In 2016, higher education will experience a revival, as a result of the changes the industry is facing. Students are looking for new challenges and new kinds of training. Teaching, then, must become more specialized and responsive as college students want to develop their job searching skills very quickly.
Listed below are 7 new paths in higher education:
1. Competence-based education: involves teaching not only concepts but skills, in order to provide the student with an educational experience. This may contribute the offer of shorter courses.
2. Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs): are e-learning courses with a large number of participants, in accordance to the principles of massive, open education. Recently, Georgia Tech Institute partnered with Udacity – the leading MOOCs developer – and AT&T, in order to open an online master’s degree in Computer Science, the first graduate degree to be offered in this platform. Students can take individual courses freely and enroll in the university’s graduate program. Likewise, the Arizona State University associated with EDX to offer a selection of MOOCs that – with an additional payment – provide extra credits for a graduate degree.
3. Bootcamps and Nanodegrees: the skills developed in training camps have grown in popularity. Even tough they centered at first in technology-based skills, they have extended to several fields. Nanodegrees are specific, short programs designed to certify a set of specific skills. Both bootcamps and nanodegrees have almost infinite possibilities.
4. The concept of rationalized education is becoming increasingly popular: university credits are offered to high school students, to allow for a faster graduation rate at a lower cost. They are on-site college based courses that can be taken by these students, as a way for institutions to engage in early recruitment and reach their educational goals faster.
5. International programs: the United States remains one of the countries with the highest reputation in the world in of higher education, and is the most popular country of choice for exchange students. The chance to engage in exchange courses gives any university an added value.
6. Large numbers of certifications: as well as offering students new academic options and alternatives, Walden University offers certificates in different fields. Students can achieve professional certifications and credentials, as milestones within their educational experience. This helps students on the way to finishing degree's to divide or shift their education into different specific areas. It also allows graduates to keep the appropriate certification, even if the labor market’s interests moves away from the skills given by their undergraduate degree.
7. Reverse transfers: allows students with college credits but short of graduating with a bachelors' degree, to transfer their credits to a vocational training institute and graduate in a similar major. Any degree is better than no degree. Therefore, this initiative helps students improve their career prospects and salary ranges. On the other hand, reverse transfers can help motivate students to finish their undergraduate degrees, once they have acquired a vocational certificate, they may find themselves closer to achieving a bachelor’s degree and are encouraged by the prospect. With 45 million students with college credits short of having graduated as a college undergraduate, educational institutions are currently considering the best way to address their concerns.
I would like to hear your feedback on this. What paths have you taken with your higher education institute?
Other interesting blogs: