From the renowned futurist, a look at how current trends will transform American higher education over the next twenty years. 2020 Most Significant Futures Work Award Winner, Association of Professional Futurists The outlook for the future of colleges and universities is uncertain. Financial stresses, changing student populations, and rapidly developing technologies all pose significant challenges to the nation's colleges and universities. In Academia Next, futurist and higher education expert Bryan Alexander addresses these evolving trends to better understand higher education's next generation. Alexander first examines current economic, demographic, political, international, and policy developments as they relate to higher education. He also explores internal transformations within postsecondary institutions, including those related to enrollment, access, academic labor, alternative certification, sexual assault, and the changing library, paying particularly close attention to technological changes. Alexander then looks beyond these trends to offer a series of distinct scenarios and practical responses for institutions to consider when combating shrinking enrollments, reduced public support, and the proliferation of technological options. Arguing that the forces he highlights are not speculative but are already in play, Alexander draws on a rich, extensive, and socially engaged body of research to best determine their likeliest outcomes. It is only by taking these trends seriously, he writes, that colleges and universities can improve their chances of survival and growth. An unusually multifaceted approach to American higher education that views institutions as complex organisms, Academia Next offers a fresh perspective on the emerging colleges and universities of today and tomorrow.
Bryan Alexander is an internationally known futurist, researcher, writer, speaker, consultant, and teacher. A senior scholar at Georgetown University, he is the author of The New Digital Storytelling: Creating Narratives with New Media, second edition, and Gearing Up for Learning Beyond K-12.
Acknowledgments Introduction Part I. Trends Chapter 1. Objects in Mirror May Be Closer Than They Appear Chapter 2. Catching the University in Midtransformation Chapter 3. The New Age of Fewer Children and More Inequality Chapter 4. The Marriage of Carbon and Silicon Chapter 5. Beyond the Virtual Learning Environment Chapter 6. Connecting the Dots: Metatrends Part II. Scenarios Chapter 7. Peak Higher Education Chapter 8. Health Care Nation Chapter 9. Open Education Triumphant Chapter 10. Renaissance Chapter 11. Augmented Campus Chapter 12. Siri, Tutor Me Chapter 13. Retro Campus Part III. To the Future and the Present Chapter 14. Beyond 2035 Chapter 15. Back to the Present Notes Index
From the renowned futurist, a look at how current trends will transform American higher education over the next twenty years.
An excellent resource for understanding trends in higher eduction and thinking about future scenarios related to these. * michaelpaulus.org * Academia Next provides a wealth of resources about current challenges and opportunities, highlights two methods (trend analysis and scenario development) that can be used to prepare colleges and universities for the future, and identifies possible challenges and opportunities they might face in the future. * Higher Ed Connects * Those who worry about the future of higher ed-and who among us is without worry?-would do well to put Academia Next on their reading list. The book provides academic readers with a set of tools from which to construct a set of scenarios, underpinned by trends, about the future of our schools and of our ecosystem. The book is certain to catalyze an informed and energetic conversation about the future of higher ed. * Inside Higher Ed * Academia Next helps us know how we can intervene in the emerging nature of higher education. * Association of Professional Futurists * Every day, I am involved in a discussion about one or more issues affecting higher education. Academia Next does a great job of capturing many of those discussions into one book. If you are an administrator in higher education, I would encourage you to read this well-researched book. * tubarksblog.com *
