Can the universities of today lead learning for tomorrow?
Does higher education need a new paradigm to serve Australia’s needs in the Transformative Age?
Imagine closing your eyes and waking up on 1 January 2030. The world has nine billion people. Humankind has landed on Mars. Intelligent robots work alongside people, cars are self-driving, energy is abundant and clean. Plus, the world’s new largest technology company is in the education business.
We have entered the Transformative Age and, much like the Industrial Revolution before it, we can expect fundamental shifts in how we live, work and play.
The Transformative Age will also change how we learn – and, along with it, the nature and role of the university.
Australia is a global success story when it comes to education. Austrade ranks international education as our third largest export, worth AU$26 billion and adding 5.2% of real gross value to our economy per year. In the Transformative Age, our universities must continue to remain globally competitive1.
But what will make a university successful in this new world? What will our nation’s students and employers demand of
our universities in the future? How will universities contribute to solving the challenges of the Transformative Age? And what should universities consider, today, to be ready to deliver truly transformative outcomes?
