SCHOOL OF PSYCHOLOGY FREE PUBLIC LECTURE SERIES
Title: The Future of the University
Presenter: Professor Phillip Long
Date and Time: Thursday, 5 November at 6:30pm
Venue: The University of Queensland, Advanced Concept Teaching Space (ACTS) – Level 1 of the Sir Llew Edwards Building (14), Room 132
Abstract: The current model for tertiary education is largely based on a presumption that knowledge is scarce. From the layout of learning spaces (lecture halls/classrooms), to the rules by which access is permitted (selected individuals are permitted limited access to chosen knowledge for defined time periods), to the units of knowledge preservation and distribution (primarily paper/print-based media, and, where transformed by technology, still largely linear/ text structures), our institutions are designed to protect and transmit this knowledge in an authoritative structure (academic staff professing). Yet our world is being transformed by an explosion of information and information technology and we are all becoming capable of being “prosumers”-producers as well as consumers-of knowledge. The university experience, which was once defined by the four walls and the instructor’s class syllabus, is being questioned for its relevance, its importance and ultimate value for students in the 21st century.
With the explosion of information technology and network connections revealing information’s abundance rather than scarcity, what role, if any, does the university play amidst the growing alternative sources for acquiring knowledge? Is there a future for the university in the context of its educational role as a place for the transfer of knowledge from generation to generation? What are characteristics that will describe it? If there isn’t what will become of it? How will it retain relevance in the face of the global challenges facing today’s societies? Eric Hoffer, a self educated philosopher wrote, “In times of change, learners inherit the Earth, while the learned find themselves beautifully equipped to deal with a world that no longer exists.” How can universities avoid becoming anachronisms?
For more information, email Dr Jason Tangen – jtangen@psy.uq.edu.au _______________________________________________ ASC-list mailing list list@asc.asn.au http://www.asc.asn.au/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=97&Itemid=115