2010: Higher Education News

There is significant disruption brewing in the education (particularly higher ed) sector with many technology enabled experiments establishing nascent scale. A mix of instructional technology, customer experience innovation, curriculum innovation, globalization of demand, and new financing are serving as catalysts in the education sector.  Will disruptions truly gain momentum in 2011 and hit the steep part of the S-curve? Or will inertia continue forward?

5 trend-makers in the education sector in 2010. 

#5. Wharton announces Free lifetime executive education for its graduates -- Actually a week every seven years, but that's a start! Its time we acknowledge the need for "life-long knowledge partnerships" and innovate to deliver an appropriate business model.

#4. Education Finance has been called (by Steve Eisman and others) the next sub-prime sector (similar fraud concerns).  2010 was the year "for-profit-colleges" came in conflict with their usage of government sponsored education loans.  The heat and light coming to this issue will hopefully bring the right focus and reform.  It's critical to continued progress in universal education.

#3. Short Executive Certificate Programs are combining logistical flexibility and academic rigor to create a different-in-kind experience for executives. Expect a proliferation of certificates, channels, and technologies.  My own personal favorite is the University of Maryland's miniMBA2.0 (disclosure below)

#2. Online Degree Experiences from High-Ranked Universities  are bringing technology enabled instruction, social learning, and a more engaged experience to students.  Business schools like IE (Spain), UNC (MBA@UNC) are pricing online degrees at par/premium to reflect the stronger value proposition.

#1. Open Courseware sites are achieving critical density. In the K-12 space Khan Academy has the near-complete high school math curriculum in a set of You-Tube videos.  MIT Open Courseware provides lectures, problems, exams, etc for a deep set of courses across a very wide range of disciplines.  I wish I had access to these during my MIT days, but now find them invaluable for my own teaching. There are many other great examples that should eventually allow for a "best-in-breed" curriculum for individual degrees.


Disclosure: I am affiliated with UMD and the miniMBA2.0. This is the start of an ongoing series of discussions on innovation in education -- I welcome your comments and critiques.