The paper discusses the underlying economic shifts that cause a paradigm shift in the way that higher education contributes to society’s progress. In particular, the movement from industrial production towards a knowledge economy and from national systems of education toward global networks of learning has laid the foundation for this paradigm shift. The value of knowledge can now be generated from all sectors – not just industry. People own this value and transport it from job to job, from home to job into their civic life. The collective nature of networks means that knowledge changes rapidly and is cheaply distributed so that knowledge itself is cheap but is also quickly outdated. Learning continuously and being able to sort through the vast amounts of knowledge available are highly valued skills. Thus, a high quality university system is one that is a network of learning, knowledge sorting and innovation. Successful research is a matter of building collaborative research networks. The paper describes the nature of these networks, the latest research on such networks and the likely beginning points for building such higher education networks.
Building Strength through Knowledge Networks in Higher Education
Author: Lynn Ilon
Korean Council for University Education
2012