21st Century Issues for Adult, Vocational and Higher Education - Literature review Example

21st Century Issues for Adult, Vocational and Higher Education Module 2 Introduction As social, economic and technological modification gathers pace, individuals all over require to increase their skills and knowledge on a constant basis so that they can work and live significantly in the knowledge civilization. Training and education add to an individual’s personal improvement, boost their efficiency and returns at work, and ease everybody’s involvement in social and economic life. Additionally, training and education can give individuals the skills and knowledge required to generate income and increase their output there fore escaping poverty. As a result, investing in training and education is a future investment; skills and knowledge are the engines of social development and economic growth. The international community and UNESCO have put the striving objectives to make sure that the learning requirements of all youthful individuals and also adults are met through fair access to suitable education and life skills programmes (World Forum on Education, Dakar, 2000). This endeavor to offer literacy and fundamental education for adults and the youthful generation will affect the social and economic development of nations by making sure the aptitude of people to learn and present the base for their employability and entrée do respectable work (Ben-Ari, 2005). This essay will illustrate my experience in University, the challenges for the institution and how the institution might respond more effectively to the challenges of globalization for the benefits of students (Bennett, 2003). HIGHER EDUCATION-UNIVERSITY Higher education is becoming increasingly internationalized with more than 2.7 million students studying overseas and global student mobility is on the rise. Issues of reform, innovation, access and regional competitively in higher education have become increasingly significant. This is elucidated by the raised concern in eminence with regards to its effects in higher education. The IMHE, as the OECD forum on higher education, bring jointly governments and higher education institutions to share paramount performances to confront these issues through a network of studies, relationships, and research (Fisser, 2001). The Australian government is dedicated to making the country one of the most learned and vastly skilled workforce internationally so as to safe guard state long term economic affluence. In the year 2008, the Australian government instigated a Review of Higher Education in order to scrutinize the potential courses of the higher education segment, its suitability for function in meeting the requirements of Australian society and economy and the preferences of the continuing reforms (Lave and Wenger, 1991). Challenges Higher education is tremendously varied and the issues and challenges encountered by these institutions are also varied. Aspiration to learn offers the solutions- a mixture of products expertise and services to deal with these challenges and in the end facilitating these institutions attain their objectives (Ben-Ari, 2005). Most people who are in higher education and those who are concerned as members of board of trustees, the alumni councils and campus advisory boards are acquainted with the principles of accessibility, affordability and accountability (Lave and Wenger, 1991). These values have been conferred in higher education in reaction to regional sanctioning bodies and higher education charitable associations. Organizations should be careful of the prices they charge and make student financial assistance more obtainable to enhance affordability. Many universities are increasing their tuition, fees and accommodation expenses to extends that students cannot afford while others are forced to call off their semester due to lack of fees. Majority of students are perplexed by the "bang for the buck" as higher education tuition has increased in charge more greatly than any other service or good ever since the year 1990, and as a result, students have been left with $ 714 billion as outstanding loans debt in the United States alone Accountability in universities is also a major challenge. Universities are not fulfilling their missions which are supposed to demonstrate that they are in fact doing what they say they would do and that the learners are well equipped in the ways they say they would (Ehrenberg, 2004). Another challenge facing university institution is increased students drop outs in various courses. For instance, in Helsinki University of Technology, there is increased level of drop out of CS minor students from CSI course. The drop out cases has diverse from 30 to 50 percent annually. The result of increased drop out among students is as a result of lack of motivation and time. These reasons are influenced by such factors as difficulties in time management, difficulty of the course, and preference of another course (Lave and Wenger, 1991). Plagiarism and low comfort level also contribute to this drop out. Institutions usually pay little or no attention to the outcome on student motivation of recent changes in the economic and social context of higher education. Plagiarism results from students’ low motivation to do term papers or assignments and as a result they end up copying from their core students or from the internet in order to meet the lecturer’s requirements (Ben-Ari, 2005). Most universities are also faced by a problem of poor governance and quality guidelines. The need for high-quality governance has subjugated the debate of the efficacy of higher education. The mounting institution sovereignty and extension of universities mission have been followed by inefficiency in the quality of education and governance (Fisser, 2001). Increased numbers of students admitted in universities is also a major challenge affecting these institutions. From the year 1996 to 2006, the number of Australian university students doubled to just fewer than one million in totals (Ehrenberg, 2004). These include both the national and international students. As a result, there is reduced quality of education due to increased holding capacity of each class and also tutors are not able to interact with every student. This makes teaching and learning difficult for teachers and students respectively and most tutors are forced to teach through issuing of hard outs and other materials (Bennett, 2003). Developments in technology and especially the information and communication technologies have impacted all segments of the society, as well as the education segment. In higher education, the whole processes of teaching and learning have changed due to the introduction of e learning systems. Indeed, case studies reveal that this modern system of teaching and learning has greater values compared to the previous processes (Fisser, 2001). Some of its advantages include increased cooperation and collaboration, greater communication by means of electronic facilities, cost effectiveness, synchronous learning information access and pedagogical developments through graphic representations, virtual experiences, and simulations. Both the teachers and students can settle on suitable applications that are flexible in place, time, reusable, cost-efficient and adapted to particular domains (Fisser, 2001; Pelliccione, 2001) However, most universities, and especially those in the developing countries face a number of challenges as they seek to execute the e learning