Higher Education – Trends, Disruptions & the Future

The last two years of the pandemic have been a watershed moment and Covid19 has forever transformed the landscape of higher education. How impactful will this transformation be is yet to be realized. However, experts across the world believe that there are a range of macro trends influenced by the pandemic, and which will be instrumental in shaping the future of Higher Education and learning. 

While the pandemic reduced travel of all sorts across the globe and restricted access to conventional learning systems, there were dramatic changes on the design and delivery of learning. In terms of psychosocial factors, there were serious concerns on mental health challenges due to the forced adaptation of remote learning, and remote work. 

The pandemic has forced every institution to consider online and hybrid versions. Traditional institutions have been forced to innovate with tacit support from the regulatory bodies. This adoption of blended or hybrid models has accelerated over the last two years. Not only have faculty and students discovered and become attached to new ways of engaging with one another, the flexibility of being able to move between remote and in-person experiences will help institutions minimalize disruption and ensure continuity of course delivery through future crises.

The pandemic has brought new and existing learning tools into the mainstream. Institutions and instructors previously resistant or indifferent to tools such as videoconferencing, team-based systems, virtual classrooms, learning platforms and apps, have come to rely on those tools as essential ingredients in their work. Even wider adoption can be expected in the road ahead.

The adoption of new technologies brings with it the need for faculty buy-in, training and support. Ongoing investments in faculty development, including remote capabilities for instructional design and technology support, will be needed to ensure faculty skills and literacy keep pace with ongoing technology advancements.

Another interesting disruptive trend is the transition and acceptance among different stakeholders from a conventional degree based on talent pipeline to a skill focused talent pipeline based on the concept of micro credentials and Nano degrees. 

While it may be difficult to see now, there are some potentially positive developments for learning in higher education that will ultimately emerge out of COVID-19 pandemic. In the long term, these changes will contribute to the overall trend of higher-quality teaching and learning across the postsecondary ecosystem, a shift that we are witnessing across a diversity of institutions.

We might see changes in how we use technology, and how students use technology engage in both curricular and co-curricular activities. We might see radical alternatives to the traditional college model, and we might see fundamental shifts in how college education is funded and delivered. Experiential learning and lifelong learning relationships with higher education institutions is likely to become the norm rather than the exception.

One of the most exciting developments has been in research on the science of learning. This new information about how students learn will influence the future pedagogical enterprise. The science of learning is based on the findings of a broad range of interdisciplinary research on cognitive and brain science. There is a prediction that colleges and universities will in fact continuously evolve their teaching structures to better align with research on learning. Aligning teaching with the lessons and ideas from learning science will lead to a more inclusive, more equitable, more personalized, more just learning environment for all students.

Over time, higher educational institutions are likely to shift from transactional methods of instruction toward a more relational approach to learning. A steadily increasing proportion of educators might be trained in, and adopt, inclusive pedagogical methods for their teaching. The proportion of foundational courses that are designed around lectures and high-stakes exams might begin to give way to courses designed around blended delivery methods, with greater emphasis on formative assessments and active student engagement. Conventional classrooms are likely to give way to more flexible learning options.

Whatever the future looks like, there is hope that it will be led by a commitment to understanding and adapting the institutional structures to how students learn in an equitable and inclusive environment that enables all students to succeed. In these difficult and uncertain times, the ability to look forward to a better future for students and for higher education is more critical than ever.

About the author

Dr Christopher Abraham, is Professor and Head of Campus (Dubai) at SP Jain School of Global Management

Note: The views expressed in this article are solely author’s own and do not reflect/represent those of Shiksha