#SMCEDU Chat: What is the role of the university in the new century?

Social Media Club Education Connection (aka #SMCEDU) is a national initiative whose goal is to unite educators, students, and professionals to further the development of social media curriculum in our schools, enabling a wider network of learning and workforce preparedness.

#SMCEDU is a part of Social Media Club, a nonprofit organization that is working to promote media literacy and connect people to share what they are learning about social media.

In today’s #SMCEDU chat, we looked at this slideshow from one of last week’s SXSW panels on education that examined both the breakdown in the university system and the evolution of a new idea of the university.

It’s a big idea, but given the current time — one in which many are calling for educational reform while possible solutions are arising — it’s one that requires closer inspection.

Raul Pacheco (@hummingbird604), educator and executive member of Social Media Club-Vancouver, started the discussion with this tweet.

Learning styles are changing

We had a bit of banter during the chat that examined the definition of “instruction.” I think of the term in a traditional sense, one in which an instructor lectures to a group of students. Some, like educator Ana Adi (@ana_adi), feel that
this is necessary for newer undergraduate students. And while there is agreement that there will always be a need for instructors, the method of the lecture/notes (one-to-many) pedagogy is being challenged.

In an excellent post shared by VCU’s Jeff Nugent (@jeffnugent), writers Don Tapscott and Anthony D. Williams posit:

The trouble is that most of the ideas being bantered about don’t address the fundamental problems with the university or show a way forward. Rather, change is required in two vast and interwoven domains that permeate the deep structures and operating model of the university: (1) the value created for the main customers of the university (the students); and (2) the model of production for how that value is created. First we need to toss out the old industrial model of pedagogy (how learning is accomplished) and replace it with a new model called collaborative learning. Second we need an entirely new modus operandi for how the subject matter, course materials, texts, written and spoken word, and other media (the content of higher education) are created.

In the same post, Seymour Papert (an expert in how technology can provide new ways of learning) is quoted as saying, “The scandal of education is that every time you teach something, you deprive a [student] of the pleasure and benefit of discovery.”

Purdue professor Mihaela Vorvoreanu (@mihaela_v) wrote,

The point I agree with most is the professor as experience engineer, or coach/guide. Our role is not to convey knowledge anymore – although many students do prefer to use us this way, because it’s a shortcut: They get carefully selected, vetted knowledge. I see the professor as a mentor – and we’re still going to need those. Higher ed is not only about accumulating knowledge, it’s about training your mind to work with knowledge and produce knowledge.

Instructors, the coaches/guides of learning, will always be needed. But the (traditional) method of conveying information might need some tweaking.

The value of being there

Our community agreed strongly on one point: while there is a proliferation of online lectures and classes, there is great value in coming together in a physical setting. Whether it’s for the social aspect or for learning enhancement, the face-to-face time is just as important as any other condition in learning.

For that reason, the university will continue to be a gathering place for educators and students.

However, there are changes brewing, and the ability of the university to stay relevant in other roles is being questioned.

Change in the classroom

We often come across the topic of
slow change within higher education. Here’s an observation for the teachers that are reluctant to use technology as a teaching aid:

Many of the changes, such as
tools used, require some risk taking. Educators want to be sure that their methods are effective, and the best way to ensure that is looking at proven examples. But when it comes to innovation in the classroom, a bit of “leap before you look” is necessary.

At another SXSW education conference, the seven themes of youth creative media use were discussed. When looking over the themes, it appears that “trying” is just as important as “doing.”

So much of how innovation happens (and not coincidentally, youths’ approach to learning and work) is done through the idea of just doing something, making mistakes, learning from those mistakes, and doing it again.

I’m not advocating a casual/whimsical approach to teaching. Education is serious business. What I am saying is that many students are willing to make mistakes, and want to know that it’s acceptable to do so. Perhaps teachers should take a chance, too.

Join us next week!

We hold our chats every Monday at 12:30pm EST. I honestly hope that our community is getting some value from these discussions, and at the very least, are pointed to more people and resources that can help them in their ventures. We’re always open to feedback, please don’t hesitate to let me know if there are topics you’d like discussed, changes in format/time, or anything else that will make the experience better for you.

Resources shared during the chat

- From Jeff Nugent: Innovating the 21st-Century University: It’s Time!

- From Lauren Rinker, via Nhat Pham: How Twitter in the Classroom is Boosting Student Engagement

- From Ana Adi: Katho New Media Syllabus