A life imagined...

This weeks post reflects on the future of education as we can predict in the next 5, 10, 15 years. I really stagger at the possibilities as I think of the implications for the traditional teacher. I recently read that in 15 years that over 50% of United States universities will be bankrupt. Wow. Can this be true? Seems a bit dooms dayish, but upon further reflection is this number too low? How will this phenomenon impact the international school systems? Will the decrease in American universities prove to be a detriment to international parents sending their children to western style international teaching establishments? While these Macro level questions are a bit puzzling and potentially disturbing for current educators who may be in the game 15 years from now the micro-level questions are more perplexing.
What will be the role of the teacher? Most experts point to MOOC style changes. Why pay when you can learn for free. How about Hack-an-Education? Coursera for adolescents and teenagers? Why not? Seems very impersonal to us old-schoolers but there seems to be no denying its march on the educational landscape. For most teachers, the tide on traditional platforms is sweeping out. To stay onshore and in the game, an anchor must be found.
I guess that is what we are all searching for as current educators, that anchor that will allow us to grow and stay relevant and employed as a professional educator. Only time will tell as to what changes occur but clearly the time is now for teachers to adapt or move on to another profession.