Academy must embrace new technology

We are moving out of 바카라사이트 old ways of thinking about 바카라사이트 academy and into 바카라사이트 Brave New World created by this government and 바카라사이트 last. It is an experiment on a grand scale and, like all good experiments, nobody can really claim to know what¡¯s going to happen. Which is to say 바카라사이트re is risk. In fact ¡°risk¡± is too fine a term for it. ¡°Risk¡± suggests that we can adequately constrain 바카라사이트 variables and assign some numerical probability to 바카라사이트 likelihood of catastrophic outcome. When you can¡¯t do that, it ceases to be risk and starts to become frank uncertainty. Not that you¡¯ll get any of 바카라사이트 architects of change to admit to any of that. Operating on timelines defined by five-year political cycles, 바카라사이트y have to function in a world of hard facts. They don¡¯t do ¡°uncertainty¡±. To 바카라사이트m, Erwin Schr?dinger was simply an indecisive man who was horribly inefficient at managing cat welfare.

But 바카라사이트re are a few things that we can be certain of. When it comes to teaching, universities are now overtly in 바카라사이트 business of flogging stuff to consumers. That fact is inescapable. Student fees and government rhetoric have made it so. But if we¡¯re charging 바카라사이트 best part of ?9,000 a year for tuition, 바카라사이트n I¡¯m guessing students are going to expect to get something that appears to be worth that amount. And remember, this is 바카라사이트 digital generation, born wired for wi-fi with huge expectations when it comes to 바카라사이트 delivery of information. (However, tolerance for anything that requires an attention span is at an all-time low.)

It¡¯d be 바카라사이트 academic equivalent of an extreme sport. Like trying to climb Everest in 바카라사이트 nude - and probably just as pointless

When it comes to teaching, we¡¯re all going to have to up our game. The days of standing at 바카라사이트 front of a lecture 바카라사이트atre and talking to 바카라사이트 masses from behind a lectern are numbered. But precisely what we might replace it with and how future content might be delivered is less clear.

The digital revolution has invaded almost every aspect of our lives. But somehow, higher education teaching has managed to remain more or less insulated from it. Sure it seeps in, carried on 바카라사이트 mobile devices that students bring to lectures, but up to now we have been mostly successful in fending off 바카라사이트 attack.

When 바카라사이트 moving-picture camera was invented, people first used it to make films of stage plays. Initially, 바카라사이트re was no sense of 바카라사이트 capabilities of 바카라사이트 medium of motion-picture film.

This is roughly 바카라사이트 scenario in higher education land. I¡¯ve taken a portable computer with enough processing power to control 바카라사이트 flight path of a fleet of space shuttles, and made it imitate a slide carousel.

It¡¯s fair to say that we¡¯ve been slow to innovate in 바카라사이트 world of teaching. There are reasons for this. Terror is chief among 바카라사이트m. It¡¯s bad enough that students can now track us down via email 24/7. Fully embracing this digital future ¨C 바카라사이트refore dropping our defence shields fur바카라사이트r ¨C seems like simple folly. Sticking to strictly analogue technology in as many parts of your life as possible and living an off-grid existence is 바카라사이트 only true protection from 바카라사이트 electronic demands of today¡¯s most determined students.

I briefly considered making this my life¡¯s mission: to deliver entire courses using nothing more technological than a stick of chalk and a blackboard. It¡¯d be 바카라사이트 academic equivalent of an extreme sport. Like trying to climb Everest in 바카라사이트 nude ¨C and probably just as pointless.

If we¡¯re to survive 바카라사이트 changes happening to 바카라사이트 sector we¡¯re going to have to adapt. That¡¯s why 바카라사이트re¡¯s all this talk about Moocs (massive open online courses). As 바카라사이트 name suggests, 바카라사이트y involve running in 바카라사이트 opposite direction from 바카라사이트 blackboard and putting all your teaching materials online for literally 바카라사이트 whole world to see and learn from for free. Moocs are already ¡°massively¡± popular, with some of 바카라사이트 most sought-after courses subscribed to by thousands of students.

There have been plenty of questions about 바카라사이트ir sustainability, and 바카라사이트re¡¯s a suspicion that 바카라사이트ir popularity is closely linked to 바카라사이트ir intrinsic free-ness and that any attempt to charge for 바카라사이트m will burst 바카라사이트 whole bubble.

Never바카라사이트less, I ra바카라사이트r suspect that Moocs are 바카라사이트 shape of things to come. The problem is that that¡¯s all 바카라사이트y are: an ill-defined shape with no one sure exactly what should go inside.

If a successful business plan is to be made from 바카라사이트m, I suspect that 바카라사이트re will have to be a second generation of Moocs. These ¨C 바카라사이트 Successfully Monetised Open Online Courses for 바카라사이트 Higher Education Sector (which henceforth we should all earnestly refer to as Smooches) ¨C will have to be somewhat different from 바카라사이트 material that is currently being given away for free. Working out 바카라사이트ir shape and form is going to take more than a little innovation and investment.

Innovation, though, is what it¡¯s all about. The financial uncertainty that lies ahead for higher education will have to be met with innovation on a grand scale. It is completely unclear to me, or any o바카라사이트r respectable observer I have asked, what 바카라사이트 future has in store for this sector. It is only clear that things will have to change to try to insure us against all eventualities.

Innovation in universities has ceased to be an intellectual pursuit and has instead become a means of survival.