[p2p-research] Fwd: THIRD WORLD UNIVERSITIES FORUM

Tue Apr 28 00:48:46 CEST 2009

This topic really interests me - but as a non-academic I'm not considering
attending and I don't submit papers to journals because papers get peer
reviewed and my writing is too journalistic  - I only describe what I have
observed in practice and thought about, and I don't  relate it to adademic
research. This is because, as a practitioner, I don't know enough (if
anything) about relevant academic research.

I wonder if anyone will be going? I wonder how this looks from the academic
side of the fence. I would be interested in contributing to this is there
was an appropriate way to do so.

>From my informal education side I think what is happening  in the informal
sector has pointers for where higher education may go in future. I think
that what post-graduate level independent, self-directed, learners are doing
(online, outside of universities, to continue their learning) may have some
relevance to universities.

I have the impression there is a move towards self direction in some
university courses. For example in some situations students are able to
include self directed work (events they have attended, additional things
they have read or followed up in some way) in their online portfolios of
work (presumably this influences how their work is judged in some way). I
think of two presentations I've heard at different events in London recently
which were relevant to this trend. (Philip Butler for instance is doing
interesting work related to this in his work using Moodle, also someone else
- probably at CDE London - is doing work with music students which includes
capturing many different aspects of the music itself and the student's work
related to it.)

I know that when I was studying with the OU there was great freedom to
create your own personal, very individual, degree course. The courses that
made up the degree could be selected from various faculties, as long as you
were progressing appropriately in your level of study and you judged that
you had the necessary knowledge and skills to tackle the course you had
chosen. This opportunity to choose meant there could be a unique and useful
relationship between formal OU courses (studied  in your "spare time") and
what you had already learned (and were continuing to learn) in your parallel
life in the "real world" of "the university of life" and full-time work.

I think there is already much more flexibility, such as credit transfers,
than when I was back in the sixth-form discovering what universities offered
( and failing to go to one). I hope there will be increasing flexibility in
future university courses, with many more degrees offering the variety I
enjoyed through my OU studies (perhaps this already happens).

I also wonder about the role of universities in accrediting people at the
end of their studies. I think people want accreditataion normally in order
to enter the full-time employment market. I think (in some areas of work,
especially those that relate to information) we are moving away from
full-time permanent jobs towards a more independent, dynamic approach to
earning a living. I think it will become  less usual to have a full-time
permanent job and more usual to have short term collaborative work (with
individual people often having a portfolio of projects they are working on,
perhaps in a number of different collaborative teams).

I think students (working towards information related work) will gradually
develop and demonstrate competence (perhaps through voluntary work) by being
involved in projects (perhaps "real" projects, perhaps "artificial" projects
set up for learning purposes only). As they demonstrate competence  they
will be offered more challenging opportunities to prove their worth (like
the system in Appache - as I understand it - of rising though merit).
Ultimately people, who  are good enough, will be invited to take part in
projects that are being done for money. These opportunities to work for
money may well be happening in parallel with university studies. Any student
who has sufficiently developed and showcased his/her skills in order to
attract a portfolio of paid projects may then have reduced motivation to
continue to the end of a university course in order to get formal
accreditation. This is particularly likely if  the student has dicsovered
how to continue studying well outside of the formal system

I wonder if the main role of the university may become one of mentoring the
students (rather then lecturing/teaching them and testing them). If you are
a student then the main difference between independent informal learning and
learning at a univirsity may be the opportunity to have someone who is your
personal mentor, guiding you through your individual learning journey,
helping you to clarify what you might need to learn next and how you might
go about it. Of course it is possible this personal mentoring role is how
universities tend to work now anyhow - I don't know - I'm not in the system
.

I wonder if the need for additional provision in the "Third World" may mean
that new things tend to happen there faster - but I don't know about that.
However various things I have been reading seem to suggest change is on the
way everywhere - but I don't know abou tthat either e.g
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/27/opinion/27taylor.html?pagewanted=1

I wonder what those of you in the academic system see happening.

Pam

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Wittel, Andreas <andreas.wittel at ntu.ac.uk>
Date: 2009/4/27
Subject: [p2p-research] THIRD WORLD UNIVERSITIES FORUM
To:
Cc: Peer-To-Peer Research List <p2presearch at listcultures.org>

This could be an opportunity to develop a vision for the future of
universities, something which could be considered to be a position
associated with the p2p foundation. Is there some interest for
collaboration?

Andreas

THIRD WORLD UNIVERSITIES FORUM
Davos, Switzerland
9-11 January 2010
http://UniversitiesForum.com <
https://outlook.ntu.ac.uk/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://UniversitiesForum.com
>

Inspired partly by the success of World Economic Forum in hosting global
conversations about emerging issues of economic policy, the World
Universities Forum (WUF) was created in 2008 in the belief that academe must
better engage today's most crucial questions, and that higher education
itself must be included as part of the wider discussion of global change.
 The Forum encourages the participation of university executives,
administrators, scholars and research students, as well as journalists,
policy makers, business and political leaders, and others who understand
that the importance of the university extends well beyond campus. While WUF
encourages conversations about all aspects of higher education policy and
practice, the keynotes for the third WUF have been invited to consider
issues of the current global economic crisis and its implications for
universities.

Keynote speakers include:
* Professor Eva Egron-Polak (International Association of Universities,
France)
* Professor Jonathan Jansen (Rector, University of the Free State, South
Africa)
* Professor Simon Marginson (University of Melbourne, Australia)
* Professor Nigel Thrift (Vice Chancellor, University of Warwick, UK)
* Professor Pandhyala B.G. Tilak (National University of Educational
Planning & Administration, India)

In addition, the Forum will also include numerous paper, workshop and
colloquium presentations. We would particularly like to invite you to
respond to the Forum Call-for-Papers. Presenters may choose to submit
written papers for publication in the refereed Journal of the World
Universities Forum. If you are unable to attend the Forum in person, virtual
registrations are also available which allow you to submit a paper for
review and possible publication in the Journal, and provide access to the
online edition of the Journal.

Whether you are a virtual or in-person presenter at this Conference, we also
encourage you to present on the Conference YouTube Channel. Please select
the Online Sessions link on the Conference website for further details.

The deadline for the next round in the call for papers (a title and short
abstract) is 14 May 2009.  Future deadlines will be announced on the Forum
website after this date.  Proposals are reviewed within two weeks of
submission. Full details of the Forum, including an online proposal
submission form, may be found at the Forum website -
http://UniversitiesForum.com <
https://outlook.ntu.ac.uk/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://UniversitiesForum.com>
.

We look forward to receiving your proposal and hope you will be able to join
us in Davos in January 2010.

Yours Sincerely,

Professor Fazal Rizvi
Department of Educational Policy Studies University of Illinois Urbana,
Illinois, USA
For the International Advisory Board of the World Universities Forum and the
Journal of the World Universities Forum

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