LGNHow do we measure teacher performance? What could education look like in five years? How can we support teachers to deliver better instruction?
Today, the New York Times Schools for Tomorrow conference is addressing these questions. Of this problem, Bill Gates gave his two cents in 2010: “Five years from now on the web for free you’ll be able to find the best lectures in the world. It will be better than any single university.” With the rise of massive open online courses and educational platforms like Khan Academy, it’s at least clear that these new, emergent education models are capturing the public’s imagination.
But what’s happening in the institutions that are meant to educate? Ann Kirschner, university dean of William E. Macaulay Honors College at the City University of New York, foresees “a future where competency-based credentials may someday compete with a degree”:
At this point, if you are affiliated with an Ivy League institution, you’ll be tempted to guffaw, harrumph, and otherwise dismiss the idea that anyone would ever abandon your institution for such ridiculous new pathways to learning. You’re probably right. Most institutions are not so lucky. How long will it take for change to affect higher education in major ways? Just my crystal ball, but I would expect that institutions without significant endowments will be forced to change by 2020. By 2025, the places left untouched will be few and far between.
Hear educators, entrepreneurs, and other experts duke it out on the livestream: