Higher education needs to develop new educational and
training programs to keep pace with the technological changes that are
reshaping the job market. Online learning and artificial intelligence (AI) will
be part of those changes, according to a new Pew Research Center survey.
The poll of industry experts and higher-education thought
leaders noted that online learning is a flexible format that can play an
important role in training workers, but added that requires more “on-demand”
training focused on lifelong learners.
“Most of what we now call online learning is little
more than glorified textbooks, but the future is very promising,” said David
Karger, a computer science professor at Massachusetts Institute of
Technology, in an article for EdTech.
“Online teaching will increase the reach of top universities, which will put
pressure on lesser universities to demonstrate value.”
Nearly 30% of respondents to the survey said that AI
and machine learning will be disruptive forces, killing more jobs through
automation than they create. While automation eliminates many jobs, online
learning could be the format to provide training for more sophisticated job
skills.
“People will create the jobs of the future, not simply
train for them, and technology is already central,” Jonathan Grudin, principal
researcher at Microsoft, said in the Pew report. “It will undoubtedly play a greater
role in the years ahead.”
