In March 2000, the heads of state of the European Union (EU) nations set an ambitious goal for themselves: to make the EU “’the most competitive and dynamic knowledge-based economy in the world, capable of sustainable economic growth with more and better jobs and greater social cohesion’” by 2010.  Known as the Lisbon Agenda, this program aimed to revitalize the nations of the EU that had collectively experienced economic stagnation in the years preceding the agreement.  Just as President Obama has identified education in general and college graduation rates in particular (stating that “by 2020, America will once again have the highest proportion of college graduates in the world”) as a vehicle for driving economic growth, the Lisbon Agenda put emphasis on the same.

A 2006 report from the Commission of the European Communities titled “Delivering on the Modernisation Agenda for Universities: Education, Research, and Innovation,” noted that the “modernization of Europe’s universities, involving their interlinked roles of education, research and innovation” is a “core condition” for the success of the Lisbon Agenda.  In that same year, the Spring European Council agreed upon the establishment of the European Institute of Innovation & Technology (EIT) which would “contribute to improving Europe’s capacity for scientific education, research and innovation, while providing an innovative model to inspire and drive change in existing universities, in particular by encouraging multi-disciplinarity and developing the strong partnerships with business that will ensure its relevance.”  Additionally, the Commission called on member nations to create national systems that allowed for geographic mobility of degrees between various EU member states, greater autonomy with strengthened accountability for universities, incentives for partnerships between universities and the business community, and an increased “employability” of graduates. 

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Today’s higher education environment vis-à-vis the national economic situation has ignited a debate over whether a college degree is worth the cost.  Significant budget cuts in many states have meant that colleges are raising tuitions, increasing fees, and offering less in scholarship money to students.  Few students had enough money saved to pay for college prior to the economic downturn which has had a catastrophic impact on many schools (see my daily headline postings and links in the “Impact of the Economy on Higher Education” section of my blog for some examples).  With less money allotted for scholarships, work study programs, and higher tuitions and fees, more students than ever before are incurring large debts to pay for their college educations.  The current unemployment rate stands at 9.1 percent and recent college graduates are reporting extreme difficulties in finding a job.  All of these factors have combined to fuel the debate over whether college is as invaluable as once believed or not valuable at all given recent economic realities.

Within only a couple months of taking office, President Obama announced his goal to increase the national college graduation rate which is woefully low (40.4 percent, according to statistics from the College Board) compared to those of other nations including Japan (53.7 percent), Russia (55.5 percent), and Canada (55.8 percent).  One of the main initiatives associated with President Obama’s plan to boost college graduation rates included a proposal to provide $12 billion in funding to US community colleges over a ten year period.  Per the President’s plan, however, these funds would be for use in improving programs, courses, and facilities; not, in other words, to assist students in paying for their degrees at these schools.  Obama also told community colleges that he would like to see them play a more active role in creating jobs while simultaneously graduating five million more students than current rates by the year 2020. 

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On July 21st, the APUS Sustainability Committee hosted its First Annual Sustainability Summit.  Since September 2007 when I signed the American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment (ACUPCC), the APUS Sustainability Committee has been working diligently to find ways to reduce the school’s carbon footprint. 

The event was an opportunity to share ideas for promoting sustainability within higher education and within the communities in which college campuses are situated.  The audience included members of the Jefferson County Commission, representatives of the Jefferson County Planning Commission, the Mayor and other officials from Ranson, WV, the President of Shepherd University, Dr. Suzanne Shipley, and other higher ed representatives from APUS and West Virginia University (WVU), and various representatives of the building and development industry.

Rather than provide a few introductory remarks, I chose to provide the audience with a history of the acquisition, renovation, and construction of the buildings comprising APUS’ Charles Town, WV campus as well as some of the other green initiatives implemented by the Sustainability Committee since 2007 (click here to see my presentation).  I explained that our pathway to green construction occurred over time as we could see the demonstrated benefit to the community, our employees, and our energy consumption.

