What the Higher Ed Revolution is NOT

I’m loving the high-profile attention to the changes we’re experiencing in higher education, and the tremendous shifts coming our way. From DIY U to Frontline’s College Inc. to Seth Godin’s recent post, people are taking note.

But I’m also frustrated by a disconcerting trend: to play it off as a generation gap or “how to get through to kids by using technology.” As if this is all about helping old people get through to young people.

That’s bullshit. This isn’t about using Twitter in the classroom. It’s not about using video games for research. It isn’t about Millennials, Generation Y, Digital Natives, or any of the mildly derogatory terms for “kids these days.”

It’s about change on a massive scale driving all the way down to the micro level.

It’s about broken business models and finding ways to fund ourselves without creating more student debt.

It’s about revisiting all those sacred cows of academics and wondering if there’s a better way.

The higher education revolution is about embracing change, not just surviving it.