Channels of Distribution and Fear

Channels of Distribution in Education and its Pervasive Fear

By Robert Tucker

The incredibly complex infrastructure found in institutions of higher education contains many sources of distribution of product. With the product being the education of a student, one might conclude that most of the distribution occurs in the classroom, and one would be correct, at least to an extent, insofar as the actual delivery of content. Yet, just as in all businesses, higher education includes many departments hopefully working congruently to provide a complete experience for students and for employees. Payroll, human resources, student life, facilities, financial aid, public safety, marketing, and several other departments play an important role in the operations of the plant. Add in the many disciplines, the styles of learning, the diversity of students, the oft paradoxical but necessary blend of academic and personal development, and we weave a web of educational joy that provides significant value to thousands of people over time.

Reducing out most of the departments and focusing primarily on the classroom, we retain the essence of education—the channel of distribution of learning or, to put it in business terms, creating value in the product. How do we improve the product [student] through better distribution, how do we price it, and what does the future hold for refinement? In this highly competitive market called higher education, it is time to examine the channel of distribution of education. There just may be a better way. It could be time to supplement all learning through a concept often called “crowd accelerated learning”. A bit of history could be in order at this point in the discussion.

Traditionally, college students and institutions have highly regarded the “expert” or the “scholar” in a given field. That scholar has mysterious gifts and insights not available to other people and offers his special knowledge while retaining a portion of his mystery. He practices restraint so as not to give away all his secret powers and he then lives on a pedestal of brilliance with an aura of intellectual mysticism that is rarely, if ever, achieved by other people. Then the world was rocked on its heels by the empowerment of the people through technology. The internet has opened up a culture of learning that is a form of demystification of specialized knowledge. No longer are we completely dependent on the expert or the scholar. The result is a vast sharing of knowledge that actually begins in the classroom. Rather than teachers imparting their secrets on an eager class of novices, teachers, instead, focus on discernment of knowledge, on application of skills, and personal targeting of students’ abilities.

The direct channel of distribution of learning is the internet with email, websites, mobile devices, and most importantly, video being the major conduit of knowledge. Daphne Koller, founder of Coursera, stated, "We're at 2.4 million students now. The biggest lesson I've learned on this is I underestimated the amount of impact this would have around the world. I really didn't envision this scale and this impact this quickly." Or watch the video on how a group of dancers set the standard for dancing by watching the best dancers on video before achieving immense success--http://ccnmtl.columbia.edu/enhanced/primers/media_channels_open_educational_resources.html. This website with video also demonstrates how science, music, engineers, and medicine benefit from broad sharing of ideas through video. There is no need for a middleman or even a wholesaler in this channel. It can now move from producer to consumer within seconds. Through video distribution, scholars can supplement and enhance all learning on a broad scale and provide great opportunity for research, specialized knowledge, and motivation for further learning. The direct channel’s potential is tremendous and those who embrace the opportunity will find themselves providing a high level of education that is energized, exciting, and unequaled in higher education. When thousands have immediate access to specific learning and use that knowledge to increase their own abilities, it is referenced as crowd accelerated learning. It is a form of a community of learners on a vast scale.

Fear, however, is the wall of prevention of progress. If colleges and universities offer free video-based education of their traditional lectures or even of their supplemental information, would they, in effect, be cannibalizing themselves by demolishing the need for face to face education? How would this effect pricing for education? Would people be willing to pay for the privilege of receiving an education? What is the true quality of the product through this method and, more importantly, how will employers regard information gleaned entire through video?

There are no simple answers to the above questions except to say that there remains great value in learning from a master teacher and video never quite captures the live experience. Furthermore, learning information is just part of the process of education. Learning with a community of students, and having direct access to a teacher create far greater value than a video can provide. People are still willing to pay a price for a comprehensive education which includes student life experiences, safety and security, tutoring, placement, a variety of learning opportunities through personal interaction. But in spite of the need for traditional type of learning experiences, there is no doubt that the internet and the wide use of video have disrupted education on many levels. These developments have made value and pricing challenging for higher education and the market will ultimately determine the role of this channel of distribution.

In the end analysis, supplemented lectures through video and web resources may separate the master teachers from the average. And it just could be that those experts and those institutions willing to share knowledge at such a high level may one day be acknowledged as the greatest institutions of our modern era. Frightening times and technological advances create opportunities. In spite of the pervasiveness of fear that permeates the future of higher education, it is paradoxically exciting.