Traditional Universities No More
The days of traditional classes at higher education institutions have changed drastically. Students of the modern world are impatiently waiting for colleges to catch up to their needs. Students today are in the world of social media, instant responses, and technology access everywhere on cell phones to i pads. Students no longer have the patience to sit through traditional lectured classes, they now prefer on-line lectures. Higher education institutes must find ways to recruit students and meet their demands by providing more creditable on-line classes and communicating through social media. In order for a university to be competitive they must do both, the new generations learn and communicate these ways.
Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, blogging and pod-casting are the tools of choice for US institutions of higher education. All of them have realized double-digit increases in adoption in the past year. Video continues to be strong with 41% using it. YouTube made its first appearance in this new study and debuted at 86% using the relatively new tools. It is interesting to note that pod-casting now highlights faculty, students, lecture series etc. to create the experience of being on their campus. www.umassd.edu
The goal for all higher education institutions is clearly to make some changes to keep up with today’s societies needs to communicate and engage with the tech savvy young people of today who want schools based on their online presence and offerings.
http://chronicle.com/article/Todays-Unpresidential/135228/
http://www.umassd.edu/cmr/studiesandresearch/socialmediaadoptionsoars
One of the definitions of an institution is that it tends to change slowly over time. It states that logic and the nature of things help to form certain institutions. Educational institutions have been in place for thousands of years and use the same approaches as the ancient Greeks did. Now technology comes along that in the past 10 years are forcing educational institutions to get with the program of the current generation, or perish. It is good that technology is being embraced by the educational world, but I also believe we are losing a certain amount of our “human-ness” in the process. I enjoy online courses just as much as a classroom setting, but nothing beats eye to eye contact. The trade off is necessary for many students. Time constraints of non-traditional students, like myself, are a big reason for taking online courses.
Learning in educational institutions has changed a lot over the years. I am a 1990 graduate of my high school & it is amazing how teaching methods have changed. We could never take an exam at home on the computer or self teach as online classes do. People are all different in their personal preference but certain classes should be taught in a face to face live classroom setting, just due to the nature of the subject & the difficulty level.
I am 20 and I feel that I am “plugged in” all the time. With the technology today,I have instant communication and instant Internet right on my phone. I thought it was interesting that 100% of colleges use some sort of social media. Also that 98% of colleges have a Facebook page. I would say that being able to do online classes does keep me more interested. I think sometimes you need a classroom and person to person contact. I find that I can be impatient in a classroom.
It isn’t just colleges that need to adapt. Not to veer too far from the original topic, but the format of education is an issue at a grade school level, as well as at a college level. The reason there is a push to make changes at a college level is because we are older and better able to explain in concrete terms what we are looking for in an education. For children, they are still exposed to the same technology; iPads, computers, television, but we expect them to continue to learn in the classroom format. Then, when they do not perform well in this environment, we tell them they are sick and put them on medication. Education as a whole needs to be reevaluated and put into a format that better complies with how we live our lives.
As being a non traditional student myself, I understand that there is a certain ease of having online classes. I am a proponent of having the luxury of classes at my fingertips to fit into my busy day, but I also see the struggles that may arise from it. There is a definite piece of learning that is missing with online learning, personalization of class interaction, the comments of classmates when in a group learning structure that may help you to remember something that you are struggling to learn. The ability to ask questions to your professor or classmates is different online than in a classroom.