”How Harvard Hurts Small Colleges,” by Michael Horn, in Forbes

“There will be several drivers of the failures—a broken business model, a demographic cliff, and disruptive innovation in the form of faster and cheaper options.”

Why does this matter to the future of learning?

The headline gets attention by mentioning Harvard, but this article is really about the perfect storm gathering around higher ed.

Don’t these same factors—business model, demography, and disuptive innovation—also face K12 independent schools?

…in the same vein…

***

“Managing the Future of Work,” interview of Richard Barth, CEO of the KIPP Foundation, by Joe Fuller, Harvard Business School

“Instead of saying, ‘I got to Bronx Community College,’ [students in 10 years] are going to say, ‘I got to the medical technology program at Mount Sinai in Bronx Community College.’ ”

Why does this matter to the future of learning?

As small colleges and universities confront the existential challenges noted above, community colleges may be well positiond to engage in disruptive innovation by offering new credentials in more compact time frames.

And, as Barth suggests later in the interview, students may have the opportunity to work and earn an income while moving toward acquiring that credential.

If such a disruptive innovation works, expect to see other higher ed institutions follow suit.

***

“Our education system stumbles into the future,” by Harold Jarche, on jarche.com

“According to SFU Professor Kieran Egan, in The Educated Mind, three premises compete for attention in our public education systems:

• education as socialization

• education as a quest for truth (Plato)

• education as the realization of individual potential (Rousseau)

“But none of these three approaches is appropriate for a modern society.”

Why does this matter to the future of learning?

When it comes to your school’s reason for existence and the learning you have designed, we would do well to ask Seth Godin’s questions: “Who’s it for? What’s it for?”

And, in the context of the three paradigms above, how do you rank order the priority of “What’s it for?”

***

Question of the week:

***

Thank you for reading this post from Basecamp's blog, Ed:Future. Do you know someone who would find the Ed:Future blog worthwhile reading? Please let them know that they can subscribe here.