I consider my second-to-last blog post (the one here) to be directly connected to my final project. An addendum? A coda? They certainly came from the same place, although I went in a slightly different direction for this.

I can’t post my whole final here. Some of it just isn’t post-able, although I would love to share it if there is a way. The section written in Microsoft Word that were easily transferable here. Two parts were made in Pages and I don’t know how to post them. (Or send to Professor Ugoretz, which I’m having a fantastic time trying to figure out!)
Never mind! The last parts of my project are attached at the bottom as .pdf’s!

Oh, and this is totally a utopic vision of the future of education. I briefly flirted with the idea of a dystopic SF view (the government force feeds us information in our sleep!) but I like to think we’ll get better as time goes on, not worse.
_________

Excerpts from the Keynote Speech by Professor Vance given at the Educational Conference of 2218.
“The Development of the Higher Education System in 2048”
(simultaneous translation available by request)

Technological changes

“….to discuss our modern concept of education, one would have to not only look at the latest in technological developments, but would have to look back to the days when technology finally asserted itself as the essential lynchpin of the education model…”

“…cheaper technologies were becoming far more powerful for the average user. By 2010, a student could theoretically take notes on his or her cell phone, without using a more expensive laptop. This use was looked down upon at the time, but it was still possible. As cell phones became increasingly usable as computing systems, lightweight keyboards were designed to wirelessly connect with various cell phone types through Bluetooth. Eventually, tablets became popular options for students, who could use them to take notes and create digital reports and projects. Computer labs in schools became places to not only utilize the schools computers, but to check out tablets, keyboards and other tools a student might need. The basic arsenal of any student by 2048 would include a cell phone or a tablet with a portable keyboard and an external hard drive for backing up files. They were able to plug any of these tools into the more powerful school computers in between classes for anything that these tools could not handle on their own…”

“Over the early 21st century, internet access spread to the vast majority of homes in the United States. By federal mandate, by 2040, every area of human activity, no matter how remote, needed to have an affordable way to access the internet, and satellite hookups began to be built by various government bodies. States began to implement better technologies for public-use computers in libraries and on public college campuses, to insure that no individual was without access. The cell network, however, was the way most individuals accessed the web informally, as the 5G network slowly encompassed the whole country. Everyone was able to get online, as the United States government worked to ensure that a minimum level of technological access was standardized across the country…”

“At the time, there was a significant segment of teachers who worried about potential distractions in the classroom, as students were able to access the internet while taking notes. Technology began to develop to make small network-free zones, where a student could not search the internet, chat or make phone calls. Classrooms were fitted with the technology, and debates began to rage as some teacher and students protested that restricting access to the educational aspects of the internet in a classroom was counterproductive, as a student might wish to further research a point make by a teacher, or might want to find ways to back up a claim before challenging a teacher in the classroom. Some schools began putting heavy firewalls in classrooms, to try and restrict internet access during class time. Some teachers required that all students hook up to a special classroom network that would allow the teacher to see what was happening on any screen in the classroom at a given time, to at least ensure that any browsing a student may do is at least class-relevant. Debates still raged concerning privacy and others issues, but students developed ways to fool the systems, and teachers made their own choices in terms of their classes…”

Changes in Perceptions of Education and Shared Knowledge

“…it had always been possible for students to learn on their own, but with access to the internet spreading, it became possible for students to become far more experienced in certain fields without ever utilizing a classroom. A student could theoretically purchase a digital photo editing program – or even download it illegally, which was a rising trend in the early 21st century – and simply learn how to use it by following guides on the internet, asking questions in the right forums and practicing daily. Suddenly, that individual could be a graphic designer. The same could be said for any number of fields, wherein any individual could obtain the necessary programs and tools, and begin to learn on their own. A historian could begin by simply lurking in a forum discussing bomber specifications of World War II. A filmmaker could use their photo camera to take amateur videos and digitally edit them, and buy more expensive equipment as they feel like it. A political activist could begin by creating a blog to comment on the local problems in his or her own town…”

“…at the same time, the need for proof of education was a growing problem. High school was increasingly seen as not enough to truly prepare an individual for a high-paying workplace. More and more students were attending college, or aiming to attend college, and the system was struggling to remain accessible, and viable, without being overburdened…”

Access to Higher Education

“….as more students began to attend college, steps were finally taken by the federal government in 2030 to ensure any student in the United States who wanted an education would be able to have one regardless of talent or financial burden. It was the United States finally taking that last step that worked to overhaul many other systems, because if the U.S. system was as accessible as all other countries, which had been subsidized for years, than all countries needed to upgrade their educational systems to height of technological possibility. As the educational systems world-wide began to improve at the same time, a certain amount of global standardization was formed, allowing students to have their credentials acknowledged internationally… ”

“…eventually it became easy for students to take classes at college without even attending the college as a student. They would simply take classes they felt were relevant, and add them to their resume to show expertise in a field. Employers were able to require specific levels of expertise in different areas that a student could claim, even without a degree, or with a degree in a different field. Keep in mind, however, that this did not solve the issue of self-taught students, who were experts, and simply had not taken the classes. Many of those students wouldn’t want to take the classes, necessarily, because it was a waste of time and money…”

