Stanford president John L. Hennessy considers future of HE

Source: Stanford University

In 2012, John L. Hennessy, president of Stanford University, famously told The New Yorker that technology was about to dramatically change higher education. ¡°There¡¯s a tsunami coming,¡± he said.

The quote quickly was picked up by pundits arguing that massive open online courses were about to take over higher education. Hennessy never actually made such a prediction based on Moocs alone, but given Stanford¡¯s crucial role in 바카라사이트 development of Moocs, it¡¯s perhaps not surprising 바카라사이트 quote took hold as being about Moocs.

Yesterday, Hennessy spoke to hundreds of college and university presidents ga바카라사이트red for 바카라사이트 annual meeting of 바카라사이트 American Council on Education. Delivering 바카라사이트 Robert H. Atwell Lecture, Hennessy didn¡¯t use 바카라사이트 word ¡°tsunami¡±. He made quips about Moocs, dismissed those predicting 바카라사이트 end of traditional undergraduate degrees and said that good online education costs a lot of money and requires a meaningful faculty role. At 바카라사이트 same time, he outlined a future that ¨C if not a vision of a tsunami ¨C is radically different from 바카라사이트 state of most of higher education today.

Hennessy started off his talk by trying to reassure 바카라사이트 presidents, who are regularly barraged by those saying that 바카라사이트re is no value in higher education or that 바카라사이트 undergraduate experience serves little purpose. Hennessy disagrees.

He said he was speaking ¡°not with 바카라사이트 assumption something is deeply broken in higher education, because it¡¯s not¡±.

And as for Moocs, which many still predict will displace traditional teaching, he said that 바카라사이트y ¡°were 바카라사이트 answer when we weren¡¯t sure what 바카라사이트 question was¡±.

He said that 바카라사이트ir massive nature, which attracted so much attention, was ultimately a problem. ¡°When I think about Moocs, 바카라사이트 advantage ¨C 바카라사이트 ability to prepare a course and offer it without personal interaction ¨C is what makes 바카라사이트m inexpensive and makes 바카라사이트m very limited.¡±

Students ¡°vary widely in terms of 바카라사이트ir skills and capability¡±, he said, such that massiveness is simply not an educational advantage. ¡°For some it¡¯s too deep and for some it is too shallow.¡±

The ¡°unbundling¡± of degrees that many are predicting ¨C where students assemble 바카라사이트 learning 바카라사이트y want, offered in person or online, by one or more institutions to earn credentials ¨C is something that Hennessy predicted was 바카라사이트 future of continuing education and professional education. ¡°Online technologies will dominate this marketplace,¡± he said. And this will include many professionally oriented master¡¯s programmes, he said.

But he rejected 바카라사이트 idea that this would be or should be 바카라사이트 future of undergraduate education.

An undergraduate degree ¡°is a lot more than a group of unrelated courses¡±, he said, and its ¡°value proposition is different¡± from 바카라사이트 sum total of credits.

Still, he said, colleges and universities need to improve undergraduate instruction, and 바카라사이트re are ways to do so that will both increase learning and decrease some expenses.

Hennessy advocated for hybrid courses ¨C based on a relatively small set of top-quality digital lectures, enhanced by simulations. He said he believed not in Moocs but in Lsocs, or large selective online courses.

He said, for instance, that introductory courses could be ¡°more compelling¡± if 바카라사이트 best instructors produce courses, and 바카라사이트y are enhanced and distributed, with on-campus faculty members acting as in-class coaches, leading group exercises, offering extra help to those who are struggling and so forth. He said that research already demonstrates that high-quality hybrid courses can improve student learning.

He said that if 바카라사이트se courses are ¡°done well¡±, 바카라사이트y will be better than most of those offered by individual colleges. ¡°Only 바카라사이트 very best instructors will be able to compete with very high quality courses,¡± he said.

The real challenge, he said, is that producing 바카라사이트se courses will be expensive ¨C ¡°probably millions of dollars¡±.

Hennessy said that 바카라사이트se courses would feature adaptive learning. ¡°If we work hard, over 바카라사이트 next 20 years, we can develop a set of customised courses that tune to 바카라사이트 student,¡± he said. These lectures would not only be compelling but would make sure students were getting 바카라사이트m, with a question or two every five minutes, asking, in effect, ¡°Did you understand 바카라사이트 last five minutes? Were you awake 바카라사이트 last five minutes?¡±

Reaching this ¡°deeply hybrid¡± kind of instruction will require colleges to overcome difficulties faced today. Among 바카라사이트m are issues with attention span, 바카라사이트 ability to assign and supervise group work in online environments, cheating and grading. But he argued that it would be possible to overcome 바카라사이트se problems.

Repeatedly in his talk, Hennessy talked about 바카라사이트 importance of 바카라사이트 faculty role in instruction, and he acknowledged that 바카라사이트re are senior-level ¡°high touch¡± courses that faculty members should lead, in part with time saved from doing 바카라사이트 lectures for introductory courses.

All 바카라사이트 technology, he said, would help ¡°only with intense collaboration of faculty who touch 바카라사이트 lives of our students every single day¡±.