A 'Disruptive' Dean Eyes Technology Changes at Owen



 Technology has taken its sweet time, however it's finally disrupting instruction, says Eric Johnson, the new dean of Commodore Vanderbilt University’s Owen school of Management. He cites MOOCs, or huge open on-line courses, as being the important game-changer. “The days of golf shot 250 students in AN area and instruction Econ one hundred and one area unit numbered,” he says. Having begun his tenure as dean Dominion Day, Johnson recently spoke with Bloomberg Businessweek newsman Francesca Di Meglio concerning technology because it relates to business colleges. Here area unit emended excerpts of their conversation:
What area unit some ways that you expect technology to “disrupt” the Owen classroom?
The time school and students pay along during a physical area is pricey. Students pay to be there. the college pays for the bricks and mortar and therefore the academician. Therefore, we'd like to form the time along a lot of valuable. a method we are able to do that is to “flip the schoolroom,” which suggests moving a number of the static material and instruction elsewhere. as an example, a school member may turn out a web video for college students to look at before category. Once along within the schoolroom, they will apply what they learned by drawback finding or taking up a relevant cluster project. Having on-line content additionally permits students the possibility to review material they may realize difficult.

How is technology ever-changing the educational method for students?
Technology accustomed be all concerning putting in high-priced instrumentation that we’d sing their own praises to you if you visited North American nation. it absolutely was identical in offices. everybody had the quality employer-issued desktop. currently everybody brings his own iPad, etc. It’s all terribly personal currently. It needs students to require possession of their education in ways that they haven’t within the past.
For example, if you're among those learning concerning economies of scale, and you’re fascinated by health care, you'll be able to search out data concerning economies of scale within the context of health care, whereas the person sitting next to you is learning concerning it within the context of aviation. If there area unit fifty students within the category, there'll be fifty other ways to believe economies of scale. With technology, we are able to individualize the fabric for them while not having the complete category target health care or aviation. It changes the manner students learn.

What area unit a number of the items you're wondering as you concentrate on the longer term of technology at Owen?
I painted an image of “flipping the schoolroom.” this can amendment the category length and therefore the manner we have a tendency to style school rooms. In today’s business colleges, you've got a bunch of rooms designed round the case-teaching pedagogy. Suddenly, the amphitheater case schoolroom could be less helpful. A flat area which will simply be rearranged can be way more valuable. We’re experimenting.