Why every education leader must be a tech visionary

Education, like many industries before it, is now having its internet moment.There are two great phases unfolding. The first is the shift to digital materials for use either in blended learning courses or as a replacement for the printed textbook. This shift is now well underway in the U.S. Before long, there will be no more printed textbooks.The second phase is the shift of part of every student’s coursework to purely online formats.There are so many implications of all these changes that one can be forgiven for thinking it is hopeless to make sense of them. But the alternative — not worrying about it at all — probably isn’t the right answer either.

Leadership positions in education, whether at universities or learning companies, have recently undergone a crucial change (though not everyone has realized it yet). Namely, every education leadership position must now include as part of its skill-set the role of “tech visionary.”By “tech visionary,” It doesn’t mean that education leaders must dream up their own new tech-enabled products. Far from it. But it is absolutely critical that a leader in education has a strong, informed opinion about where technology will lead the industry in the next few years, and that he or she plans accordingly.

Another big change: as education content migrates from printed textbooks to tablets and smartphones, the efficacy of any particular set of education materials will become accurately measurable for each student. Gone are the days when education courses and products of middling quality could be compensated for with stronger execution in sales and marketing. In an industry as high stakes as education, transparent outcomes will create intense competitive pressure on product quality.

The education ecosystem is just beginning to be transformed by this new wave of digital technologies. Education leadership today tends to be strong in areas like campus management, fund-raising, brand management, textbook sales, etc. These men and women are good at running huge, asset- and Human-Resources-intensive operations. These are extremely valuable abilities to be sure, but these leaders must now add technology vision to that mix.

Having a technology vision is tough, but it’s possible. Managing to that vision is even harder. You have to be smart and fearless. It takes years to know for absolute certain whether a major tech bet — a university’s course delivery ecosystem, a publisher’s platform, a company’s training tools — was the right one. You have to have a strong opinion today about where the world is headed, make your bets accordingly, and live with them until past the point where success or failure is predetermined.

That  takes real vision