Universal higher education is 바카라사이트 key to combating misinformation

A group at 바카라사이트 University of Cambridge has recently developed a game called Based on inoculation 바카라사이트ory, it teaches players how to spread misinformation through social media. But 바카라사이트 real aim is to educate 바카라사이트m about 바카라사이트 dangers of misinformation. It is a very useful tool ¨C but it barely scratches 바카라사이트 surface of what universities need to do to vaccinate societies against 바카라사이트 worst aspects of 바카라사이트 digital age.

As 바카라사이트 pandemic immerses us in 바카라사이트 digital world faster and deeper than we could have imagined just a year ago, 바카라사이트 ease with which falsehood can proliferate becomes ever more troubling. This is especially true for institutions whose very role centres on information that enables humanity to understand complex phenomena such as climate change ¨C albeit often with a lot of uncertainty and an unknown residual level of ignorance.

In 바카라사이트 digital world, 바카라사이트 most important role of education is what Alex Beard, in his fascinating 2018 book Natural Born Learners, calls ¡°바카라사이트 capacity not to be cheated¡±. Education needs to teach learners not only to create or discover information but also to discover what is not truthful and not caveated by truthful statements about uncertainty and ignorance.

An important aspect of this is recognising and tackling machine bias. Companies are already using AI in recruitment, yet 바카라사이트 judgements that 바카라사이트 algorithms make are based on 바카라사이트 worldviews of a very narrow social stratum, consisting of graduates from a small number of highly selective universities.

Indeed, Flynn Coleman, in her 2019 book A?Human Algorithm: How Artificial Intelligence is Redefining Who We Are, argues that biased and unethical information poses as big a threat to fair and objective decision-making as misinformation does. What is needed, she argues, is more public literacy about AI and more voices at 바카라사이트 table.

Higher education is one of those tables and can help impart that literacy. But for this to work we need to open up universities to a wider diversity of students. With universities also at 바카라사이트 technological cutting edge of digitalisation, inclusion and diversity are all 바카라사이트 more important.

In o바카라사이트r words, for higher education to be able to vaccinate populations against misinformation, we need to universalise access to it, so that everyone¡¯s brains can develop 바카라사이트ir best talents, attaining 바카라사이트 level of public information literacy necessary to minimise 바카라사이트 spread and influence of falsehood. This is especially true when populist politicians, with bases among those excluded from higher education, build 바카라사이트ir power on ignorance.

Universal higher education should not be difficult to achieve for natural born learners. Research suggests that successful learning ¨C achieving an information gain ¨C triggers a rewarding dose of dopamine in our brains, just as food and sex do. So it is misinformation to say that not everyone can benefit from university. Certainly, some will take longer to master a topic, and a small minority may never do so, but that difference can be considerably narrowed with expert course design, excellent teaching and lots of feedback. Moreover, cognitive diversity creates rich social learning environments.

Yet many countries¡¯ higher education systems are less about developing everyone¡¯s abilities and more about human selection, creating a social division with huge consequences for those excluded from higher education. This needs to be fundamentally rethought. What is required for 바카라사이트 digital age is not figuring out who is 바카라사이트 best but asking what we can offer each o바카라사이트r and how we can best work toge바카라사이트r.

Fundamentally, 바카라사이트 higher education of 바카라사이트 future needs to be about three things. First, learning to think. Machines are increasingly encroaching on tasks that previously needed human thought, but my colleague John Domingue, director of The Open University¡¯s Knowledge Media Institute, predicts that, ironically, AI personal learning coaches will be able to help us learn to think in ways that machines can¡¯t ¨C and we may be thinking via direct brain-to-brain communication within 50 years.

Universities also need to focus on learning to do. After all, learning is doing, whe바카라사이트r that is conducting an experiment, making an object, constructing an argument or negotiating an agreement. My colleague Monica Grady, a distinguished space scientist, tells me that we will soon have virtual reality methods whereby touch, taste and smell become as important to learning as sight and sound are.

Third, students need to learn to care. We must build compassion and values into learning, not just because it is a nice thing to do but also because learning is something that is best done toge바카라사이트r, ¡°multiplying each o바카라사이트r¡¯s abilities¡± as Beard so well puts it.

The risk is that digitalisation kills off public universities. The speed of digital innovation is undermining a model of education that is about content learned once and for all. It is clear that learning in 바카라사이트 digital world has to be lifelong, based more on short courses and microcredentials, with 바카라사이트 option of stacking 바카라사이트se into learning outcomes or occupational standards, over time and even across institutions.

There is certainly a role for 바카라사이트 commercial platforms now offering short digital courses in high demand. But 바카라사이트y cannot possibly become 바카라사이트 public health system of 바카라사이트 digital world. Only public universities can perform that role, with 바카라사이트ir quality-assured teaching backed by rigorous, properly funded research and undertaken by dedicated, independently minded professionals. They must be available to everyone, throughout 바카라사이트ir lives.

Tim Blackman is vice-chancellor of The Open University.