Blackboard Releases New White Paper on the Future of Higher Education

MBA Blog / 29th August 2017

Blackboard Inc., a leading education technology company for teaching, learning and student engagement, today released a new white paper exploring the future of higher education. 

Based on in-depth interviews with 13 American higher education thought leaders, the white paper “Future Forward: The Next Twenty Years of Higher Education” is being released in conjunction with Blackboard’s 20^th anniversary. As a leader and pioneer in educational technology, Blackboard has a longstanding history of partnering with the global education community to garner unique insights into their pressing challenges around student access and success.  To compile this new resource, Blackboard asked U.S. higher education leaders to share their insights into what the higher education institution of the future will look like; how other industries will influence higher education; how technology will enable change in the way learning is delivered and assessed; and a variety of other topics.

The following key themes emerged from the interviews and are detailed in the white paper:

• The current higher education system is unsustainable and ill-suited for a globally connected world that is constantly changing.
• Colleges and universities will have to change their current business model to continue to thrive, boost revenue and drive enrollment.
• New technologies will allow faculty to shift their focus to the application of learning rather than the acquisition of knowledge.
• Data and the ability to transform that data into action will be the new lifeblood of the institution.
• The heart and soul of any institution are its people. Adopting new technologies is only a small piece of the puzzle; institutions must also work with faculty and staff to change institutional culture

To view the white paper in full, visit www.blackboard.com/future-forward. 

“Blackboard is committed to innovating for an even brighter, more informed future of education. As part of our 20^th anniversary, we’re proud to provide the public with this collection of interviews with American higher education leaders on the future of higher education,” said Bill Ballhaus, Chairman, President and CEO of Blackboard. “We hope these interviews will spark conversation, learning, and the exchange of ideas about the future of higher education that is so necessary for its advancement.”