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Faculty conversation with Yong Zhao, University Distinguished Professor of Education

Photo by Kurt Stepnitz

Editor’s Note: As the campus community celebrates MSU’s 150th anniversary, it is a time to celebrate the past and look toward the future. As we look toward the future, the MSU News Bulletin has asked some distinguished faculty members what they envision for their field of study by the time the university celebrates its 200th anniversary in 2055. The MSU News Bulletin will publish these conversations during this academic year.

Q: What can we anticipate for the fields of teaching and learning 50 years from now?

A: It is hard to say what teaching and learning will exactly look like 50 years from now, but I am pretty sure these fields will be much more global and virtual, both in terms of content and methods. We will see, or at least I hope to see, more teaching and learning about globalization, its complexities and implications, how we can better live and productively work in the “global village” with our otherwise distant neighbors who may not look, think, or act like us. We also will see more teaching and learning delivered globally with students taking courses from and teachers teaching for foreign education institutions, either physically or online. At the same time, online teaching and learning will continue to grow and eventually become a major part of education. More importantly, we will see a significant increase in teaching and learning about how to live and work online.

Q: Who will those learners be; what will they be learning; and how will they be learning?

A: Globalization and technological changes will continue to shorten the half-life of knowledge and thus constantly send people back to “classrooms.” Thus, our students will be very diverse in terms of culture, background, age and location. They will have to not only learn the basics we know today, but more importantly they will need to learn new technologies and new cultures. How people learn will be much more individualized and self-directed.

Q: Will there be “no more pencils, no more books?”

A: I believe there will still be books and pencils but the role they play in teaching and learning will be significantly smaller. Just like the arrival of TV did not lead to the disappearance of the radio, computers and their derivatives will not supplant books and pencils but will definitely redefine their functions.

Q: Where will students of all ages be learning?

A: We will definitely see more and more students learning from home or wherever they are. More and more students will study in foreign countries or take courses from foreign schools or teachers while staying in their home country. But lower-grade students, I think, will still be in schools, although they may or may not be organized in the same classrooms as today.

Q: If this is the case, how do educators take into account new technologies and ways to learn?

A: Educators are learners too. We need to be up to speed with new technology but more importantly we need to comprehend and appreciate the changes brought about by scientific and technological advances, changes in student population, changes in content and changes in ways of learning.

Q: Education reform – what issues should reformers tackle in the years ahead?

A: Would-be education reformers often cite crisis indicators such as poor performance of U.S. students in math and science relative to their international peers, declining interest and enrollment in math and science courses at home, and growing numbers of college graduates abroad. But they seldom mention what until now has been the secret of the U.S. economic advantage – the risk-taking, creative and can-do spirit of its people. The real crises they should tackle? One is the lack of a global -minded, internationally oriented U.S. curriculum that prepares our children to engage actively in global affairs and competently interact with other peoples. Another is how children – especially those who are poor or otherwise disadvantaged – are being shut out of the globalization discourse in the name of increasing their test scores in math, science and reading.

Q: What will be the role of the land-grant university in the year 2055 regarding teaching and learning?

A: The role of the land-grant university needs to expand dramatically. It has to realize that it no longer serves only the local
community. Its graduates will be working in a global economy and we cannot predict where they may live and work. Its clientele will become more international. Thus it needs to re-examine the services it offers and the way they are delivered.

Q: How does the university prepare itself for teaching and learning in the next 50 years?

A: The university needs to think of itself as an international institution and as such it needs to strategically consider how to play that role with excellence. There are a couple of specific things I think the university can do in this regard. First, examine its capacity for serving international students, including faculty resources, academic programs, policy and tuition structure. Second, assess and improve its online programs as well as the infrastructure and resources devoted to these programs.

Q: How can the university help prepare the next generations to be the learners of the 21st century?

A: The university can be more actively engaged in this area by offering more online AP courses, summer programs, and other programs to share its vision and expertise with high school students.