Dr Rónán O’Beirne’s Weblog

Education; Technology; Digital Transformation; Information & Knowledge Management; Librarianship; Digital Leadership

• Collaboration is vital for the survival of universities

• Existing funding arrangements stifle universities’ potential for creativity and innovation

• The US model of higher education is an example of how cooperation and competition can breed excellence

• The most competitive institutions are the most collaborative

Just some of the discussion points from a recent symposium on the future of Higher Educaiton facilitated by Education Guardian and JISC see here for the Guardian’s report.
‘The context for discussion was set by the recent Demos pamphlet by Peter Bradwell, The Edgeless University, which argues that the current financial crisis in higher education presents an opportunity for the “rebirth” of universities if they are willing to collaborate, embrace technology and offer more flexible provision.’
The Edgeless University –  is well worth a read and while it only begins to scratch the surface (presumably it had to be in the ‘quick reads’ category for important people to find the time to read it) it does make a good start. The Guardian debate itself seems to have taken it further even if the timing is not good with UK Higher (and Further) Education, sandwiched bewteen economic gloom and a general  election. The  danger is that what should be seen as a great  opportunity may instead be seen as a threat.

Note: The original article in the Education Guardian listed the participants and these can be found by following this link to the “At the table” article

AR – Augmented Reality  part of  Mediated Reality is the big new thing I thought this video on the use of augmented reality in book production and in learning development was worth sharing. It does give an insight to the way these technologies will become important over the coming decade.