A Learning College for the 21st Century

Journal of College Student Development, May/Jun 1998 by Denzine, Gypsy M

A Learning College for the 21 st Century Terry O'Banion

Phoenix: American Council on Education/ Oryx Press, 1997, 260 pages, $27.50 (softcover)

Terry O'Banion, President and CEO of the League for Innovation in the Community College, provides an analysis of the problems associated with the traditional architecture of education and suggests a new model of higher education that he calls "the learning college." According to the author, "the learning college places learning first and provides educational experiences for learners anyway, anyplace, anytime" (p. 47). O'Banion argues the timing for the creation of the learning college could not be better because previous reforms in higher education have failed and new technologies and assessment procedures will allow educators to focus on individual learners. O'Banion sees the community college as the ideal setting for the creation of the learning college due to its long commitment to teaching and meeting the local needs of the community. Although written primarily for a community college audience, this book has a broad appeal for those committed to student learning.

In the first chapter, the author provides a critical analysis of the education reform movements that have taken place in the last decade. O'Banion criticizes recent reform movements as attempts to merely "tweak" the established system of education by adding on new programs or reorganizing existing programs. Hence, educators are "trimming the branches of a dying tree." The "dying tree" is the traditional architecture of education that he criticizes as being time-bound, place-bound, efficiency-bound, and role-bound.

A time-bound institution relies on time as a unit of measure (i.e., class hours, semester courses) rather than a reflection of student learning and mastery of a subject. The limits of place-bound structures (campus, classroom, and library) will no longer fit the needs of the future learner. The implications of technology and new knowledge about how students learn will challenge us to no longer think about school as a place. An efficiency-bound model contains too much bureaucracy and state and federal regulations, which have stood in the way of focusing on student learning. The role-bound structure in higher education suggests the teacher is the knower and deliverer of knowledge. Such a model relies too heavily on a lecture format and does not allow students to be full partners in choosing their learning options.

In chapter 2, the author lays the foundation for placing learning first. For example, he cites Project-Based Learning as a powerful approach for improving learning. In order to place the learner first, O'Banion notes it is important to review the forces of resistance to change, which include education bureaucrats, faculty, administrators, students and their parents. Despite such resistance, O'Banion argues that change is inevitable. Restructuring will occur in response to economic pressures, technological advances, and demographic forces at work. There is pressure on education to provide "more learning for more students at a lower cost" (p. 34).

O'Banion suggests six key principles as the foundation for the learning college: a) the learning college creates substantive change in individual learners, b) the learning college engages learners as full partners in the learning process, with learners assuming primary responsibility for their own choices, c) the learning college creates and offers as many options for learning as possible, d) the learning college assists learners to form and participate in collaborative learning activities, e) the learning college defines the roles of learning facilitators by the needs of the learners, and f) the learning college and its learning facilitators succeed only when improved and expanded learning can be documented for its learners. The book contains detailed descriptions of how these six principles can be embedded in a new model of education.

The middle section of the book explains how to build the learning college. In summary, the learning college of the future will offer students many more choices. They will have choices regarding delivery method, topic, level of competency, and locations. For instance, a student may choose a self-guided small group, a tutor-led small group, one-on-one instruction. service learning, or video instruction. The method of delivery will not be based on the limits of time and space. An important goal is that instruction is designed for the needs of individual learners. For each student, specific goals and competency levels required for entry and mastery needed for exit must be established. Students' goals and competency levels will be stored on an electronic "smart card" which can be conceptualized as an electronic learning portfolio. Such an individualized instruction and assessment process will require agreed-upon standards, the use of computer-adaptive assessment, and a commitment among educators that students should learn at their own individual pace.