+Ric Dragon came to our class the other day and it helped inspired the idea of this blog along with Kratz (linked in previous blog). The source for this inspiration is partially thanks to Skype as he joined us from NY, to Duluth, MN for our class. It was a truly great experience to learn from an industry professional on what works and what doesn't.
This type of class where industry professionals are brought in to help teach the course are so much more beneficial to the students learning. After all as Ric stated, "the book is outdated" this is true for many courses. This course for sure as it is a social media marketing course and one can achieve more knowledge by reading articles online and actually playing around on the platforms. Sort of a learn as you go is a social media standard. This is due to many reasons, 1 it's so new, 2 it evolves daily, 3 new sites spring up, 4 tactics change & 5 Unlimited potential in a growing industry. Now obviously one could list more, the point is the industry is moving fast. The communications of the world have changed, user generated content is the wave of the future.
GET ON BOARD! Or sink!
As Ric stated, "what happens to the people with power in a revolution who don't change, they die!"
Thanks again Ric from coming to talk to us.
Friday, September 27, 2013
Tuesday, September 24, 2013
Top 5 reasons User Generated University are better than Current Universities
A marketing professor +John Kratz keeps bringing up this concept of User Generated Universities. The class is Social Media Marketing, and a main focus has been on the concept of user generation of content.
Within this context we have briefly discussed the idea of what it would mean to have a complete user generated university of industry leading professionals who could broadcast from anywhere rather than going to a typical 2013 university. With all the technological advancements and the shift to user generated content this possibility is seemingly more likely. To be clear, the type of university I am describing is very similar to an online university except in the fact that the professors are industry leading professionals who would teach through the virtual world in forms of Skype class sessions, online blogs from the teacher or other links from other professionals that are relevant to the course of study.
Here is my top 5 reasons a User Generated University is better than the current Universities.
1. Lack of Programs
Currently we live in a world of physical universities that have been the social standard for a very long time. These mega universities have thousands of students, each shuffling into their own specific schools. Within these schools one can choose a degree, but unfortunately, some of these schools are very behind on the programs offered. Take social media for example, we're in the midst of a social media revolution and yet many schools across the country treat it like several businesses, a "fad", not worth their time. Other times a student might decided they want change to a different degree only to find out that they would have to transfer. Which is another issue itself.
Now imagine the user generated university. The programs would be endless and up to date for what the workplace market needs. These programs would not require a transfer as they would be all online and easy to access wherever one is. It is literally like having the world at one's fingertips and in the end is that not what this revolution is all about?
2. Less costly
Currently universities across America have extremely high tuition rates, and depending on your school of choice this debt can be extremely high. But what are you really paying for? Well if you break the university down to a business, and let me be clear that's what they are, you are not the product. Rather you are the consumer. But what are you consuming? Is it as good as other consumptions? Is it worth the ROI? Your tuition dollars pay for a lot of things around campus. Since I have been going to college my school has built 2 brand new buildings, imagine the price tag on that. Increasingly horror stories about college debt are in the news and yet year after year countless freshman blindly sign up for a four year journey that their social structure tells them is the only way to be successful in life.
But wait a min, if there was a school that did not have high building cost to pay for because they never built any. That same school did not have a number of other expenses either like grounds crews, or stadiums, or buyouts of coaches contracts, the list goes on and on. At a user generated university the cost would be whatever the teacher basically asked for which would be probably a significant amount less seeing how they could be teaching 1,000 or more students all at the same time.
3. Quality of Teachers
Now some may be great, and totally enhance your learning. However, we have all had the course in which the teacher seemed to be less knowledgable than the student. A classic example of this was my sophomore year, I had an introductory course in Information Management Systems. The course was 3 credits so I paid over a thousand dollars for it. I went to class that first day thinking I might learn about the new technology and really boast what I knew about these systems. I entered class to see a teacher who had to be near retirement as he was pushing 70. "Great!" I could have taught the course. I was extremely board the entire semester. All the tools being taught were things I had self taught myself years prior. Another example, what about the teacher that from the very first class you could tell was going to be boring the living crap out of you. This is not something that is productive to learning, rather you would want a teacher that is passionate about the subject and is eager to inspire passion among their students.
