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By Root 458 0

on the strengths of existing institutions, while moving into a future rich with possibilities. My aim in writing this book is to begin a national conversation about transforming our institutions of higher learning. My hope is that students, parents, faculty members, college and university administrators, policymakers and people from all spheres of public and private life will begin a civil debate about how we can best prepare young people for the unprecedented challenges that lie ahead. We must discuss the elephant in the classroom openly and honestly: the system of higher education is in many ways broken and needs to be overhauled. Moments of crisis are also times of opportunity—if we have the courage to act creatively and imaginatively, we can improve the prospects not only for our citizens, but for untold others around the world, whose lives we could influence.

Though the changes needed are far-reaching, they can begin incrementally and widen over time. To proceed effectively, it is necessary to understand the broader setting in which this crisis has emerged. In the first chapters of this book, I provide the historical context and consider recent social, political, economic and technological developments that have led to our current impasse; in the later chapters, I present proposals for what I hope will be creative solutions. The organizational structure and operating principles that have formed the foundation of higher education for more than two hundred years no longer function effectively. New information, media and, most important, networking technologies are transforming global social, political and economic infrastructures in ways that are revolutionizing the production and transmission of information. As I have suggested, these technologies are not only producing vast quantities of information but also recasting the very structure of knowledge and the means of its dissemination. Lectures and seminars offered in today’s colleges and universities are still similar in style and format to those delivered in classrooms in the 1700s, with professors—and, increasingly, adjuncts and graduate students—lecturing to hundreds of students who passively transcribe the spoken word like medieval scribes recording holy writ. Unfortunately, large classes are not going to disappear; to the contrary, classes will become considerably larger and the learning experience much more depersonalized in the future. Mounting financial pressures are already making smaller classes that allow for discussions between teachers and students as well as debate among students increasingly rare. It is, therefore, necessary to find other pedagogical strategies to promote the exchange of ideas that is vital to the educational process.

Though technology cannot solve all of our problems, it does have the potential to address some of our most urgent needs. For example, the use of synchronous and delayed online text-based discussions is already widespread. Newer technologies now make it possible to simulate real-time class discussions using multipoint video conferencing that connects people at different locations. Some of these products are commercial, but others can be used free of charge by institutions as well as individuals. While obviously not as desirable as the traditional face-to-face discussions, these technologies make it possible for faculty members to have contact with students outside the confines of the traditional classroom setting. It is going to become necessary for students to be less reliant on teachers and mentors and to assume more responsibility for their own education.

These developments should be undeniable to any interested observer, but many faculty members resist significant change and remain committed to obsolete areas of research and outdated pedagogical practices. This is, in my judgment, irresponsible. If colleges and universities will not transform themselves, it is incumbent upon the broader society to pressure them to provide the educational opportunities our children deserve and our country needs.

We are facing what