| | 8 December 2016HIGHERReviewIN MY VIEWHigher Education is yet to be Disrupted, but It is ComingBy Prof. Graham Kendall, Provost and CEO, The University of Nottingham - MalaysiaMany industries have been disrupted by technological innovation. Tom Goodwin demonstrated the point perfectly when he made his now famous comment: "Uber, the world's largest taxi company, owns no vehicles. Facebook, the world's most popular media owner, creates no content. Alibaba, the most valuable retailer, has no inventory. And Airbnb, the world's largest accommodation provider, owns no real estate. Something interesting is happening."The Higher Education (HE) sector has not been untouched by technology. Lecture rooms are brimming with the latest gadgets and gizmos, enabling better teaching and to reach people that may not be able to be physically present in the lecture hall.Innovations such as blended learning and the flipped classroom are further examples of innovation. Yet the sector still heavily relies on "sage on the stage" type lectures, fifty minute slots and assessment by examination and course work.The HE sector has so far escaped disruption on a large scale, but it can only be a matter of time before the sector is fundamentally changed.ChallengesIt is always dangerous to try to predict the future but here are a few thoughts as to where the sector might head in the coming years.MOOCs: Massive Open Online Courses have been around for a few years, yet nobody has really discovered a way to monetize this delivery method. Some have tried, with some success, but it is yet to replace the familiar delivery method where students physically attend, receive lectures and are assessed in Prof. Kendall is the Provost and CEO of The University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus. He is also a Pro-Vice Chancellor of the University of Nottingham. He is the Director of two companies in Malaysia. He has published over 230 peer reviewed scientific papers, edited 11 books and authored 20 book chapters. He is the Editor-in-Chief of the IEEE Transactions of Computational Intelligence and AI in Games.Prof. Graham Kendallan invigilated examination hall. The technology is available to enable courses to be delivered, to a great many people, via an online platform. What is missing is the business model that underpins this methodology.
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