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Around this time of year, we’re inundated with lists of the most significant happenings of the current year (e.g., best books, celebrities we’ve lost) and predictions for the future, and the world of higher education is no exception.
We recently came across an interesting article in Forbes, “5 Ways Technology Will Impact Higher Ed in 2013,” by Chris Proulx, President and CEO of eCornell. In short, Proulx’s predications are:
1. Growth in online education will be particularly strong in the top tier of schools. This will be the year when the top tier of schools launch more online offerings – particularly MOOCs (Massive Online Open Courses)
2. Expect to see more innovation around ‘flipping the classroom’. Classroom time can be put to better use when lectures are assigned as homework.
3. Next year’s buzz words are ‘hybrid program’. Classes that blend some in-person and some online instruction will come to the fore.
4. The race will be on for a new instructional model. With classroom time freed up (see #2, above), how can we make better use of in-class time to deepen the learning experience?
5. Higher ed costs may start to decrease. . . but not quite yet.
In general, we agree with Proulx’s predictions, and would like to add one more:
6. MOOCs will morph into MOCCs (Mid-Sized Online Closed Courses). We believe that universities and companies will begin to create and license online courses and use them in a smaller, contained/closed environment. MOOCs won’t go away, but the real traction will be the use of teaching technologies brought down to smaller groups of people that will more closely mimic the current classroom environment.
What do you think of the above predictions? Have one or more of your own? Please join the discussion either here (below, through the discussion posts), in our Strategy and Competition in Higher Education course this spring, or in a new, 2-day professional development program on the same topic.
