The Economic Intelligence Unit conducted surveys and held interviews with students and company workers to see their take on how technology affects education.
Technology provides countless possibilities for educating and learning. It is becoming an integral part of academic life. 60% of people said that the college campus is changing "from a one-dimensional (physical) concept to a multi-dimensional concept (physical and online) one." Examples of the possibilities include online learning, distance education, social networking, and collaboration. With them, students take on a more individualized form of learning. Sam Scalise of Sonoma State University says, "The professor's role is evolving from instructor to mentor." This is true especially with online learning expanding and improving. For example, The Open University of Catalonia in Spain caters to tens of thousands of people worldwide with demanding jobs and families. Instead of a boring lecture to add to their stressful day, the classes are interesting and interactive, with the student in mind. One issue with online courses however is that some people don't view them as having the same credibility of a typical classroom course. This viewpoint may disappear soon though with Hopkins and Stanford offering perfectly credible courses online. Other challenges of advancing technology in education include rising costs, distractions, plagiarism, dependency, and teachers unable to grasp it. 56% of respondents believe that "ready access to online facts and research increases the risk that students are graduating without foundational knowledge in some subjects." Also, 46% of people surveyed believe that US graduates are ill-prepared for the workplace. Amy Lynch says that Generation Y, people born between 1982-2001, are "open to collaboration, [great] at multitasking, & at ease with new technologies." But they have less experience in independent decision making because the act of collaboration is stressed in higher education. Mary Middleton of Merrill Lynch says that generational differences such as hovering parents nowadays affect job acquisition. Despite those negatives, graduates do still bring new ways of handling business to companies, while they learn necessary skills themselves. It's like a give-and-take process. Overall, we need to make the most of the technological opportunities available but not to overdo it. People should still be equipped with the fundamental skills that led to these opportunities in the first place.
What Surprised Me?
When I actually sat down and thought about it, I realized how much of a part technology plays in my life. Professors are becoming more of mentors than instructors and that is not necessarily a bad thing. What ever I want to know about a subject that my professor hasn't taught I can immediately google. They lead us into the right direction but ultimately the internet and other technologies help us with the information we need to know.
Ponder this...
71% of respondents said that online degrees are not as credible as those earned on a campus. What do you think?
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