4 trends that will shape the future of higher education

Read the article and fill in the gaps with the correct form of the words below. Then compare
your answers with the original article provided in the link below

obsolete root to fare experiential to pivot to endure spaced regardless of marginalized

to spur onset to impart enterprise outdated

https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2022/02/four-trends-that-will-shape-the-future-of-higher-education/ Feb 7, 2022

Higher education needs to address the problems it faces by moving towards active learning, and
teaching skills that will endure in a changing world.

• Measures adopted during the pandemic do not address the root causes of the
problems facing higher education.
• Institutions need to undertake true reform, moving towards active learning, and
teaching skills that will endure in a changing world.
• Formative assessment is more effective than high-stakes exams in equipping
students with the skills they need to succeed.
the onset of the recent pandemic, schools and universities have been forced to put
Since 1)………………
a lot of their teaching online. On the surface, this seems to have 2)………….
spurred a series of
innovations in the education sector. Colleges around the world embraced more flexibility,
offering both virtual and physical classrooms. Coding is making its way into more school
curricula, and the SAT exam for college admission in the US has recently been shortened and
digitized, making it easier to take and less stressful for students.

These changes might give the illusion that education is undergoing some much-needed reform.
However, if we look closely, these measures do not address the real problems facing higher
education. In most countries, higher education is inaccessible to the socio-economically
underprivileged, certifies knowledge rather than nurtures learning, and focuses on easily-
………….3)
outdated knowledge. In brief, it is failing on both counts of quality and access.

Higher Education Trends

root causes
In the last year, we have started to see examples of true reform, addressing the 4)…………
of the education challenge. Below are four higher education trends we see taking shape in 2022.

1. Learning from everywhere

There is recognition that as schools and universities all over the world had to abruptly
pivot
5)………… to online teaching, learning outcomes suffered across the education spectrum.
However, the experiment with online teaching did force a reexamination of the concepts of time
and space in the education world. There were some benefits to students learning at their own
pace, and conducting science experiments in their kitchens. Hybrid learning does not just mean
combining a virtual and physical classroom, but allowing for truly immersive and 6)…………….
experimental
learning, enabling students to apply concepts learned in the classroom out in the real world.

So rather than shifting to a “learn from anywhere” approach (providing flexibility), education
institutions should move to a “learn from everywhere” approach (providing immersion). One of
our partners, the European business school, Esade, launched a new bachelor’s degree in 2021,
which combines classes conducted on campus in Barcelona, and remotely over a purpose-
designed learning platform, with immersive practical experiences working in Berlin and
enterprise This kind of course is a truly
Shanghai, while students create their own social 7)………………...
hybrid learning experience.
2. Replacing lectures with active learning

Lectures are an efficient way of teaching and an ineffective way of learning. Universities and
colleges have been using them for centuries as cost-effective methods for professors
to impart their knowledge to students. However, with digital information being ubiquitous
8)…………..
and free, it seems ludicrous to pay thousands of dollars to listen to someone giving you
information you can find elsewhere at a much cheaper price. School and college closures have
shed light on this as bad lectures made their way into parents’ living rooms, demonstrating their
ineffectiveness.

Education institutions need to demonstrate effective learning outcomes, and some are starting to
embrace teaching methods that rely on the science of learning. This shows that our brains do not
learn by listening, and the little information we learn that way is easily forgotten (as shown by
the Ebbinghaus forgetting curve, below). Real learning relies on principles such as
9)………….learning,
spaced emotional learning, and the application of knowledge.

Higher education is beginning to accept that traditional methods of teaching are ineffective – as demonstrated
by the Ebbinghaus forgetting curve

The educational establishment has gradually accepted this method, known as 'fully active
learning'. There is evidence that it not only improves learning outcomes but also reduces the
education gap with socio-economically disadvantaged students. For example, Paul Quinn
College, an HBCU based in Texas, launched an Honors Program using fully active learning in
2020, combined with internships at regional employers. This has given students from
marginalised backgrounds the opportunity to apply the knowledge gained at
traditionally 10)……………
university in the real world.

