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In this series of posts for teachonline, we explore the possible, probable and preferred futures of higher education in Canada. In this post we examine the key issues that must be addressed, focusing attention on the need for a comprehensive rethink of the eco-system. Just dealing with one issue (such as funding or curricula) without dealing with the others would have unintended consequences for any institution. Colleges, universities and Indigenous institutes are actively exploring options and are beginning to address these complex, important issues.
 

These 15 challenges will shape the future of higher education in Canada:

Indigenization – There are three issues at play here. 
What higher education can do to promote and embed the idea that we are all treaty people (Truth and Reconciliation)
How more Indigenous learners can succeed in higher education (there is a strong link between these issues and that of decolonialization of the curriculum)
Whether established, dedicated Indigenous institutions are adequately supported and enabled to thrive 
Funding and support for teaching and learning and assessment – Without a change in funding and support for teaching, learning and assessment, the work of colleges and universities is fiscally unsustainable. Many institutions are currently vulnerable to modest reductions in the enrolment of international students. This may require a rethink at a fundamental level of funding models and shared services.
Precarity of the instructor class – The number of tenured and tenure-track (university) or permanent instructor (college) positions has been steadily declining. About 60% of all teaching in higher education in Canada is undertaken by sessional instructors (gig workers) and that number is rising. This links to issues of quality and training as well as to the underfunding of Canada’s higher education system. The situation is similar for non-academic staff at our institutions.
Growing demand raises issues of capacity – It’s uncertain how each province will cope with a significant increase in demand from domestic students between now and 2028. 
Adding new institutions – If new institutions are created, it’s unclear what the implicit design for learning assumptions will be.
Growth funding for existing institutions – If growth funding occurs, it’ll be vital to figure out the design for learning assumptions and how sustainable the funding will be. Some of the smaller institutions, often located in rural or northern communities, would benefit from investment and growth if this funding was sustainable — otherwise, growth may make them more vulnerable.
The role of the private sector (both private colleges and private universities) – Peering into the future means exploring what kind of public-private partnerships might be created.
The role of hybrid and online and distance learning in designs for growth – It is yet to be determined whether growth will be based on a significant expansion of hybrid and online and distance learning or on expanding classroom-based learning.
The role of AI in the expansion of access – It’s possible that some jurisdictions may experiment with an AI-based institution offering courses and programs leading to certificates, Red Seal certification, diplomas and/or degrees.
Purpose and plans – Governments have been shifting the purpose and focus of the work of colleges, Indigenous institutes and universities toward meeting labour market pressures and demands. Although some modest impact can be seen in very specific areas, the skills gap is now worse than it was when this pressure began, which may add new purpose and pressures on higher education.
Work-integrated learning – 40% of university students and 60% of college students in Canada currently undertake work-integrated learning in some form during their studies. How this develops and grows is vital.
New curricula – Given the changes taking place in the nature of work, the deployment of technology and new fields of work (e.g., new forms of construction, new approaches to health through genetics) institutions face new curricular challenges. What’s unclear is whether new programs of study will displace existing ones, and how fast institutions can respond to emerging opportunities given declining funding and increasing government control.
Lack of faculty development and professional learning – As became clear in the pandemic, faculty skills in instructional design, reimagining assessment and the effective design of engaged and authentic learning need upgrading. 
Imagineering and innovation – In highly unionized environments, an important consideration is how creative institutions and leadership can be. It’s also important to examine how much appetite exists for significant change.
Risk management – Willingness to take risks and preparedness for adverse events (e.g., forest fires, floods, natural disasters) are vital considerations for leaders and institutions. 
In responding to these issues, institutions will need to refocus their purpose, core activities, business processes and relationships within and beyond their communities. It is a challenging task but an important one. 

Tools and Trends
Insights Into the Future and Promise of Online Learning

Via Canadian Vocational Association / Association canadienne de la formation professionnelle, juandoming

"Many adults seeking to upskill themselves face challenges of digital incompetence and limited access to advanced AI tools, hindering their success..."

Via Leona Ungerer, juandoming

"Starting in February, Arizona State University will have full access to OpenAI's ChatGPT Enterprise ..."

Via Leona Ungerer

"Thinking seriously about scholarly originality, borrowing, appropriation and theft. In 1916, a German author and journalist published a short story about a middle-aged man who is obsessed and later becomes sexually intimate with a preadolescent girl ..." 

Via Leona Ungerer

"Major examinations have been a part of education for centuries. New research looks at arguments for and against end-of-semester exams in universities ..."

Via Leona Ungerer

"Training from institutions on publishing norms could help to thwart predatory publishers..."

Via Leona Ungerer

"AI researchers see teaching jobs most at risk from generative AI. Maybe it's no surprise then that college professors are early adopters of the technology ..."

Via Leona Ungerer

The OfS blended learning report presents key strategic guidance for universities. With the momentum gained from the rapid transition to online learning, there is no better time to reimagine the student experience.

