Adrian K. Haugabrook: 3 ways to lower the barriers to higher education | TED

翻译人员: Jason Lu 校对人员: Helen Chang

My father grew up in the Deep South in the 1940s and '50s,

40 到 50 年代，我的父亲 在美国南部长大

at a time when schools were still segregated

那时学校的种族隔离依然存在

and the promise of going to college

去大学学习的机会很渺茫

was less a promise and more like a game of roulette.

像轮盘赌一样

And so for many like him, the only real choices they had

很多像他一样的人，唯一的选择

were to stay in their hometown,

是待在家乡

go into the military

参军

or to attempt to go to college.

或者尝试上大学

Well, my father served 20 years, proudly and honorably,

我的父亲在美国空军服役了20年

in the United States Air Force.

光荣而骄傲

The barriers to college were just too high.

考大学的门槛实在太高

When he retired from the military,

当他退伍后

he did go back to college,

他确实重返了大学

and using his GI Bill

利用美国军人权利法案赋予的权利

and studying at night for almost six years,

利用晚上的时间，学习了将近六年

he graduated one year before I was graduating from college.

他比我早一年从大学毕业

I remember going to his commencement

我记得去参加他的毕业典礼

and watching him walk across the stage,

看着他走过舞台

and my eyes just filled with tears.

我眼里充满了泪水

And I actually am not sure that I saw him get his diploma,

事实上我不知道他有没有拿到毕业证

because I was crying like a baby.

因为我哭得像个孩子

(Laughter)

（笑声）

You know, around the world,

全世界拿到学士学位的人

less than seven percent of people own a bachelor’s degree.

还不到7%

But there are many who would like to go to university.

但有很多人希望读大学

But for them, much like my father,

但对于他们来说，很像我的父亲

the barriers to getting into and graduating from college

上大学的门槛和毕业的要求

are just too high.

都太高了

It simply costs too much.

就是太贵了

And that cost is often the price of tuition.

而这笔费用的大部分是学费

In the United States, a four-year bachelor's degree

在美国，一个学士学位

can cost in excess of 100,000 dollars,

需要花费超过10万美元

and that price point continues to escalate.

而这个价格还在不断上涨

And this is true in other parts of the world,

在全球的其它地方也一样

but sometimes, the cost is high

但有时候费用很贵

because there is no university nearby to study, on- or off-line.

是因为周围没有线下或线上的大学

Or because the academic hurdles are so high

或者学术要求太高

that university is only afforded to the privileged few.

大学只提供给社会最幸运的少数人

We, as institutions of higher education,

我们，做为高等教育机构

we build walls around ourselves

设立门槛

and expect students to find their ways over.

期望学生找到方法翻过

But this shouldn't be.

但不应该是这样

What I care most about,

我最看重的

and what I have devoted my entire career to as an educator,

和我在教育事业中最投入的

and now, as an administrator at one of the largest universities

而现在我是个美国顶尖大学之一的

in the United States,

管理人员

is seeing more people --

看见更多人

traditional college-aged as well as working adults --

不管是传统大学生或者正在工作的成年人

getting into and graduating from college.

上了大学并且毕业

But if we are to do this,

但如果我们想要这样做

institutions are going to have to redesign themselves

大学需要重新调整

to reach out and reach for more students,

从而让大学本身去寻找更多学生

versus students trying to reach the institutions

而不是让学生跨过那些门槛

over those walls.

去寻找大学

And if we are going to do that,

如果我们想要那样做

we have to dramatically drive down the cost of higher education,

我们需要大幅降低大学费用

and the way to do it is to rethink and reimagine

需要我们重新思考和想象

in these three ways.

接下来的三个方面

We have to rethink time ...

我们需要重新思考时间

place ...

地点

and how we teach.

和教授方法

So the first is time.

第一个是时间

Time goes hand in hand with cost,

时间和价格属于因果关系

and this is how it typically goes.

在通常情况下

College courses and degrees

大学的课程和学位

are typically assessed based on credit hours.

一般是由学分小时计算

And each credit costs money.

而每一个学分都需要花钱

So therefore, in this scenario,

所以在这种情况下

time, therefore cost,

时间，所以消费

is fixed,

是固定的

and learning is variable.

而学习是可变的

This really makes it problematic to drive down cost,

这让降低学费变得困难

and it particularly becomes problematic

这更是一个困难

if you’re trying to balance school, work and other family obligations,

如果你想从学校、工作、家庭义务

as well as other obligations and responsibilities.

和其它责任中找到平衡

But if we are to flip that scenario,

但如果我们改变这种情况

and therefore make learning the constant

把学习作为恒量

and time variable,

时间作为变量

then we break the tyranny of time.

