Revolution in Higher Education: How a Small Band of Innovators Will Make College Accessible and Affordable

by Richard A. Demillo, Andrew J. Young (Foreword by)

Overview

A report from the front lines of higher education and technology that chronicles efforts to transform teaching, learning, and opportunity.

Colleges and universities have become increasingly costly, and, except for a handful of highly selective, elite institutions, unresponsive to twenty-first-century needs. But for the past few years, technology-fueled innovation has begun to transform higher education, introducing new ways to disseminate knowledge and better ways to learn—all at lower cost. In this impassioned account, Richard DeMillo tells the behind-the-scenes story of these pioneering efforts and offers a roadmap for transforming higher education. Building on his earlier book, Abelard to Apple, DeMillo argues that the current system of higher education is clearly unsustainable. Colleges and universities are in financial crisis. Tuition rises inexorably. Graduates of reputable schools often fail to learn basic skills, and many cannot find suitable jobs. Meanwhile, student-loan default rates have soared while the elite Ivy and near-Ivy schools seem remote and irrelevant.

Where are the revolutionaries who can save higher education? DeMillo's heroes are a small band of innovators who are bringing the revolution in technology to colleges and universities. DeMillo chronicles, among other things, the invention of MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses) by professors at Stanford and MIT; Salman Khan's Khan Academy; the use of technology by struggling historically black colleges and universities to make learning more accessible; and the latest research on learning and the brain. He describes the revolution's goals and the entrenched hierarchical system it aims to overthrow; and he reframes the nature of the contract between society and its universities. The new institutions of a transformed higher education promise to demonstrate not only that education has value but also that it has values—virtues for the common good.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780262331296
Publisher:	MIT Press
Publication date:	08/28/2015
Series:	The MIT Press
Sold by:	Penguin Random House Publisher Services
Format:	eBook
Pages:	360
File size:	3 MB
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Richard A. DeMillo has held senior positions in academia, industry, and government. Currently Charlotte B. and Roger C. Warren Chair of Computing and the Director of the Center for 21st Century Universities at Georgia Tech, he is the author of Abelard to Apple: The Fate of American Colleges and Universities (MIT Press).

Table of Contents

Foreword Andrew J. Young xi

Preface xvii

Acknowledgments xxi

Introduction 1

Part I Revolution 19

1 Map of the World 21

2 Shifting Landscape 41

3 Levity, Brevity, and Repetition 63

4 Technology Curves 83

5 Internet Scale 107

Part II Rationale for a Revolution 127

6 Accessibility 129

7 Pyramids 147

8 Rankings 167

9 Institutional Envy 187

Part III Ramparts 203

10 Brands 205

11 Ivory Towers 223

12 Governing in the Age of Internet Empires 245

Part IV A Social Contract 265

Epilogue 279

Appendix 281

Notes 287

References 307

Index 325

What People are Saying About This

Jamie Merisotis

The new social contract envisioned by Richard DeMillo in his insightful and arresting new book, Revolution in Higher Education, is one that must be achieved if we are to succeed as a nation. DeMillo makes a compelling argument for the notion that a small band of innovators could generate an entire symphony of outcomes that make higher education more accessible, more affordable, and ultimately more aligned with the growing demand for talent that is shaping our twenty-first-century economy and society.

Mitch Daniels

Revolution in Higher Education is a thorough but readable look into the innovations and tough questions that are poised to alter the higher education landscape. DeMillo makes his case so effectively that when disruption comes, none of us will be able to say we were not warned.

From the Publisher

DeMillo makes the case for a real revolution in higher education, which has not changed its format and practices for centuries. Millions will benefit from this transformation.

—Vint Cerf, one of the founding fathers of the Internet

Revolution in Higher Education is a thorough but readable look into the innovations and tough questions that are poised to alter the higher education landscape. DeMillo makes his case so effectively that when disruption comes, none of us will be able to say we were not warned.

—Mitch Daniels, President of Purdue University, and former Governor of Indiana

The new social contract envisioned by Richard DeMillo in his insightful and arresting new book, Revolution in Higher Education, is one that must be achieved if we are to succeed as a nation. DeMillo makes a compelling argument for the notion that a small band of innovators could generate an entire symphony of outcomes that make higher education more accessible, more affordable, and ultimately more aligned with the growing demand for talent that is shaping our twenty-first-century economy and society.

—Jamie Merisotis, President and CEO, Lumina Foundation

Endorsement

The new social contract envisioned by Richard DeMillo in his insightful and arresting new book, Revolution in Higher Education, is one that must be achieved if we are to succeed as a nation. DeMillo makes a compelling argument for the notion that a small band of innovators could generate an entire symphony of outcomes that make higher education more accessible, more affordable, and ultimately more aligned with the growing demand for talent that is shaping our twenty-first-century economy and society.

—Jamie Merisotis, President and CEO, Lumina Foundation

Vint Cerf

DeMillo makes the case for a real revolution in higher education, which has not changed its format and practices for centuries. Millions will benefit from this transformation.

Editorial Reviews

Revolution in Higher Education would be a good book to start with for any campus contemplating going through a large strategic planning process. (And DeMillo is wonderfully incisive about the limitations of strategic planning). Both critics and fans of postsecondary disruption will be given plenty to react to in Revolution in Higher Education…. Your ideas and opinions will be better informed after reading this book.—Joshua Kim, Inside Higher Education—

The author brings extensive experience and knowledgeable perspectives to the current problems with U.S. colleges and universities and institutions around the world that are mired in uncontrolled high costs, inappropriate traditional habits, and an unproductive focus on prestige and rankings…. DeMillo presents a well-informed account of the challenges and potential transformation in American higher education.

—Library Journal—

From the Publisher

Revolution in Higher Education would be a good book to start with for any campus contemplating going through a large strategic planning process. (And DeMillo is wonderfully incisive about the limitations of strategic planning). Both critics and fans of postsecondary disruption will be given plenty to react to in Revolution in Higher Education…. Your ideas and opinions will be better informed after reading this book.

Inside Higher Education - Joshua Kim

The author brings extensive experience and knowledgeable perspectives to the current problems with U.S. colleges and universities and institutions around the world that are mired in uncontrolled high costs, inappropriate traditional habits, and an unproductive focus on prestige and rankings…. DeMillo presents a well-informed account of the challenges and potential transformation in American higher education.

—Library Journal

Reviews

10/01/2015
DeMillo (Charlotte B. and Roger C. Warren Chair of Computing, Georgia Tech; Abelard to Apple) believes major changes are necessary to restructure higher education to be accessible, affordable, excellent, and fair. He outlines a chronicle for a revolution, beginning with the emergence of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) and other Internet-based innovations in 2012, along with a road map to the future. The author brings extensive experience and knowledgeable perspectives to the current problems with U.S. colleges and universities and institutions around the world that are mired in uncontrolled high costs, inappropriate traditional habits, and an unproductive focus on prestige and rankings. He introduces key education innovators including the founders of Coursera and edX and several forward-looking university presidents. His dense analysis emphasizes a central role for the Internet and other technologies and calls for a renewal of the social contract between universities and the communities they serve. VERDICT DeMillo presents a well-informed account of the challenges and potential transformation in American higher education. Interested readers might be better served by Michael Crow and William B. Dabars's Designing the New American University, which covers much of the same information in a more accessible and insightful manner.—Elizabeth Hayford, formerly with Associated Coll. of the Midwest, Evanston, IL

Library Journal