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of learning, not the medium, and the
model is competency-based learning.
Carnegie Mellon University did a study that
showed if you’re using this model, you
learn in about half the amount of time, and
score higher on exams. Take any program
you can think of – like nursing, education,
or medicine – you should have to master
certain competencies before you're
allowed to practise or teach.
Where does the teacher fit into this model?
A faster way to learn
Is competency-based learning
the future for universities?
John Baker interviewed by Loren Smith
W
hen principal of Templestowe
College, Peter Hutton, was
at school, like many of us, he
was told that one day the esoteric-seeming
knowledge he gained would be useful.
“That hasn’t happened yet,” Hutton
quipped at a recent event.
Perhaps this would have been different
had he learned via a competency model
– one that instils testable skills rather
than abstract knowledge. Canadian,
John Baker, is a huge proponent of
this model, which he facilitates via his
company D2L (Desire2Learn).
Campus Review met Baker for coffee,
where he explained why competency-
based learning is the way the world is
going, and why that’s a good thing.
CR: Can you give an overview of what your
company does?
JB: I started D2L [a cloud software
company] in my third year at university.
I was wrestling with a key question:
“What’s the most important problem I
could solve that would have the biggest
impact in the world?”
I couldn’t think of anything bigger than
transforming the way the world learns,
because I look at learning as a core to
solving all the world’s major challenges.
So I started with digitising learning. Then
I thought, "How do I make that experience
more meaningful?" I thought of enrichment
pathways to help people achieve what
they want, faster, so they have spare time
to pursue something that they’re really
passionate about.
They’re a game changer. Places like
Southern New Hampshire University, the
largest university in the US, are growing
very, very fast [because they use efficient
learning methods]. SNHU was a 3000
student campus in Connecticut, and now
they’ve skyrocketed using this type of
education that’s helping people acquire
knowledge more efficiently.
But the other big piece is, how do we
help remake study? If you look at the very
old definition of studying, which comes
from the Latin root, it meant desire, passion,
excitement, pursuit. I think if we can
remake the education system so we can
be more productive, that would allow us
more time for the pursuit of whatever we’re
passionate about: being a better dancer,
entrepreneur, lawyer, researcher, exploring
our communities, exploring big problems.
By increasing efficiency, do you mean by
using technology?
Not necessarily. It’s about the model
It’s not that this replaces a teacher; it
actually enables a teacher to be more of
what we hope, which is connecting with
students, giving them great feedback,
getting them engaged, and helping them
persevere through challenges, versus
standing and writing down things on
a chalkboard.
Can you talk about how it works
in practice?
Imagine going to an ‘Intro to Law’ or
‘Intro to Calculus’ course. Instead of
[simply] being given an assignment, a
quiz, or a group activity, you understand
the competencies that you must
gain to pass the course, and how the
evaluations will assess your mastery
of them. As you’re going through
the course, you’re seeing indicators
showing you how well you’re doing.
If you haven’t achieved a competency,
new learning activities can be created to
help you do so.
I feel like those objectives have always
been there, but perhaps they haven’t been
the primary measurement of success or
progression.
When you’re doing a quiz or an exam,
it’s assessing a lot of those but there’s
not a direct line between [the task and
the competency]. I think that’s the
main difference.
Do you think this model results in students
graduating with a better understanding of
their course?
Yes, I think that’s one key outcome,
and then also being able speak the
language of companies. So if they’re
going to go off into industry, the ability for
them to say, “Well, here’s how I’ve done
research. Here’s how I’ve problem-solved.
Here’s how I’ve demonstrated critical
thinking.” All the skill sets that these folks
[employers] are looking for. ■
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