我们就可以打破时间的束缚

I mean, really, isn't that what school is about?

这不就是学校意义所在么？

It's about learning and gaining mastery,

学校的意义就在于学习和掌握知识

versus logging in a particular number of hours.

而不是纪录投入了多少小时

So what could we do?

所以我们应该做什么？

We should make and give academic credit for life experiences.

我们应该基于经验给予学分

Why sit through an entire business management course

为什么学习商务管理课

for a semester,

要在课堂里坐一个学期

when you can have a university evaluator assess you

当倘若可以有一个大学评估员

based on your experience?

基于经验评定你呢？

So this is what this would look like.

举个例子

Let's take a student, Brandice.

有一位叫Brandice的学生

Brandice is an automotive technician at a car service center.

她是一位汽车服务中心的技术人员

Now let’s take three of the certifications that she received

她获取了三个证书

and is required for her to do her work:

是她工作所需要的：

electrical systems;

电气系统

manual drive, train and axles; and engine performance.

手动传动系统和发动机性能

Now you take those

现在你把这些和

and you couple with the fact that Brandice is actually managing a team of technicians

Brandice带领整一层技术人员团队的事实

on the floor.

结合起来

You assess all of that,

你评估所有这些

and she finds out that she's just a few credits shy of a college degree,

发现她只离

a degree in automotive engineering or engineering management.

汽车工程和工程管理文凭差几个学分

And then on top of that,

并且

during that assessment,

在评估的过程中

she find out that she has a pathway to receive the remainder of those credits

她发现挣到那些剩余学分的途径

for her degree

以获取学位

in less than five months.

只要不到五个月的时间

A few of us are doing this.

我们中少数人是这样做的

But here's what I hope for.

但我希望

My hope is that time

时间

becomes even more variable.

是一个变量

So let's build a global skills bank,

所以我们需要一个与银行相似的

much like a financial bank.

国际技术中心

But in this case,

但在这儿

skills and experiences are the currency.

技艺与经验是货币

So if you take an evening course in accounting,

如果你参加一个晚间的会计课

deposit that into your bank.

把这项技术存储到银行

If you do a summer internship at a marketing firm,

如果你在夏天做一个营销公司的实习生

deposit that into your bank.

把这项技术存储到银行

If we're able to do this,

如果我们能把这种方法

and do this at scale,

做到一定的规模

we could dramatically decrease the time to complete a degree,

就可以大幅减少完成学位的时间

therefore drive down cost.

从而减少消费

Second ...

第二是

place.

场所

We have to completely reenvision and reimagine how we think [about]

我们需要完全重新设想我们是如何思考

and we see place.

和看见场所的

We know that physical college campuses are expensive to maintain,

我们知道实体大学校园需要巨资去经营

and we have to understand that we should look at learning options

我们需要懂得学习方式

in a variety of different ways.

有很多不同的媒介

But there's also another cost that we need to lower ...

但还有一方面我们需要减少开支...

and it's the cost of belonging --

那就是归属感的费用

whether it's because there is not a university nearby for you to learn,

也许是因为你附近没有可供学习的大学

be it online or offline,

不管是线上或者线下

or because there are emotional or cultural walls

或是因为情感与文化的差异

that disconnect the learner from that learning location.

让学生和大学之间产生隔阂

Cameron, as a student,

名叫Cameron的学生

should be able to take classes in a community center

应当能在社区服务中心

or in his church.

或者教堂学习

He should be able to seek career advising and support

他应当能寻找职业咨询和帮助

from local business owners and businesses.

在当地的企业家和企业那儿得到

We should be able to take his work and his volunteer experiences

我们应当把他在信任的社区中的

and turn those intro credits,

工作和志愿经验

all in a community that he trusts.

转化为学分

And then therefore, we are making that community

我们让这个社会变成

a thriving, vital part of a learning ecosystem,

一个学习生态的重要组成部分

for him and for many others.

为了他和很多其他人

If we can do this,

如果我们能做到

this means that we absolutely have to believe

如果我们能完全相信

that learning can take place anywhere.

哪儿都可以学习

And if we do,

如果我们能完全相信

then we decrease the cost of place.

我们就减少了场所的费用

Finally,

最后

teaching, what about teaching?

教学呢？

Well, teaching is at the heart of learning.

教学是学习的核心

Teaching is the inspiration and the connection.

教学是启发，是连接

It is the spark that connects the learner to the information.

是建立学生和知识的那座桥

So there's nothing that we want to do to mess with that magic.

所以我们不希望毁坏 这份教学所带来的美好

But we do know that teaching is one of the higher costs of education.