systems. One of the challenges is the fact that the information infrastructure of most universities is inequitable distributed and poorly developed (AAU, 2001). The initial cost of implementing such facilities is also expensive. In the past, higher education was considered a public good whereby the state was in full control of the higher institutions. Lately, this consensus has vanished and higher education is now considered a private good, which mainly benefits the student receiving the degree (Ronald G, 2004). The state is no longer concerned with the universities and as research studies reveal, this challenge has potential impacts on the quality of education and student’s experience and excess of higher education (See S and Larry L, 1997). The government priorities have greatly shifted with major emphasis on development projects. Solutions to the challenges Even though there have been challenges to higher education in the past, these nearly current calls for reform may provoke elementary alteration in higher education. This modification might not arise as a direct reaction to calls for superior accountability and transparency, but as a result of the chance to replicate on the importance of higher education, the responsibilities of universities and colleges in the new millennium, and rising scientific research on how people learn. These incongruent literatures haven’t been joined jointly in an approach that would scrutinize the outcomes of essential alteration from the strategy level to the institutional level and to the daily lives of university administrators, and students (Fisser, 2001). The university setting should be framed and situated by the major state and global transformations witnessed in higher education (Ben-Ari, 2005). In order to cope with the challenge of increased number of national and international students, the university institution should hire more tutors and introduce technology in education to enhance distance learning. With technology, universities will be able to embrace fresh relationship models that transform learning in more essential ways. There is also a modification on how teachers and students relate in the process of learning (Lave and Wenger, 1991). In order to reduce the rate of drop outs from the university, proficient intercession to the challenge need to be implemented. This necessitates a mixture of numerous diverse procedures that take in to contemplation the adaptable nature of the causes concerned in drop out. Simple procedures to improve the organization or teaching to reduce this drop out might be unproductive. Students need to be motivated in order to make them have a driving force to act. Unmotivated students are those who lack the driving force to do something for instance studying or doing their assignments properly so as to avoid cases of plagiarism which is a major factor of the drop out. Studies of student’s motivation, drawing on the psychological theory have recognized teaching, learning, and assessments approaches which are liable to boost student’s motivation. In order to raise students motivations, tutors should ensure that the courses are supported by many evidences and knowledge, students should be given ample time to express their ideas about teaching, and improve the educational environments which increase students desire to learn among others (Ehrenberg, 2004). In order to cope with the challenge of low quality education, the institution should ensure that it has the required tools to carry out research especially for science and practical subjects. Institutions should use at least 5 percent of their endowment income annually for operations. Investment earning usually provides a cushion for quality and should not be used up for routine operations expenses. As a result, the institution will emerge competitive globally with other institutions especially when they are ranked in order of performance (Pelliccione, 2001). Efforts to impose price controls on fees and tuition should be adapted by the institutions to ensure affordability by most students. Institutions should also make student financial assistance more obtainable (Bennett, 2003). Despite the above noted challenges of implementing modern technologies in institutions of higher learning, a cost benefit analysis of the effectiveness of such systems highlights that the benefits are far much beyond the cost of implementation. The institutions should seek government assistance and implement these technologies. The students and the staff should also be ready to embrace these technologies. As a solution, the contemporary governments should be sensitized on the importance of education and especially the impact these students have on the country’s economy. Therefore, some of the country’s resources should be channeled to this sector to ensure students get adequate education (Ehrenberg, 2004). Conclusion Although university education is not so perfectly, it generally serves the community well as a curator, creator, and critic- as a most important force for ethics and economics in society. Leaders require focusing on market opportunities and mission principles. This essay has analyzed the major challenges facing higher education-university in the 21st century and how the institution might respond more effectively to the challenges of globalization for the benefits of students. Some of these challenges that face universities and require to be addressed include increased students drop outs in various courses (Ben-Ari, 2005). For instance, in Helsinki University of Technology, there is increased level of drop out of CS minor students from CSI course. This is as a result of low motivation, plagiarism and time management. Universities are also faced by the challenge of affordability, accountability and accessibility; school drop outs; increased tuition fees, poor governance and increased number of national and international students there fore inefficiency in learning. In order to improve the quality of learning and increase efficiency, these challenges need to be addressed (Pelliccione, 2001). For example the university should invest on research for science subjects, improve student’s motivations to reduce the level of school drop outs, introduce on line learning, and impose price controls on tuition to allow affordability. This as a result will make the university competitive globally in terms of quality education and performance. References Association of African Universities (AAU), (2001). Core Programme Of Activities 2001 – 2004: Themes And Sub-Themes. Retrieved From: http://www.aau.org (Accessed September 25, 2010). Fisser, P. (2001). Using Information and Communication Technology. Netherlands: University of Twente. Pelliccione, L. (2001). Implementing Innovative Technology: Towards The Transformation Of University, Australia: Curtin university of Technology. Ronald G. Ehrenberg, (2004). Key Issues Currently Facing American Higher Education, Paper Presented at the NACUBO Annual Meetings, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Sweeney quoted in Scott Carlson, (2005). The Net Generation Goes to College. Chronicle of Higher Education. Ben-Ari, M. (2005). Situated Learning In 'This High-Technology World'. Science & Education. Bennett, R. (2003). Determinants Of Undergraduate Student Drop Out Rates In A University Business Studies Department. Journal of Further and Higher Education. Lave, J. and Wenger, E. (1991). Situated Learning: Legitimate Peripheral Participation. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Read More