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PORTALUPDATE/www.myeducationtimes.com

Communication design deals withdesigning information that needs to becommunicated through different mediums.It could be something as simple asdesigning wedding cards to designingmoving graphics in animations and games.Learn more about:

Upcoming areas First stepsTips for beginners

VOLUNTEERINGVolunteering is ingrained in ourculture. Today, volunteeringinvolves active social involvementusing different modes ofcommunication, to be followed upwith groundwork. The question is is volunteering really ingrainedor is it acquired?

> For complete story, log on towww.myeducationtimes.com/editorspick

COURSES

EDITORS PICK

A horse has untamed power that goes

back to its wild ancestors. And that poweris what a jockey rides on. It is t hisuntamed spirit that lends magic to theprofession of a jockey. Know more about:

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EQUESTRIAN JOCKEY

COMMUNICATION DESIGN

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OFFBEAT

Malini Sen & Tirna Ray/TNN

Higher education today is undergo-ing a radical change, posing new-age challenges to universities.

The role of teachers and educators hasgone through a metamorphosis as tech-nology and globalisation redefine thecontours of the world. With access to in-formation anywhere, anytime knowledge today is no longer restrictedto physical classrooms. In fact, the reallearning is happening laterally, outsidethe four walls of schools, colleges anduniversities.

These are some of the issues thatwere discussed and debated upon in twointernational conferences held recentlyin two parts of the world Re-invent-ing Higher Education in Madrid, Spain,and the World Innovation Summit forEducation (WISE) in Doha, Qatar.

Lisa Anderson, president, AmericanUniversity in Cairo (AUC), points out,Most of the learning now takes placeoutside the classroom; through the inter-net and social media sites.

Considering the way technology haschanged the education landscape, ex-perts working in the area of educationbelieve that first and foremost, the tradi-tional mindset has to change. That canhelp the academic community to per-ceive the future needs of a student goingthrough this transition.

For instance, Graham Brown-Martin,founder of Learning without Frontiers(LWF), a global platform for thinkers andpractitioners, argues, that in a digitalage, when most of the learning takesplace through video games, blogs andsocial media, we need to see things dif-ferently.

He adds that plagiarism is a seriousconcern today. Schools and universitiesare installing software to find out thecorrect source. Who cares? he asks,saying that it doesnt matter whether astudent has copied or not, but whetherhe or she has chosen the right text tocopy. We need to understand that theworld is not about retaining facts at themoment, facts are free, but the world is

about deciding which facts are true andcorrect, he says.

>> ROAD AHEADThe future roadmap of higher education,the academic world agrees, needs to in-clude blended methodology, lifelonglearning, collaborative efforts in researchand curriculum development, introduc-tion of transnational accreditation agen-cies and increased student mobility.

While students today are versed innew technologies, thus, acquiring newskills and attitudes towards learning,

universities across the world are rethink-

ing and re-inventing their role in order tocater to new student profiles. Technolo-gy and globalisation are reshaping theway in which knowledge has traditional-ly been generated and disseminated teaching students to work in multiple ge-ographies, among others. In this newlandscape, is there a need to re-inventhigher education?

Many feel that the concept of a univer-sity is not as sacrosanct as before. Insti-tutes of higher learning can no longeroperate as insular entities. We needmore diversity, different institutes serv-ing different needs of students at differ-ent costs, opines David E Van Zandt,president, The New School, US.

Adel Adem from Eritrea, a finance stu-dent at Qatar University, agrees to saythat the dynamics of a traditional class-room has undergone a major change.With the online space coming in, stu-dents have a broader knowledge source

today and universities should realise

that the mode of knowledge delivery hasto change to cater to a students individ-ual profile.

Another important change that is be-ing observed is the role of students asstakeholders in higher education. Ac-cording to Martha Mackenzie, president,Oxford University Student union (OUSU),though students are not comfortablewith the consumer narrative, but be-cause they are paying high tuition fees,they feel that they have the right toquestion the quality of education theyare being given as they have a lot moreat stake.

>> JOB FACTORYet another challenge for universities isto account for the relevance of educationfor graduates careers. Do institutions oflearning need to have closer ties with in-dustry? From the students perspective,both Mackenzie and Tetiana Mykhailiuk,

president, AIESEC International, feel

that the real motivator for higher educa-tion was and still is employment.

Traditional universities who pridethemselves on their role in impartingknowledge should not be critical butopen to the fact that majority of studentsare not opting for higher education forthe sake of education but for a better joband life. Universities should cater to a di-verse group of students with differentneeds without compromising on intellec-tual integrity, they add.

On a concluding note, Mohamed Faragfrom Egypt, studying electromechanicalengineering at the University of Alexan-dria, says: Universities will need tobridge the skill gap, as well as ensure aseamless shift from the classroom to theworkplace.

Re-inventing Higher Education was or-ganised by IE University and World Inno-vation Summit for Education by theQatar Foundation.

