Assignment #1- New Culture of Learning
By: Allison Parsons
2023_Spring EDLD 5313 Professor Kelly Grogan
How important is it for one to know how to blacksmith a horse’s shoe? How important is it for most of us to know the best times to plant a field of corn, wheat and/or rice? These lessons though still needed are niche lessons for those who specialize in such things. Back in the days where these lessons were more pertinent, the classroom environment was not much different than it is today. In today’s classroom, much like it was 100 years ago, students sat at desks and listened to a teacher teach. The teacher spent the day teaching while the students spent the day writing notes and trying to remember what was being taught. Since then the need for horse shoes have changed to the need for tires and the need for planting food in your background has been transformed to the need to go to the local grocery store and self-scanning your items that you plan to eat. In other words, times have most definitely changed. Our education system has, for the most part, not changed. It has been argued that a drastic change to education needs to be made so that the next generation are better prepared for the future times.
In order to change one must look at technology and what the present offers us in terms of advancement. Unlike many others in my class, I am not in education, but instead I am an International recruiter for South Korean students who want to study in the United States and facilitate the exchange student process. However, many of the same lessons are relevant to my career, hence the importance of looking inward at my business and creating an innovation plan that is consistent with changing using technological advancement. It is all well and good to try and change the industry through using innovation, however, if those that are meant to use the information are not interested in learning in the same manner, then the plan is apt to fail. Some of the problems that arise when creating this significant learning environment is dual-headed. The first problem is keeping the information controlled and managed as intellectual property. Secondly, having a one stop resource center for students and universities that is user friendly with a proper flow and ease of use. These types of libraries of information can become too massive whereas finding the information becomes too daunting that the end user gives up on finding the information thus making the site useless.
The Innovation Plan that was created last semester aims to change the culture of learning not in the classroom, but in how one learns new culture and prepares for moving to a new country to study. Currently, there is not much out there about what it truly means to study in the United States as an exchange student. What information exists is in multiple places thus causing multiple searches and time wasted. It is my proposal and plan, to create a type of one-stop place for information in the niche market of students who plan on traveling to the United States. I believe by creating a site as such will bring more attention to my business thereby creating a higher volume of students and universities thus increasing my bottom line. The information gathered within the site will have information from the paperwork needed to apply for a student visa to answering the embassy interview questions to nuances and culture of life in the United States. Creating a community of Korean exchange students, can revolutionize the onboarding process by reducing the effective filter and increasing the background knowledge. Imagine being able to understand a country and their culture more concretely prior to boarding the plane. That in essence, is what my innovation plan tries to tackle through the use of technology.
In summary, my plan of creating an online community where a breadth of information is available to those who are thinking of or already planning to study in the United States can go and learn from others. The use of technology can bring students together to learn from each other through online meetups, online roundtables and an online library of informative videos and blogs. The days of applying to study abroad with little to no information of what that entail is done. No longer does one have to go through the process of obtaining a student visa alone. No longer will someone have to get onto a plane to a new country while having no idea how they are going to survive. The stress of not knowing will be reduced using this system. Therefore, as the stress is reduced, the want to quit or comeback home is reduced. The more comfortable our student are in the early stages of studying abroad, the more successful they will be. The more success our students have, the more my business becomes, both financial, but more importantly more successful in keeping true to our mission statement.