Free Range Learning in the Digital Age: The Emerging Revolution in College, Career, and Education

by Peter Smith

Overview

With the emergence of the digital revolution, traditional educational assumptions and programs are being significantly disrupted. Historically, educational practices that attempted to bridge the gap between adults’ lives, college, and work were marginalized because our society was information-poor and they defied the dominant academic traditions. Now, the tables are turned. In our information-rich, digitized society, new technologies and data analytics are defining learning opportunities that were previously unimaginable. Free-Range Learning In the Digital Age: Your Path to Success in Life, Career, and College will define this new learning space and give the reader the awareness, knowledge, and tools to use it.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781590794524
Publisher:	SelectBooks
Publication date:	06/05/2018
Pages:	240
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.80(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

With his national and global experience spanning over 45 years, Dr. Peter Smith is widely acknowledged as a "one-of-a-kind" leader and innovator in adult and lifelong learning. Peter designed, launched, and successfully secured state funding for the Community College of Vermont in 1970, beginning at the age of 24. The college was designed around the needs of rural adults who had neither the time nor the money to attend college. Today, the Community College of Vermont serves more Vermonters than the rest of the Vermont State Colleges system collectively or the University of Vermont. It acts as the "front door" to both the state college system and the University. As the founding president of California State University, Monterey Bay in 1995, Peter introduced two semesters of service learning as a graduation requirement in an outcomes-based academic program, which is still in practice at the university today. As Assistant Director-General for Education at UNESCO, Peter went global. He supported the effort to "globalize" open educational resources, making access to high quality content free and simple around the world. For his leadership in this and subsequent "open" efforts, Peter was awarded the "Leadership Award for Open Education Excellence" by the global Open Education Consortium in 2015. And, early in 2017 he was elected to their Board of Directors. Continuing his tradition of disruptive innovation at Kaplan University, Peter established the first on-line assessment program for prior experiential learning, enriching the lives of thousands of learners who benefited from the program. And, as his crowning achievement there, Peter founded his third institution, the Open College at Kaplan University, which operates to this day.

