Journal of International Civilization Studies, vol.5, no.2, pp.211-229, 2020 (Peer-Reviewed Journal)
EXTENDED SUMMARY
In order to be protected from the effects of the epidemic in our country, as in the
whole world, education practices have turned into distance education instead of face to face.
Rapid developments in communication technologies, new media opportunities, social media
becoming a part of life, differentiation of working and business models, industry, economy
and social changes made it necessary to redesign the future of higher education in the digital
age.
This study focuses on the developments in the digital age in higher education,
revealing the opportunities, risks and threats in this field and making suggestions. This
scientific article is a descriptive study, researches and studies in this field have been reviewed,
and meta-analysis has been conducted in one aspect, aiming to present an original scope and
content.
Considering the previous studies in the article; The relationship between digitalization
and higher education, distance education and predictions, the compatibility of higher
education institutions' curricula and learning outcomes with future expectations, the changing
role of teachers and lecturers in the mission of higher education institutions in the future are
examined.
Globalization, technology and modernization have created a huge, different and
interconnected world. To make sense of this world and make it better, individuals need
expertise in changing technologies and make sense of large amounts of data. And again, while
people face great struggles, economic growth, environmental sustainability, social justice and
access to prosperity will constitute the main struggle areas.
While the speed of change that started in the historical process has been increasing
gradually in recent years, great changes have been significantly affecting societies and human
Dijital Çağda Yükseköğretimin Geleceği
228
lives, and it is possible to say that the world is pregnant with greater changes. In such an
environment and process, the perception and management of change in the societies that were
thrown in this new situation has a special importance.
The effects of Kant's discourses, which put the mind to the center, are still visible.
While Max Weber's statement that everything should be attributed to the criteria of reason,
including thought and action, focuses attention on the importance of human development and
upbringing, Bacon's definition of knowledge expressing power and power is also valid today.
The education system has started to shift from face-to-face education to online
education. While studies on new approaches of teaching and learning have started, change
efforts have begun to take place, aimed at transforming education with appropriate new
technologies. The use of information and communication technologies fundamentally changes
student experience in higher education.
The relationship between Information Communication Technologies and higher
education has changed when examined from an instrumental and financial perspective. The
instrumental perspective suggests pedagogical and catalytic logic. The changes made to
improve the educational activities process combine the logic of cost effectiveness (cost
reduction), the material perspective, social and professional logic, and ICT fluency as a
learning goal in the curriculum.
Liberalization, which constitutes the context of adaptation to change and rapid
movement, can make the expansion of cross-border activities in higher education and the
conceptualization of higher education as a tradable commodity and with more customization
the strongest driver of change.
Another aspect that encourages universities to reconsider their roles and functions is
changing technology education and research that is beginning to create a massive kind of
automation process. The technology can not only lower production costs, but also allow many
other effective educational institution function players to enter the market.
What will be the role of faculties and staff over the next decade? What skills will the
instructors have? Who will train new teachers and will they prepare for it? What could be the
business models for the next decade? OER Open Educational Resources and LangOER: Are
Open Educational Resources for Teachers sufficiently promoted?
How can education and labor market be more harmonized? / How is it going to be?
Are universities ready to develop the labor market in relation to ICT skills?
How important or important are regional features? / Why does the digital divide
persist?
What opportunities will the global world, embracing the use of information
communication technologies, provide? Will lifelong learning be inside or outside higher
education?
How will machine learning change what we need to learn?
How will the Internet of Things affect higher education?
Does technology and the availability of big data affect higher education?
Universities; How can it help synchronize technology, education and industry?
www.inciss.com Volume V/ Issue II Zuhal TOPÇU-Mehmet Sezai TÜRK
229
Higher education is part of a much larger ecosystem. How will higher education meet
the increasing demand for new areas of labor? How to overcome the difficulties in different
regions with different characteristics. What will be the role of higher education in the power
structure of the future?
Maintaining a social gap between universities and the community, between campusbased learning and open and distance learning, creates a digital divide.
The world has focused on information and communication technologies, digitalization
and change since the last quarter of the 20th century. In this change, new skills and how to
acquire these skills were among the topics focused on in the most effective way. Institutional
structures and organizations digitalized and flexible production mechanisms, new customer
profile and new customer preferences, new commercial paradigms made this change
necessary. This new era; It has created a structure focused on information technologies, where
the procedures are reduced and supplier and customer communication is digitally easy but
relationally difficult.
Within this framework, all countries that want to increase new workforce
opportunities, improve the qualification of the workforce, pioneer the new business and
competitive environment, and create an information society focused on universities. Were
universities ready for this current situation, technology, expectations, institutional,
technological, capital, curriculum, as lecturers? In this study, previous research and reports on
education and higher education were examined, the literature on the field was scanned and the
current situation was analyzed in the light of the obtained information, and predictions and
suggestions for the future plans of the universities were presented.