Our institutions and students are as post-MOOC as they are post-modern. Our world is international, practically-focused and communications-driven. Our students need to learn how to collaborate with partners from around the world in order to create local solutions. Smaller institutions should focus on their strengths of increased internationalization, emerging in-class pedagogies and diffusion of new media technologies. In order to do this, I propose a networked pedagogy that builds on three pillars of effective social learning….

After reflecting on my own teaching as well as that of others, I don’t see much difference between the one-room schoolhouse and the college classroom. The basic form is often the same: one person teaching a multitude of learners. Even when a so-called “guide on the side” replaces “the sage on the stage,” not much changes. The paradigm of remains that of the teacher as sovereign of the classroom whose tribute is paid to the local institutional empire. I think this age of empire is nearing its end….

Collaborative networked teaching and learning has the potential to address a yawning gap between the strategic objectives for internationalization of higher education institutions and their actualization. In so many cases, institutions place “internationalization” in their vision, mission statements and strategic plans; it is usually the case that internationalization is either poorly realized or overlooked. The conventional thinking about internationalization focuses on student mobility abroad, garnering international students, founding niche programs, leadership centers or extension campuses abroad, sending delegations to establish MOUs and pitching MOOCs or distance programs online. To support these conventional strategies requires significant investments in staff, infrastructure, travel, administration, legal consultation, accreditation, and so on. These conventional strategies are rarely sustainable over the long-term, and they are incredibly difficult to scale-up.