Opportunities: 10 in 10 Continued from page 5
A knowledge-based global economy demands the kind of education that improves the economic competitiveness and well-being of communities, enhances democratic values and institutions, and enables learners to succeed in knowledge work that will sustain them in at least a middle class life style. So says a recent report that assesses California’s preparation for a tidal wave of enrollments in the next 10 years. The report, Ensuring Access with Quality to California’s Community Colleges, cites a hemorrhaging educational pipeline in which only 19 of 100 ninth graders eventually accomplished an associate’s or bachelor’s degree [12]. What is needed says the report is a comprehensive K-16 framework that leverages collaboration among educational agencies to coordinate the immense but fragmented activities that characterize the current environment.
A framework with formal resource, curriculum, and teaching partnerships among grade schools, high schools, community colleges, universities, employers, and government is essential for what the National Governors Association calls seamless and routine transitions for learners [13]. Resources like these are provided for students, teachers and policy makers by the Southern Regional Education Board’s Electronic Campus Regional Mentor System and Electronic Campus Initiatives [14].
The audience for ALN is also growing in complexity, with baby boomers, generation x, and the millennial generation sharing classrooms—each
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group with diverse attitudes and expectations about learning. Millenials (those born after 1982) “are fascinated by new technologies; are racially and ethnically diverse; and often (one in five) have at least one immigrant parent” [15]. For the 18-year olds entering college in 2014 (those born after 1996), ALN will be “an ordinary part of everyday life.” An estimated 25 percent of K-12 public schools already includes some form of e-learning with an expected increase this year of 10% [16]. Will higher education be ready for the wireless generation?
In an information age in which multitasking is a way of life, doing is more important than knowing, 24/7 connectivity is essential, and there is zero tolerance for delay [10], a 10 in 10 increase will “mean cultural and behavioral change,” says Reuven Aviv of the Open University of Israel:
The right metric is not just an increase in numbers. It is a vector measuring our advancement in access, learning effectiveness, institutional motivation, and faculty and student satisfaction.
See page 7 for a chart on total enrollment.
[12] Hayward, G., Jones, D., McGuinness, A., Timar, A. & Shulock, N. Ensuring Access with Quality to California’s Community Colleges. The National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education. May 2004. http://www.highereducation.org/reports
/hewlett/Hewlett3.pdf
[13] Ready For Tomorrow: Helping All Students Achieve Secondary and Postsecondary Success: A Guide for Governors. National Governors Association. October 2003. http://www.nga.org/center/divisions/
1,1188,C_ISSUE_BRIEF^D_6143,00.html
[14] www.electroniccampus.org and http://www.ecinitiatives.org/
[15] Oblinger, D. Boomers, Gen Xers and Millenials: Understanding the New Students. Educause Review. July/August 2003. http://www.educause.edu/ir/library/
pdf/erm0342.pdf
[16] Botelho, G. Online schools clicking with students: Flexibility, technology key to e-learning. Special report to CNN. August 13, 2004. http://www.cnn.com/
2004/EDUCATION/08/13/b2s.elearning/
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