Number 2
NEW TECHNOLOGIES, AN OPPORTUNITY AND A CHALLENGE FOR HIGHER EDUCATION
The development of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs)
has had a significant impact on higher education systems and we
can no longer speak of a clear differentiation between distance
and on-site education. The classical dual system has been modified
and the gap is closing, as the university of the 21st century takes
shape. The management of knowledge is increasingly reliant on ability
to use the Internet, a fact which casts doubts on the traditional
system of learning (in which knowledge was concentrated in the classroom),
while access to higher education is expanding towards new groups,
until now distanced from universities. At the UNESCO World Conference
on Higher Education (1998), the role of ICTs in educational development
was underlined and its generalisation was established as a priority,
in order "to reinforce academic development, to widen access, to
attain universal scope and to extend knowledge, as well as to facilitate
education throughout life" (http://www.unesco.org/education/educprog/wche/index.html).
The challenge is to rethink the higher education environment in
the light of new technologies in order to meet the challenges of
a global context. For this reason, several countries are promoting
technological development measures for education policy, either
from government or from university associations. This implies the
establishment of strategic lines for the development of a more open
education. In the United Kingdom, the Department for Education and
Employment has promoted, through recommendations and good practice,
the adoption of new technologies in higher education. The Dearing
Report (Higher Education for the 21st Century), a pioneering reform
in higher education in Europe, presents a series of measures in
this respect: http://www.lifelonglearning.co.uk/dearing/index.htm.
The Kennedy Report (Further Education for the New Millennium) also
considers the role of ICTs in higher education: http://www.lifelonglearning.co.uk/kennedy/index.htm.
It is interesting to read the Master Plan for Open and Distance
Higher Education promoted by the National Association of Higher
Education Universities and Institutions of Mexico: http://www.anuies.mx.
This lays the foundations for the development of open higher education,
its main objective being to develop human capital in the new technology
age. However, beyond the adoption of institutional measures for
the technological development of education, the expansion of open
universities, some of which have already become macro universities
capable of overshadowing the classical university model, has transformed
the traditional university, while at the same time increasing the
diversification and development of higher education models, whether
at the third cycle, such as postgraduate courses, masters degrees,
vocational training and skills recycling. Examples of this new university
include the UOC (Open University of Catalonia): http://www.uoc.es,
the TEC (Technological College of Monterrey): http://www.tec.com.mx
and the TAFE (Technical and Further Education): http://www.tafe.net.
These are websites which provide education via the Internet: higher
education institutions which have little in common with the traditional
distance university, since they were established in the new technology
age and are the result of this technological revolution. The introduction
of these new virtual education centres is affecting the traditional
systems of higher distance education, which are also adopting the
Open University model. Indeed it is the distance university which
has seen its education system altered the most. This university
has taken advantage of the technological revolution to broaden its
education provision and reach new consumers. Perhaps the most important
institution in this respect is the OU (The Open University): http://www.open.ac.uk.
However, major changes are also taking place in classical higher
education institutions and universities, owing to the impact of
new technologies. Universities which have become pioneers in adapting
to this new reality through the introduction of new technologies
as a complement to on-site courses include MIT (Massachusetts Institute
of Technology): http://www.mit.edu
and NJIT (New Jersey Institute of Technology): http://www.njit.edu/DL/.
The technological revolution taking place in higher education is
changing the classical models of training and education. Educators
cannot turn their backs on information technologies when giving
classes, students need to learn new technologies and, rather than
accumulate knowledge, it is increasingly important to know where
to find information. What is more, the university, as an institutional
offering on-site courses, needs to know how to make the most of
the opportunities being offered by new technologies, in order to
broaden their market on the basis of this new provision. For more
information on the impact of new technologies on higher education,
we recommend the article in Spanish by Josep M. Duart and Albert
Sangra, Formación Universitaria por medio de la web: un modelo integrador
para el aprendizaje superior (University education via the Internet:
an integrated model for better learning): http://www.uoc.es/web/cat/articles/duart/duart_pdf_cat.html.
Other recommended websites:
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