As learning takes place outside the classroom following the growing

popularity of social media sites among todays learners, Education Timesfinds out whether universities need to rethink their role in a global society

MUMBAI EDITIONMONDAY | DECEMBER 5, 2011

Advertorial, Education Promotional Feature

PIC:GANESHCHANDRA;GRAPHIC:MANISHBHATIA

Technology andglobalisation arereshaping the way inwhich knowledge hastraditionally beengenerated anddisseminated

Achance to meet astronauts from NASA, studentsbuilding a single-seater race car to compete in the for-mula student competition and spend a day at UKs

premier Air Show these are just some of the rewards the

winners of the Reach for the Stars Competition will get. Thecompetition, that was launched by the University of Strath-clyde in Glasgow, Scotland, last month, will provide two Indi-an college students with an all-expenses paid, month-longtrip to the university.

About the decision to initiate the competition for Indianstudents, Christine Donald, international recruitment advisorat the University of Strathclyde, says, We had to choose onemarket and we decided on India because we have had a long

relationship with thecountry both in terms ofeducating as well ascollaborating for re-search. We wanted toshowcase the interest-ing and life-enhancingthings that are done atStrathclyde both by stu-dents as well as ourstaff.

THE BATTLEFIELDDonald informs that thecontest is open to stu-dents from all branchesof engineering. Teams

of two engineering stu-dents will be requiredto come up with a novelbusiness idea related to

the space industry. Interested students will need to registeron www.eng.strath.ac.uk/ReachForTheStars from January 9-13. Two hundred teams, from among the participating teams,will be selected to take part in the challenge. Selected teamswill then have to upload a three-minute presentation of theirbusiness idea on www.youtube.com from January 28-29(deadline 9:00 am). Ideas will be judged on the basis of cre-ativity and innovation, costing, marketing, and communica-tion. Adds Donald, We are looking for something thatstands out from the crowd. A three-minute presentation isshort so it needs to be concise and to the point.

The winning teams will then have to undergo a telephonicinterview post which individual prize winners and runners-up will be selected.

THE REWARDWhat will the winners get? Well, the hard work of the win-ners will pay off with an all expenses paid, month-long stayat the Faculty of Engineering at the university during Juneand July 2012.

During the first week, winners will visit the Scottish SpaceSchool for an action-packed week of space related activities.Here, they will meet astronauts from NASA and like mindedspace school attendees from around Scotland. In subsequentweeks, students will get to meet the Formula Student Team,visit innovative companies and the institutes research facili-ties, develop their own product and take it from design toproduction, act as consultants and produce a report for Scot-tish company Steepest Ascent Ltd and spend a day at theFarnborough Air Show.

So, if you want to reach for the stars, go ahead andregister!

>ruchi.chopda@timesgroup.com

A unique contest will give engineering

students from across the country an

opportunity to spend a month in Scotland

with probably an once-in-a-lifetime itinerary.

Ruchi Chopda brings you the details

A ScottishSummer

Sophia College prepares to host an All-India academic

and intellectual forum, complete with formal discourse

and firm resolutions. Anishaa Sahijwala delves into the

upcoming Model United Nations Conference

Ideas for abetter world

Model United Nations, an ini-tiative by the InternationalRelations Club at Sophia

College, is a platform where stu-dents from across the country willparticipate as delegates of the UNmember nations. Like the UN con-ference, students will debate andaddress critical global issues likeClimate Change: A Threat to In-ternational Peace and Security,Protection and Preservation of theHuman Rights of Women and Chil-dren in Conflict Zones and Ensur-ing Food Security and Tackling theGlobal Food Crisis. The three-dayevent is scheduled to begin on De-cember 9.

Sr. Anila Verghese, principal,Sophia College, speaks of the rele-vance of topics discussed. Educa-tion for justice, peace and the in-tegrity of nature focusing on hu-man rights is an issue that hasbeen over debate for a long timenow. We look forward to welcom-ing all the delegates and resourcepersons for this endeavour. We in-vite students across the country toattend and participate, she says.

MUN is a concept that facilitatesthe interaction between studentsacross borders. Not only does it en-courage them to debate over globalconcerns, one can also see themspread awareness in order to equipthe world for a better tomorrow.

The idea behind conducting suchan event is to ensure that youngcitizens engage in active discus-sions on key issues affecting us.Being an open conference, it canbe attended by all, informs Vergh-ese.

The national conference, for thefirst time in India, simulates a jointsession of the African union andthe Organisation of Islamic Co-op-

eration deriving lessons from therecent Arab Spring. Studentsacross the country are expected toattend the event that will be de-clared open by the hands of TheMayor of Hague, Jozias Van Aart-sen who will also be giving thekeynote address on day one.

On the final day of the confer-ence, a day-long workshop on in-ternational relations will be con-ducted. The workshop will be ledby distinguished professors on in-ternational relations, diplomacyand conflict resolution, the role ofthe United Nations, Model UN andthe current global scenario. Stu-dents, who wish to attend theworkshop, must pre-register oninfo@munsophical.org on or beforeDecember 5. Dr Binayak Sen andhis wife Ilina Sen are expected tospeak at the one-day workshop.For details, visit www.munsophi-cal.org

> anishaa.sahijwala

@timesgroup.com

The MUN will be heldfrom December 9-11.For details, visitwww.munsophical.org

Rcthan SharaiiBARC ,Sehool

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