Education is experiencing an inflection point like no other time in history. Prior to the coronavirus pandemic, education had four preexisting challenges that contributed to stagnant growth and limited innovation, including:
a broken funding system,
a bloated expense and pricing model,
a tired assessment and learning measurement system,
inflexible delivery limitations based upon fixed times, schedules and locations that limited access to broader populations.
Still, there were some real innovative disruptors in the education space during the last 10 to 15 years. In the past decade, the schools and colleges that were truly innovating in the education space were focused upon three things:
creating affordable pricing systems,
accelerating pathways to completion,
developing new access points by shifting the location, time and method of delivery.
The pandemic accelerated these issues. With place-based, schedule-driven learning in limbo, schools and colleges had to reinvent themselves, whether they wanted to or not, just to survive. Smaller, nimble and better funded schools and colleges responded well and grew their enrollment. Others faltered and were left struggling for their next step.
The pandemic reset education in many ways and gave us a bit of a blueprint for what success may look like in the future. Future learning organizations will likely have many common elements, but some of them will most certainly include:
integrated ecosystems of delivery, from physical, virtual and hybrid,
a renewed assessment system to measure learning from a modern perspective,
diverse price and access points to reach different audiences,
redesigning time and schedule around the needs of the student,
leveraging technology to personalize learning, rather than simply deliver it, and
responsive to their local communities and environments.
While education is in the midst of creating a new model for learning and operating, the rest of the world is debating whether a formal education is necessary for success in the future and warrants the price it has historically charged. Education faces some stiff external competitive forces in the future that will continue to erode market share. They include:
political unrest, division and upheaval
heavy industry regulation that slows the pace of change
artificial intelligence and augmented reality
sourcing suitable teaching and leadership personnel
the viability and sustainability of governance as a legitimate model of leadership
the looming demographic enrollment cliff facing many higher educational institutions and private school regions
the increasing perception that a formal education from a preferred provider is not the only path to success in a new economy.
The next decade will be formative and formidable in the recreation of the education industry. It is likely that the future will see a reduction in the number of schools and colleges, each which have diversified their access, delivery and price points. We expect to see some contraction and consolidation of offerings in the marketplace and that students will use pricing and flexibility as key drivers of their purchase. And, we expect to see technology to drive and be fully integrated into the learning experience.
Is a formal education from a preferred provider the best path to success in a new economy? We had better be able to answer that question because the world is watching.