Universities in an Era of Economic and Technological Challenge
Never has more been expected of universities. We are expected to change the world and our communities and create an exciting and successful future for our students. At the same time, we are expected to demonstrate greater accountability and to find ways to meet the raised expectations with much less resource. At one time MOOCs were expected to be the savior of higher education while making education universally available and free. Over time, the flaws in that theory became clear and the pendulum swung to another extreme -with university after university rejecting deployment of MOOCs out of both rational and irrational fears. At the same time, the relentless growth of online education has continued without interruption by great recessions or political upheavals- with over seven million students now participating in online education from very reputable (and somewhat less so) institutions,. Many think that higher education is now in the process of being disrupted by technology in the manner that Clayton Christenson has shown to have occurred in so many other sectors of our economy. He may be right, but may not understand why or how.
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