Development of Individual Agency within a Collaborative, Creative Learning Community

Background

The nature of Higher Education is shifting, and strategies to plan for immediate and future rapid change are becoming critical. The change is being energised by advances in technology, which has the capacity to change the way education is offered and assessed. However, it will be advocated in this article that the real driver of change is societal, including economic, social and cultural forces. As an example, changes in approaches to education have already been influenced by the rapid proliferation of technologically mediated social activity which has led to personal choice and interactive networks of contacts (Araya, 2010). Social change, and changing lifestyles have also led to the demand by students for ubiquitous, mobile learning that is mediated by technology and therefore independent of time and place. This individual empowerment has challenged the traditional, hierarchical role of the university, together with the way that learning is designed and supported. On the economic front, pressure has been exerted by the demands for a more creative approach to art, cultural works, science technology and innovation in the global economy (UNCTAD, 2010). This has placed increasing pressure on Universities to produce graduates with new attributes associated with collaboration, creativity and entrepreneurialism in a competitive climate. These social and economic pressures have served to redefine the role of the university, the academic and the student in the learning transaction.