Automate and Simplify

I’ve been thinking recently about going back to university and studying for a masters degree. Why? Because I like learning, I’m interested in new things and I want that intellectual rigeur that you can get from formal study. And of course having a masters degree would set me up with some great career options.

But, I’m increasingly not seeing the link between further university study and better career options. I have seen the argument posed against the ’scrap of paper’ a number of times. I don’t think that is true. University education is hugely valuable. But there are several arguments against it, and some new models for learning (suggested and emerging) that I find interesting.

Professors moving away from University model

After attending the e-Learning Guild Annual Gathering in Ontario Catherine Lombardozzi of Learning Journal suggests that perhaps the future will feature people gathering a portfolio of experiences, and short course education under certain experts in their respective fields. This certainly is applicable in fields where one needs a wide range of expertise to operate.

So does this herald an era of professors moving away from the brand of their university, and using an increasingly connected world to personally brand themselves and sell their expertise directly?

It is already possible to attend a range of short courses run by experts, hosted by well known universities. This is a possible path I could take in lieu of a full on masters.

Incidentally here is the story of the Professor that rebelled, giving all his students A+s. He asks the question, who am I to assess the value or not of these people’s ideas? Is this a sign of the shift away from formal education towards experiences?

Experience over Education

The suggestion here is that it is better to have a range of experiences, than a formal structured education. I think it relates to the whole concept of wicked problems. These problems have no real substance to them, and you define the problem while you search for some form of solution. One key factor to wicked problems is that they are totally specific to the situation. You can’t generalise a solution for one wicked problem, to solve a similar one. So aren’t our working lives full of wicked probems? The world is constantly changing and so no situation is the same. Unless perhaps you are a specialist in a medical profession, but even then nothing is cut and dry.

Yet we continue to go to universities where we learn a structured curriculum with our peers. Sure, the social side is good but think about what you learn. The same thing as everyone else in your class. But would you imagine working the exact same job as everyone else in your class?

A story from Einstein

Einstein developed his greatest theories when he was young, and didn’t have as strongly developed mathematics compared with when he was older. Einstein was a bit of an outlier at first, but as he developed his ideas he was much more accepted into the academic community. He further developed his mathematics later in his career, and some have suggested that this constrained his thinking in some way. You’ve probably heard the story of the development of the theory of relativity, when Einstein imagined himself riding on a light beam.

On a lighter note

I’ve heard it said that specialisation is learning more and more, about less and less, until we know everything about nothing.

Where does this take me in my search for an exciting masters degree? I’m not sure,  I certainly will keep asking questions.