ICDE-EDEN Joint Workshop on Open and Distance Learning Futures: The increasing societal impact of online education, Demanding Leadership for Change

摘要

Societal needs, costs, students' needs, technology and Open Educational Resources are driving forces for open knowledge. But development is not straightforward. The demand for higher education means 4 universities with 30000 students a week for the next 12 years. The expectations for higher education to create personal and societal economic growth are high and increasing, at the same time 650 million youths are not working, not studying. Higher education must connect to employment to live up to expectations and needs. The cost of higher education has become a key issue, in the US, in the developing economies, in Europe. Open and online education has the potential to lower the costs, some claim by 70 - 80 %. Access to technology and the Internet revolutionize the opportunities for learning. By 2020 70 - 80 % of the world population is expected to have Internet access, up from 35 % today. Technology facilitates Infrastructure 2.0: eInfrastructure, Science 2.0: eScience, Campus 2.0: eCampus, Education 2.0: Open and online education. At the same time automation pushes people out of jobs, and more education is needed to reeducate people to high skilled jobs. Open Educational Resources, OER, promises the opportunity for the first time in human history to enable everyone to attain all the education they desire, but Open Educational Practices struggle to take of. The current models for higher education lack incentives for OER, lack incentives for Open Access, is not optimised for Open Knowledge. Students increasingly demand flexibility in education, so they can enjoy high quality education anytime, anywhere to low costs, but still the current paradigm of higher education still delivers on campus education through lectures.