“乔布斯之问”的文化战略解读———在线课程新潮流的深层思考

A Cultural Strategic Interpretation of Steve Jobs's Question:Exploring the Trends of Online Course Development

乔布斯去世前曾提出一个深刻的质疑: “为什么IT 改变了几乎所有的领域,却唯独对教育的影响小得令人吃惊? ”因此,本文将此称之为“乔布斯之问冶,对其进行了深刻的个体心理与文化战略解读,并以此问题为主线,对近两年来席卷全球,被称之为MOOCs(Massive Open Online Courses) 的大规模开放在线课程新潮流进行了现实考察、理论探究、未来展望和跨文化沉思。论文认为,这是21 世纪教育冲破“ 机械灌输+标准化考试冶的“工业流水线冶人才培养模式,引发学习方式变革的攻坚战。这场变革目前正在集聚智慧和能量、酝酿重大突破。文章对MOOCs 潮流中的麻省理工学院与哈佛大学联手发起的edX、以斯坦福大学为背景的Udacity 和Coursera 这三大典型分别进行了个案剖析,从宏观战略视角提出了新一代网络课程深化发展必须破解的三大难题,并在操作层面从教学模式、评价模式、运维体制、校内外结合四大关键环节探讨了破解的成功之道,揭示出成功的关键在于能否实现三种智慧(学习智慧、IT 智慧、商业智慧)的内在结合。论文最后对“乔布斯之问冶展开了更深层次的跨文化沉思,揭示了名牌大学优秀课程作为一种重要的文化战略资源在国际互联网新时空中的传播,是世界不同文化的竞争博弈,是21 世纪人类文明发展在碰撞、交流、理解、沟通中走向相互尊重、和谐共赢的一条希望之路。

Steve Jobs raised a profound question during the last conversation he had with Bill Gates " Why has ITchanged almost every field, with the exception of education?"(Isaacon,W. , 2011). This article examined this question from a psychological and cultural perspective, and discussed the cultural meaning of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs). We believe that MOOCs will launch a reform of learning in higher education to replace the industrial assembly line learning model. Three cases were examined (edX, launched by MIT and Harvard; Udacity and Coursera both launched by Stanford), out of which three problems in development of a new generation of online courses were identified from a strategic perspective. This article proposed an operational strategy covering four areas: teaching, evaluation, operation and maintenance, and connection between school and society. The spread of excellent online courses by the best universities in the world are valuable cultural strategic resources which will improve cultural tastes of Internet and will pave the way to mutual respect, communication and understanding for the future of human civilization.