Globalization in Education and Classrooms in Social Networking Programs

In week four of EDU 651 at Ashford I have learned about the impact of technology on education and of the pros of the globalization in education as well as the risks that present themselves as a result of the globalization. With all of the advances in technology we find much progress in education that is perceived as positive such as social networking and collaboration, online curriculum that is free of charge, access to expensive high tech equipment. All of this available globally gives students access to a top-notch education with a wealth of information and opportunity. According to Knowledge Works Foundation “The creation and exchange of learning resources, environments, and experiences will form a global learning ecosystem, with families developing personal learning ecologies that span national boundaries. The globalization of open learning systems characterized by cooperative resource creation, evaluation, and sharing will change how educational institutions view their roles and will offer new forms of value in the global learning ecosystem. Education institutions will no longer be exclusive agents of coordination, service provision, quality assurance, performance assessment, or support. In fact, other players might be more equipped to provide these functions in the distributed ecosystem” (2020 Forecast: Creating the Future of Learning, a Global Learning Economy section).

Education is not to be excluded as business. Adversely, an implication of a global education environment may be that education institutions lose sight of education and they become more concerned with business. As education becomes a bigger industry in business there is the risk of focus more on individual advancement and the need to satisfy investors and influential consumers and less on the quality of education and the success of the learner. The many technological advances enhance education and the “business of education” yet, education businesses must continue to observe the inherent mission of measuring success of education by gauging satisfaction and competency of the student, not a profit. Success should be measured by achievements of students. Definitely, education should not make a profit at the expense of the education of the student.

Additionally, I have learned to setup a classroom in NING, Facebook and PBWorks. The investigation into these social networking programs and the experience of setting up a classroom has allowed me to evaluate and compose a brief overview of the pros and cons of each of the programs:

References

Baker, D. (2005). Distance learning: no fading fad. Education Supplement, 6. Retrieved November 14, 2005, from EBSCO database of University of Phoenix Online Library.

Brown, J. S., & Adler, R. P. (2008). MINDS ON FIRE. Open Education, the Long Tail, and Learning 2.0, 18-32. Retrieved January 18, 2010.

Eberts, R. (2000). Design of education and training in the 21st century. Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society... Annual Meeting, 2, 774-776. Retrieved January 23, 2010, from ProQuest database of Ashford University Online Library.

Gardner, D. (2007). InformationWeek, MIT To Put Its Entire Curriculum Online Free Of Charge, Retrieved January 23, 2010, from http://www.informationweek.com/news/internet/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=198000568

Knowledge Works Foundation. (2010). 2020 Forecast: Creating the Future of Learning. Opportunities for Creating the Future of Learning Retrieved January 23, 2010 from http://www.futureofed.org/about/themes/index.aspx#globalLearningEconomy