Annotated Bibliography - Does competency-based education with blockchain signal a new mission for universities? (Williams, 2019)

Williams, Peter. "Does competency-based education with blockchain signal a new mission for universities?." Journal of higher education policy and management 41.1 (2019): 104-117.

The paper “Does competency-based education with blockchain signal a new mission for universities?” was written by Peter Williams, from the School of Education and social sciences in the University of Hull, in the UK is an interesting paper that can contribute a lot to our narrative review. The author starts by analyzing the convergence of three technologies that are impacting higher education: Learning Analytics, Artificial Intelligence and Blockchain. The three, together, are impacting the nature of universities and their role in society in the 21st century.

The author recognizes that the curriculum models of universities in which, at the end of a journey concedes a degree to students, and that is an organization divided into structures like faculties, departments and disciplines, is a function of a tie in which the boundaries between professions and knowledge was clearly delimited, and the academic content was valid for decades. However, there are different forces changing work and life in the 21st century. For instance, the rise of the knowledge-intensive sector, the reduction of the “half-life” of knowledge and the syncretism between disciplines. These facts call for a rethinking of the academic model from the 3-4 years delivery model to a “just-in case”, with flexible content and lifelong learning models, what some refer to as “just-in-time learning”.

As mentioned before, the three technologies mentioned are radically impacting higher education. However, A.I. alone has a huge potential to impact the job market. The author recalls a study by McKinsey that estimates that by 2030, 800 million jobs globally might be displaced by A.I. .It will create many jobs as well, but are the universities today preparing the students for those jobs of the future?

The author suggests that those jobs might require different skill sets and attitudes. Some skills that the literature claims will be highly valuable are collaboration, communication and social/cultural competencies. In addition, critical thinking, problem-solving, creativity, metacognition and motivation.

According to Williams, one methodology that is well suited for the education of 21st century students is Competency Based Education (CBE). It emphasizes that students learn explicit and transferable learning objectives in an environment that provides timely and personalized support and formative feedback. That way, the students can apply a different set of skills and foster critical thinking, problem-solving, communication and collaboration.

The 21st century job market also requires a new curriculum content and delivery. The author suggests that universities need to change focus from academic disciplines to a “procedural knowledge-action, nurturing soft-skills and developing students as whole persons, making them adaptable to changing circumstances”. To achieve this, the author recalls Lombardi´s (2007) ten principles for an authentic learning curriculum, which I reproduce the table below:

The author affirms that universities should assume new missions. In addition to course delivery, they should be “education service advisers”, helping the students to develop graduate level portfolio of educational assets, may it be course credits gained in-house or in other prestigious institutions around the world.

Williams concludes by citing a few reports that might help policymakers and education leaders to adapt to this brave new world, such as: the Horizon Scanning Project (Jisc, 2017, 2018b), the Observatory on Borderless Higher Education (OBHE, 2018), the EU blockchain Observatory and Forum (EC, 2018a) and the annual Horizon reports (EDUCAUSE, 2018).

This paper is very insightful and provides an interesting perspective on the forces that are shaping the labor market and academia in the coming decades, as well as suggesting a few ways in which our alma maters can adapt to the needed change.

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Annotated Bibliography - Does competency-based education with blockchain signal a new mission for universities? (Williams, 2019)