Exploring and Designing Breakthrough Models in Higher Education

The shifting forces challenging higher education, both within and outside the academy, have dominated countless newspaper headlines and led to a flurry of new books and research discussing trends and  suggesting a new future for higher education. Most agree that the landscape is changing, but what does this mean for your institution? And what can institutions do to ensure they serve the needs of their students, now and in the future? In the midst of the “big squeeze” on finances, how do institutions contain costs while providing better service and ensuring greater student success?

This toolkit will take you through the basic steps to prepare and customize the content needed for a campus-based program event using EDUCAUSE resources—video, readings, and discussion guides. The intent is to engage faculty, staff, and administrators in thoughtful dialogue and ideation about a new future at your institution.

Using this program, participants will be challenged to explore the questions listed above and to consider the forces for change within higher education and how individual institutions can leverage technology to rethink the model. Specifically, after participating in this campus event, participants should be able to: 

• Articulate and explain the key challenges facing the current higher education model.
• Describe how information technology might make learning more personal and more efficient for today’s learners while addressing the 21st-century challenges they face. 
• Describe how information technology might help institutions rethink the current business model for higher education.
• Demonstrate what new models might look like by developing a new course or program prototype.