At Arizona State University, you will be hard-pressed to find a group or department discussing education without simultaneously discussing scale. If we are reaching one hundred learners with a product or course offering, can we reach 200? What about 500? At EdPlus, the division which houses Education for Humanity, scale is deeply embedded in our DNA.
Energized about conversations regarding the role of the public university, I find myself reflecting on the role of institutions of higher education more broadly, and commitments to postsecondary access, diversity, and inclusion. There are currently 3,026 four-year degree-granting institutions in the United States. Amongst these institutions are minority-serving institutions (historically black college and universities and Hispanic serving institutions), women’s colleges, small liberal arts colleges, work colleges, and public research institutions to name a few.
I was born and raised in a small rural community in Midwest Ohio. I had only left this small community a handful of times before going off to college -- also in Midwest Ohio. Over the years, my normal was represented by snow-covered winter mornings, humid summer days, and the trees growing their leaves only to have them fall to the ground several months later. When I moved to Boston, what I knew as normal didn’t change much.
The other day I came across a book called Teaming: How Organizations Learn, Innovate and Compete in the Knowledge Economy by Amy C. Edmondson. In the book, Edmondson describes “teaming” as “teamwork on the fly” (pg. 13). It is a set of mindsets and practices that allow groups of people to work together in a fluid environment. The pillars of teaming (pg. 52) include:
Recently, I attended an event hosted by the Arizona Community Foundation, the Center for the Future of Arizona and Girl Scouts – Arizona Cactus-Pine Council that featured Dr. Robert Putnam, Harvard professor and author of several books including Bowling Alone and Better Together. In his presentation, Dr.
While a formal welcome meeting with the university president is standard for all Fellows, there would be many occasions for additional unscheduled mini-forums – after all, we share a common building and the Office of University Initiatives is actually a unit within the Office of the President. I considered myself, “warned,” about the potential for random trivia to construct the basis of brief and chance encounters with President Dr. Professor Michael Crow (aka MMC).
Last week I had the chance to attend the 2016 ASU GSV Summit in San Diego. The conference which has been called “the must attend event for education technology investors” by the New York Times, was sold out. Approximately 3,500 people crowded into the Manchester Grand Hyatt hotel for 3 days of key note speeches, panels, and presentations from the best minds in educational innovation.
The concept of the master learner is at the forefront of many team members’ minds. ASU helps people become capable of learning anything. Such people can then be problem-solvers and community assets under any circumstances. A central question is: what makes a master learner?
The age of averages is ending.
This shift is so fundamental that if you only read one book this year, it should be Todd Rose’s The End of Average: How We Succeed in a World That Values Sameness. Rose explains how we invented the mental model of the “average person” and how we are steadily overcoming the inadequacies and errors of that model. The rise of individualism, or more accurately, the return to individualism, is entirely changing our approach to education, medicine, employment, and more.
