Megatrends and higher education
HOW will the university look like in the future? Ernst & Young (EY), an international professional services organization, offers a response to this using data they recently gathered and assessed in Australia. According to them, universities need to “future- proof.” Otherwise, they run the risk of major disruption.
model of learning is said to have a high chance of being unviable in the near future, which would result in graduates accumulating more debt while being beleaguered by poor job prospects. Another conclusion is that almost half of all the recent graduates think that programs need to be overhauled because of the growing impact of digital technologies.
Generally, quality is still the core of education. But how it will be canalized is the emerging issue at this time. The teacher and how he teaches are indissoluble agents of high quality teaching and learning. But anyone involved in teaching and learning has to negotiate with the world of education that is evolving at an exponential rate.
EY’s research hints at the future of education and the institutions
megatrends (a term people use to refer to global high-impact phenomena), which will transform higher educa-
Teaching methods have to be revisited. Simple delivery of content in a traditional spoonfeeding method will not hold up to the open-access data, which are readily available using common devices and the internet. To note, these open-access data also provide analyses, interpretations and curations of information.
“Our major competitor in 10 years time will be Google, if we’re still alive,” according to one university vice chancellor who participated in the research. To be sure, digital technologies are transforming the way education is being delivered, supported and accessed, and the way value is created in higher education and its related industries. Although campuses will probably still exist as venues for teaching, learning, research and community activities, new technologies will inevitably introduce new values in higher education. The massive online courses (MOOCs) are just the initial platforms for such developments that we see right now.
Students, professors, researchers and academic talents are becoming more aggressive in participating in international platforms. Soon, global brands in education would almost be ubiquitous. China, Malaysia, South Korea, Thailand and others are becoming global-scale destinations for international students. It is a challenge for the government in general and the individual educational institutions in particular to make the Philippines be in line with these countries.
A more dynamic synergy between industry and the higher education sector is expected in the future. As big game will be co-investment with the private sector.” Although the industry can be perceived as customer, partner and competitor with higher education, still the internship and collaborative work of universities with the industry on research will make the partnership crucial for both parties to achieve intended results.
Utility and investment will greatly go hand in hand, as higher education will extend its reach to an international audience. Institutions will have to take a stand on which programs they will have to hold on to, and which they will have to reformulate or forego.
In sum, the EY research says “these drivers of change will transform the higher education industry landscape, forcing universities to adapt to business models.” In the out how educational institutions can maintain the quality of their education, protect their core values that determine their identity, and adapt to these global megatrends, whose effects will be felt in the country sooner than later.
Only after the schools decide on these will an image of the university of the future be possible in the country. The decision will have to come soon.