There is so much wrong with this that I don’t even know where to begin. The quote below gives an idea-
It’s also likely to lead to greater standardization. Some argue that’s just what higher education needs. “In the standardization
argument, we’re missing the forest for the trees,” says Stephen Laster, the chief digital officer of McGraw-Hill’s education division. Creating standard materials, he argues, makes it easier to create measures for evaluating whether students have actually
learned what they were supposed to. “Without measurement we can’t educate,” he says.
Sounds good….sigh…
Measuring what?
Educating for what?
Standard materials that are created to what standard?
Of course it is easier to to create a limited, controlled ‘standard’ curriculum and then measure the success of that.
What happened to learning? Where are the complex relationships between understanding the learner, the context of the learning, and resources available to bring to bear on the learning of that student, at this time, in this place?? What of learning to learn?
Easier??!!!
Of course it is easier, as in less time and less commitment from professors and students. Since when did easier become the measure of a great education?
And just for the record I don’t find teaching this way easier. I find my teaching to be totally and completely engaging and it would so much harder if that engagement were removed.
The link below will take you to a recent Slate article about the growing use of content software. It covers a lot of ground - from ownership to Gen Ed to homogenized content. I found it worth reading.
Jim G.