3. Teaching skills that remain relevant in a changing world

According to a recent survey, 96% of Chief Academic Officers at universities think they are
doing a good job preparing young people for the workforce. Less than half (41%) of college
students and only 11% of business leaders shared that view. Universities continue to focus on
teaching specific skills involving the latest technologies, even though these skills and the
technologies that support them are bound to become 11)………….obsolete As a result, universities are
forever playing catch up with the skills needed in the future workplace.

What we need to teach are skills that remain relevant in new, changing, and unknown contexts.
For example, journalism students might once have been taught how to produce long-form stories
that could be published in a newspaper; more recently, they would have been taught how to
enduringskills would be:
produce shorter pieces and post content for social media. More 12)………….
how to identify and relate to readers, how to compose a written piece; how to choose the right
medium for your target readership. These are skills that cross the boundaries of disciplines,
applying equally to scientific researchers or lawyers.
San Francisco-based Minerva University, which shares a founder with the Minerva Project, has
broken down competencies such as critical thinking or creative thinking into foundational
concepts and habits of mind. It teaches these over the four undergraduate years and across
regardless of the major a student chooses to pursue.
disciplines, 13)………………..

Many people gain admission to higher education based on standardized tests that skew to a certain socio-economic class

4. Using formative assessment instead of high-stake exams

If you were to sit the final exam of the subject you majored in today, how would you
14)…………..?
fare Most of us would fail, as that exam did not measure our learning, but rather what
information we retained at that point in time. Equally, many of us hold certifications in subject
matters we know little about.

Many people gain admission to higher education based on standardized tests that 15)……… skew toa
certain socio-economic class, rather than measure any real competency level. Universities then
try to rectify this bias by imposing admission quotas, rather than dissociating their evaluation of
competence from income level. Many US universities are starting to abandon standardized tests,
with Harvard leading the charge, and there have been some attempts to replace high-stake exams
with other measures that not only assess learning outcomes but actually improve them.

Formative assessment, which entails both formal and informal evaluations through the learning
journey, encourages students to actually improve their performance rather than just have it
evaluated. The documentation and recording of this assessment includes a range of measures,
replacing alphabetical or numerical grades that are uni-dimensional.

The International School in Geneva just launched its Learner Passport that includes measures of
creativity, responsibility and citizenship. In the US, a consortium of schools have launched the
Mastery Transcript Consortium that has redesigned the high school transcript to show a more
holistic picture of the competencies acquired by students.

Education reform requires looking at the root cause of some of its current problems. We need to
look at what is being taught (curriculum), how (pedagogy), when and where (technology and the
real world) and whom we are teaching (access and inclusion). Those institutions who are ready
to address these fundamental issues will succeed in truly transforming higher education.
 Follow-up questions
A. Answer the questions
1. Mention the ideas you strongly agree with. Provide justification.
2. Is there anything in the article you are dubious about?
3. Are there any other trends you have noticed?

B. Look at the following sentences from the text and answer the questions
‘rather than shifting to a “learn from anywhere” approach (providing flexibility), education
institutions should move to a “learn from everywhere” approach (providing immersion)’ – is that
feasible in the Polish setting? Consider higher education in Poland.

‘However, with digital information being ubiquitous and free, it seems ludicrous to pay thousands
of dollars to listen to someone giving you information you can find elsewhere at a much cheaper
price.’ What is your view on lectures? Would you want to see them removed from the academic
setting? What is the alternative?

‘Real learning relies on principles such as spaced learning, emotional learning, and the
application of knowledge.’ How do you see it? Is it true for you? Would you add anything to
the list?

‘What we need to teach are skills that remain relevant in new, changing, and unknown
contexts.’ How can one achieve that at the Institute of English Studies?

Universities should rely on formative assessment instead of high-stake exams. Do you agree?

C. Find the synonyms

ludicrous to rectify (3) ubiquitous
outrageous, unreasonable to enhance, to ameliorate, omnipresent, universal
to improve
to nurture to impart to replace
to convey, to share, to subsitute
to feed, protect, to foster to communicate supplant