Via Elizabeth E Charles

Talent management is considered a new organizational priority in managing people that both academicians and practitioners discuss. The purpose of this research was to examine the role of talent management (TM), knowledge management (KM), university transformation (UT), and academic climate (AC) in increasing the performance of private higher education institutions (PHEIs). This research applied a quantitative approach by collecting data from 382 lecturers who worked at various private universities in Indonesia. Online questionnaires were used to collect the data using a stratified random sampling method. Then these data were analyzed using Structural Equation Modeling–Partial Least Square. The findings indicated that systematic application of talent management and knowledge management, university transformation, and academic climate in PHEIs improves organizational performance. Developing a plan to transform their talent and the business process is the key to emphasizing its importance in shaping the character and quality of PHEIs. The practical implication, PHEIs must offer a conducive academic climate for talented lecturers. The study offers a value-add to the resource-based view theory, managing talent and knowledge as essential resources for organizational transformation to maximize organizational performance.

Via Canadian Vocational Association / Association canadienne de la formation professionnelle, juandoming

"People who are future literate are more skilled at imagining the future and more able to prepare, recover and invent as changes occur. Our schools and universities should nurture people who can imagine beyond pre-existing paradigms to inspire hope and foster collaboration ..."

Via Leona Ungerer

Generative AI (GAI) has quickly gained a significant foothold in academia, and is now used widely for teaching, learning, and research purposes.[1] While national trends in student and faculty adoption are unclear, surveys conducted by individual institutions have found that approximately 50 percent to 65 percent of both students and faculty have used ChatGPT or one of its commercial competitors.[2] If current trends continue, in the near future GAI use will be ubiquitous, fully integrated into the core mission of colleges and universities.

Understanding the value of individual products in a now-crowded marketplace is a major challenge for end users and for university CIOs, IT departments, and others involved in decision-making.

While the full effects of this transformation are, at best, clear only in outline, 2023 saw both well-established vendors and start-ups racing to bring GAI applications optimized for use in educational contexts to market. As we write this brief, new products are appearing so rapidly that just keeping up with them is difficult, and understanding the value of individual products in a now-crowded marketplace is a major challenge for end users and for university CIOs, IT departments, and others involved in decision making about which products will be supported and/or licensed for campus users.

Since last fall, Ithaka S+R has been partnering with 19 colleges and universities from the US and Canada to assess GAI’s impact on higher education and make evidence-based, proactive decisions about how to manage the far-ranging effects of GAI.[3] As part of this project, Ithaka S+R has been cataloging GAI applications geared towards teaching, learning, and research in the higher education context. Today, we are excited to make our Product Tracking tool (https://sr.ithaka.org/our-work/generative-ai-product-tracker/) publicly available.

The Product Tracker includes a basic description of each tool, as well as information about the pricing model, key features, and other relevant details such as the large language model (LLM) or datasets behind the tool or background on the vendor. As it would be impossible to track every GAI application that might conceivably be used in higher education contexts, we have limited the Tracker to a) products marketed specifically towards faculty or student use, and b) products that appear to be in active use in teaching, learning, or research activities. At present, the Product Tracker contains data on over 100 GAI tools and applications. While we make no claims to including every relevant or potentially relevant product, the Tracker includes data on the most visible individual products on the market and is comprehensive enough to provide a landscape perspective on the market itself. The Tracker is also a living document which we update regularly to include new products or add new data about existing products. We will continue to do so for at least the remainder of 2024 if the tool retains value to the community.

This issue brief is designed to enrich the descriptive data captured in the Product Tracker. In the brief’s first section, we provide a typology of existing products and value propositions. In the second, we offer observations about what the product landscape suggests about the future of teaching, learning, and research practices, and speculations on the near-term future of the academic GAI market.

Via Canadian Vocational Association / Association canadienne de la formation professionnelle, juandoming

"As more of my students have submitted AI-generated work, I’ve gotten better at recognizing it ..."

Via Leona Ungerer

"The rise of competency-based education responds to the growing demand from employers for skills-based hiring, Jillian Klein writes. Skills-based hiring is gaining momentum ..."

Via Leona Ungerer

"Sports betting has become more accessible on college campuses with the rise of gambling apps ..."

Via Leona Ungerer

"What does it mean to succeed in college? Discussion at the Student Success US event centered around how higher ed professionals, their institutions and students at different stages in post-secondary education might answer that key question ..." 

Via Leona Ungerer

"Here's how bisynchronous classes offer engaging learning experiences for students in Higher Ed with a blend of real-time interaction and self-paced instruction ...

Via Leona Ungerer, juandoming

"Lower-income students still pay less than higher-income ones overall, but rising college costs fall more heavily on families least able to absorb it ..."

Via Leona Ungerer

"With cellular data and VPNs, it’s easy for students to circumvent the TikTok bans sweeping the nation’s universities. That makes experts wonder: What do these bans hope to achieve? ..."

Via Leona Ungerer

"Graduates entering the workforce with good career prospects and high starting salaries are the most satisfied with their major, according to ZipRecruiter ..."

Via Leona Ungerer

"Artificial intelligence can now produce prose that accomplishes the learning outcomes of a college writing assignment. What does that say about the assignment? ..."

Via Leona Ungerer

"Limited access to active learning spaces may disproportionately hurt historically excluded groups, and institutions should build more of these spaces in the name of equity, according to a new study. Where does higher ed stand on next-generation learning spaces? ..."

Via Leona Ungerer

"The pandemic may be fading, but some students still need accommodations and flexibility, proponents say. Others argue that recorded lectures inhibit class discussion, compromise privacy and threaten faculty intellectual property rights ..."

Via Leona Ungerer