Something old, something new: Technology in the liberal arts

1
Something old, something new Technology in
the liberal arts

• Clara Yu
• Buckman Forum, Furman University, January 8, 2003

2
Some Old Questions

• Ars Libre Arts practiced by the free man (as
  opposed to servile arts practiced by slaves)
• What is the meaning of being educated in the
  liberal arts?
• How have the content and process of that
  education changed?
• Can we still uphold the division between the
  free men and the slaves?

3
Some New Realities

• Developments in Science and
• technology
• Computing technology
• Bioscience
• Artificial intelligence
• Space technology
• Global communication
• Information explosion

4
The Impact on Education

• Democratization and globalization of education
• Life-long learning
• Mixed modes of learning
• Redefining institutions unbundling of services
• Redefining roles and relationships the
  professoriate, the learner, the learning
  enablers
• Redefining disciplines, competencies

5
Todays Education Providers

• Liberal arts colleges
• Ivy league and Research I institutions
• State universities and community colleges
• University of Phoenix with over 100 locations
• The knowledge industry publishers,
  libraries, museums
• Learning management providers Blackboard,
  WebCT, eCollege
• Dot com universities

6
History Lessons I

• The automobile industry (Did you know that there
  were over 400 automakers that lasted more than
  five years?)
• The American family farm
• The mom and pop grocery store, hardware store
• Ice-making was a thriving industry

7
History Lessons II

• At least 31 colleges closed between 1997 and
  2002, including 18 four-year undergraduate
  institutions.
• There were 9 mergers between Nov. 2000 and Nov.
  2002.
• Stand Poors predicts, The number is bound to
  increase.

8
Liberal Arts Colleges Today An Identity Crisis?

• The ideal college of James Garfield Mark
  Hopkins on one end of a log, and a student on
  the other. Is it still true?
• If we are good at what we do, they will come.
• We are in the personal development business,
  not just the learning business.
• We are a gated community for the young, with
  extensive amenities and services
• We are pricing ourselves out of the market.
• The arms race is killing us.
• Is small beautiful?

9
Liberal Arts Colleges Today Market Reality and
Worries

• Ivies They get the best applicants, and can
  pay for talent.
• Research I institutions deep and broad
  curricular offerings
• Honors Colleges in universities high quality,
  low cost
• The cost of implementing and keeping up with
  emerging technology is too great for small
  institutions to bear.
• To compete, LACs must offer a dynamic
  curriculum, which may only be feasible by
  pooling resources.
• LACs need to access resources from other
  colleges, universities, businesses, non-profits.
• LACs must combat the public perception of their
  offering only a soft education.

10
Thinking inside the Box
High
Cost
High
Reach
Quality
Low
Low
Low
High
11
A Business Strategy for Liberal Arts Colleges

• Define mission create quality and brand
• Achieve excellence in niches
• Create community and brand loyalty
• Invest in the future
• Reduce cost
• Use technology wisely to reduce cost
• Reduce the cost of technology
• Create scale increase market reach
• Link small institutions and pool resources
• Redefine market

12
Landmarks in the History of U. S. Education

• The Northwest Ordinance (1787) public land set
  aside to support public schools in every new
  state, leading to general literacy and democracy.
• The Morrill Act (1862) led to 105 land-grant
  colleges, resulting in advances in agriculture
  and industry.
• The GI Bill (1944) greatly expanded
  educational opportunities, sending 20 million to
  college.
• The Andrew W. Mellon Foundations Centers
  Strategy for liberal Arts Colleges (2001) helps
  to insure the survival and success of liberal
  arts colleges.

13
NITLE (National Institute for Technology and
Liberal Education)

• One umbrella three regional centers 81 liberal
  arts colleges 10 billion industry
• Promotes collaboration across boundaries
  regions, institutions, sectors, disciplines,
  roles
• Serves as RD arm in emerging technologies
• Advances the technology profile of liberal arts
  colleges
• Reduces IT costs through collaboration and
  consortial memberships licenses

14
NITLE Program Highlights

• Sponsoring programs in digital media,
  bioinformatics, game theory simulation, GIS
  across the curriculum, digital asset management,
  learning management, and institutional repository
• Developing online curriculum and communities
• Developing data mining semantic engine for
  dealing with unstructured information
• Collaborating with other organizations (e.g.,
  with the FFHE on developing a business model for
  the new knowledge economy)