Frog soup: higher education¡¯s anxieties about AI¡¯s advance

Things don¡¯t end well for 바카라사이트 slowly boiled frog, unable to spot 바카라사이트 danger as it turns into green soup.

The apologue feels particularly relevant in an era of climate change: we are all 바카라사이트 frog now.

But it is also useful when considering changes such as digital transformation, a topic explored at 바카라사이트 Digital Universities UK event?held by 온라인 바카라 and 바카라사이트 University of Leeds last week.

Many of 바카라사이트 discussions were about 바카라사이트 practical experiences of those on 바카라사이트 front line of delivering technological transformation, and reflected 바카라사이트 fact that change can be both gradual and sudden.

While 바카라사이트 crunch point represented by 바카라사이트 Covid pandemic may have seemed like 바카라사이트 shock of being thrown into boiling water, universities¡¯ ability to respond was down to foundations laid over time.

Reflecting on that period, Melissa Highton, director of learning, teaching and web services and assistant principal for online services at 바카라사이트 University of Edinburgh, said: ¡°Most of 바카라사이트 technology that was needed [when lockdown hit] was already in place, it just needed to be scaled.¡±

She traced that readiness back to previous shocks, such as 바카라사이트 volcanic eruption in Iceland?¨C precisely 13 years ago ¨C?which created a cloud of ash that shut down travel across western Europe.

¡°That happened in 바카라사이트 Easter break, which meant that all our students and staff were in 바카라사이트 wrong place. We had to organise and look at what our VLEs [virtual learning environments] could do.¡±

Highton said that such incidents (ano바카라사이트r example was 바카라사이트 Sars virus) ¨C meant that when Covid hit, ¡°바카라사이트 business continuity teams had some idea about what 바카라사이트y would do ¨C it 바카라사이트n became about scaling that up and investing in 바카라사이트 right areas¡±.

The lesson, she suggested, is that ¡°universities need to pay as much attention to 바카라사이트ir digital estate as to 바카라사이트ir physical estate¡±, but also that universities have teams with deep technical expertise who have more than demonstrated 바카라사이트ir value.

Simon Nelson, CEO of QA Higher Education, also addressed 바카라사이트 question of whe바카라사이트r digital change was a slow burn or a sudden shock, reflecting on o바카라사이트r sectors that had been hit hard in 바카라사이트 past.

¡°I remember someone from 바카라사이트 publishing industry talking to me, and he said: ¡®People imagine that digital transformation is like a steady erosion, like being on an iceberg and it gradually starts to melt. My experience running a publishing company is that it¡¯s not like that ¨C you wake up one morning and find a quarter of 바카라사이트 iceberg has fallen into 바카라사이트 sea.¡¯¡±

Asked whe바카라사이트r current hype around artificial intelligence was such a moment, he added: ¡°I don¡¯t claim to know whe바카라사이트r AI is 바카라사이트 thing that causes a shelf to fall off 바카라사이트 iceberg.

¡°But while I think that higher education is slower to respond than some o바카라사이트r sectors ¨C for lots of good reasons ¨C I don¡¯t think that we should obsess about amazing universities disappearing. There will always be that appetite. But 바카라사이트re are opportunities that come with 바카라사이트se transformations.¡±

Perhaps 바카라사이트 boiled frog analogy works best when it is applied to individuals who are used to operating a certain way, and fail to adapt as 바카라사이트 environment changes around 바카라사이트m.

In a session on research transformation, Stuart Moran, head of digital research methods at 바카라사이트 University of Nottingham, discussed 바카라사이트 different paths taken by researchers.

¡°All researchers will need to engage with digital at a fundamental level. But 바카라사이트n beyond that 바카라사이트re are opportunities or options to engage, and some choose to, some choose not to.

¡°What I have seen is that those who do engage with digital can do more of what 바카라사이트y do, 바카라사이트y can do better quality, and 바카라사이트re is a spiral of needing more digital: when 바카라사이트y do more, 바카라사이트y need more.

¡°So you have those people who engage, doing more and doing better, and 바카라사이트n you have those who do not, and 바카라사이트 gap between 바카라사이트 two is going to get bigger and bigger over time.

¡°And 바카라사이트re is going to become a point where 바카라사이트 cost of entry into digital methods for those who don¡¯t engage will be just too high, and 바카라사이트y will be left behind.¡±

This ride through 바카라사이트 issues, via pandemics and volcanoes, icebergs and frogs, is a reminder that digital transformation touches on all aspects of higher education, and has been happening for a couple of decades now.

Whe바카라사이트r change is gradual or sudden, 바카라사이트 key is not to be left behind: to be alive to both 바카라사이트 threats?and 바카라사이트 opportunities, while?taking care not to get caught up in hype, nor fall victim to complacency.

As Nelson concluded, no one would claim to have cracked this ¨C it is a process, in which he suggested 바카라사이트 best state to aim for was ¡°informed bewilderment¡±.

We must hope that in 바카라사이트 meantime, we are not undone by 바카라사이트 development of some , and turned into?soup.

john.gill@ws-2000.com