The old model is out of date...

The traditional model of pouring knowledge into our students' brains is no longer valid. As professors, we are no longer the dispensers of knowledge and wisdom. Even if our students wish we would simply lecture and tell them everything they need to know, we can no longer take this approach. In a world where information is plentiful and critical thinkers are not, our approach must be to design our courses so that students will be forced to take responsibility for their own learning. Our role should be to encourage, guide, and challenge our students--not simply attempt to transfer our knowledge to their brains. 


We should be prepared for some resistance to this approach. Most of our students have experienced more of the traditional teaching model than the student-responsibility model. They may complain that "they are not getting their money's worth" if the professor doesn't take the traditional role as "the sage on the stage." As we move from face-to-face courses to blended courses, it will become more apparent to everyone--students and professors--that students must take responsibility for their own learning. 


Think about the Blend 101 course you just sat through. Did you enjoy the professor-led class sessions more than any of the online weeks? The model where the students simply listen and join in a class discussion may be appealing to those of us who were educated with that model. Did you take responsibility for your own learning during the online weeks? How will we motivate our students to take this responsibility?

Lifelong Learning and Change

One of the things we want to teach our students is to become lifelong learners. Advances in technology have now put us to the test: Can we do what we have preached to our students? Can we show that we, too, are lifelong learners? I’m repeatedly surprised that so many professors simply don’t want to change what they have always done. There’s a “don’t fix what is not broken” attitude among many professors. As long as student evaluations are excellent and the students are passing my tests, then everything is perfect just as it is. There is a fatal flaw in that thinking, and it’s one that we frequently talk about in business courses.

When I was young, we had one telephone in the house, firmly attached to the wall. It worked. It wasn’t broken. To many people who couldn’t imagine the smart phone world that now exists, there was no need to change. (I imagine that the parents of some teenagers wish that phones were still firmly attached to the house.) Many successful companies have become UNsuccessful companies precisely because they stalled in their success while the world passed them by. As educators, we need to be careful not to become too satisfied with our “success.” Drops in enrollments (drop in demand for our product) DEMANDS that we keep learning, changing, and challenging ourselves to move forward.