Universities of the future
The future is here. This is a follow up to the article "Going to College" May Become Obsolete. Here are two universities, amongst a myriad that are leading the way towards the future of higher education.
Stanford University
Standford University announced its online Introduction to Artifical Intelligence course this fall. This is not new news perse. Stanford, Harvard, MIT have for the last several years shared their courses online. The online courses have included videos of lectures, syllabi, textbooks and assignments. Over 80% of colleges and universities in the United States now offer online courses, many offer complete online degrees. None of of this news.
What makes Stanford's AI course news is that the course is being facilitated online, en masse at the same time that it is being taught in a Stanford classroom. Over 200 students take the course on campus. Lectures, notes, syllabi, textbooks, assignments and tests are being administered both on campus and online. The course is completely free online. Those that take it on-campus and pass will get credit for the course. Those that take it online will get a Certificate of Completion. How many people are taking the online course? 56,000. And I ask, does it matter that they won't have credit on their transcript for the course? I don't think that matters. The certificate has the same value as credit, in this case.
The Floating University
Big Think, a knowledge forum "where leading experts explore the big ideas and core skills defining the 21st century" announced its The Floating University this fall. Thought leaders from 12 integrated fields are teaching the first called "Great Big Ideas: An Entire Undergraduate Education while Standing on one Foot". The course will be taught by literally the world's greatest educators. 12 lectures, each on key fields of the 21st century explored from start to end with enough information packed in to get you going on the topic. Steven Pinker is offering a lecture called "Say What? Linguistics as a Window to Understanding the Brain." Michio Kaku is leading a lecture on "The Universe in a Nutshell: The Physics of Everything." Joel Cohen spoke on "Malthus Miffed: Are People the Problem, the Solution, or Both? An Introduction to Demography and Populations Study Through an Examination of the World's Population." Anyone can take the course, through a paid subscription.
These lectures are based on contemporary topics, significant to living in the 21st century. They are offered not through the traditional progression of basics, skills, concepts and then maybe application to real-world situations. Instead they are turned on their head to discuss relevant ideas upfront as a starting point for exploring deeper underlying assumptions and facts true of the disciplines integrated in each lecture.
These are just two examples. There are countless more. The future is here. College education is not going to look like it is today in a decade from now.