Thought Leaders in Online Education: Rob Waldron, CEO of Curriculum Associates (Part 6)

Sramana Mitra: Those are very different level questions. One question is about personalized learning. What you’re saying is that different types of personalization  are necessary in this process. You’re saying that that is going to be a longer process just because the levels of personalization and the variations are a lot more complicated than just having to cover the most common cases.

The other question of what does a mid-21st century citizen need in terms of education, that’s a much bigger philosophical question.

Rob Waldron: The reason that it feels like it won’t end is there will be societal expectations on our schools for certain ages. Once we figure out what those expectations are and if we agree about them, we’re going to have to provide tools and materials in order to drive learning for children. I think those things will always be moving.

Sramana Mitra: Let me actually weigh in. The question that society, as a whole, will need to answer. Right now, we’re obsessed about STEM. Everybody thinks that’s the answer. All kids need to have is a sound background in STEM whether they have the aptitude or not. There is a big interest in teaching children computer science and programming early on so that they start getting into the mode of thinking where technology and programming are a very integral part of their thought process. That’s what’s happening in the 2016 thought process.

This thought process will continue for some number of years. In parallel, there is also major disruptions happening in the workforce where the development of artificial intelligence is working towards code generators. Today what seems like a very high-paying sophisticated job of being a programmer or a computer scientist, this may not be such an attractive profession in the next decade where that skill will no longer be valuable.

We may even get to a point where there are so few jobs that people will need to keep themselves busy some other way. Perhaps the role of art will become significant again.

Rob Waldron: To bring that back to an educational context, we have to get kids in computer programming and make it go away. It’s just an interesting thing. It’ll be a subject of a lot of debate.

Sramana Mitra: Anything else that you want to add in terms of emerging trends?

Rob Waldron: The biggest trend is so great and so big and not written about. In the old world of publishing, you would make a textbook. I remember you used to write your name on the textbook in pencil. The kid the next year would write their name below your name. Now we sell subscriptions. Everybody gets to see everything. You get to see usage. You get to see games.

A company like ours has to be in the business of renewing subscriptions. We have to give great service and make people understand what we did with our technology and constantly update it. To be of service to the school to make sure they’re getting value has us on our toes as an industry. I love that. You could go to a school and they have 10 to 15 reading programs. You’re like, “Why?” “This one’s for behind. This one was when Joe was here. He really loved this one. This was a new tech team we tried.”

Schools can’t use 15 reading programs. The ones that deliver the best results will be known and seen. If not, you throw them out and don’t spend money for five years. You spend money for one year. There’s savings there. I am excited about that because it will improve both the product and the service. When we improve both things, we increase student achievement and save teachers’ time. I love that trend. I’m excited to compete on service and not just products.

Sramana Mitra: Thank you for your time.

This segment is part 6 in the series : Thought Leaders in Online Education: Rob Waldron, CEO of Curriculum Associates
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