scholarly journals The Role of Digital Technologies in the New Present and Future of Higher Education

2021 ◽  
pp. 417-422
Author(s):  
Carles Sigalés

AbstractOver the last two decades, digitization has transformed the world as we know it. It has changed our economies, industries, leisure, social practices, job markets, politics, and—of course—how we learn. Access to information has continuously been getting faster and more universal.

Author(s):  
Jamil Salmi

In the past decade, however, accountability has become a major concern in most parts of the world. Governments, parliaments, and society at large are increasingly asking universities to justify the use of public resources and account more thoroughly for their teaching and research results. The universal push for increased accountability has made the role of university leaders much more demanding. The successful evolution of higher education institutions will hinge on finding an appropriate balance between credible accountability practices and favorable autonomy conditions.


Author(s):  
Hatem Bata

Technology plays a fundamental part in teenagers' lives since the majority of them are deemed digital natives having grown using communications, media, and digital technologies. As technology evolves, it becomes more available and more affordable to more young people. There are 104 countries where 80% of youth have internet connection. In Africa and Asia, there are more females online than males. Several educators, academics, and public health practitioners expect technology to be a remedy to all social problems or a cause for all evil in the world due to the ubiquity of technology. This chapter takes a skeptical outlook at technology by demonstrating how technology could be a cause of social problems and also be a part of the solution if used properly. The author attempts to refute the notion of technological determinism. This chapter aims to look at the role of media, communication, and educational technology, and their relationship with teenage pregnancy.


Author(s):  
Marlene M. Mendoza-Macías

The world is facing multiple changes and challenges; the environment shows inequalities, poverty, and corruption. Ecuador is not the exception. The man is declared the primary focus of the Ecuadorian Constitution to meet such changes. The objective of decreasing poverty, improving wealth distribution, and contributing to sustainable human development is unavoidable. In that context, the university has the pivotal role in generating interaction with society and its reality, to train professionals social and humanly responsible towards such facts, to promote the social management of knowledge from different action fields. The goal of this chapter is to specify the role of higher education institutions (HEIs) in a society where they take part, to draw up social responsibility of universities in Guayaquil and the challenges they face, as well as actions that contribute to the eradication of corruption and greater wellbeing of the society.


Author(s):  
Priscilla Bamba

From the simplest cell phone to virtual reality headsets, students today are bombarded by technology, so this is bound to affect their expectations in the learning environment and the way they relate to cognitive challenges. Today's culture is an immersion of advanced methods of communicating with each other and with their instructors. Adult learners who return to the world of higher education after having been away for some time have often felt the need to strive harder to show they fit into that world. With a broader worldview, more responsibilities, and often more wisdom gained from having held jobs, sometimes for years, they also bring a richer way of relating to the academic world. At the same, time, though, sometimes responsibilities, including full family lives, limit their time and energy they are capable of devoting to studying and completing assignments.


Author(s):  
Vlasios Sarantinos

The chapter explores the impact globalization has created for the higher education sector, looking at how the landscape evolved across the world and how the role of universities has been transformed. Extending the analysis further, there is an investigation of how institutions have tried to respond to the emerging challenges and opportunities presented as a consequence of the shifting field. The focus then moves to the African continent and peruses the particular development of higher education under the influence of colonial legacy and globalization, examining how institutions have endeavored to adapt. The chapter draws to an end with a reflection of the main issues, inherent limitations, and how the research agenda could be taken further.


Author(s):  
Sana Moid

Education 4.0 is an education model aligned with future trends in order to develop and enhance individualized education that will eventually go on to define the manner in which youngsters of the future will work and live. Since youth are the main asset of any nation, education becomes the most powerful tool for social transformation. India's demographic structure is changing; while the world grows older, the Indian population is becoming younger, and by 2025, about two-third of Indians will be in its workforce. A few issues addressed in this study are to identify the drivers of Education 4.0, to identify and understand the role of disruptive technologies, to study the transition from Education 1.0 to Education 4.0 and its relevant impact on the higher education system.


Author(s):  
Patrice Seuwou ◽  
Vincent F. Adegoke

The opportunities offered by digital technology are enormous. The global social and economic system is being reconfigured at an incredible rate. Connectivity is increasingly reshaping our world and redefining the way we interact with our environment. The rise of digital technologies is transforming almost every aspect of modern life. More and more of our interactions are mediated by machines. Along with the rapid evolution comes the risks, threats, and vulnerabilities in the system for those who plan to exploit it. In this chapter, firstly, the authors explore the role of 5G, big data, the internet of things (IoT), artificial intelligence (AI), autonomous vehicles (AV), and cloud computing play in the context of smart societies; secondly, they analyse how the synergy between these technologies will be used by governments and other stakeholders around the world to improve the safety of citizens albeit increasingly relinquishing privacy rights and encouraging mass surveillance at the expense of liberty.


Author(s):  
Claire Hamshire ◽  
W. Rod Cullen

The transition to higher education can be problematic for some students as they adapt to institutional procedures and degree level working at the same time as developing new social networks. To help facilitate these complex transitions institutions are increasingly turning towards digital technologies to provide both flexible access to resources and improved communication. This paper outlines the key issues associated with students' initial transitions to higher education and explores the challenges faced by academics designing induction procedures and programmes. The emerging role of digital technologies in supporting students' transitions into Higher Education, against the backdrop of a changing digital landscape in one institution is discussed and an evaluation of the easystart induction programme at Manchester Metropolitan University presented as a case study.


Urban Studies ◽  
2020 ◽  
pp. 004209802096443
Author(s):  
Aaron A Moore ◽  
R Michael McGregor

Neighbourhood associations are major players in urban politics throughout North American cities and increasingly are becoming a political force in other parts of the world. However, while there is a rich and well-developed literature on the role played by neighbourhood associations in urban politics, few studies examine whether their membership reflects the socio-demographic composition and interests of the broader public. This paper addresses this gap in the literature using survey data from voters conducted during the Vancouver and Toronto 2018 municipal elections. We compare the responses of participants who identify as members of neighbourhood associations (or their equivalents) with those of the broader voting public. We find that members of neighbourhood associations in both cities are not representative of the broader population. They are more likely to be white, older and have higher education than the average voter. In addition, while the ideology of neighbourhood association members differs little from that of the broader public, their policy priorities are different from those of the majority of voters in both cities. Our findings suggest that neighbourhood associations fail in providing descriptive representation and may not offer substantive representation. These findings raise important questions about the role of neighbourhood associations in local governance. Our study also demonstrates the merit of using individual-level surveys to learn more about the composition and policy preferences of neighbourhood associations.


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