Teaching is different in a digital age. I am convinced.
And discovering how it is different is always exciting. It is one of the joys of being an educator.
Take last week.
Over
the past few years, I have spent the first weeks of the year teaching
an intensive course at the University of St. Thomas in Minneapolis/St.
Paul.
This year’s course is on how the digital world is changing the way we live, work and do business.
The course covers four topics:
- The ‘platform’ economy.
- The on-going technological revolution (AI, the Internet of Things and robotics).
- Blockchain and smart contracts (including crypto-currencies and ICOs).
- Data-analytics and storytelling.
The
goal is to help students understand the opportunities and challenges of
a digital age. It is important that the next generation understands
that our digital world cannot be understood with traditional models.
Doing so leads to misunderstanding, confusion or worse.
There
is a lot more to say about the actual content of the course and I will
do so in future posts. But what has been particularly interesting this
year is how a simple change in the approach to teaching helped clarify how education can play a valuable role in inventing the future.
A New In-Class Experience
In
the past, it always made sense to start my courses with the latest
technological trends and developments. In the first classes, we dived
into several different technologies. This way of teaching had always
been interactive with lots of discussion.
But this year, we tried something different.
Rather
than begin by introducing the technology, I instead started with some
“personal stories”. I explained the real-world challenges that I face in
my daily life as a business executive. I explained the impact of new
technologies on my work in a large corporation. I gave examples of some
of the problems we face integrating technologies into existing ways of
working.
The
result was to trigger immediate discussion amongst all participants. A
mixture of questions, solutions, criticisms and proposals. Everybody was
involved. The energy in the room was tremendous.
In short: we were creating something.
We were searching for solutions to the problems of today and in doing so we were working to invent models for a better future.
It
was this sense of shared creativity that made it such an unforgettable
experience. Something magical was happening in the room.
This
might all sound a little over-dramatic, but I really felt that we were
engaged in building a better world. We were thinking “out of the box”,
sharing and learning. And we were doing this together, as a group.
There are several reasons why I think this approach worked
For a start, young people don’t want or need the technologies explained to them in detail. They don’t need the “facts”.
For
instance, the group already knew about blockchain and — if not — they
can get up to speed very quickly. Transmitting facts about technology
(or anything else, for that matter) is not where education can add real
value in a digital age where the facts are so readily available. Rather,
we need to focus on how the technology can be deployed and what that
means for our future.
Moreover,
classrooms are increasing diverse places. The advantage of a group with
different backgrounds, either in terms of nationality or prior
experience (e.g. communications, technology, law, marketing, air traffic
control) is that everyone can bring their own unique perspective that
adds something to the discussion.
Of
course, the risk with an open-ended and multi-disciplinary discussion
of this kind is that it isn’t always easy to direct or control. And
although we did stray off topic, it never became chaotic or irrelevant.
And, it is true, that some of the solutions we came up with, even though
they looked brilliant at first sight, already existed or could easily
be shown to make no sense at all.
But
for me, this is all just part of the process of co-creation in an
uncertain world. We need to have this experience of “trial and error” in
order to arrive at the best solution.
What matters is the process of building-reviewing-criticizing-iterating.
And this must be done in a safe space that is open, inclusive and respectful.
The
whole experience reinforced my belief that in-class problem-solving is
the future of education. Particularly in a fast-changing networked world
characterized by constant technological disruption.
Why the In-Class Experience Matters in Designing the Future
There are several reasons why this observation is important. Here are three.
#1 — Face-to-Face Interaction
Recently,
we see a trend towards “distance learning” and “online teaching”, and
there is a lot of pressure inside universities to develop these new
educational models. This is hardly surprising, given the educational
possibilities that network technologies are creating. And, no doubt,
such trends are important, particularly when they contribute to
educational inclusion.
Nevertheless,
in-class “teaching” must never disappear. Sure, in many cases, it may
need disrupting. But, in a digital age, where teamwork and the open
exchange of ideas have become more important than ever, we have to
preserve such a learning environment and the unique experience that it
offers.
#2 — Freedom & Flexibility
Schools
and universities have always been places where we can discuss things in
a more flexible and less stringent setting. But such safe spaces become
even more important in a digital age. Individual educators and
educational institutions all need to recognize the value of providing
places where people can work, learn and create together.
Education needs to create opportunities that allows this kind of interaction to happen.
After all, we all
have to study new technologies in order to become smarter. Not only to
better identify, manage and mitigate potential risks, but also to take
full advantage of the tremendous opportunities that new technologies
offer across all fields of social life.
That
might all sound obvious. But anyone who is familiar with educational
institutions will know how there are many managerial
pressures — accreditation, for instance — that can easily reduce freedom
and flexibility in the classroom.
#3 — Responsibility & Ownership
My
own feeling is that in recent decades university education, in
particular, has become increasingly “irrelevant” for students. Potential
employers feel that graduates have learned little that is useful for
the realities of work today. Many professors even seem to share this
sense that what they do no longer really matters.
In-class
problem-solving of the kind described here can provide one way of
making the educational experience more productive and relevant for all
stakeholders.
The
students in Minneapolis/St Paul certainly invested in the process and
felt ownership over what they had created. The solutions were meaningful
to them, both for their assignment, but also — more importantly — their
futures.
What’s Next?
I
know the experience felt more valuable for me. I feel I learnt more as
well, and I will incorporate what I learnt the next time that I teach.
And,
perhaps most importantly, I also believe that this approach is more
relevant for potential employers and society in general.
If
you work on technology directly, it makes sense to focus relentlessly
on developing that technology. Think of this as invention.
But
for those of us working in business or other professions, the real
issue is how to integrate disruptive technologies into existing patterns
of working. It is about understanding the meaning of technology and
then designing or creating a better future built around that technology.
This is the daily reality of working in a world characterized by profound technological change.
Re-creating this experience is where the real value of education now lies.
