James Drogan

EdTechPost has brought me to The Future of Learning Institutions in a Digital Age, a provocative piece about the transformation of learning in the world of the Internet.

It catches my eye in that I am involved at Maritime, as the Director of Online Programs,  in transformation of the learning process.

At stake, fundamentally, is a change in the reach, range, and behavior of the educational system to deliver higher quality learning to a larger, more diversified (culturally, geographically, experience), set of subjects than, in general, has been the case.

The basis for  The Future of Learning Institutions in a Digital Age is HASTAC, an organization with a solid academic and foundational background and hence, in my view, a strong connection with reality and the art of the possible.

I'm reminded, as I write this, of Machiavelli.

“There is nothing more difficult to take in hand, more perilous to conduct, or more uncertain in its success, than to take the lead in the introduction of a new order of things. Because the innovator has for enemies all those who have done well under the old conditions, and lukewarm defenders in those who may do well under the new.”

The transformation of an educational system is perhaps one of the most difficult tasks that one can undertake.  Revitalization of an established political system might be another.