What is more valuable for a person seeking employment in a
public school setting, proof of completion in a world class MOOC, or Master’s
degree? Traditionalist would say that a
Master’s Degree is proof of expertise and is a good indication of
competence. I agree. A graduate degree from a well respected
university is one way to “prove” that a person has a certain amount of
competence in their field. However, I believe our society (and the education
community) is undergoing a disruption that will have a significant impact on
how educators (learning facilitators) do their jobs.
The educational sector is being disrupted in significant
ways. To illustrate, I will share a story of my eldest daughter who is in
middle school. Emma is a very motivated
student (a trait she is blessed to have from her mother) and is extremely goal
oriented. She studies hard and does well
in school because she believes that what
she learns now will help her reach her goals in the future. Emma
can also be precocious. For example, she
has told her science teacher that she is bored in class and that she is
familiar with the information that he is teaching. She asked him if it would be all right for
her to “go online and watch some TED talks and attend MOOCs and then they can
discuss what she learns”. To the teacher’s
credit he said “yes”, just as long that she keeps up with her class work. Last
night, I asked her how her “self training” was coming along. She shared with me a lecture series that she
had downloaded from Spotify about the meaning of life…she said it was “pretty
good”.
This story illustrates two major points that underlie a
significant shift in the education sector.
1. Emma is in charge of her own learning. I understand that not everyone learns like
Emma. My youngest son (in 4th
grade) would not be able to thrive in such a self-directed system. But that does not mean that he is thriving in
the current “default” system of education either. The point is that even he should have the
opportunity to have a varying degree of input into what and how he wants to
learn. Everyone should have a say in
their learning. Education is becoming radically learner centered. This means that the needs of the learner are
not just important; they are the most important facet in
education.
2. The current system of education is not sufficient
for today’s society. This implies
that learning is more important than education.
Education represents the institution where learning is supposed to
occur. Our current system of K-12
education places the institution above the needs of the learner. That is not to say that the current system
does not value student learning…it does.
Rather, our current system places at its first priority the needs of the
institution above the learner. We must move away from the current,
industrial age model of schooling.
These two points underscore the importance of learning and
the decreased importance of traditional credentials from the traditional
education system. For example, if I am a
superintendent hiring a biology teacher what should I consider to be more relevant
to my hiring decision, an applicant that
has a traditional Master’s Degree in “teaching” or someone that has worked
their way through a series of high quality MOOC’s facilitated by the leading
biologists in the world? I say the MOOC’s because the learning is important,
not the traditional credential. My
answer may be unconventional; it may even be foolhardy. However, I believe that the shift and
disruption that is occurring in education justifies my response.
I will discuss this topic further in other blog posts. Please leave comments to start a discussion surrounding
MOOC’s and master Degrees.
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