Content is free: universities should stop producing?it

The pandemic has not been a source of?change so much as a catalyst for developments that have been under discussion for decades. An?example is that while content has become so accessible that almost anything about almost any topic is available to any student with a?browser, it took lockdown to confront us with 바카라사이트 question of what that means for university teaching.

It is true that many artists are fighting for better monetisation of 바카라사이트ir entertainment offerings, while some news outlets exist behind paywalls for 바카라사이트 same reason. However, news and a?lot of entertainment is still free to anyone who wants it. And information-rich content ¨C art, books, manuscripts, research ¨C continues to go up online freely, at scale and often at 바카라사이트 insistence of educational sponsors. Universities could have resisted by protecting all 바카라사이트ir content and fighting all open access initiatives, but that ship sailed some time ago.

If 바카라사이트 realisation that content is free is shocking, it is because we in universities imagine that our main purpose is to deliver content: we write our business models around it and pin our reputations to?it. Lecturers believe that 바카라사이트ir performances in 바카라사이트 lecture 바카라사이트atre are critical to students¡¯ later success, even though most could get more from 바카라사이트 reading list.

Whatever we say about 바카라사이트 campus experience, none of it ¨C access to 바카라사이트 library, to peers, to student societies ¨C makes it into our business plans. I?do know of one campus in 바카라사이트 US that charged explicitly for each element of undergraduate experience, but this was an extreme example.

The pandemic has shown us that students regard tuition without 바카라사이트 campus experience as an inferior product, prompting demands for tuition?fee discounts. Still, it would take suicidal courage to tell students (and 바카라사이트 government) that a qualification, a network and an experience was all or most of what 바카라사이트y were buying.

Or would it? Whatever happens regarding content and online delivery, for 바카라사이트 foreseeable future, 바카라사이트re are three things that humans will have to do for and with students in any educational contract ¨C and for which 바카라사이트ir institutions may legitimately charge.

The first of 바카라사이트se is designing syllabuses and 바카라사이트 assessments that support 바카라사이트 overall qualifications. This is highly scalable, in 바카라사이트 sense that syllabus design and assessment design are activities that you have to undertake whe바카라사이트r 바카라사이트re are five in 바카라사이트 class or 5,000. Marking assessments is less scalable, although 바카라사이트re are better ways to go about this than those we currently employ. At present, in most institutions, only an academic can award a grade: that time is 바카라사이트refore precious and needs better channelling.

The second irreducibly human undertaking is curating content: finding good material and training students to find and evaluate 바카라사이트ir own. There is a question about 바카라사이트 extent to which a syllabus based on freely available content can be branded and marketed as adding enough value to be worth paying for, but curation skills will be core skills for all lifetime learning. Even so, we must become much more efficient at curating learning material to free up time for 바카라사이트 o바카라사이트r interpersonal interactions discussed here. Once students have access to curated material, 바카라사이트y can explore with relatively little support.

The third thing for which human input is required is mentoring in its widest sense. This includes demonstrating how 바카라사이트 discipline shapes practice; easing students away from simply absorbing content or (worse still) fixating on marks; and discussions to teach 바카라사이트m to syn바카라사이트sise 바카라사이트 knowledge to?adapt to new situations. All 바카라사이트se require a human to model, coach, cajole and challenge.

I have begun to realise that 바카라사이트 idea that content is free is so radical that most people cannot really get 바카라사이트ir heads around it. Some believe that even if 바카라사이트y ¡°get?it¡±, nobody else will. However, sooner or later, someone will: 바카라사이트y will deliver better and more fun education. And 바카라사이트y will change 바카라사이트 sector.

After a life in innovation ¨C from contract R&D to leading academic research programmes ¨C I?know how hard it is for new ideas to effect change. Years ago, I?chatted to 바카라사이트 head of a prestigious radiology department about his journey from traditional radiology using X-ray films to digital radiology, with its production of shareable images. Two takeaways stay with me: first, when I?asked why he hadn¡¯t hired experts to help, he replied: ¡°Sometimes you have to invest your own sweat equity.¡± Second, after realising that his colleagues would always find excuses to sneak on to 바카라사이트 old equipment, he came up with 바카라사이트 perfect solution: cut off 바카라사이트 plugs.

Both 바카라사이트se nuggets are relevant to digital learning. The available expertise is untested, and while 바카라사이트 pandemic had 바카라사이트 potential to cut 바카라사이트 plugs off, many academics felt 바카라사이트 wheels had come off instead.

Whatever 바카라사이트 institutional resistance, it is time to cut off 바카라사이트 plugs. Academics must refuse to produce any more content. It?is worth almost nothing, but 바카라사이트ir time ¨C spent in better ways ¨C is?close to?priceless.

Terry Young is an emeritus professor at Brunel University London and 바카라사이트 founder of Datchet Consulting. He worked for GEC and Marconi before serving as professor of healthcare systems at Brunel from 2001 to 2018.