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An article in last Friday’s New York Times by Laura Pappano entitled “The Master’s as the New Bachelor’s” highlights the fact that the master’s degree is now the fastest growing degree with the number awarded doubling since the 1980’s.  According to the author, nearly 2 people in 25 over the age of 25 now hold a master’s degree and that is the same proportion as the number of people who held a bachelor’s degree in 1960.

Debra W. Stewart, President of the Council of Graduate Schools, is quoted: “Several years ago, it became very clear to us that the master’s degree was moving very rapidly to become the entry degree in many professions.”  She further states that the degrees are not “generic” master’s degrees but are profession specific such as a Master’s degree in Supply Chain Management or a Master’s in Skeletal and Dental Bioarcheology.

Ms. Pappano interviews a number of individuals for their opinions as to whether or not bachelor’s degrees are being devalued or that employers are increasing qualifications.  The opinions seem to support a little of both.

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An article in the August issue of Wired magazine about the Khan Academy and how it is changing the rules of education prompted me to write.  Back in 2006 when my neighbor’s son was a middle school student at McDonogh School, I heard his mother describe how the math teachers at McDonogh had created math instructional videos for the students to use to grasp mathematical concepts.  The part that resonated with me was her statement that her son would review the videos from their home computer as many times as necessary to grasp the topic before submitting homework or taking exams.  Although I was a good math student in high school, I remembered the experience of learning new concepts where I would either see the teacher or another student after class in order to better comprehend the methodology for solving the question.  The videos being used by my neighbor’s son substituted for the after class or after school in person tutorials I used to seek out. 

Since APUS courses are offered wholly online with no time for face-to-face instruction, we developed a number of math instructional videos using Camtasia tablet software and embedded them in our classrooms to supplement the instructional materials.  Later, we decided to make our math videos available to everyone on our American Public University iTunesU site  and our APUS Youtube channel.  Comments to the individual videos, primarily in the form of thank you’s, demonstrate the usefulness and the need for technology like this.  More recently, we partnered with McDonogh School to establish a website, www.campusmath.com, to offer primarily math videos to the public for an elementary school through high school curriculum.  While I can’t speak on behalf of McDonogh School, I think that both of our institutions are aligned with the belief that math skills need to be improved and providing access to these videos to teachers, students, and parents may contribute to improved skills without providing the teachers and professors inside of a physical or electronic classroom.

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Douglas Thomas’ and John Seely Brown’s book, A New Culture of Learning: Cultivating the Imagination for a World of Constant Change, provides a fresh insight into the rapidly changing learning environment and ways in which technology can enhance the quality of learning outcomes.  Thomas is an Associate Professor in the Annenberg School of Communications at University of Southern California (USC) and Brown is a visiting scholar at USC.  They state in their book that learning in the 21st century is not taking place in the classroom but is taking place everywhere thanks to changes in the culture of learning.  The authors write that the foundation of the new culture of learning consists of two elements:  the first is a massive information network that provides access to learning about almost anything; the second is a bounded and structured environment that allows individuals to build and experiment within those boundaries.  According to Thomas and Brown, the combination of those two elements is what elevates the culture of learning to the promise that it holds for the future.

Online games and the collectives that develop around them are a prominent example of how individuals are able to learn through the collective participation of many players working together to share tips and through collaborative team-playing.  Thomas provides an example of a class that he taught on gaming at the University of Southern California and the extra efforts and enthusiasm expressed by the students as they explored the multi-player game Star Wars Galaxies.  World of Warcraft is another multi-player game described by the authors that is used for a comparison of the learning that takes place in a collective environment.

Collective learning is not limited to gaming, however.  Brown and Thomas discuss the experience of a person diagnosed with diabetes who consulted the website Diabetes Daily and participated in a number of the forums where patients discuss their problems and experiences living with diabetes.  The patient learned how to live with diabetes from the social interaction with others diagnosed with the disease.  In a new culture collective, people belong in order to learn.  In a classroom in the new culture of learning, students take an active role to create and provide the latest information to the collective, supplementing the role of the teacher.  According to the authors, collectives scale almost unlimitedly and their learning outcomes improve with increases in size and diversity when assisted by technology.

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