The chalk-dust revolution
- Deryn Graham
What impact does the changing world of work have on how higher education is delivered to students?
University teaching is no longer business as usual. 足球竞彩app排名s are entering the hallowed halls of learning with a very different approach from those of 20 years ago. These digital natives are astute in navigating the complexities of the learning environment and learn very differently from those who responded to the old ‘chalk and talk’ style of teaching.
Higher education institutions must keep pace with the world in which these students live and learn and the one in which they will eventually work, providing an education that is future facing. As just one example, the modern workplace demands the ability to work independently and in hybrid mode. In this new world, greater pressure is placed on higher education institutions to stay relevant, and nurture graduates that can hit the ground running in a highly technical and competitive job market.
For Professor Ruksana Osman, Senior Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Academic at Wits whose association with the University spans forty years, while the fourth industrial revolution, digital transformation, 足球竞彩app排名 and many other external factors are pushing higher education institutions to evolve, it is this University’s core values of academic excellence, a commitment to enabling students to learn and student success that will ensure its relevance in the 21st Century and beyond.
“The fundamental question is what it means to be a university today,” says Osman. “The answer is that it needs to be more than an institute of learning; it needs to equip graduates to combine their academic learning with values and attributes that will help them beyond academia.”
Wits Senior Director: Academic Affairs, Professor Nicole de Wet Billings recently presented the latest iteration of the University’s Learning and Teaching Strategic Plan 2025-2029 which is responsive to current academic and workplace trends. “There is immense pressure on the University to make sure that our students graduate with degrees and skills that will add value to society. Today, the University is more student centred, looking to develop self-directed graduates who are driven and who pursue meaningful employment opportunities, or even create them themselves,” she says.
Iceberg ahead!
But finding the time to innovate within the structures of higher learning is a challenge in itself, according to Reuben Dlamini, Associate Professor in Educational Information and Engineering Technology in the Wits School of Education. He believes that there are structural constraints that stymy pedagogical innovation and resource constraints that inhibit change at a rate which matches the outside world.
Dlamini believes that wieldy processes in public universities and their traditional approach to learning and teaching mean that it takes long to change direction – a bit like trying to steer the Titanic – and that coming up with policies and frameworks that accommodate new curricula is a challenge.
All agree that universities need to stop talking about ‘fields of expertise’ and start thinking laterally and critically. In the new world of work that confronts graduates, those with critical thinking skills will secure employment and find meaning for themselves. For this reason, despite the demands of the technically and digitally driven world of work, no one believes that degrees in the arts and the humanities will become obsolete any time soon.
“Some of the best computer programmers and data analysts come from the schools of philosophy and linguistics,” Dlamini says.
Thinking beyond ‘pass’ and ‘fail’
With inputs from faculties, the Centre for Learning, Teaching and Development as well as representatives from the SRC, the Wits Learning and Teaching Strategic Plan continues Wits’ shift from thinking simplistically in terms of “pass or fail” outcomes to a focus on holistic student success and lifelong learning. Higher education today goes far beyond a single degree, offering opportunities through short courses, and soon, micro credentials, to upskill to meet work and personal growth goals. It makes sense therefore that institutions of higher learning, including Wits, have relationships with professional bodies, industries and other organisations to provide quality course content.
“The University is not, however, in the service of industry,” says Osman. “Our core responsibility is still to deliver relevant and quality curricula in all disciplines and fields of study.”
In terms of the higher education revolution, there could be a much greater integration of technology in education, according to Dlamini. Commerce and industry are way ahead of public education institutions in their technological knowledge and equipment, and so the challenge is how to position these new technologies into higher learning when some academics are fearful of their encroachment.
The advent of artificial intelligence (AI) may dismay many, but Osman believes that if a university uses multiple forms of assessing students’ work, they have nothing to fear about their use and incorporation into today’s classroom.
De Wet Billings agrees. “We have to be clear about that which we want our graduates to leave. Our course content needs to be socially just in order for us to nurture socially just leaders.”
A revolution in new methodologies, new ideas and new technologies in teaching and learning is already underway, transforming the country’s higher education landscape.
Universities as hubs of lifelong learning
Wits has always offered a range of short courses across different departments and disciplines, but these may no longer accommodate today’s busy lives and schedules. Professor Frikkie Booysen, a health economist who is also Chair of the University’s Microcredentials Working Group, believes that offering shorter courses using various modalities including online and on demand teaching, will meet the spatial and temporal challenges of those seeking to upskill themselves.
One in five higher education institutions currently offers microcredentials, according to Booysen, but for others the switch from academic teaching to teaching skills competency will require them to acquire new skills as they embark on this important journey.
higher education institutions seek to become hubs of lifelong learning and not simply producers of single degree graduates, providing additional resources to run microcredential courses is critical. In addition, more research into market demand for specific content, and quality assurance, is required. The South African Qualifications Authority already has a task team working on microcredential development to ensure quality.
In a recent call for expressions of interest in running pilot microcredential courses, Wits received five applications, including one from Booysen’s own School of Economics and Finance. A further two came from the same faculty’s School of Governance and the Wits Business School and two from the School of Languages.
“The challenge is to identify the competencies that the economy requires, design the content and then work out how to assess those competencies,” says Booysen.
WitsPlus (PTY) Ltd is the home of short courses and is a private company wholly owned by the University. “With declining government subsidies, microcredentials offer an additional revenue stream for the University as well as adding value for pre and postgraduates,” says Booysen.
- Deryn Graham is a freelance writer.
- This article first appeared in?Curiosity,?a research magazine produced by?Wits Communications?and the?Research Office.
- Read more in the 18thissue, themed #Work, which delves into the evolving nature of work, shaped by societal shifts, technological advances, and equity challenges.