At a user generated school the teachers would be the best of the best. After all they are the leaders of their respective industries and probably will be able to give you a few inside tips and secrets to success that many college professors would never think about. The bar for learning would be so much higher than it is now.
4. Location
Each morning for a typical college student is a process. For example, each morning I have to leave my house at least a half hour ahead of time to just to get to my school. This does not include the 5 to 10 minutes I look for parking or the 5-10 min walk I have depending on that parking spot. All together I have to leave about an hour before my class begins. Another pain about location is the fact that many of these mega universities have a situation where the student has 10 mins to get to the other side of campus between classes, which can be a very challenging situation. It becomes a pain, a hassle, what if you end up being late because of a train? What if you can not make it to class? You're SOL as the saying goes right? Oh wait no you can email your teacher and get notes from a classmate. Sweet! NOT! Another downside to location is the fact that the best teachers can only be in one spot at one time in the current structure of universities.
Now imagine a university that the lectures are all recorded because it is all online. Imagine never being late, imagine not having to burn money on gas each morning, or having to fight for parking. Screw that walk in -30 degree weather each morning. Imagine sitting at your own personal computer and being able to be anywhere in the world and learn from the best in the industry.
5. Industry Moves Faster than the Text
Textbooks, what a pain in the butt. Each year they seemingly get more expensive and each year the publishers have another edition, how convenient for their bottom line I might add. This is due to the constant changes in the books, as fast as some books are written they are out of date. This issue is increasingly obvious in the world of social media. This semester I was faced with a question of whether to buy the book for my social media marketing class or not. I choose to get the book because that is who I am as a person and enjoy taking what I can from it. But even as I purchased the book I thought to myself, is this book even up to date? I looked at the date, and as I was looking at it, I came to the realization that within that industry, if the book was not written yesterday it is not up to date. Meanwhile one can find just about everything online for content. Why bother right?
In the user generated content courses there would be no need for books. The content would come from the net, come straight from the professionals daily. This is a lot more productive than a book that may or may not be accurate. The online articles that one has access to on a daily basis will teach one much more about the subject than the book, further they are mostly about real scenarios where the books often play scenarios of past situations. Which lets face it, in todays' world that is just not good enough for our students. We live in the world of now! Content must be now to enhance our learning.
Now obviously there are several types of students and many prefer to go to school to get their piece of paper to put on their wall and say "ya I went to college" meanwhile students like me are going to school to enhance my ability as a professional in the near future. I know I would prefer the user generated university. Would you?
Within this context we have briefly discussed the idea of what it would mean to have a complete user generated university of industry leading professionals who could broadcast from anywhere rather than going to a typical 2013 university. With all the technological advancements and the shift to user generated content this possibility is seemingly more likely. To be clear, the type of university I am describing is very similar to an online university except in the fact that the professors are industry leading professionals who would teach through the virtual world in forms of Skype class sessions, online blogs from the teacher or other links from other professionals that are relevant to the course of study.
Here is my top 5 reasons a User Generated University is better than the current Universities.
1. Lack of Programs
Currently we live in a world of physical universities that have been the social standard for a very long time. These mega universities have thousands of students, each shuffling into their own specific schools. Within these schools one can choose a degree, but unfortunately, some of these schools are very behind on the programs offered. Take social media for example, we're in the midst of a social media revolution and yet many schools across the country treat it like several businesses, a "fad", not worth their time. Other times a student might decided they want change to a different degree only to find out that they would have to transfer. Which is another issue itself.
Now imagine the user generated university. The programs would be endless and up to date for what the workplace market needs. These programs would not require a transfer as they would be all online and easy to access wherever one is. It is literally like having the world at one's fingertips and in the end is that not what this revolution is all about?
