A Futurist’s View of Higher Education: How Social Media

is Pushing Higher Ed into Identity Crisis

Sarah “Intellagirl” Robbins-BellEduCommJune 2008

Education is nearing a crisis

UWhat does

higher education provide?

What does social media

provide?

Membership in intellectual and social

affinity groups

UMembership in

intellectual and social

affinity groups

Access to resources and

experts

UAccess to

resources and experts

Engaging in intellectual discussions

UEngaging in intellectual discussions

Accumulate and develop skills for

employment

UAccumulate and develop skills for

employment

Association with professional community

UAssociation with

professional community

Establish social and professional

network

UEstablish social

and professional

network

Enhance personal and professional reputation

UEnhance

personal and professional reputation

Share enthusiasm for

common interests

UShare

enthusiasm for common interests

Build Skills

U

Build Skills

Official endorsement of completion via

diploma

UEvidence of

work completed and place in community

Guidance through experiences and

thought processes

USelf-directed exploration of

ideas, discussions, and

sources

$

U12

6

39

Priority set by Institution

U

Priortiy set by Individual

Rigid

U

Flexible

Shirky, Clay. Here Comes Everybody. NY: Penguin. 2008.

The Promise

The Tool

The Bargain

The Promise

U

The Tool

U

The Bargain

UDo the work to OUR standards and we’ll

share our credentials/reputation

with you

The Promise

Everything/everyoneyou ever wanted

to knowis available

The Tool (s)

dialogic media

blogs

wikis

participatory

social networks

folksonomy

audio

video

mobile

RSS

remixAPI

convergencereputation

community

socialhypertextual

semantic

discovery

trust

hypermediated

augmented

identity

The BargainParticipation

Return

U

U

U

Monologic communication doesn’t allow for

community, exchange of ideas

Dialogic communication remediates the lack of

community in old models. Offers new ways to learn without the communities

and structures created by institutions.

Education is Communication

Many of the benefits of institutional learning

can now be accomplished via

social media.

What is the educator’s role in a world where the

production and consumption of

information has been democratized,

amateurized, and distributed?

?

Educators are no

longer the GATEKEEPERS

of knowledge

The New Role of Educators

Teaching students how to

learn in an information

economy

Serving as guides as students

shape their own paths

Providing students with access to professional networks

Providing students with access to professional networks

Modeling Life-Long learning practices

Modeling Life-Long learning practices

Relating as more

experienced community members

rather than employers

Relating as more

experienced community members

rather than employers

Relating as more

experienced community members

rather than employers

Sarah “Intellagirl” Robbins

SL: Intellagirl TullyEmail: intellagirl@gmail.com

Web: intellagirl.comSkype, Yahoo, AIM, Gchat: Intellagirl