Universities will be relevant

Brigham Young University psychology and instructional technology professor David Wiley is correct that institutions of higher education need to better adapt to the marketplace needs of today's learners.

Wiley, in an address to professors and university administrators, went so far as to predict to his higher education peers that their institutions will be "irrelevant by 2020."

Irrelevant?

Come now.

It is now possible to receive instruction online and to download school lectures on iPods. And there is incredible appeal to being able to download textbooks for free.

But a university education is more than exchanging information electronically or forming chat groups with other students. Campus-based education exposes students to people of various backgrounds and ideologies. Students who live in dormitories share the joys and challenges of sharing space 24/7 with roommates, which teaches valuable life lessons. Mostly, there is a qualitative benefit to the nuanced conversation that can occur in face-to-face, small-group settings in upper division classes.

Yet, traditional colleges and universities face competition from proprietary schools as never before. These schools cater to nontraditional students. They attempt to accommodate work schedules, and they appreciate that their students are "wired." Some go so far as to provide students with laptop computers that they can take with them when they graduate. Some offer instruction on accelerated schedules.

While some proprietary schools have earned respect in the marketplace, traditional colleges and universities still have a marketable commodity — diplomas and degrees from institutions that are known entities. Chances are, a Utah State University graduate probably would fare better in a job interview if the CEO was a fellow Aggie. It helps to speak a common language. Plus, the CEO will appreciate the rigors of earning a degree in Logan, which can mean enduring some tough winter conditions. That builds a different sort of mettle, we'd submit, than earning an online degree tapping away on a laptop without changing out of one's pajamas.

As brick-and-mortar costs escalate, traditional colleges and universities will increasingly rely on online instruction. Some professors of online instruction say they have just as much, if not more, interaction with students than traditional teachers because they're in constant contact through e-mail. Some students form small groups to work on projects or to study for tests.

In some respects, electronic instruction may be preferable to taking a class from a traditional college professor who hasn't updated his lesson plans, syllabus or tests in 20 years.

Wiley is correct that there is an absolute need for more innovation on college campuses. It would be smart for traditional campuses to adopt many of the tools utilized by proprietary colleges and universities.

But at the end of the day, a college education is supposed to prepare learners to take on the needs of the workplace and to solve a wide variety of problems. That requires the ability to conduct research. For the foreseeable future, that will remain the exclusive domain of traditional, brick-and-mortar institutions.