Singularity University
http://singularityu.org/
"... in 2007, Ray Kurzweil co-founded Singularity University with Peter Diamandis and they're now graduating acolyte entrepreneurs. 80 entrepreneurs from 37 countries participated in the program, which saw 200 speakers give more than 500 hours of lectures and discussions. "
The Oxford Martin School, University of Oxford: http://www.oxfordmartin.ox.ac.uk/ - another example of how minds are visualising the future. Some of the needs are elaborated in this wonderful presentation:
THE MEANING OF THE 21ST CENTURY: A FILM BY JAMES MARTIN NARRATED BY MICHAEL DOUGLAS
http://www.jamesmartin.com/film/
Central to all of these deliberations about the ills of the "McDonaldization of higher education" and "youth isolation and marginalization, graduate unemployment and persistent underemployment" the need to appreciate in greater details the key words / phrases (listed below in no specific sequence)
- Education: Primary, Secondary, Tertiary, Continuing, Vocational
- Entrepreneurship,
- Management,
- Business,
- Commerce,
- Leadership & Vision,
Sensitising students to these options and making them aware of the possibilities and values and guiding them to match their aspirations and potential - this I feel is the essence of education in the 21st Century!
--I have collected few very important issues in Higher Education from a Paper Presented by Stefan Popenici and Sharon Kerr , presented in Rotary Club of Sydney CBD, Australia on 03/12/2012:
· The Changing the landscape for higher education: the significant increase of youth isolation and marginalization, graduate unemployment and persistent underemployment, a concerning economic forecast of a constant slowdown of global growth (with implications for numbers of international students) and issues evolving from the global ageing population (and implications on lifelong learning strategies and numbers of local students). There is even more on the horizon and – while teaching and learning are still organized within university walls by models designed in early 1960s – the pace of change is accelerating.
· Statistical data reveals that there is another tornado approaching higher education and economic growth. This is represented by youth marginalization. An entire generation is now discovering that the long held belief that education is the way to find a decent job is just a lie or, at the best, overrated. Around the world, an increasing number of graduates are realizing that very few jobs are available to young people and that most of those available do not require a university degree.
· In May 2012, Time published an interesting analysis of possible causes of college enrollment declines, it started by noting: "Harvard, Yale and a few other selective universities may be announcing record numbers of applications for the semester beginning in the fall, but higher-education officials are fretting about ominous signs that overall college enrollment is starting to drop."
· This uncertainty is a major factor of change for higher education. Students now question the wisdom of taking out a significant loan no longer seeing that a university degree will set them up for life. Universities are seeing their model crushing before their eyes. Regrettably, many universities have treated their students for a long time as faceless cash-cows held hostage to their market of information, skills, certification and qualifications.
· This situation should require at least some answers from those who said for the last decade that "academia should learn from business" and that efficiency and (financial) surplus is all that matters. Most probably in time the same voices will lecture the same audiences how obviously silly it was to accept as viable the abdication and abandonment of principles of academic freedom and intellectual autonomy. They will note that eroding the core of academic life for the enthusiastic adoption of the principles of market mechanisms was the central cause of the cataclysmic landscape of higher education that they face.
· Unfortunately, the hegemony of a unique paradigm based on a neo-liberal policy and management framework still restricts the collective imagination to look for and apply alternative solutions. The marketization and McDonaldization of higher education came with a great price for universities, economies and the future of our economic growth. The most important part may be that this unique model – aggressively promoted by conservatives as the only sane solution for higher education – suppressed a genuine debate on a variety of issues of crucial importance for universities in the 21st century.
EDUCATE, EMPOWER, ELEVATE
Bholanath Dutta
Founder, President & Convener: MTC Global
Web Link: www.mtcglobal.org Email: bnath.dutta@gmail.com/president@mtcglobal.org
Cell: + 91 96323 18178
MTC GLOBAL- Educate, Empower, Elevate
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MTC GLOBAL- Educate, Empower, Elevate
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