Gannett to Crowdsource News: "Although newspapers still post healthy profits, circulation has declined precipitously as more and more readers migrate to the internet..." In response, Gannett is adopting a model that blends traditional news with increased presence of amateur journalists (or more specifically, crowd sourcing - relying on the activities of many to provide close to the point of interest coverage).
In education, I think we will encounter a similar model - instead of completely doing away with traditional structures, we will (and are beginning to) see a gradual blend. That will be stage one. After the existing model has adjusted to more learner-centric processes, the real change will be possible. It is unrealistic to expect a massive shift in structured institutions (though the longer we wait to initiate change, the likelihood of massive change rises...as the change pressures continue to accumulate and eventually wash over established structures - consider what happened with music and movie industries). Most likely, change will begin with accommodation to trends (as the Gannett news project exemplifies). The real transformation will be second generation - once the first generation attempts prove successful.
Posted by gsiemens at November 5, 2006 8:40 AM | TrackBack