The future of university education - my take

Let me share my views as an entrepreneur and as a delegate of the president of University St.Gallen for the new Learning Centre, where the University St.Gallen prototypes the future of teaching and learning.

Let me start with the obvious:

It is true that new providers are entering the market of higher education and offering classes & content online. And yes, of course, digitization and artificial intelligence will play a very important role in higher education. Everyone must and everyone will do it.

But what does it mean to prepare students and alumni in the best possible way to assume responsibility in business and society?

I would argue: tomorrow's leaders will not be trained in video conferences or online education. Tomorrow's leading researchers won't get their inspiration in video calls. The university of the future will have to build on a core of face-to-face learning and physical encounters.

Why is that?

Universities of the future will have to focus on those competencies that cannot be automated or digitally mapped. These competencies can hardly be developed within the framework of large courses or digital lecture formats. Rather, there is a need for formats in which students in relatively small groups deal intensively with practical and complex problems.

Why is a university fundamentally dependent on physical encounters? Second reason:

Personalities do not mature and grow in front of screens. Why was I here, at this university, 20 yrs ago? It was about breaking away from parents, getting inspired, involved in associations and making emotional experiences. It was about serendipity and it was about experiences outside the classroom. At the bar, queuing up for a coffee or walking home together with friends. You know what: There is no coffee bar in ZOOM. The university of the future must therefore be a digital enhanced presence university. 

Why is a university fundamentally dependent on physical encounters? third reason:

Leadership will change more and more. It will be about empathy, authenticity, collaboration and participation. If we as a university want to train leaders of the future, we will not succeed in virtual settings, but in providing trustful personal exchange. Competent leaders of the future in business and society are not created in the holodeck, but around the campfire.

Universities need to invest massively in online content, especially for early semesters with many participants. But the leading universities will differentiate by building .. on what they do best: Thinking, learning and researching together.

Shaping this process represents both a great opportunity and a great challenge for universities. Universities shall become third places, public space, the meeting places of a region. Universities shall be required to make programmes that go far beyond the actual curricula. If you are not there in the evening or early morning, you will miss out. If you don't read between the lines, you only get half of it.

It is imperative that universities engage in a future-responsible dialogue with the public and take responsibility for the common good. Especially from a liberal perspective, we must not leave these tasks to the state. 

The learning center in St.Gallen will benefit of a curator. This person and her team determine and co-create with the community the programme over a longer period of time. This person brings together people who at first glance do not seem to be together. So the learning center will become kind of a forum where alumni, students, faculty and visitors can show up, share ideas and learn something new.

After Corona and in a digitalized world, our learning centre here will be more important than ever. As a university, we need this sandbox to try out innovation in learning. As alumni, we need this basecamp to be able to come back here and learn, again and again between the peaks of our careers. As personalities, we need this campfire to meet each other as human beings, to share views and to mature as personalities.