The 20 Most Innovative STEM College and Universities to Watch 2017

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Lest you think the U.S. is the only country with system problems, consider some of the major issues afflicting
other countries. For example, consider the Chinese Alphabet system, the number of Chinese characters contained
in the Kangxi dictionary is approximately 47,035. Although a large number of these are rarely-used variations
accumulated throughout history.
We are on a long way from optimizing the systems that administrate our lives. The freedom and potential that
we value so much, is only a fraction of what it can be if we begin to seriously reinvent society; one system
at a time. And the system that we see as the highest leverage point for revamping society is our education
system.
Some of the advancements in the society and system could impel the change in the world of
education. These factors will eventually define the speed, scope and size of the emerging new
system along with the individualities needed for a global-scale adoption. Read on further for an
undercurrent of the influencers, and perceive the need to understand the radical shift than will
occur in the world of education.
The Changeover from Emphasis on Teaching to Learning
Traditionally, Education consisted of two fundamental elements ─ teaching and learning.
But the system emphasized heavily on the teaching part. Throughout history, the transfer of
information from the teacher to the learner has been done on a person-to-person basis. This
is referred to as the “sage on stage” form of education, since it required the teacher to be
skillfully proficient with every topic that they teach.
But today the scenario is quite different. With advancements in technology and new things
to learn, the traditional system ends up being a highly inefficient system, equivalent of using
“Roman numerals” in many respects. For any new topic to be taught, a new expert needs to be
created, and this widespread necessity for more and more experts has become a serious
chokepoint for learning.
There is indeed a grave need for the education system to undergo a transition from a heavy emphasis
on teaching to a heavy emphasis on learning. Envisioning the advancements, experts ought to create
the courseware for the students to learn anytime or anywhere at a pace that is comfortable for them, and
learn about topics that majorly interests them.
In the future, instead of perceiving the lecturer as a topic-expert all the time, we would see them more in the
roles of guides and coaches.
Exponential Growth of Information
Years ago, the flow of information was controlled by just a few elite members of society, and they implicated
well the theory of knowledge equating power. To the time where information was precious and few, to today, a
time where information is so plentiful, we have gone a long way. There is so much data and analytics at the end
of our palm that we feel like we are sinking in it – information overload.
However, we still see many of the same “information control” issues pervading the society today. Perpetuating
the notion that only doctors can understand medicine, only physicists can understand how the universe works, we
can still say that only elite members of society control the flow of information. But it is also very important to
pay attention to the changing dimensions of information and the sheer volume of it. Today, information is not just
text-based, but also graphical, audio, musical, and visual.