to what extent online programs could overtake traditional MBA programs. (http://hbswk.hbs.edu/item/2024.html, if anyone is interested)
Before that, desktop publishing was going to empower a new generation of educators. I was excited about this so I went around asking professors what they would do differently if they could self-publish. This little bit of market research was underwhelming… All the best (IMO) professors in the sciences agreed that the curriculum was woefully outdated, but these professors couldn’t change a thing if they wanted to. Teaching loads, departmental budgets, AP courses, academic politics, you name it… there was just no way. Anyway, I quit that project and went to grad school–15 years later there’s still more stagnation than innovation.
I’m excited about the LanguagePods because they are approachable, inexpensive and demonstrably effective, but I’m wondering if Ken has ambitions on pushing into other disciplines as well. I’m pretty well convinced that only the richest universities have the resources to experiment with their curricula, but I know (first hand) there are too many impediments to doing so. So that leaves the other end of the spectrum… Ken by any chance are you still following this thread? What’s your take on the feasibility of moving into, say, business or science training? (Let’s call it training as opposed to education because we all agree we can’t really substitute the university experience with online training)
Ken,
Thanks for the introduction! Thanks, everyone else, for the warm reception you’ve given us. What an exciting launch! We’ve got so many ideas and a real desire to innovate, always with the goal of helping students of Italian get the most of our lessons. We’ll be experimenting a bit with dialogue length and point of view in the coming weeks, and would love any feedback you have to offer.
Thanks, again!
Catherine
Great write-up, thanks for bringing these ideas into light. I am currently in a debate with my own family about how “traditional” education can’t offer me as much in the language-learning climate as the Web projects available right now, such as Praxis Language’s innovative podcast learning systems, at a fraction of the cost and without needing to leave my sailboat!
Bravo and keep up the goods! My Italian is getting better already…
Dear Ken,
What is the best way to reach you privately in regards to Praxis business related question/proposal? May I ask you to send me an email response to this message?
All the best,
Tom
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