Leading Academic Transformation

EDUCAUSE LEARNING INITIATIVE | MARCH 2016

Higher education’s teaching and learning mission is under significant pressure, both internally and externally. Technology creates new opportunities and raises expectations for what is delivered, how it is delivered, how much it costs, and the outcomes it produces. Higher education is exploring a reorientation around learner success through new course models, learning space designs, and ways of assessing academic progress. Supporting this exploration, EDUCAUSE has launched a Leading Academic Transformation community of practice and a Transforming Higher Ed blog.

 Making Sense of Disruptive Technologies and Higher Education (2012)

This paper, subtitled “A Theory of Change, the Growth of Online Programs, and the Next Generation of Delivery Models,” takes a broad view of higher education and the kinds of fundamental changes needed to radically transform education, in terms of learning, access, and economics.

Building a Culture of Innovation in Higher Education: Design & Practice for Leaders (2015)

This report is designed to show colleges, universities, and other organizations how to cultivate the innovator’s mindset that is necessary to reimagine higher education. It includes a toolkit to quantify innovation and identify action steps.

The Future of Education Isn’t Free. It’s Open. (2016)

This article makes the argument that changing the landscape of higher education requires building an open ecosystem and that such an ecosystem depends on the thoughtful development and broad adoption of open standards.

Turning the Tide: Inspiring Concern for Others and the Common Good through College Admissions (2016)

This report, from the Making Caring Common project of the Harvard Graduate School of Education, explores how to reimagine the college admissions process to urge students toward ethical and intellectual engagement. It includes recommendations to promote meaningful contributions, assess ethical contributions, and level the playing field for economically diverse students.

Innovating Together: Collaboration as a Driving Force to Improve Student Success (2015)

This article discusses the essential role that collaboration typically plays in innovation. The authors contend that the most important development in transforming higher education is “improving the way that all technologies and innovations are shared and scaled throughout the sector.”

What Google Learned from Its Quest to Build the Perfect Team (2016)

This article chronicles what Google discovered on a journey to understand how to put together effective teams. The lessons it learned underscore the importance of team building and team support in transforming higher education.

Data, Technology, and the Great Unbundling of Higher Education (2015)

This article challenges the long-favored measures of higher education—rankings, research, real estate, and sports—arguing that new metrics need to be developed to better understand and evaluate the real factors that affect student outcomes.

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