{"id":697,"date":"2022-05-17T10:49:28","date_gmt":"2022-05-17T03:49:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/bbs.binus.ac.id\/mm-blendedlearning\/?p=697"},"modified":"2021-05-17T11:01:30","modified_gmt":"2021-05-17T04:01:30","slug":"the-4-biggest-challenges-to-our-higher-education-model-and-what-to-do-about-them","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bbs.binus.ac.id\/mm-blendedlearning\/2022\/05\/the-4-biggest-challenges-to-our-higher-education-model-and-what-to-do-about-them\/","title":{"rendered":"The 4 biggest challenges to our higher education model \u2013 and what to do about them*"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"st__content-block st__content-block--list\">\n<ul>\n<li>Education models need to reflect the demand for lifelong learning to cope with the technological and social changes brought by the Fourth Industrial Revolution.<\/li>\n<li>Skills not degrees may be the reality of the future.<\/li>\n<li>Start-ups and new business models are disrupting traditional educational institutions and operating models.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"st__content-block st__content-block--text\">\n<p>In a future of unprecedented societal shifts, education is crucial to managing the challenges ahead. With more automated, digitized and fluid job markets, today\u2019s higher education systems are quickly becoming incompatible with the future we are looking towards. We are two decades into the 21st century, yet higher education is generally still geared to succeeding in the 20th. Indeed, universities themselves (at least in the US) <a href=\"https:\/\/www.insidehighered.com\/digital-learning\/article\/2019\/10\/22\/four-year-college-leaders-not-feeling-ready-future\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">express doubts about their ability to adapt to future developments<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"st__content-block st__content-block--text\">\n<p>While most debates around the future of education focus on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.weforum.org\/reports\/the-future-of-jobs-report-2018\">the skills needed for the future and the imperative of reskilling<\/a>, it is equally important to discuss the inevitable structural transformations of higher education.\u00a0<span style=\"font-size: 14px\">There are at least four \u2013 and arguably many more \u2013 major developments that in their interconnectedness structurally challenge the current higher education model.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<h2 id=\"1-increasing-need-for-life-long-learning-in-a-non-linear-worl\" class=\"st__content-block st__content-block--heading st__content-block--heading-2\">1. Increasing need for life-long learning in a non-linear world<\/h2>\n<div class=\"st__content-block st__content-block--text\">\n<p>We need to continually learn and update our skills in order to stay relevant. Work in the digital economy will, not surprisingly, consist increasingly of knowledge work. More jobs will require substantial interaction with technology, shaped by technological disruption, labour automation and more flexible and fluid employment. The outdated industrial-age mindset where people received an education early in life to be ready for a lifetime of work no longer reflects the individualized and unexpected trajectories of modern careers.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"st__content-block st__content-block--text\">\n<p>The idea of life-long learning is nothing new. But in a world that has become much more non-linear, the conditions for lifelong learning have changed significantly since the concept was first introduced. The need for lifelong learning to enable individuals to access learning opportunities \u2013 in different ways, for different purposes and at various career stages \u2013 has never been greater. We need to build education models that reflect this change and a culture that promotes it.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"2-evolving-needs-and-expectations-of-the-student-consumer\" class=\"st__content-block st__content-block--heading st__content-block--heading-2\">2. Evolving needs and expectations of the \u201cstudent-consumer\u201d<\/h2>\n<div class=\"st__content-block st__content-block--text\">\n<p>Like any other business sector, the changing demands of consumers (in this case, students and life-long learners) drive change in the education sector. Student demographics are changing, while learners who would previously be considered \u2018non-traditional\u2019 are becoming the new norm. As a result, there are new expectations for seamless higher education and life-long learning experiences that fit different lifestyles, individual circumstances and preferences.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"st__content-block st__content-block--text\">\n<p>Younger generations entering higher education have a completely different point of departure than previous generations. As digital natives, they have always had technology fully integrated into most aspects of their lives, so why would they expect anything else when it comes to their educational experience?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"st__content-block st__content-block--text\">\n<p>One-size-fits-all in education will soon be a thing of the past and individual learning paths will arguably be less defined by traditional educational structures. Consequently, students increasingly adopt a consumer\u2019s mindset and shop for flexible, seamless and personalized educational experiences. They look at an increasingly diverse array of education providers to fulfill their demands and will exercise choice by going elsewhere if their expectations are not met \u2013 as is the case in most aspects of their lives.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<h2 id=\"3-emerging-technologies-and-business-models\" class=\"st__content-block st__content-block--heading st__content-block--heading-2\">3. Emerging technologies and business models<\/h2>\n<div class=\"st__content-block st__content-block--text\">\n<p>Even though the pace of change in the education sector is generally slower than in other more profit-driven sectors, business model innovation is becoming ever more prevalent thanks to digital transformation. As such, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.inc.com\/jeff-haden\/a-harvard-professor-says-half-of-all-colleges-wont-exist-in-10-years-and-why-a-new-model-might-provide-a-better-path-to-career-success.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">the education landscape is bound to change significantly in the next decades<\/a> as new actors shake up conventional higher education and life-long learning models.