I have to laugh when I think of the times I watched the television
program, "Flash Gordon," as he putted through outer space in his
make-believe space ship, talking on his make-believe wireless radio, and
dressed in his make-believe space suit. Well, I'm not laughing anymore.
Today we have shuttled astronauts into outer space, have men living in a
Space Station, have space suites that take your temperature and gauge
your heart rate, and wireless communication devices that send pictures
to Planet Earth. Far fetched from reality? Not anymore. As we speak, the
future is starring us in the face, waiting to see how we will promote
her in the next 5-10 years.
How
did science-fiction become reality over the past 50 years? Let's
consider one aspect of innovation: the learning environment - post
secondary education. Why post secondary education, you may ask? As post
secondary education population increases, programs to accommodate
students will develop into curriculum that affords students the freedom
to create and design systems they toy with on a daily basis. Are there
risks involved in this adaptation process? There are risks involved when
change occurs, and leadership should be aware of how to diplomatically
confront the risk areas that could slow down progress. Some of the risks
that could be encountered due to change are:
o Systems risks
o Subsystem risks
o People
o Financial/economic risks
o Societal/Cultural risks
If
communication between systems, subsystems, people, and cultures within
the organizational environment has established a strong communication
system, risks factors will be at a minimum as long as the creative teams
are honest and upfront about their reservations to change.
Let's
look into the future through 'futureoculers' and see how the universe of
learning can be brought into the present. I want to introduce to you
five (5) key trends that I believe affect the current learning
environment, can create change, and renovate the perspective of learners
and educators for students of the future. These trends could be the key
in creating a new perspective in post secondary education for an
institution. The key trends are:
o Competitive classroom learning environments - campus on-site/online/distant
o Increase in technological tools
o Teaching/learning environments-more hands on
o Global expansion capability-internal and external
o Student input in the creative learning process
Navigational Systems
Before
the five (5) key trends are defined, there needs to be an
acknowledgement of how the trends will be supported and regulated
through a changing environment. According to de Kluyver, and Pearce, II,
having the right systems and processes/subsystems enhances
organizational effectiveness and facilitates coping with change.
Misaligned systems and processes can be a powerful drag on an
organization's ability to adapt. Therefore, check what effect, if any,
current systems and processes are likely to have on a company's ability
to implement a particular strategy is well advised. Support systems such
as a company's planning, budgeting, accounting, information and reward
and incentive systems can be critical to successful strategy
implementation. Although they do not by themselves define a sustainable
competitive advantage, superior support systems help a company adapt
more quickly and effectively to changing requirements. A well-designed
planning system ensures that planning is an orderly process, gets the
right amount of attention by the right executives, and has a balanced
external and internal focus. Budgeting and accounting systems are
valuable in providing accurate historical data, setting benchmarks and
targets, and defining measures of performance. A state-of-the-art
information system supports all other corporate systems, and it
facilitates analysis as well as internal and external communications.
Finally, a properly designed reward and incentive system is key to
creating energy through motivation and commitment. A process (or
subsystem) is a systematic way of doing things. Processes can be formal
or informal; they define organization roles and relationships, and they
can facilitate or obstruct change. Some processes or subsystems look
beyond immediate issues of implementation to an explicit focus on
developing a stronger capacity for adapting to change.
Processes/subsystems aimed at creating a learning organization and at
fostering continuous improvement are good examples. As an example,
processes or subsystems are functional and maintain the operation of the
system; the system may be Student Services and the subsystem may be the
Financial Aid office or Admissions. Subsystems can be more in depth in
relation to office operations, which involves employee positions and
their culture; financial advisors, academic advisors, guidance
counselors. These operations are functions performed on the human level
and could have a positive or negative impact in the development of key
trends. If employees are valued and rewarded for their dedication and
service, the outcome will be responsible, committed employees for the
success of their subsystem.
The Navigator
Every
navigator needs a map, a plan, a driver to give direction to for a
successful trip. In this case, the driver is several elements:
o Service integrity, reputation
o Affordability with an open door concept
Hughes
and Beatty relate drivers as Strategic drivers; those relatively few
determinants of sustainable competitive advantage for a particular
organization in a particular industry or competitive environment (also
called factors of competitive success, key success factors, key value
propositions). The reason for identifying a relatively small number of
strategic drivers for an organization is primarily to ensure that people
become focused about what pattern of inherently limited investments
will give the greatest strategic leverage and competitive advantage.
Drivers can change over time, or the relative emphasis on those drivers
can change, as an organization satisfies its key driver. In the case of
post secondary education, drivers help measure success rates in the area
of course completion ratio, student retention, and transfer acceptance
into a university and/or the successful employment of students. Because
change is so rampant in education, it is wise for leadership to
anticipate change and develop a spirit of foresight to keep up with
global trends.
Drivers can help identify the integrity of internal
and external functions of systems and subsystems, as mentioned
previously, by identifying entity types that feed the drivers' success.
