THE FUTURE OF HIGHER EDUCATION BEYOND THE PANDEMIC
This article first appeared in IAU Horizons.
The future of higher education beyond the pandemic
Patrick Blessinger and Mandla Makhanya
The Covid-19 pandemic has served as an authentic test case for how universities can provide more flexible learning experiences for students by using remote learning technologies. Prior to the pandemic, many universities were reluctant to migrate to online and hybrid classes. However, with the pandemic, many universities around the world were forced to switch to remote learning as a means to continue providing education. As a result, universities are now better positioned to use remote learning technologies to create more flexible learning environments to better meet the needs of students. The question remains, however, to what degree and in what ways will higher education institutions adopt these practices for the long-term.
The nature of change
In a highly globalised world, for better or worse, change can occur very rapidly. Whether it is the change of a political system (for example, from autocracy to democracy) or the impact of an economic event (for example, the Great Recession) or the development of a social crisis (for example, the refugee crisis) or the spread of a new disease (for example, Coronavirus) or the adoption of a new technology (for example, mobile phones and social media), the speed and power of the change can have an extraordinary and immediate impact on the world.
Social change is a continual process, marked by varying degrees of change over time. Broadly defined, social change occurs when some event alters the social order or changes the status quo in some significant way. Change may be evolutionary, such as those micro changes brought about by normal day-to-day activities, or the change may be revolutionary, such as those macro alterations brought about by transformative and wide-scale disruptions to the status quo. Historically, although higher education institutions have been resistant to change due to their institutional nature, they have also been catalysts for change within broader society.
With evolutionary change, the status quo, by and large, is maintained. With revolutionary change however, a paradigm shift occurs, where either a whole new system replaces the current system or where the current system is significantly altered in a fundamental way. For example, in recent history, the world has seen an end to the Cold War, an end to apartheid in South Africa, and the collapse of communist and colonial regimes around the world. With these events, change was forced upon higher education institutions as they were required to adapt to the new socio-political-economic changes.
The need for change
Social change and reform is needed for social progress to improve the quality of life for people and the planet. For instance, throughout human history structural and institutional reforms were needed in order to address inhumane conditions such as tyranny, genocide, slavery, servitude, persecution, and other human rights violations.
Without needed reforms (political, economic and social), social progress becomes stagnant. Evolutionary changes are not always sufficient to overcome deeply embedded and long-standing practices based on corruption, exploitation, and oppression and, in such cases, revolutionary change is needed.
Websites such as Human Progress and Our World in Data provide ways to measure political, economic and social progress. These provide empirical data to measure progress made on global problems such as poverty, hunger, literacy, and education. In addition, websites such as the Social Progress Imperative, use data to measure how well different nations meet the needs of their citizens. To that end, higher education plays a key role in creating a better world.
Positive change for a better world
The number of people, of all demographic backgrounds, pursuing higher education is expected to increase significantly around the world over the coming decades (from 216 million in 2016 to 594 million in 2040) as people continue to attain advanced knowledge and skills to compete in an increasingly globalized world (UNESCO, n. d.).
The increasing global demand for higher education is, in part, a result in changes in the labour market (for example, increased premium on advanced knowledge/skills and lifelong learning), increased urbanisation (for example, people moving to large cities in search of career opportunities and social mobility), changing student demographics (for example, non-traditional and part-time students), and changing learner needs (for example, humanistic education, flexible learning and workforce preparation).
To meet this increased demand, institutional diversification has increased (new types of educational institutions), new educational offerings have increased (for example, non-formal learning, open education), and more flexible provisioning methods have increased (for example, online and hybrid learning). These trends exemplify a growing democratisation of higher education around the world and they put more pressure on higher education institutions to implement needed reforms to bring about affordable and flexible high-quality education to all. Let us hope that the current pandemic will serve as a catalyst to that end.
References
Human Progress. (n.d.). https://www.humanprogress.org
Our World in Data. (n.d.). https://ourworldindata.org
Social Progress Imperative. (n.d.), 2020 Social Progress Index. https://www.socialprogress.org
UNESCO. (n.d.), Higher Education. https://uis.unesco.org/en/topic/higher- education
Patrick Blessinger, Executive Director International Higher Education Teaching and Learning Association (HETL) and Adjunct Associate Professor of Education at St John’s University, US and Mandla Makhanya, former Vice-Chancellor and Professor at the University of South Africa and President of HETL.
Suggested Citation:
Blessinger, P. and Makhanya, M. (2020). The future of higher education beyond the pandemic, IAU Horizons, volume 25, number 2, https://www.iau-aiu.net/IMG/pdf/iau_horizons_vol.25.2.pdf
Copyright ? [2020] Patrick Blessinger and Mandla Makhanya
Disclaimer
Opinions expressed in this article are those of the author, and as such do not necessarily represent the position(s) of other professionals or any institution.
Lecturer in Physics, Electronics and Computer Programming
3 年informative and insightful
People-focused, Results-driven, Problem Solver!
3 年The increasing role of technology and AI/ML will impact every job. The real key is what to focus human training on for the "594 million in 2040" and whether institutions can adapt fast enough. Higher ed will need to create newer educational pathways while disrupting traditional models.
Youth Ready for Youth Futures
3 年Thanks for sharing
Founder-Cyndee’s Teacher Training | The Student Retention Expert to Community Colleges and Universities | Youth Career and Life Consultant | Bridging Success to Post-High School Careers
3 年Patrick, Thank you so much for this important and timely subject. I agree with you that we are in a "revolutionary change" and have been working with a group of forward thinkers on promoting this change. We are in the development phase of helping others make the transition to the digital world through activities, articles, presentations and workshops. For example, we are having a World Wide Christmas Event and New Years Eve Event to bring the "world family" together to celebrate virtually. Your article has inspired me to act on an idea I have had as to how to help students and teachers return back into the classroom. This important issue must be addressed now for planning and understanding, especially, regarding the social and emotional issues involved with the return to face-to-face. Keep up the great writing. I look forward to reading your articles in the future. Best, Cyndee