I am constantly looking around for research that investigates the role of technology in learning, and the recent snowfall in Seattle has allowed me to hide in my room and spend lots of time doing just that. In my search, I came across the Economist Intelligence Unit’s joint report with the New Media Consortium titled “The future of higher education: how technology will shape learning.” This document was a great read, covering a wide survey of higher education administrators as well as industry professionals, all interested in the convergence of education and technology. The report itself is a 32 page document, with the first half allocated to survey analysis and the second half serving as an appendix with results displayed in graphs.
In my opinion, this white paper is a fantastic compliment to the New Media Literacies white paper that was authored by Henry Jenkins, Ravi Purushatma, Katherine Clinton, Margaret Weigel, and Alice J. Robinson earlier this year. While the NML paper has a micro focus, examining what skills are necessary in a mediated society and media education, the EIU/NMC paper focuses on how technology itself is affecting the course of education, reconstructing disciplinary boundaries, and allowing for innovation in and out of the classroom. I would highly suggest reading the NML paper if you haven’t yet, especially in tandem to this.
About the survey
According to the report, the research drew on two main initiatives conducted in July and August 2008: a global online executive survey and in-depth interviews. Of the 289 executives responding to the survey, 189 participants came from higher education and 100 came from corporate settings. The US accounted for slightly over one-half (154) of all respondents, with the remainder distributed through Europe (69), Asia-Pacific (43) and the rest of the world (23). Of this total, board members and C-level respondents made up 43% of private-sector respondents, while professors, deans and other faculty members accounted for 86% of those surveyed from academic institutions.
Findings
The first thing that resonated with me (as it echoes my own feelings rather closely) is the notion that schools and educators are seeing a shift in their roles. Sam Scalise, CIO of Sonoma State University stated:
The professor’s role is evolving from instructor to mentor. Homework, quizzes and projects will have to be designed in such a way as to require genuine thoughtfulness on the part of the student. That paradigm shift offers enormous potential for advancing educational quality.
This quote was located right below the results to the question “How is technology most likely to affect academic course and degree offerings in your country? (pictured below)
The results above closely support Mr. Scalise’s statement, as the over 50% of the respondents believe that the quantity of interdisciplinary majors will be rising in the next five years. This is a trend I have seen in my own education, as I currently am studying within an extremely interdisciplinary department. In such places, professors frequently must step outside of their traditional boundaries and help students weave together theories and scholarship from different perspectives, rather than just help them understand a specific set of paradigms. In my program specifically, technology as an artifact of study is best viewed from multiple disciplines together, as they each contribute to our understanding of the roles technology can play. By allowing for students and faculty from these diverse perspectives to come together, we will allow for greater technological innovation due to richer and more robust perspectives for analysis.
Another valuable takeaway from the results of this question is that 54% of the respondents believe that universities and corporations will partner, leading students to seek more specialized degrees. Some people may see this as a reverse move from interdisciplinary study, but I see it as a result of just that. As educators partner together to create stronger frameworks for analysis, many traditional disciplines will have to create more specialized tracks that accommodate such areas of study. Similarly, as partnerships between industry and education grow, programs will specialize in their research and the degree should indicate that.
Also asked in the survey was “Over the next five years, how important do you think the availability of new technologies will be to students as they choose a university to attend?” 73% of the respondents said “very important” with 25% choosing “somewhat important” and only 2% selecting “minimally important.” This, too, mirrors my own beliefs, especially in regards to corporate partnerships. The current generation of primary and secondary school students are engaging with technology to a much greater degree than the generations before them and thus will have greater expectations about technology in university settings, though these expectations could range from a power outlet for each student to the newest robot. Regardless, I know that many of my peers had their college decisions influenced by campus visits, where they were able to see firsthand how technology was being utilized in classrooms and on campus. I’m glad that a large majority of those surveyed see this as a crucial issue for universities, especially as multimedia literacies become more common in the student population.
Conclusion
The report ends by asking a great question, one that we should all reflect on as we move forward (in academia or otherwise): What it will mean to be an educated person in the 21st century? Technology constantly shapes the way that we act and live, and our current information age is dramatically shifting education. We must be looking for ways to engage each other and then, in turn, be reflective of that engagement. Technology is a tool, and we want to leverage that tool successfully.
I encourage you to read both white papers and would love to hear any thoughts you have.