The Coming Education Revolution

“The Coming Education Revolution” is from the upcoming book Society 3.0: How Technology Is Reshaping Education, Work, and Society, by Dr. Tracey Wilen-Daugenti (Lang, January 2012). 
In the worst economy since the Great Depression, Americans are struggling to earn a living, raise their families, and get an education. How will Americans adapt to learn, work, and connect in the future? A new book with findings from Apollo Research Institute describes how technology and the new job skills that will be required in the 21st century will transform higher education.
The U.S. higher education system is facing unprecedented challenges.

  • The percentage of jobs that require higher degrees has doubled in the past 40 years.
  • Businesses will need millions of new graduates for the jobs they plan to create over this decade.
  • These positions will require new skills, including social intelligence, cross-cultural competency, transdisciplinarity, new media literacy, and virtual collaboration, to keep American industries competitive in the world economy.
  • Colleges and universities have not fully addressed these workplace skill requirements or anticipated the higher demand for graduates.

How higher education will evolve to improve workforce readiness.

  • Traditional classroom learning no longer matches the way today’s students learn and complete coursework.
  • Major societal trends, such as later-life degree acquisition, greater need for intercultural awareness, and social mobility, will dictate the content and delivery of higher education.
  • Many higher education institutions are struggling to keep pace with these trends, and enrollment rates have remained stagnant for the last decade.
  • Distance learning programs, where online coursework and class participation supplements or replaces face-to-face classes, will benefit working students and universities pressed for classroom space.
  • In addition, business will establish private educational ventures to train their employees directly, or form partnerships with existing for-profit universities, to produce a better-trained workforce.

Success will require the contributions of multiple stakeholders.

  • Individuals must become lifelong learners to keep their skill sets current with marketplace demands across a longer career.
  • Educational institutions need to keep pace with technological and social trends to update the skills they teach, the means they use to deliver instruction, and the range of students they educate.
  • Businesses must adapt their workforce planning and development strategies—and collaborate with higher education institutions—to ensure future skill requirements are aligned.
  • Government must make education a national priority to provide citizens with the skills most suited to building a sustainable future.

The importance of education to one’s career has never been greater. In Society 3.0, Dr. Wilen-Daugenti describes how the future of higher education is tied to innovation, technology, and an enduring knowledge of society’s transformative nature. It will equip your readers with the tools to make smarter educational decisions, whether for their children or themselves.

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2 Comments

Dr. Raju M. Mathew
4/30/2012

'Knowmatics - A New Revolution in Higher Education' Journal of the World Universities Forum 4,1,2011:1-11 discuss the incompatibility of IT to deal with Knowledge and Education besides Mathew's Theories of Knowledge Consumption-Production Growth and using Knowmatics to bring a real revolution in Education, especially Higher Education, Skill Acquisition and Scientific Productivity. For further discussions on Education Revolution, visit www.slideshare.net/drrajumathew.

Dr. Raju M. Mathew
4/30/2012

Making use of Knowmatics for building up Knowledge Industries, a major investment group in India has come forward to set up an enterprise to bring out value added knowledge packages and solutions to Education and Practicing Professions.

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