Sunrise or perfect storm: technology, education, and the knowledge economy

It is now commonplace to note that society is in the midst of an economic shift that is as dramatic as the shift that occurred in the industrial revolution of the 19th century. At first glance, the emergence of the "knowledge economy" would seem to be good news for higher education. After all, as the pressure to deliver lifelong learners who are ever more sophisticated and facile in knowledge manipulation increases, so too should the value of education increase. Ironically, though, universities today find themselves confronted by a variety of technical, legal, and cultural forces that threaten to relegate us to the backwaters of the knowledge economy. Consider just a two of these forces: * The commoditization of ideas - Within our academic community, we typically see intellectual progress as requiring the free exchange of ideas. Outside our community, the legal/cultural climate is rapidly moving toward a model in which ideas are owned and jealously guarded. How will academic communities operate in a world where students and colleagues seek to protect their ideas from cradle to grave? * Learning by doing - "Rip, mix, and burn" is the hallmark of the current generation of students and it is very much about learning by doing. But rip, mix, and burn stands in fairly stark contrast to much of our undergraduate curriculum where the dominant approach is still the "sage on the stage". Will universities be able to attract the very best minds of future generations if their models of learning remain static. Where there is threat, there is opportunity. In this session, we will discuss those forces and the threats and opportunities they provide.