Why Education Sucks — from a Creative Perspective
Richard Branson, Steve Jobs & Bill Gates all dropped out of college. They had one thing in common: they thought school was a waste of time. And they were right…
According to a January 2012 Forbes article, nearly 16% of the most affluent Americans do not have a college degree. College is not appealing for entrepreneurs because of the Academia’s arbitrary, bureaucratic structure combined with its predominant focus on theoretical issues. These dissatisfiers are relative to a person’s character and ambitions. Many students benefit from structure and bureaucracy, but there are also students who desire a more dynamic way of learning. This urge stems from the time we live in. A share- and experience society at which people have different needs in comparison with the 80’s and 90’s. Time has changed, and with time the people. Future generations require different methods and responsibilities in order to keep students engaged and motivated.
Online Education
Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) are a recent development in distance education which were first introduced in 2008. It’s a promising concept and a way of enabling knowledge for everybody. Despite all the good of MOOCs, many fail to succeed in terms of engagement.
High in popularity, low in engagement
The relatively low completion rates of learners have been a central criticism. As much as people enrol MOOCs, as low the engagement rates are. Statistics show that just a few percent of all enrolled students finish, or even take part, in learning platforms as Coursera, Udacity and EdX.
I think three factors have much influence on these engagement rates: motivation, culture and context.
Motivation
Studying is about perspective and personal development. But formal acceptance by society of this development is also important. Although many people are positive about MOOC-platforms, little online programs are officially acknowledged — and therefore not credible as official degree. This lack of accreditation has negative influence on the motivation of students.
Culture
Learning platforms offer several features to communicate with one another. These features are brilliant and often lead to interesting and constructive conversations. However, cultural diversity between the students in such platforms form a threat to the usability of ‘chatrooms’. Each culture has its own norms and ways of communicating. People from Asia for example, are used to hierarchy and could have problems with the lack of hierarchy structure within these chatrooms
Context
Intangible benefits that can’t be translated in learning platforms are physical facilities and campuses. The social dynamics, peer pressure and inspirational environment form great assets with regard to the perceived learning experience of students. Context inspires and creates a subliminal urge to perform.
Change is desired
With time, students change. Research has shown that Generation Z, also known as Digital Natives, dislike lecture-test classrooms. In fact, as customisable as the digital world can be, as much they like to customise their education too. Results have also shown that 43% prefer digital learning and find it easiest to learn from the internet.
This should affect the pedagogical concept itself. For years professors have been sending information towards their students by standing in front of classrooms. This one-way approach is outdated because the audience has changed. Surely, some universities already apply different methods but most universities stick to their ‘proven concept and learning methods’.
This attitude is understandable from a behavioural perspective but from a rational point of view ineffective and not durable. In general, the gap between what schools are teaching and the needed skills of the future are widening. Did you know that 65% of grade school students will work in jobs that don’t exist today? Future generations have such distinctive needs and motivations that the current concept needs to be redefined. To be clear, I don’t want students to dropout but rather try to come up with a educational concept that continuously sparkles their imagination, creativity and entrepreneurship. Universities need to stay relevant by delivering tailor-made programs that fit and align with the needs and ambitions of students.
Because let’s face it, the chance a ‘dropout’ ends up like Richard, Steve or Bill is statistically very (very) small. Thus, keep students engaged!
One size doesn’t fit all, anymore…
Considering the needs of future students and the raising importance of life-long learning. One size doesn’t fit all, anymore… We’re heading towards a modular educational system in which students — of all ages — can create their own curriculum by enrolling modules at different universities.
How great would it be to follow design courses at Stanford d.School and attend Biomedical Engineering courses at MIT in the same curriculum. The idea is that students can enrol every module that fits their personal and professional ambitions. Education stays relevant and feels more natural this way because you educate yourself in something you’re really interested in. Moreover, future degrees become more competitive because they’re more tailored on individuals.
In the end, education is about personal development and only blossoms when fully advantaged.