但我们知道教育中很大一部分钱 归为教学

So what do we do?

所以我们能做什么呢？

We should take the most inspirational and engaging teachers,

我们应当让最能启发和吸引学生的老师

and all that teaching charm that comes with it,

带着他们身上的魔力

and make bigger classrooms for them,

给他们提供更大的教室

scaling and expanding their reach.

扩大他们教授学生的数量

So most classes are 20 to 30 students,

大多数教室有20-30个学生

or in some cases, a couple of hundred.

或者在某些情况下，几百个

But in online,

但在网上

you can reach thousands all around the world.

你可以扩大到全世界几千学生

We currently have a course called Human Relations and Administration.

我们现在有一门人际关系与管理课

It's a foundational course for all undergraduate business majors.

这是一门给经济系专业本科生的基础课

This course has upwards of 3,000 students from all over the world --

这门课可以接收世界各个角落3,000名学生

the US, Canada, Germany, India

美国、加拿大、德国、印度

and the list just goes on and on.

等等

We also have classes that are upwards of 5,000,

我们还有接收5,000人的课程

and we aspire to scale even more.

还希望继续增加人数

We want it so that wherever you have an internet connection,

我们想要这样 因为无论何时，只要有网络

you can put a virtual butt in a seat.

你就可以远程听老师授课

Now,

但是

there are folks who are skeptical about online,

有人反对上网

particularly large online classrooms,

特别是大型的线上教室

and they posit that smaller classrooms are better.

他们说学生少效果好

But I would argue what smaller classrooms are really providing is personalization.

但小型课堂真正提供的只是个性化教学

As so with personalization, this is what I want to see.

而对于个性化教学 这是我真正想看见的

I want to see a student, regardless of where they are,

我想看见一位学生，随便是谁

regardless of their location,

随便他们身在何处

have a single source, be it their mobile phone or their laptop,

只要有一台手机或者电脑

where they have access to instruction,

就可以参与教学活动

in real time or in their time.

随便是实时或者回播

I want a faculty member to be able to anticipate

我想让老师能预料

a particular need for a student,

一位学生需要的特殊帮助

outreach to that student,

找到那位学生

provide a connection for that student with a prepackaged academic toolkit

给他提供预备的学术工具包

that was prepared by a virtual or automated resource or service,

由线上或自动化的资源或服务准备

and provide that human intervention for that student just at the right time.

在恰当时间对那位学生提供人为干涉

That's what chatbots and predictive analytics and AI

这就是聊天机器人，预测分析和AI

can provide a university:

所能够提供给大学的

insights into when is it the right time to provide that human intervention

洞悉何时人为干涉

that helps that student to become unstuck,

才能帮助学生学习

and to provide that personal support the student may need.

并且提供个性化的帮助

Some of us are doing this.

有些人在做这些

But if we can really do this, and do this at scale,

但如果我们能这样做 并且做成一定的规模

we are solving the problem by building faculty

我们就解决了问题：让教师

to do the thing that they are best at,

做自己最擅长的

and to do that inspiration at scale.

在更大的规模下

And at the same time,

同时

we are helping to drive down the cost of higher education

我们在减少高等教育的费用

by still providing the personal support at the time that it's needed.

并且依旧在需要的时候提供个人帮助

So I began this talk talking about my father.

我开始这次演讲说我的父亲

There's a lot that has changed about higher education

有很多事情都在

over this period of time,

这段时间内改变了

and there are things that have not changed.

还有事情并没有

We, as institutions,

我们，教育机构

still find ourselves being exclusive and expensive,

依旧很排斥、很昂贵

keeping students on the wrong side of that wall.

错误地把学生拒之门外

Instead of thousands of autonomous universities,

取代上千个各自为政的大学

this is what I would like to see happen.

我希望看到

I would like to see universities, companies and governments

我希望看到大学、公司和政府

invest deeply in a higher education superhighway

深入投资高等教育

that allows for the fluidity and the transferability of experiences

让经验的流动

from place to place,

可以从这儿到那儿

from workplace to the classroom ...

从工作到教室...

beyond borders and beyond boundaries.

超越各种界限

And in this case ...

在这种情况下...

skills and competencies become the currency

技艺和能力成为

for a global workforce.

全球劳动力的货币

And if we're able to do this ...

如果我们可以做到...

I invite you to a graduation

我邀请你到一个

where we will have seen millions, and possibly billions of students

看见百万，甚至数十亿学生

walk across that stage.

走上舞台的毕业典礼

Thank you.

谢谢

(Cheers and applause)

（鼓掌和欢呼）