Table of Contents

Foreword Norman R. Augustine ix

Acknowledgments xvii

Introduction xix

Section 1 Understanding Your Personal Learning and Hidden Credentials 1

1 Hiding in Plain Sight 3

Carol Harrison 8

Connie Yu Naylor 11

2 Turning Points and Transitions 15

Elaine McDermott 19

Keliey Lawrence 22

Aaron Roberts 23

Jennifer Carr 25

Holly Palmer 28

Section 2 Eliminating Barriers to College 33

3 The Scarecrow's Dilemma 35

Faith 38

Alan 39

Linda West 41

Irving Gomez 44

Andrew Hogan 46

Peg Moore 49

4 Adult-Friendly Colleges 53

Peg Moore 55

Jason DeForge 57

Kelley Lawrence 59

Irving Gomez 59

Marie Padilla 61

Keith Waterhouse 64

5 Adult-Friendly College Presidents Speak 67

ED Klonoski, president of Charter Oak State College 68

Joyce Judy, president of Community College of Vermont 70

Javier Miyares, president of University of Maryland University College 74

Chris Bustamante, president of Rio Salado College 80

Paul Leblanc, president of Southern New Hampshire University 82

Section 3 The Emerging GPS for Learning and Work 87

6 Cracking the Code: Getting to the Right College or Credentials 91

Kaplan Calculator 93

Cael-Pla Accelerator 93

Phil Barrett 94

Cael-LearningCounts 96

College Navigator 97

American Council on Education and NRCCS 97

Edupunks' Guide to Diy Credentials 97

Courses and Micro-Credentials 98

StraighlerLine 98

Burck Smith 98

Jason Ransom 100

Sheila Ann Jordon 102

EdX 105

Danaka Porter 105

Maisol Moran 108

The Open Education Consortium and Saylor Academy 109

OEC 109

Mary Lou Forward 109

Gabriel Alba 111

Saylor Academy 113

Devon Ritter 113

Low Residency Programs 116

Vermont College of Fine Arts 116

Thomas Greene 117

Association of Experiential Education 117

Rob Smariga 117

7 Getting the Skills You Need 119

General Assembly 120

Cristy Leung 121

Jearold Hersey 123

Innovate + Educate 126

Steve Yadzinski 126

Darren Bradley 127

Jeff Burkhart 129

Degreed 131

Kelly Palmer 131

Trisha Ward 133

Juti Weber 135

Credly 138

Pat Leonard 138

Brenda Perea 139

8 New Tools for the New World of Learning and Work 143

HelioCampus 143

Michael Roark 144

Portfolium 144

Barbara Lomonaco 144

Cool 147

Lisa Lutz 147

Clifton StrengthsFinder^® 148

Brandon Busteed 148

Burning Glass Technologies 151

Matt Sigelman 151

Full Measure ED 152

Chuck Brodsky 152

9 The Innovators Speak: Visions of a New World of Learning and Work 157

StraighterLine 158

Burck Smith 158

Credly 161

Jonathan Finklestein 161

edX 164

Anant Agarwal 164

Civitas 166

Mark Milliron 166

Portfolium 167

Troy Markowitz 167

Burning Glass Technologies 170

Matt Sigelman 170

Afterword 173

Notes 179

Appendix A 181

URLs by Chapter 181

Appendix B 185

List of Interviewees 185

Index 189

About the Author 197

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

" Free-Range Learning in the Digital Age hits directly upon the typical journey of the adult learner; one who has some formal learning and many informal learning experiences, or, as Peter Smith puts it, “hidden credentials.” This book is timely in that it addresses workforce learning and futuristic learning environments for children and adults alike. It is a go-to guide for learners, teachers, and administrators." —Dr. Jill Burban, Sr., Director of Research & Innovation, Online Learning Consortium

"This book is badly needed by millions of people, and I would bet you know some of them. They are the people who didn’t go to college the first time around and want another chance. Luckily, there are a lot of ways to get that other chance and Peter Smith’s excellent book describes many alternatives. You can acquire credentials—and degrees—in ways that fit your life better than a program at a traditional college. I warmly recommend this book to adult learners and to those (like their parents and employers) who are trying to help them." —Donald E. Graham, Chairman, Graham Holdings Co. Former Owner of the Washington Post

“Peter Smith has hit the nail on the head! Through a very personal lens, this longtime education leader and disruptor writes a very smart and timely book that depicts that all people are inherently lifetime Learners. The time is now via technology and alternative learning and assessment providers to fight the “knowledge discrimination” whereby traditional higher-ed institutions and employers fail to recognize very important diverse sources of lifelong learning. Peter demands that we take charge of learning and career destinies.” —Deborah Quazzo, Cofounder ASU GSV Summit, Managing Partner GSV Acceleration Fund

"I highly recommend this book for any adult considering returning to the world of higher education, whether to receive further credentialing or not. You’ll learn a lot that will be helpful to you in making a decision about what novel new approach might work best for you, and I’ll bet you’ll enjoy the read as well." —David Longenecker, Former CEO of the Western Interstate Commission of Higher Education

"Peter Smith is first and foremost an educator who understands that life itself can be the key to learning. Peter and I served in Congress together, and he became the President of CSU Monterey Bay, a campus I helped establish on a former military base at Fort Ord. Peter understands change and that in a changing world, education cannot be limited by the restrictions and barriers of the past. It must be about results—the development of the human potential in all of us. This book is an important guide to a new approach to learning. When life itself in changing dramatically, so must we and so must the learning process." —Leon E. Panetta, Former U.S. Secretary of Defense

"Through interviews with learners and a new generation of educators who see learning as an eternally continuing process, interspersed with descriptions of emerging technologies and approaches, Smith describes a promising future for securing a truly educated and informed citizenry. The title is perhaps something of a misnomer: Smith has set out guideposts that both learners and educators would do well to follow." —Michael Goldstein, Partner Cooley Associates

“There has been a lot written about the changing ways that people are gaining access to post-secondary education. Most of it is abstract and speculative based on the growing use and availability of digital resources. Peter Smith's Free-Range Learning brings all this to a personal level. The readers of Free-Range Learning in the Digital Age will be able to understand how real people at different points in their lives need and can use these expanding digital opportunities.” Readers will learn how educational innovators are opening new pathways for different types of learners. They are also guided through ways they can assess what type of pathway will suit their own unique circumstances. Peter Smith has really made this emerging field understandable to anyone curious about enriching their lives and careers through accessible further education." —Sally Johnstone, CEO, National Center of Higher-Education Management Systems

"The future of education is one where it never ends, and Peter Smith provides an essential guide to this new learning economy. Full of compelling stories and engaging interviews, Free-Range Learning in the Digital Age is a roadmap for learners of all ages and backgrounds." —Jeffrey J. Selingo, New York Times best selling author of There Is Life After College and College (Un)bound