TIME published an article entitled “Will Technology Kill Universities?” Kui Xie had a great answer! He believes MOOCs and other technologies will transform the functions of schools and universities, but will not replace them. Read the original article here: http://time.com/3747816/education-chalkboard-chatroom/ Article was also cross published on Zocalo Public Square
Teachers and physical classrooms won’t go away — Kui Xie
Every generation of new technology brings excitement because it changes and improves human experience. Think of how excited people were when the book, the radio, and the television first entered their lives. These tools significantly changed the way we taught and learned—and the Internet, the personal computer, and today’s participatory cyber-infrastructure are carrying on that tradition. The creation of massive open online courses (MOOCs), for example, enables flexible and free educational opportunities to hundreds and thousands of learners around the world.
MOOCs have sparked debates about whether they will replace teachers and physical schools, but this is an alarm that has been sounded before with other new technologies. From a historical perspective, the answer has been a clear and consistent no. The reason: the human element is indispensable for educational systems. Student experiences in schools and universities aren’t only about mastering a particular body of domain knowledge and acquiring cognitive skills such as problem solving. They are also—and more importantly—about interpersonal social experiences, such as collaboration, leadership, friendship, and apprenticeship. MOOCs just cannot afford such immersive and comprehensive educational experiences. And let’s not forget that current MOOCs have limitations (for instance: credibility, accessibility, the high demand for motivation, and self-regulation).
Having said that, I still recognize that technologies have had far-reaching impacts on teachers and physical schools. The voluminous amount of MOOC content enables “blended learning” where a student learns partly in traditional classrooms and partly through online learning activities, and “flipped classes” where students watch lectures at home and take on “homework” in class with the teacher as a guide. Virtual games have revolutionized students’ perception of education: learning can be motivating, engaging, and effective. Big data analytics can provide new insights to inform teaching practice, diagnose when student interest flags, and help administrators make decisions.
Future learning technologies will continue to bring more exciting changes to educational systems that will improve the functions of universities, making them more efficient, effective, and able to make an impact on a broader population of human society.