They are:
o Clientele Industry - external Market - feeder high schools, cultural and socio-economic demographic and geographic populations
- Competitors - local and online educational systems
- Nature of Industry - promote a learning community
- Governmental influences - licensed curriculum programs supported by local, state, and federal funds
- Economic and social influences - job market, employers, outreach programs
o College Planning and Environment - internal
- Capacity - Open door environment
- Products and services - high demand curriculum programs that meet, local, state, and federal high demand employment needs
- Market position - Promote on and off-campus activities that attract clientele
- Customers - traditional and non-traditional credit and non-credit students
- Systems, processes, and structures - trained staff and state-of-the art technical systems
- Leadership - integrity-driven, compassionate leadership teams
- Organizational culture - promote on-campus activities promoting a proactive environment for students
According
to Hughes and Beatty, these functions can assimilate into the Vision,
Mission, and Values statements to define the key strategic drivers for
developing successful environments.
Navigating Towards a Destination
With
the recognition of systems, subsystems, and drivers, we can see our
destination in the distance and their value in building a foundation to
support the five key trends. The five (5) key trends will help define
strategic thinking in a global perspective; the understanding of
futuristic thinking that encompasses: risk taking, imagination,
creativity, communication among leadership, and a perspective of how the
future can fit into today's agenda. The five (5) key trends are:
1. Competitive Classroom Learning Environments - campus on-site/online/distant
One
of the major attractions in education today is to accommodate a student
at every level: academically, financially, and socially. These three
environments are the mainstream of why one school is selected over
another school. Today there is a change in tide. Students who once
competed for seats in post secondary schools are becoming a valued asset
as post secondary schools compete between each other for students. High
schools are no longer the only feeder into colleges. Today, students
are coming from home schools, career schools, charter schools, high risk
schools, private schools, religious schools, work environments, and ATB
tested environments. So, how can the educational system attract
students and keep them motivated in an interactive learning environment
they can grow in? Wacker and Taylor writes that the story of every great
enterprise begins with the delivery of a promise, and every product a
great enterprise makes is nothing but an artifact of the truth of that
promise. So what great enterprise can be created to attract new
students? By creating learning/teaching environments, post secondary
schools can prepare students to meet the demands of everyday life and
their life in the community. Schools can consider incorporating a
learning model to enable professors and/or community
leaders/entrepreneurs to team teach in the classroom/online environment.
Team Teaching will contribute valuable views into the learning
environment, as well as, give students the working community's real-time
perspective. In an excerpt from "The University at the Millennium: The
Glion Declaration" (1998) quoted by Frank H.T. Rhodes, President
Emeritus of Cornell University, for the Louisiana State Board of Regents
report, Dr. Rhodes wrote that universities are learning communities,
created and supported because of the need of students to learn, the
benefit to scholars of intellectual community, and the importance to
society of new knowledge, educated leaders, informed citizens, expert
professional skills and training, and individual certification and
accreditation. Those functions remain distinctive, essential
contributions to society; they form the basis of an unwritten social
compact, by which, in exchange for the effective and responsible
provision of those services, the public supports the university,
contributes to its finance, accepts its professional judgment and
scholarly certification, and grants it a unique degree of institutional
autonomy and scholarly freedom. To experience education is learning, to
exercise knowledge is freedom, and to combine them is wisdom.
2. Teaching/learning environments-more hands on
As
post secondary educators relinquish hands-on-chalk-board teaching
styles and establish group teaching models, students will develop a
greater understanding of the theme of the class environment as well as
the professor in developing an understanding of the class cultures'
stance in learning. Educators are discovering that inclusive learning
styles are revamping the teaching model and becoming a positive
influence in retention, better grades, camaraderie among students, and a
greater respect for the professor. As professors learn to develop
relationships with students, interaction will transpire, lecturing will
be condensed into a time frame and interactive learning between students
and professor will enhance the classroom environment.
3. Global expansion capability-internal and external
Students
are surrounded by virtual global environments or are impacted by global
elements: the clothes they wear are made overseas, the games they play
on their electronic toys are created overseas, the war games they play
are created to identify with global war games, etc. The only draw back
to this scenario is a truly global learning experience. What they are
seeing is not what they are getting; a real time global experience.
James Morrison writes that in order to meet unprecedented demand for
access, colleges and universities need to expand their use of IT tools
via online learning, which will enable them to teach more students
without building more classrooms. Moreover, in order for professors to
prepare their pupils for success in the global economy, they need to
ensure that students can access, analyze, process, and communicate
information; use information technology tools; work with people from
different cultural backgrounds; and engage in continuous, self-directed
learning. Christopher Hayter writes that post secondary schools need to
be 'Globally Focused' for the 21st century that includes a global
marketplace and be internationally focused. This means ensuring that
skills needed to compete in a global marketplace are taught and that the
mastery of such skills by students is internationally benchmarked. It
may also mean a new emphasis on learning languages and understanding
other cultures and the business practices of other countries.
More
and more businesses are expanding into the global marketplace, opening
corporate offices in foreign countries and hiring and training employees
from those countries. Are our college graduates being trained to
assimilate into cultures and work side-by-side with employees who may
not be able to relate to them? Developing curriculums accommodating
social and cultural entities will propel a student into higher realms of
learning and create change in the individual student as well as support
their career for their future.
