EDUCATION & BUSINESS WORKING TOGETHER FOR MEANING
/I hope this is the first of many posts describing great changes in education. The news is full of major shifts on the education side (starter list to follow), but I've heard little about how organizations are responding to the news. Some people learn for learning's sake, but many of us complete formal education steps to gain greater capabilities and credibility at work. Novel approaches to education, like free on-line courses, with or without a University's stamp of completion, are of unclear value in the market. Please share, in the comments below, what you're hearing discussed or seeing in action within your organizations.
Things I'm tracking:
- MITx, an interactive e-learning effort, adding certficates to their free on-line program
- Stanford's on-line artificial intelligence course provides outside students a signed letter from the professor with their grade and classrank, but not credit from Stanford
- Three of Stanford's faculty leaving to start separate learning ventures
Things I'm wondering:
- Will the response be an increased focus on testing centers that provide external credibility?
- Will individuals take more responsibility for describing their personal and professional attributes -- realizing that these no longer exist in isolation? (Thank you to Jeff Nolan for helping me describe the issue.)
- Will organizations take greater care in assessing prospective hires with work sampling and simulations? (pdf)
- What will the discussions look like as candidates try to create value from their learning?
- How can industry and educational institutions work together to create new meaning around education outcomes?
- What are the most important questions for empirical research around these topics?
I've done my thinking out loud and I hope you will share your thoughts as well. This is a wonderful opportunity to watch and participate in the sensemaking.
