Athabasca University, Faculty of Health Disciplines, Edmonton, Feb 2014

The 2011-2014 higher education landscape: Seismic shifts, challenges, and pressures

George Veletsianos, PhD Canada Research Chair

Associate Professor School of Education and Technology

What are your hopes for the future of higher education?

What are your concerns?

The Horizon Report Trends

The Horizon Report Trends

Via Ruben Puentedura as quoted by http://bit.ly/Ma8YrX

Contemporary universities are facing numerous powerful forces that may

shape their future.

a worldwide economic downturn

globalization and competition

changing demographics

curtailment of public funding

pressures for accountability

impact of emerging technologies

(Morrison, 2003; Schwier, 2012; Siemens & Matheos, 2010; Spanier, 2010).

purpose of education - Employment?

Rebirth of edtech

a worldwide economic downturn

globalization and competition

changing demographics

curtailment of public funding

pressures for accountability

impact of emerging technologies

(Morrison, 2003; Schwier, 2012; Siemens & Matheos, 2010; Spanier, 2010).

purpose of education - Employment?

Rebirth of edtech

An increasing desire by faculty

members, educators, &

designers to “do better” to “do

more”

•  May or may not be new technologies

•  Evolving, “coming into being”

•  Go through “hype cycles”

•  Not yet fully understood

•  Not yet fully researched

•  Potentially disruptive (but potential is unfulfilled)

(Veletsianos, 2010)

Emerging Technologies

Higher Education in 2011-2014:

Sense of urgency. And tension.

The case of FutureLearn

Techno-enthusiasm & techno-determinism* dominate

e.g., Technology will ____________

Narratives of disruption & revolution

(*skeptics are not the same as naysayers)

At times, it feels like déjà vu with a dose of more of the same…

“Motion picture is destined to revolutionize our education system …in a few years it will supplant largely, if not entirely, the use of textbooks”

“Education over the Internet is going to be so big it is going to make e-mail usage look like a rounding error”

“Strong  pressures  to  produce  mediocre  

instruc1onal  products  based  on  templates  

and  preexis,ng  content.”  

Wilson,  Parrish,  &  Veletsianos,  2008    

“Examples  of    

outstanding  [online]  instruc1on    

are  hard  to  find.”  

Wilson, Parrish, & Veletsianos, 2008

Disaggregation & Unbundling

“Whether the practice is called

outsourcing, contracting out, or

privatizing, the impact is the

same. Food services, health

care, the bookstore…endless

array of activities that

universities used to manage…”

Kirp,  .L  (2003).  Shakespeare,  Einstein,  and  the  Bo3om  Line:  The  Marke9ng  of  Higher  Educa9on.  

Cambridge,  MA:  Harvard  University  Press    

“Online program management services”

But where does it stop? Are there institutional core

functions that should be safeguarded?

But where does it stop? Are there institutional core

functions that should be safeguarded?

The role of the faculty member

The roles of instructional designers, tutors, instructors

“academic freedom, shared governance, a livable wage, greater job security for non-tenure-track faculty teaching and scholarship cannot be fully unbundled…”

Academic Advisor, Mentor, Coach Instructor/Instructional Technologist Professor/Instructional Designer

Course assistants Teaching assistants

Efficiency. Automation. And robots.

Data Analytics. Big Data.

The “new science of learning”

“Adaptive, personalized, granular learning”

Open Practices

Open Education Open Scholarship

Open Sharing

Myth: Classrooms are the same today as they were hundreds of years ago.

The reality: Educational institutions are always evolving and reflect the

societies which house them.

What does our society look like? That’s what our institutions will look like.

In closing