Monthly Archives: December 2008

Future of Higher Education (Part 3)

What will it mean to be an educated person in the 21st century? As Future of Higher Education – How Technology will shape learning  study indicates, sweeping technological changes will effectively change the skill-sets of the future workforce, as well as its approach to work in general. As a result, societies around the world will need to consider how to make the most of these new opportunities and thus ensure that they remain competitive in the global marketplace.

Here is an abbreviated summary: 

Technological innovation, long a hallmark of academic research, may now be changing the very way that universities teach and students learn. For academic institutions, charged with equipping graduates to compete in today’s knowledge economy, the possibilities are great. Distance education, sophisticated learning-management systems and the opportunity to collaborate with research partners from around the world are just some of the transformational benefits that universities are embracing.
But significant challenges also loom. For all of its benefits, technology remains a disruptive innovation—and an expensive one. Faculty members used to teaching in one way may be loath to invest the time to learn new methods, and may lack the budget for needed support. This paper examines the role of technology in shaping the future of higher education. The major findings are as follows:

  1. Technology has had—and will continue to have—a significant impact on higher education.
  2. Online learning is gaining a firm foothold in universities around the world.
  3. Corporate-academic partnerships will form an increasing part of the university experience.
  4. University respondents view technology as having a largely positive impact on their campuses, but acknowledge that operational challenges may hinder the full benefits from being realised. In addition, technology may be disruptive in ways not intended: respondents note a rise in student plagiarism, cheating and distractability, which they attribute to easy and ready access to mobile technologies.
  5. Higher education is responding to globalisation.
  • What are the major challenges to educators in higher education?
  • What changes do you think are necessary to meet up those challenges?

School of the future

Here is a video on the school of the future: Microsoft School of the future.

How many schools are already using this approach? Would this happen in some of the schools of your districts?

Will Higher Education adopt such a school system? Cisco’s Vision for the School System of the Future

I think some of the on-line Universities are already using such approach in delivering their programs. More researchs may be needed to study the merits and limitations of those approaches.

  1. Do you think this will happen in your school/higher education institution? 
  2. What are the implications of such schools?
  3. What are the challenges for educators?
  4. As an educator, how would you overcome those challenges?