The future of the university in an age of knowledge

Abstract

We have entered an age of knowledge in which educated people and their ideas, facilitated and augmented by rapidly evolving information technology, have become not only key to our social well-being but are driving great change in all social institutions. Although the primary missions of the university - the creation, preservation, integration, transmission, and application of knowledge - are not changing, the particular realization of each of these roles is changing dramatically. So, too, is the nature of the higher education enterprise as it evolves into a global knowledge industry. We discuss the implications of these shifting paradigms for the university and conclude that higher education must evolve rapidly to create a culture of learning for our society, a culture in which educational opportunities become pervasive through the use of information technology.