2. Less costly
Currently universities across America have extremely high tuition rates, and depending on your school of choice this debt can be extremely high. But what are you really paying for? Well if you break the university down to a business, and let me be clear that's what they are, you are not the product. Rather you are the consumer. But what are you consuming? Is it as good as other consumptions? Is it worth the ROI? Your tuition dollars pay for a lot of things around campus. Since I have been going to college my school has built 2 brand new buildings, imagine the price tag on that. Increasingly horror stories about college debt are in the news and yet year after year countless freshman blindly sign up for a four year journey that their social structure tells them is the only way to be successful in life.
But wait a min, if there was a school that did not have high building cost to pay for because they never built any. That same school did not have a number of other expenses either like grounds crews, or stadiums, or buyouts of coaches contracts, the list goes on and on. At a user generated university the cost would be whatever the teacher basically asked for which would be probably a significant amount less seeing how they could be teaching 1,000 or more students all at the same time.
3. Quality of Teachers
Now some may be great, and totally enhance your learning. However, we have all had the course in which the teacher seemed to be less knowledgable than the student. A classic example of this was my sophomore year, I had an introductory course in Information Management Systems. The course was 3 credits so I paid over a thousand dollars for it. I went to class that first day thinking I might learn about the new technology and really boast what I knew about these systems. I entered class to see a teacher who had to be near retirement as he was pushing 70. "Great!" I could have taught the course. I was extremely board the entire semester. All the tools being taught were things I had self taught myself years prior. Another example, what about the teacher that from the very first class you could tell was going to be boring the living crap out of you. This is not something that is productive to learning, rather you would want a teacher that is passionate about the subject and is eager to inspire passion among their students.
At a user generated school the teachers would be the best of the best. After all they are the leaders of their respective industries and probably will be able to give you a few inside tips and secrets to success that many college professors would never think about. The bar for learning would be so much higher than it is now.
4. Location
Each morning for a typical college student is a process. For example, each morning I have to leave my house at least a half hour ahead of time to just to get to my school. This does not include the 5 to 10 minutes I look for parking or the 5-10 min walk I have depending on that parking spot. All together I have to leave about an hour before my class begins. Another pain about location is the fact that many of these mega universities have a situation where the student has 10 mins to get to the other side of campus between classes, which can be a very challenging situation. It becomes a pain, a hassle, what if you end up being late because of a train? What if you can not make it to class? You're SOL as the saying goes right? Oh wait no you can email your teacher and get notes from a classmate. Sweet! NOT! Another downside to location is the fact that the best teachers can only be in one spot at one time in the current structure of universities.
Now imagine a university that the lectures are all recorded because it is all online. Imagine never being late, imagine not having to burn money on gas each morning, or having to fight for parking. Screw that walk in -30 degree weather each morning. Imagine sitting at your own personal computer and being able to be anywhere in the world and learn from the best in the industry.
5. Industry Moves Faster than the Text
Textbooks, what a pain in the butt. Each year they seemingly get more expensive and each year the publishers have another edition, how convenient for their bottom line I might add. This is due to the constant changes in the books, as fast as some books are written they are out of date. This issue is increasingly obvious in the world of social media. This semester I was faced with a question of whether to buy the book for my social media marketing class or not. I choose to get the book because that is who I am as a person and enjoy taking what I can from it. But even as I purchased the book I thought to myself, is this book even up to date? I looked at the date, and as I was looking at it, I came to the realization that within that industry, if the book was not written yesterday it is not up to date. Meanwhile one can find just about everything online for content. Why bother right?
In the user generated content courses there would be no need for books. The content would come from the net, come straight from the professionals daily. This is a lot more productive than a book that may or may not be accurate. The online articles that one has access to on a daily basis will teach one much more about the subject than the book, further they are mostly about real scenarios where the books often play scenarios of past situations. Which lets face it, in todays' world that is just not good enough for our students. We live in the world of now! Content must be now to enhance our learning.
Now obviously there are several types of students and many prefer to go to school to get their piece of paper to put on their wall and say "ya I went to college" meanwhile students like me are going to school to enhance my ability as a professional in the near future. I know I would prefer the user generated university. Would you?
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