Learning Online Pays Off
Students, educators and others can access syllabi, lecture notes, audio and video for almost every MIT course offered today, and over 50 million have done so. Meanwhile, the U.S. Department of education has done a meta-analysis that shows that students who take all or part of their classes online generally perform better than those taking the same course through traditional face-to-face instruction (results are statistically significant).
The Web Makes it Possible to Support Learning and Work in New Ways
The way society thinks and learns is changing faster than, well, the speed of digital transmission. This opens doors to new ways of helping students and workers meet education and training demands in the midst of constant innovation and increasingly tough competition for jobs. But there are still
those who cannot imagine the extent modern technology foretells for work and learning. They point to social media tools like FaceBook and Twitter and oddly-named collaboration tools like wikis and blogs and wonder about, if not challenge, their relevance in today’s talent landscape.
The Web Helps People Help Themselves and Each Other
Yet 85% of college students use FaceBook – 3.85 million users. Of these, 60% log in every day, 85% at least once per week, and 93% at least once per month. These figures will pale with recent new accessibility for high schoolers. And while much of the usage is social, it also includes tracking and collaborating homework assignments, arranging study groups, and more. Adults are also heavy internet users: According to the Pew Internet and American Life project, over 1/3 of adults have participated on online social networking, and 69% of all Americans have used the internet to cope with the recession, including finding jobs and ways to upgrade their skills. (This includes using social networks to land employment, an increasing phenomenon in today’s economic climate.)
It’s Not About The Tools Alone, But the Tools Accelerate Broader Social Change
The truth is, like the Commodor 64 and Atari, some – if not all – of these social networking and collaborative platforms are likely to be replaced by more powerful, agile, and ubiquitous versions themselves. But their legacy will remain, meeting demand for transparency, collaboration, and the ability to teach and learn any time, any place, on any subject imaginable, at increasing speed and diminishing cost to the end beneficiary.
We’re Only At the Beginning
There likely will always be a place for traditional work and learning systems, but not without integration of online tools, resources, and even social networking platforms that add to the richness of the educational experience through easier-maintained relationships with educators and peers. The future of work and learning is today, it includes online tools, content, and networks, and there is no going back.
Lisa Baragar Katz
@katz_lisa
The Future of Work and Learning is Today
Learning Online Pays Off
Students, educators and others can access syllabi, lecture notes, audio and video for almost every MIT course offered today, and over 50 million have done so. Meanwhile, the U.S. Department of education has done a meta-analysis that shows that students who take all or part of their classes online generally perform better than those taking the same course through traditional face-to-face instruction (results are statistically significant).
The Web Makes it Possible to Support Learning and Work in New Ways
The way society thinks and learns is changing faster than, well, the speed of digital transmission. This opens doors to new ways of helping students and workers meet education and training demands in the midst of constant innovation and increasingly tough competition for jobs. But there are still
those who cannot imagine the extent modern technology foretells for work and learning. They point to social media tools like FaceBook and Twitter and oddly-named collaboration tools like wikis and blogs and wonder about, if not challenge, their relevance in today’s talent landscape.
The Web Helps People Help Themselves and Each Other
Yet 85% of college students use FaceBook – 3.85 million users. Of these, 60% log in every day, 85% at least once per week, and 93% at least once per month. These figures will pale with recent new accessibility for high schoolers. And while much of the usage is social, it also includes tracking and collaborating homework assignments, arranging study groups, and more. Adults are also heavy internet users: According to the Pew Internet and American Life project, over 1/3 of adults have participated on online social networking, and 69% of all Americans have used the internet to cope with the recession, including finding jobs and ways to upgrade their skills. (This includes using social networks to land employment, an increasing phenomenon in today’s economic climate.)
It’s Not About The Tools Alone, But the Tools Accelerate Broader Social Change
The truth is, like the Commodor 64 and Atari, some – if not all – of these social networking and collaborative platforms are likely to be replaced by more powerful, agile, and ubiquitous versions themselves. But their legacy will remain, meeting demand for transparency, collaboration, and the ability to teach and learn any time, any place, on any subject imaginable, at increasing speed and diminishing cost to the end beneficiary.
We’re Only At the Beginning
There likely will always be a place for traditional work and learning systems, but not without integration of online tools, resources, and even social networking platforms that add to the richness of the educational experience through easier-maintained relationships with educators and peers. The future of work and learning is today, it includes online tools, content, and networks, and there is no going back.
Lisa Baragar Katz
@katz_lisa