Educating Working Adults: Walden University President Jonathan Kaplan (Part 7)

SM: After you brought in the experts and they identified the needs in American education, what did you do about it?

JK: As a result of what we learned, we created a virtual field experience. The experience is now delivered as an entire course on classroom management for new teachers. We educate and show our students, who we hope will be teachers soon, a videotaped experience of a teacher trying to manage a classroom. They can see some of the challenges that the teacher is facing and what is being done well and what is not being done very well. The video of the classroom environment is then stopped and an expert in classroom management comments on what is working and what is not. That in effect creates a better field experience. That is just one example of how we are being proactive in our educational settings.

SM: Classroom management still does not differentiate from a teacher on the stage versus a guide-on-the-side model. I believe those are very different skill sets. I also believe there is a tremendous opportunity for you to teach educators who to move from a teacher-on-stage model to a guide-on-side model using more technology. That could be one type of specialized curriculum that you could teach which would give teachers a huge leverage.

JK: I think that is a great point. We offer programs in educational technology and a program in instructional design and technology. Those teach educators how to use technology. At the same time, we do not presume to know precisely where education is going in the classroom. I am not sure that there is anyone who can say definitively that a certain model always works better than  another. I think one of the keys is that every learner has a different set of needs. It does not matter if they are an adult or a child. While I agree that the guide-on-the-side model is important to focus on, I think that there is a bigger, broader challenge in education, which is to somehow address the myriad needs that all students have. Some of those needs can be addressed by the use of technology, and some needs simply cannot be.

SM: Do you have an entrepreneurship education program?

JK: We do not have a specific program in entrepreneurship. We have several programs that could be relevant. We have a MS in leadership. That program offers some courses in entrepreneurship and is really aimed at entrepreneurs who do not want an MBA but who would benefit from courses in leadership. We are exploring a lot of additional program areas right now, and entrepreneurship is one of them.

SM: This has been a very interesting conversation. I hope it was interesting for you. Thank you for your time.

This segment is part 7 in the series : Educating Working Adults: Walden University President Jonathan Kaplan
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