Higher Education in The Digital Age: The Impact of Digital Connective Technologies

Abstract

The dominant roles that digital connective technologies have in the 21st century are causing profound changes in all domains of life, which signal that we have reached a new age: the digital age. Education is one of the fundamental domains of life re-engineered to adopt to the changing landscape of what it means to function in this new age. The school paradigm which rests on the conditions and requirements of the industrial age appears to fall short in terms of meeting the needs and demands of the 21st century learner. The emerging digital connective technologies and the educational innovations they triggered such as open educational resources (OER), massive online open courses (MOOCs) and learning analytics are disrupting the learning processes and structures of the industrial age such that it is now an imperative to develop a new educational paradigm. These new innovations enable learners to extend learning outside the boundaries of traditional learning institutions through informal and enriched learning experiences using online communities on new platforms such as social media and other social platforms. The digital innovations aforementioned also free the learners from the shackles of time so that learners can, not only access but also create knowledge through social interaction and collaboration. The age we live in is ripe for unprecedented fundamental changes and opportunities for higher education (HE). Therefore, policymakers involved in education need to re-think the implications of digital connective technologies, the challenges and opportunities they bring to the educational scene while developing value-added policies regarding HE. This paper addresses the learner, instructor, learning environments and the administration dimensions of HE and how the digital connective technologies are impacting on these dimensions in the digital age. The paper also offers, as a conclusion, a road map for HE to better function in this age.