Lean and Agile Higher Education: Death to Grades, Courses, and Degree Programs?
Original version
10.1007/978-981-13-2751-3_8Abstract
Most universities provide education in a traditional plan-based manner, for instance with rigid degree programs that force students to make big decisions up front. Lean and agile education would rather operate in small increments and allow the students to make many iterative decisions along the way. This chapter discusses how lean and agile education might be radically different from plan-based education, what obstacles there are to lean and agile education, and how information technology could reduce these obstacles. Ultimately, information technology supporting a fine-granular matching of student learning outcomes with competencies needed by employers could enable agile study choices by the students themselves that would be superior even to the most thoroughly planned degree program, because the quick pace of technology progress means that it will be almost impossible to predict future work–life needs in detail.