What will Community College be Like in 100 Years?
The system of education in college was roughly the same for last 100 years: students listened to lectures, did exercises, wrote papers, took tests, got grades, graduated and found a job. However, nowadays the number of educated people grows, but the number of those, who can find the job is getting smaller. Students of high school start asking the question whether they need go to college at all?
Richard Miller, president of Olin College of Engineering says that charging people lots of money for the teaching of skills, which they could learn from the Internet, is probably not the best financial model. He claims that knowledge is now a commodity. It’s really easy to get free of charge, so who’s gonna pay you for that? Thus, we are on the way of changes.
So What is Going to Change?
Experts say that lecture halls in colleges and universities will be closed, the number of professors will reduce, while the importance of technologies will grow significantly. Probably, there will be less educational institutions, than there is now, but education itself will be more effective and innovative.
Focus on Job-related Skills
Nowadays, the intelligence of average college student and his or her academic performance is measured by the number of credits, attended lectures, taken a test etc. However, employers complain that graduates do not know how to use knowledge, gained at college, during their work. They lack good communication skills, have no idea how to negotiate and lead a meeting, and as a result cannot solve problems on their jobs.
Thus, future student education will shift to meet the expectations of employers. It will be more concerned with gained experience, that on formal results. Thus, students will take courses that give skills that can be applied in working process, and they will get the grade only after mastering of a certain set of skills. Most probably, companies will pay for tuition fees of a particular student for him to get trained for a certain position.
A Hybrid Degree with Combination Learning Ways
“A university is just a group of buildings gathered around a library.” – said Shelby Foote. Thus, distant learning is getting more and more popular. However, it will not replace a campus based one completely, but students will not take full-time studies. Why? People can find the majority of courses online and master them faster and effectively than at college or university. However, students want to share their thought and ideas, as well as gain practical skills for theoretical knowledge, and they will come to an educational institution for that purpose. Thus, experts claim that a combination of online and campus learning is a future of educations.
Majors will be More General
It is not a secret that employers do not pay much attention to major of candidates, as they are more interested in their experience and skills. Statistics tells that 93 % of companies are more concerned with critical thinking, ability to solve problems and cope with stressful situations and communication skills. Thus, both community college and private one will teach more general disciplines. As a result, the major will change in its nature: from narrow to broad one.
There will be No Lectures
The role of the lecturer is getting less important, and it will be of no use in the future. The student does not need somebody to stand in the center of the lecture hall and tell things that they could read or listen to on their PC. Classes will be all about the practice. Undergraduates will be divided into small groups, they will discuss issues solve problems, and the professor’s role will be more of a guide than a lecturer. Such a system will be more useful for students, and the desire to attend classes will be higher than it is now.
As a result of such changes, small institutions will shut down due to smaller demand in comparison to the proposition. However, the value of universities will be high and most of them will be preserved due to their role in research.
