The University in Transformation,edited by Australian futurists Sohail Inayatullah and Jennifer Gidley,presents some 20 highly varied outlooks on tomorrow’s universities by writers representing both Western and non-Western perspectives.Their
essays raise a broad range of issues,questioning nearly every key assumption we have about higher education today.
The most widely discussed alternative to the traditional campus is the Internet University—a voluntary community to
scholars/teachers physically scattered throughout a country or around the world but all linked in cyberspace.A computerized
university could have many advantages,such as easy scheduling,efficient delivery of lectures to thousands or even millions of students at once,and ready access for students everywhere to the resources of all the world’s great libraries.
Yet the Internet University poses dangers,too.For example,a line of franchised courseware,produced by a few superstar
teachers,marketed under the brand name of a famous institution,and heavily advertised,might eventually come to dominate
the global education market,warns sociology professor Peter Manicas of the University of Hawaii at Manoa.Besides enforcing a rigidly standardized curriculum,such a“college education in a box”could undersell the offerings of many traditional brick and mortar institutions,effectively driving them out of business and throwing thousands of career academics out of work,note
Australian communications professors David Rooney and Greg Hearn.
On the other hand,while global connectivity seems highly likely to play some significant role in future higher education,
that does not mean greater uniformity in course content—or other dangers—will necessarily follow.Counter-movements are
also at work.
Many in academia,including scholars contributing to this volume,are questioning the fundamental mission of university
education.What if,for instance,inste
A.are required to conduct more independent research
B.are required to offer more courses to their students
C.are supposed to assume more demanding duties
D.are supposed to supervise more students in their specialty