The Modern Classroom of 2048

“As the demand for education increased, and resources grew tighter, colleges began experimenting with online classes more and more. Some teachers would only offer online components to classes, other would have Internet segments that became entirely mandatory for students, and some classes moved entirely online. Standard, in-classroom classes began to include forums and private messaging systems for students to connect outside of the classroom. As classes moves online, it became obvious that restrictions like limited space were no longer problems, and class sizes began to grow.
The biggest change was the idea of college networks. When colleges began offering online classes to students in other institutions, colleges began to form networks, groups of colleges that simply cross-posted all of their internet-accessible classes. Any class that could be offered online was offered online, and students could choose classes off of their home campus. internet-based classes became favorites for individuals who weren’t students, but were interested in taking classes without the time commitment. They would pay a fee and be put on the roster without a college listed. The colleges in the networks would split certain fees, such as paying the teachers, web hosting and other necessary expenditures, making internet-accessible classes much cheaper for each college overall.
So class options, you have to understand, exploded. All of a sudden, the boring mandatory classes could be a shared burden among multiple colleges. And those interesting classes, where a professor will focus on his or her area of expertise and delve into those small, fascinating details…well, those classes are suddenly much more possible. Because each college may only be able to produce a handful of students a semester who are interested in the recreation sports of ancient Mesopotamia, but together they could probably supply enough students to make it a worthwhile venture.

And say a student from outside the network is writing his senior thesis on the Mesopotamian justice system, and he feels that the recreational activities reflect on the value of justice for the system as a whole, but he’s at a college outside of the network. No problem! Internal semester exchanges can be set up for a single class, at a price. It’s still far cheaper than travelling to the college itself, and it’s slightly more difficult, but that poor senior will get to add a whole section to his thesis.

You must keep in mind that these classes provide far greater benefits than just the classes. Passionate professors can often motivate students, and what makes a professor more passionate than their chosen field? So classes became offered that were more interesting to both professor and student. In these classes, professors were able to teach students how to utilize tools outside the classroom in a much more productive way. For a student taking a class in a general topic, sources are easily available to cobble together a basic final paper. But when the class has a very limited topic, students must know how to utilize the internet, libraries, and other sources of information to produce work for the class. Students were gaining practical experience, simply by being in these classes….”

“It eventually became acknowledged, that too many students were simply impossible for a professor to handle alone. Classes were constantly growing in size, but professors were struggling to keep track of each student. So the Teaching Assistants, or TAs began to fill the gap. As TAs became more important, their role began to change slightly. Each T.A. was required to take at least two classes on how to teach, to ensure that they were equipped to handle the students who would depend on them in large classes. Second, TAs had to apply to the position and be approved by the professor. Most professors would require that their TAs are able to maintain high scores on tests in the subject at hand, and most professors chose to interview their TAs personally.

As college networks became more popular, TAs began to work at their home campuses for professors in other campuses. TAs would take on different amounts of work depending on the professor. Students would depend on their TAs to be an on campus help for many of their different off-campus classes.

TAs were generally paid, but were not given very high salaries on the undergraduate level. But the TAs came to fill an important gap in the educational system. Recall that many individuals at this time were becoming proficient in different fields on their own for the first time. It was very slowly becoming acknowledged that a student might be perfectly capable in a field they might not have studied. But at this point there was no way to prove it to potential employers. Many students thusly began to TA in subjects they were comfortable in, but had never taken classes. If the student could pass the tests given by the professor to prove their level of knowledge, they would be allowed to TA in classes they had never taken. In turn, the students would be able to put down their TA experiences in their resume, thusly proving to potential employers their level of expertise in a field. This became a useful shorthand in the professional world to show different levels of experience in different fields. An applicant to a job might say, ‘I majored in fine arts, but I have expertise in international economics as shown by my ability to TA high-level economics classes offered by Harvard, Columbia and NYU.’ And due to the fact that TAs took a great deal of responsibility for their classes, this was an accepted way for them to show their knowledge…”

“I direct your attention to the example roster in your e-packets. I pulled this from the archives of Columbia University. Columbia was offering a popular class to the different network college, including Yale, Cooper Union, Rutgers University and Open University. Each network college had an assigned TA, and a cap based on the amount of students the TA could reasonably handle. The class allowed the most students on the home campus, because is seems that Professor Kowell felt more comfortable accepting more students, and in turn he had three on-campus TAs to assist the professor. Then there were students outside of the network who chose to take the class. They were assigned a TA from NYU, and they came from colleges in Canada, England, California and even from no college at all.

Networks at this time were still mostly grouped by geography, although that would slowly change over time. So the out-of-network students were seen at a disadvantage, especially as many classes in 2048 were synchronous. But these trends would change over time, to accommodate the more global view of different campuses…”

Addendum Links:

Advertisement for the iPad, the product that would lead an overhaul of the assumed minimum technological access a university student should have in the classroom daily.

Brief advertisement for the HP Slate, that challenged the iPad and worked to start a competition that would ultimately lead to cheaper tablets with higher memory counts at lower prices.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AeDalRBjyJo

An advertisement that reflected the growing acknowledgment that internet connection could produce a smarter population. It was the equivalent of having constant library access to every citizen.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ESMwyVxapck

Wikipedia was an early wiki database, open to editing by any person with internet access. Formal peer-reviewed wikis would not exist until 2018, when they were determined to be a suitable alternate to the more restrictive peer-reviewed journal system
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page

Conference Pamphlet:

AW – Conference Pamphlet Exerpt

Example Roster:

AW – Example Roster of 2048