A New Era of Georgetown Educational Innovation

In the fall of 2012, President DeGioia launched the Initiative on Technology-Enhanced Learning, at a time when MOOC-madness was at its height. Georgetown used internal funds to beef up the IT infrastructure, enter EdX as a member, and support faculty to innovate in their classrooms. We wanted to make sure a) that we would mount a faculty-led process of innovation and b) that Georgetown education innovation was part of a larger multi-university, high-quality platform in EdX.

In many ways, through the enthusiasm of faculty and students, and the leadership of Vice Provost Bass, Georgetown now is at a very different point in the developmental lifecycle than in fall 2012.

We have innovated in many classes in many different ways. Large numbers of faculty are involved. We’ve learned what it takes to bring into production new technologies adapted to Georgetown pedagogical goals. We’ve introduced blended classes of various types, some using content we had built for MOOCs. We now have new online programs.

We are now finishing up a year of the Designing the Future(s) initiative, the second era of active experimentation. We’ve jumped from the class, as the unit of innovation, to the program. We’re developing new minors, certificates, majors, and degree programs. We’ve done it by engaging hundreds of alumni throughout the country, faculty in DC and Doha, staff throughout the university, and students. There were receptions, gatherings, and Webinars reaching 100’s more alumni and parents. A common tool was the “design lab,” in which participants were actively engaged in imagining the key ingredients of the 21st century Georgetown. This Georgetown is what the participant identified as the essential benefits of the current experience, modified by knowledge of how to increase the depth, breadth, and impact of the education. All of these efforts were the focus of the past few months.

In the incubator space of the small red house on 37th Street all of this input was synthesized. At this point, 30-40 faculty, students, and project managers are developing 15-20 different projects, all aimed at testing new modes of delivering high quality education.

President DeGioia has articulated student formation, scholarly inquiry, and support of the common good as three key roles of the modern university. The future designs were asked to use new ways, unencumbered by current structures to achieve maximum success on all three of those goals.

We viewed the 2012 initiative as a seed capital investment. We quietly hoped that other sources of funding would be forthcoming if we offered a proof of concept. Deep down we knew that, if there were no external support for this line of work, we could not achieve the goals that Georgetown had articulated.

The last few months have seen an unquestioned success in seeking external funds to support this work — now amounting to over $4 million in gifts and grants. This is the sign for which we were waiting. Alumni, parents, and foundations have decided that what we are doing at Georgetown deserves nurturance and support. We have seen the fruits of the seed funding of 2012.

The many people who made this possible deserve our praise and thanks. Their long hours paid off. Future generations of Georgetown faculty and students will reap the benefits of these pioneers.