Learning Circle: Shaping the Future of Higher Education through R&D

Higher education is facing external pressures to change, with no clear roadmap for future models of education. Whether these pressures represent a threat or an opportunity is open to debate, but it is widely accepted that many of the change pressures are driven by technology. It stands to reason, then, that campus IT should take a lead role in addressing them. Engaging in R&D is a sound strategy for navigating this uncertainty. The systematic study of new models and methods examines our value assumptions while deepening our understanding of learning in the digital age. Higher education does plenty of R&D on everything from anthropology to zoology, but it lacks frameworks for incubating, testing, and implementing ideas about teaching and learning within universities. How can we intentionally design universities to change as fast as the needs of students themselves are changing? What is the role of ed-tech companies and organizations in this work? What should we focus on for the future of higher edu? How do we reimagine our roles in driving this forward?