An avalanche is coming: Higher education and the revolution ahead

Article

Our belief is that deep, radical and urgent transformation is required in higher education as much as it is in school systems. Our fear is that, perhaps as a result of complacency, caution or anxiety, or a combination of all three, the pace of change is too slow and the nature of change too incremental.'

'Should we fail to radically change our approach to education, the same cohort we're attempting to "protect" could find that their entire future is scuttled by our timidity.'
David Puttnam, MIT, 2012

This wide-ranging essay aims to provoke creative dialogue and challenge complacency in our traditional higher education institutions.

'Just as globalisation and technology have transformed other huge sectors of the economy in the past 20 years, in the next 20 years universities face transformation.'

With a massive diversification in the range of providers, methods and technologies delivering tertiary education worldwide, the assumptions underlying the traditional relationship between universities, students and local and national economies are increasingly under great pressure - a revolution is coming.

Related items

  1. Panoramic view of the Cardiff Bay

    The heart health divide: Cardiovascular inequalities in Wales

    Our third blog on cardiovascular disease in the devolved nations turns the spotlight on Wales. 
  2. Reading news online on phone

    AI's got news for you: Can AI improve our information environment?

    Artificial intelligence is rapidly transforming our information environment and becoming a new front door through which the public access the news.

  3. Apples and oranges? Scottish teachers’ pay in international context

    This is the first in a series of IPPR Scotland blogs as part of our project on Employment, Productivity and Reform in the Scottish Public Sector. This project is funded by the Robertson Trust.