Peder Saether Symposium (March 9-10, 2000)

Background

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This symposium is the beginning of an ongoing series of conversations we will be organizing for leading thinkers and experts in this area.

The Higher Education in the Digital Age program provides a venue for international scholars to collaborate in discussion and investigation of the broad contextual, structural, organizational, financial, and policy implications of new modes of technology creation and transfer for the institutions of higher education. (For more information, contact the Program Director, Dr. Diane Harley.)

The dimensions we will be examining in this symposium include:

I. What is a Virtual University? Organization and Future Scenarios

Academic cultures of national higher education systems vary greatly. The underlying premises of the Oxbridge tradition, the Humboldtian idea, the Napoleonic model, the multiversity notion, and the corporate university are immensely different. The new communication technologies have the potential of altering and reshaping existing academic environments and of creating new ones. We will invite experts to sketch some of the potential and optimal evolving scenarios of future academic environments in more detail, relating to the complex variables that compose the essence of a "university" or a "college."

II. Education as a Commodity: Costs, Benefits, and Socio-Economics

Despite claims of potential cost-savings, relatively little is known about the comparative cost efficiency of on-line teaching or about its measurable benefits. Nor is it clear what role industry will play as funding partners, or even as independent providers of higher educational services. Viewing the problem broadly, there is a need to identify significant issues of educational and social policy to which technology-based teaching might have particular relevance (e.g., massification of higher education in developed countries, quality in higher education, vocationalization, internationalization, and education in the third world).

III. Virtual Education for Whom? Social and Cultural Implications

Populations seeking access to higher education are becoming more demographically diverse and increasingly focused on higher education as preparation for specific types of employment. The new communication technologies are often touted as a tool to expand access to higher education without losing quality. We will discuss what types of institutions and structures best serve the needs of diverse traditional and non-traditional student populations, how NCT might impact the quality of the teaching-learning experience, and whether all demographic segments of the population will be equally well-served by the introduction of NCT.

IV. Planning for an Uncertain Future: Policy Implications

All of the problems that are emerging in higher education systems call out for thoughtful and sweeping responses in higher educational policies. The rate of change of information technology outruns our capacity to develop sensible policies for its management. The challenge is how institutions and governments can design policies for continuing education in this context of radical uncertainty. We will explore a variety of policy initiatives in Scandinavia and the US that are attempting to meet this challenge.

V. High Speed Networks: Challenges and Future Research

High Speed Network applications typically involve the real-time interaction of widely separated people and processes, and often involve rapid response times (i.e., low network latency) and/or rapid transfers of large amounts of data - all far in excess of the abilities of today's Internet. The focus of this session will be a discussion of current and future applications that require the capabilities of Internet2-type networks, with emphasis on developments in Scandinavia and the US.