In a recent paper* we describe three education scenarios and ask youth to respond to them. Positioned in 2033, these futures represent three distinct possibilities for what education could look like in a decade. I’m curious what others think about them, and I’ll post one per day here, as my “back to school return to reviving this blog.” What are your reactions, thoughts, and feelings to this one? I’d love to know!
Future 3: The year is 2033. Public universities and colleges around the world struggle to stay open due to sharp declines in enrolments and continuing social and economic instability. Many schools close, and those that remain become increasingly unaffordable. Students that pursue higher education usually come from wealthy families. However, a variety of companies emerge to fill gaps. These companies offer short courses that help people develop work skills, such as how to use different kinds of software and how to analyze data. Some of the teachers in these companies are individuals who found success in their industries and are well-known chefs, international authors, famous engineers, and business executives of all kinds, for example. They have huge social media followings and are celebrity instructors. These companies do not provide any kind of financial aid, and access to their courses usually comes with strings attached, such as contracts to do temp work for the company.
This scenario describes a situation in which traditional universities are rare and inaccessible for most and the “social media university” emerges to fill the gap. It anticipates a future in which technology companies, particularly social media companies, further commodify education according to neoliberal logics. This style of university is a platform-based form of digital higher education in which celebrity experts and influencers occupy the role of educator as a function of their social media followings and professional prestige. Without financial support, learners/users exchange labor for skills development, while wealthy students continue to attend more conventional institutions to pursue their interests. The notion of a social media university reflects the interest of education technology startups which feature online education experiences offered by celebrities and influencers, as we examined in this paper.
* published in the the inaugural issue of the Journal of Open, Distance, and Digital education (see a review by Tony Bates).
Derek
Thanks George. I can see how this scenario might be true for much of the global north. Climate change, a declining birth rate and ecomomic instability high fees etc have made it hard for public colleges to stay open. Technologies have transformed publishing, news and finance and now are disrupting higher education. OPM’s have become normalized. I’m not sure that’s entirely true for my part of the world. Here more universities are being established (both public and private). OPM’s do play a part in the provision, but I am also seeing some push back. Many people in the majority world are questioning coloniality and using networked media like Wikipedia, Facebook or messaging platforms like WhatsApp, to do so. These platforms are ubiquitous, access is cheap and these platforms serve multiple functions. Yes, these some social media is packed with academic celebrities and OPM recruiters and vulnerable are sometimes conned. But there is also pushback, and I’ve found a few very interesting windows into those who are challenging the system that was set up by the colonisers, and have the agency to subvert the technology for their purposes. You might enjoy this paper on African Futures? By Morgan Ndlovu https://doi.org/10.5070/F7402040944 (HT Michael Gallagher via WhatsApp)
George Veletsianos
Thanks, Derek. I don’t know whether this scenario might or might not be true, especially in diverse contexts. The scenarios were used as prompts. They are not intended to be predictive or speak to diverse contexts, since the audience was youth in the US and Canada. It’s interesting that you thoughts of OPMs when you read this, because we were alluding to online course providers such as Section4, Maven, Disco, and platforms that offer spaces for individuals to offer course products like Thinkific, Teachable, Kajabi, and MightyNetworks. Thanks for the link to that paper!