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"st__content-block st__content-block--text\">\n<p>Fast-growing innovators in educational technologies and education industry outsiders are already challenging the status quo by structurally undermining the long-established business models of higher education. These new actors use technology and data to introduce new, alternative approaches that better deliver on the evolving expectations of learners. Imagine tech giants such as Google, Microsoft, or Amazon offering inexpensive, personalized, AI-driven education, maybe on a flexible \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.weforum.org\/agenda\/2019\/06\/education-should-be-on-demand-service\/\">Netflix for education<\/a>\u201d style scheme.<\/p>\n<div class=\"st__content-block st__content-block--text\">\n<p>This will inevitably test the agility and adaptability of established players and their long-prevailing business models. In response, more and more universities are experimenting with changes to their business models, but the future higher education landscape <a href=\"https:\/\/www.insidehighered.com\/digital-learning\/article\/2019\/07\/17\/amazon-google-and-other-tech-companies-expand-their\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">will almost certainly include disruptive new entrants<\/a>, competing and collaborating with the traditional actors \u2013 maybe with a redefined role for traditional institutions altogether.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<h2 id=\"4-towards-a-skills-over-degrees-model\" class=\"st__content-block st__content-block--heading st__content-block--heading-2\">4. Towards a \u201cskills over degrees\u201d model<\/h2>\n<div class=\"st__content-block st__content-block--text\">\n<p>While the degree still rules, by and large, we are slowly moving towards a reality with more focus on acquiring skills not degrees. Conventional thinking tells us that the surest route to success in professional life lies at the end of a higher education degree and, not surprisingly, that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.oecd-ilibrary.org\/education\/education-at-a-glance-2019_f8d7880d-en\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">holding a degree correlates with improved chances of employment as well as higher income<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"st__content-block st__content-block--text\">\n<p>However, the value of degrees is being questioned more than ever before and not just in places where students face high tuition fees and life-long debt, but also in education systems where university is \u201cfree\u201d (the opportunity cost of spending several years on study are worth the next 60 years in a career that will likely constantly change over time). Whether traditional higher education is still the best way to provide people with the skills needed to compete in unpredictable job markets is debatable.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"st__content-block st__content-block--text\">\n<p>For most companies, degrees continue to function as a signalling device that vouches for a potential employee\u2019s abilities. But research shows that <a href=\"https:\/\/hbr.org\/2019\/01\/does-higher-education-still-prepare-people-for-jobs\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">education level is only weakly correlated with job performance<\/a> and, in fact, more and more companies, including prominent ones such as Google, Apple, Penguin Random House, Ernst &amp; Young UK and IBM, are actively <a href=\"https:\/\/www.glassdoor.com\/blog\/no-degree-required\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">shifting focus away from degrees<\/a> to new ways of measuring employability as a consequence of the changing nature of work.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<h2 id=\"what-does-this-mean-for-higher-education-systems\" class=\"st__content-block st__content-block--heading st__content-block--heading-2\">What does this mean for higher education systems?<\/h2>\n<div class=\"st__content-block st__content-block--text\">\n<p>Higher education today finds itself in a society in flux and it is becoming increasingly difficult for \u201ceducation incumbents\u201d to keep up.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"st__content-block st__content-block--text\">\n<p>Almost everything developed for the 20th-century workforce is being dismantled and reconstructed; higher education is no exception. Universities must reevaluate their roles now and what they could grow to be in the future. We will have to acknowledge that the educational systems and pathways of the future will be better served by alternative, innovative models that do not necessarily add up to four or five years, and that likely involve new actors \u2013 however uncomfortable this first makes us feel.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>*This article was wrote by Simon Fuglsang and Adam Graafland and published in https:\/\/www.weforum.org\/agenda\/2019\/12\/fourth-industrial-revolution-higher-education-challenges\/<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Education models need to reflect the demand for lifelong learning to cope with the technological and social changes brought by the Fourth Industrial Revolution. Skills not degrees may be the reality of the future. Start-ups and new business models are disrupting traditional educational institutions and operating models. In a future of unprecedented societal shifts, education [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":30,"featured_media":698,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-697","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bbs.binus.ac.id\/mm-blendedlearning\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/697","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bbs.binus.ac.id\/mm-blendedlearning\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bbs.binus.ac.id\/mm-blendedlearning\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bbs.binus.ac.id\/mm-blendedlearning\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/30"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bbs.binus.ac.id\/mm-blendedlearning\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=697"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/bbs.binus.ac.id\/mm-blendedlearning\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/697\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":699,"href":"https:\/\/bbs.binus.ac.id\/mm-blendedlearning\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/697\/revisions\/699"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bbs.binus.ac.id\/mm-blendedlearning\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/698"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bbs.binus.ac.id\/mm-blendedlearning\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=697"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bbs.binus.ac.id\/mm-blendedlearning\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=697"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bbs.binus.ac.id\/mm-blendedlearning\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=697"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}