4. Student input in the creative learning process
Professors
are the gatekeepers in education. However, as Baby Boomer Professors
begin to exit the educational workforce and head down the path of
retirement, younger generation professors will take their place bringing
with them innovative teaching methods that can expand the learning
process. Are post secondary educators equipped to prepare for the
onslaught of younger generation educators needed to be trained for this
mega shift in the workforce? Most important, will those professors
caught between Boomers and Xer's be willing to adapt to change in the
education industry to accommodate incoming generations? I believe
younger generations will impact even the technological industry and
challenge change that will equip them for their future. Previous
generation students slowly adapted to technological advances. The good
news is change can occur, and educators can utilize life experiences
from students familiar with technology tools and create fascinating
learning environments.
5. Increase in Technological tools
In
an Executive Summary written for the National Governors Association in a
report called "Innovation America - A Compact for Post Secondary
Education," the report reads that while post secondary education in the
United States has already achieved key successes in the innovation
economy, the public post secondary education system overall risks
falling behind its counterparts in many other nations around the
world-places where there have been massive efforts to link post
secondary education to the specific innovation needs of industries and
regions. According to this report, American post secondary education is
losing ground in the race to produce innovative and imaginative realms
in education. Can this trend be counteracted? With the cooperation of
post secondary educational institutions within each community,
leadership can create co-op learning environments that can be supported
through e-learning and online teaching that can provide virtual reality
technology to enhance real-time learning environments. Through Business
Development operations currently established in post secondary
institutions, a shared technology program can be created that will
afford students access to ongoing virtual business environment settings
and prepare students with knowledge and insight into a specific
industry. As students prepare to transfer, graduate, or seek employment
after completing a certification program, virtual experience in the job
market can help a student assimilate education and work experience to
their advantage. This concept could challenge Human Resource departments
to create new mandates in accepting virtual-experienced college
graduates as they enter the workforce.
Reaching the Destination
As
Flash Gordan lands his Spacecraft on unclaimed territory, you imagine
yourself slowly turning the handle to the spaceship with your spaceship
gloves, opening the door with explosive anticipation. Your heart racing,
sweat running down your brow, and your eyes at half mask waiting to see
a new world; a world filled with beauty and potential when suddenly,
the television shuts off and your Mom is standing in front of you
telling you to get up and go clean your room and stop daydreaming! Ah,
Mom, you say to yourself, you just destroyed my imaginary planet! Oh, by
the way, did I mention that this was you as a child growing up and
using your imagination?
Now that I've created a visual world of
potential for you can you see the power within to see the future from
the present and help others visualize the potential benefits of change
in their lives and the lives of others in an organization? T. Irene
Sanders states that thinking in pictures helps us link our intuitive
sense of events in the world with our intellectual understanding. Now,
more than ever, we need to integrate the techniques of imagination and
the skill of intuition with our analytic competencies to help us see and
understand the complexities that vex us daily. Visualization is the key
to insight and foresight-and the next revolution in strategic thinking
and planning.
Can you SEE the systems, subsystems, drivers, and
the five (5) trends with a visual perspective in a post secondary
educational environment? This is the nature of Strategic Thinking, which
can or is taking place in your organization; a cognitive process
required for the collection, interpretation, generation, and evaluation
of information and ideas that shape an organization's sustainable
competitive advantage. The need to stay abreast of progress, technology,
and global opportunities will be the change in drivers that will
validate the creative elements needed to stay attuned in a global
perspective. The author's intention of introducing Flash Gordan into the
paper was to create a visual image and demonstrate imagination
fulfillment to a present day reality. Is there anything out there that
cannot be done if it is fine tuned and prepared for a service of
excellence? What are the risks involved by not exercising strategic
thinking in the elements mentioned in this article?
Education is
not about the present it's about the future. The five (5) trends are
only a beginning adventure into an unknown space. Do you remember when
you were in college and wished things were done differently, be more
exciting, more adventurous? Consider the age groups becoming proficient
in technology. Will post secondary educators be prepared to
teach/instruct future students? Educators must invite strategic thinking
into the system and take the risks needed to build post secondary
education back into the global futuristic race of achievement. In an
article written by Arthur Hauptman entitled "Strategies for Improving
Student Success in Post secondary Education" (07), he concluded his
report listing four elements:
1. While there is a growing
rhetorical commitment to student success, the reality is that policies
often do not mirror the rhetoric. Whether intentional or not, policies
in many states are at best benign and often antithetical to improving
student success.
2. Policy focus in most states has been to lower
tuitions or the provision of student financial aid. This ignores the
importance of ensuring adequate supply of seats to accommodate all
students as well as providing a proper set of incentives that encourage
institutions to recruit, enroll, and graduate the students who are most
at-risk.
3. Some progress has been made in developing contemporary
practices that have great potential for providing the right incentives
in place of redress this traditional imbalance. But much more needs to
be done in this regard.
4. Efforts to create incentives for
students to be better prepared and for institutions to enroll and
graduate more at-risk students have the potential for greatly improving
rates of retention and degree completion.
