Program Design in 21st Century Higher Education

I feel the need to reiterate my disclaimer: I write this blog post to share my own generalized thoughts about educational program design and do not represent any institution as I ponder design for the future.

Yesterday, my colleagues discussed their foray into the topic of designing a new program within the university. Obviously, program design has always been complex business and I do not claim to have any real knowledge of that complexity. But, I wonder if the current state of debate about higher education, the roles of 21st century technologies, demands for access and the current climate of innovation might make it both increasingly more complex and ripe for opportunities. As I understand it, program design must be able to prove that it will lead to jobs. But what jobs? Do these jobs even exist? It seems to me that requiring a program to prove that it will create (specific) jobs runs the risk of looking into the rear-view mirror to design for what might be coming down the road. I'm confident that programs can be designed for existing jobs and that we can collect data to prove some success in having graduates move into existing roles. But, what about the future? What about innovation? What about preparing students to live in a world of constant change and to be employed in jobs and professions that don't presently exist? I would hope that any new program would provide embrace open and connected learning opportunities and lead to learning that in turn would enable graduates to think critically, creatively, gain 21st century computing skills, develop digital literacy and be able to act independently and collaboratively, to solve problems, invent new things, explore and to enhance the quality of life.

Image: Architecture of the Future, courtesy of Daniel Foster, https://www.flickr.com/photos/danielfoster/14758510078

Feedback: Here’s your score!

English: Measurement unit (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I recently joined a MOOC on digital storytelling. I was up-front and honest about my experience and my reason for joining. I run a digital storytelling program and I wanted to see how another program might parallel, differ and/or otherwise inform me. There’s always room to learn.

As I engaged in the course, I felt good about participation and offering some thoughts and resources that others might find beneficial. I was excited and comfortable doing the first assignment and in retrospect, probably too excited and included information that more appropriately would fit into week 2: script development. Then…I waited. Part 2 of the assignment was to provide peer review of 3 other participants and then get feedback from 3 others. I was charged, ready to see the work of others, give feedback and to get feedback on my own work. But the design made me wait and the waiting began to disturb my flow. Finally, the day came to review others and I did that as thoughtfully as I could. I tried to provide positive support and make suggestions to help the development of their stories. One by one, I moved forward in a system that would not allow me to get feedback until all others had completed their work and the multi-day deadline had passed. Finally, the long awaited feedback came. Anticipating some thoughtful comments and advice, I was disappointed to get “grades”; numbers. Numbers that were a bit lower than I expected, but that’s OK. The disturbing part is that there was very little feedback and that it was anonymous. This made me rethink the value of peer-review, flow, anonymity and the inability to have a conversation about my work. This nameless, faceless, unconnected grading system left me clueless about how to improve my work. What’s worse, it killed my interest in the course. It became a bit of a canned process that ran on a schedule. However, all is not lost. It made me realize the value of open sharing and the possibility of instant or at least, very quick feedback. It made me realize the value of a personal connection to someone who actually cared about what they might say and how that might help me learn. It made me realize that through our open sharing, we might actually teach or learn from others and make new connections that might just change our way of thinking and in some cases, our lives.